Chapter 8
Three months later, Dahlia lost her lawsuit.
She not only had to pay substantial damages to L&W Group but was also found guilty of malicious defamation and reputation infringement.
The settlement amounted to$20,000,000.
For a C-list actress, this sum was financially devastating. Worse still, after losing the case, people online began digging up dirt on Dahlia.
Allegations of sleeping her way to the top, stories about her secret benefactors, pre-plastic surgery photos-everything erupted at once.
Her carefully crafted “pure goddess” image completely collapsed.
Major brands terminated their contracts with her, and her agency dropped her as well.
Dahlia left the entertainment industry for good.
Thea’s situation wasn’t much better.
Her defamatory livestream videos were reported, and her account was permanently banned.
Her university put her on probation, nearly expelling her.
Even worse, when the Riviera family learned about the scandal, they removed her from the family group chat.
Even her parents wouldn’t take her calls.
That afternoon, I was handling paperwork in my office when Emily suddenly knocked and entered.
“Ms. Lockhart, someone’s asking to see you downstairs.”
“Who is it?”
“Thea Riviera.” Emily’s expression was complicated. “She’s crying downstairs, saying she needs to see you one last time.”
“Send her up.”
Ten minutes later, Thea walked into my office.
Compared to the arrogant young woman from three months ago, she was nearly unrecognizable.
Her hair was a mess, her face bare of makeup, her eyes swollen from crying.
She wore a faded T-shirt and looked utterly disheveled.
She stood in the doorway, afraid to come further in.
“Ms. Lockhart…” her voice was terribly hoarse, “may I come in?”
I gestured to the chair across from me.
“Sit down.”
Thea carefully sat down, her hands tightly clasped together.
“Ms. Lockhart, I… I came to apologize.” Fresh tears began to fall.
“I was wrong before. I said terrible things. I shouldn’t have talked about you like that online, shouldn’t have helped Dahlia deceive everyone.”
“I was wrong, truly wrong.”
I leaned back in my chair, saying nothing.
Seeing this, Thea’s crying intensified.
“Ms. Lockhart, I know you hate me, and I don’t expect forgiveness.”
“But my brother… he’s really suffering now.”
I raised an eyebrow: “Suffering?”
“He can’t get any work. None of the investors will touch him. The court has seized his house-he doesn’t even have a place to live.”
Thea was crying so hard she could barely breathe.
“He’s surviving on small promotional gigs, sometimes eating just one meal a day.”
“I visited him last week. He’s lost over forty pounds. He looks completely worn down.”
I listened to her words without the slightest emotional response.
Thea suddenly dropped to her knees.
“Ms. Lockhart, please, give my brother one more chance!”
She knocked her forehead against the floor repeatedly, until it turned red.
“I know it’s all my fault. I’m the one who ruined everything. If you want revenge, take it out on me alone!”
“Please spare my brother. He truly knows he was wrong!”
Looking at Thea kneeling on the floor, I remembered three months ago…
When she pointed at me, claiming my necklace was a fake.
When she cried during her livestream, calling me a vicious home-wrecker.
When she arrogantly demanded I give up my endorsement to Dahlia.
“One chance?” My voice remained calm. “I already gave him once.”
“It’s your brother who pushed it away himself and handed it to your precious Dahlia.”
Thea looked up, her eyes filled with tears.
“But he’s really suffering now… He regrets it every day, thinks about you constantly…”
“That’s exactly what he deserves.”
My words cut through her pleas like a knife.
Thea froze for a moment.
“Ms. Lockhart…”
“Thea, do you remember what you said during your livestream?”
I stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.
“You called me a home-wrecker. You claimed I stole Dahlia’s necklace. You said I was abusing my power.”
“You even told me to get out of the entertainment industry forever.”
I turned to face her.
“Now it’s your turn to leave, and you come begging to me?”
Thea’s face instantly went pale.
Chapter 8
“I… I was young and stupid then…”
“Young and stupid?” I laughed.
“Thea, you’re twenty-three, not three.”
“Actions have consequences. That’s the most basic lesson in life.”
