Chapter 8
It was already late evening. My room’s air was starting to get cold. I had just closed my eyes
peace
I answered half–heartedly. No name, but an unknown number
I took a deep breath, then answered.
The voice at the other end was familiar and quite frankly, made my stomach chum slightly.
when my phone’s ringtone disturbed my
is bleak. He’s been carousing night and
“Scarlett, return! Since you went away, Nolan hasn’t been able to stop thinking about you. His life is bl day!“&
It was Valene’s voice. With that some overly sweet, not–at–all–convinced tone she always had.
I let out a gentle sigh, which struggled to stay a hard laughl
“Can’t you deal with him yourself now?” I spoke brusquely 8
There was a nervous laughter at the other end.
“Ah, it’s not like that. I needed you to come back and mend Nolan to the way he was initially. You see, he even lost an important shooting schedule. All because he continuously pines for you!
I pressed my lip together, trying not to allow the anger that had settled way down deep inside of me to rise to the surface. But my tone still remained calm.X
“Stop, Valerie. Isn’t this what you always dreamed about? You and Nolan, the two of you are meant to be together. I don’t want to be a leech forever getting in the middle of your relationship.”
There was a stunned silence for a moment. Valerie then spoke softly, as if she were convincing mel
“Scarlett, you misunderstood. My relationship with Nolan is professional only”
I laughed to myself, with irony. The pain that had shattered my heart into fragments now only caused a bitter pain that I no longer cared to try and seek out.
“Professional partners, you say? Or bed partners too?
y the lies, by the melodrama that they kept trying to
And I just hung up the call, not even waiting for a response. I was e exhausted by recreate. I didn’t care anymore.
I stared back at the ceiling, pulling the blanket up to cover my body.
That morning, I was shocked by the news circulating on social media, followed by a flood of private messages coming in at once. My brows furrowed. My heart instantly felt uneasy.
I opened the first notification.
The headline was written in bold letters.
[Nolan Carter Finally Speaks Out: ‘I Lost Scarlett!”
The dashing thespian reveals his feelings after being jilted by the women he had kept to himself from the world.
I stared at the phone screen with wide, unblinking eyes.
There were pictures of me and Nolan–snippets he had once kept so desperately in the dark, now plastered all over. Photos of the two of us laughing on the apartment balcony, on the beach, even informal pictures of me seated in the audience of his movie’s gala premiere.l Then this news came even more shocking.”
The ultrasound image had now gone viral X
“This is the evidence of our love!” Nolan said in a live interview, his eyes streaming openly in front of the TV camera.
“Scarlett is pregnant with my baby. But she picked a wealthy man and dumped me for luxury.”
My body slumped. My breath was caught in my throat!
He had started bringing the Moretti family name into this
in one of the videos that were circulating, he even went on to say. “They plotted it all. Scarlett was pressured into an engagement for power I’m nothing compared to this man. But I love her, and our child. I just want her back.”
Public and fan reaction began flowing on various social media and online news sites.X
How is it that a woman would leave the man who loves her for power and wealth? This is a mad world.
[She left her true love for the sake of Moretti? How much is your happiness worth, Scarlett?
[If in fact she is carrying Nolan’s baby, and then went and married some other man, this is not love, it is a barter]
What is there to respect in a woman who barter’s her heart for luxury?
My hands went limp, and my phone nearly dropped from my fingers
I buried my face in both hands, having trouble slowing my speeding breathing.X
Nolan’s supporters had started attacking and mobbing me on my personal account. And rather than defending me, Nolan drew me into
the flames.
It wasn’t just my reputation that was
was destroyed now, it was my peace and dignity. And the Moretti family name was also caught in this now, which could fuel their ire at being drawn into this publicly
3:54 PM ₫ ɗ ·
And I knew Vincent would not forget.
Some days passed after the news came out, and I tried to speak to Vincent in his office.
As I started to walk towards him, the door creaked open slowly and his assistant rushed in, half–running towards Vincent
“Sir, I just got a report from the finance team.“0
Vincent swung round calmly, inviting him to continue.
“The company’s stocks have begun to show a significant decline since this morning. It seems the news regarding Miss Scarlett has had a major impact on the foreign market. At the moment, we’re experiencing a temporary loss of five hundred thousand dollars,”
I let my head drop, my courage fading. My hand instinctively bunched my clothing. My whole body numbed. I didn’t imagine my affair with Nolan would have such strength.
Five hundred thousand dollars. That’s not pocket change. That’s the equivalent of destruction to others.
I dipped my head lower, not able to face Vincent. He would definitely prefer to sever himself from me.8
To begin with, for me, this arranged marriage for him might not have been pertinent to him. Now, with such a tragedy, I knew he would dump me and make me leave. In my view, there was no longer any reason for him to retain me. In this position I chose to surrender
