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I glared at the reporters below the stage, my voice sharp and shrill with hysteria.}
“Stop filming! None of you are allowed to film!” I shouted.”
“Security? Where’s security?” I whipped my head toward the edges of the room. “Block them! Don’t let a single one of them leave!”
My eyes narrowed, sharp and venomous, as I scanned the crowd of journ
“Today, none of you are leaving. Delete every single video and photo from your cameras! Otherwise, I won’t let you off!”
I had invited so many members of the press here to witness my moment of happiness, to show off–and to rub it in Freya’s face.
But now, the carefully staged scene I had planned had turned into a poisoned arrow aimed straight at my heart!”
The thought alone twisted my expression into something almost grotesque.
What I didn’t realize at first was that the media had already taken serious offense at my outburst./
The Laurents and the press had always had a mutually beneficial relationship. Maybe in the past, the reporters had feared offending them.
But with a scandal of this magnitude unfolding before them, all hesitation was swept away, replaced by the thrill of the chase.
After all, Rodney had called this press conference in the first place to clear the online rumors about him.
Yet now, not only had those rumors been confirmed as true, but the reality was even uglier.
I could already picture the frenzy that would erupt once the photos and videos went public.
Their hearts were pounding, their breathing quickened in excitement.
This was the kind of explosive scoop that could skyrocket their readership.
‘There was no way they would willingly hand over their footage.”
Unfortunately for them, the situation was not in their favor–security had already surrounded them.”
Even if they didn’t want to delete their material, they might have no choice.
Still, in a room full of reporters, some had already sent the photos and videos out long before. Even if I forced them to erase the raw files now, it wouldn’t change a damn thing.”
Once the news hit the public, I wouldn’t just be called a mistress–people would say I was a petty one at that!!
The realization hit me like ice water. My pupils dilated, and madness flickered in my gaze.
If these images leaked, the whole world would know I was the other woman!
Even if I succeeded in marrying into the Laurents, the rumors would cling to me like maggots to bone–impossible to shake
off.
Worse still, they might even stain my son’s reputation!
My eyes burned with resentment as I shot Rodney a glare.”
It was his fault–he had dawdled, given our enemies time to infiltrate even his own company!”
Without an insider leaking information, how could those intimate photos and videos have possibly gotten out?
If Freya were standing in front of me at this moment, I knew I would have thrown myself at her, hands tightening around her throat without hesitation.}
The eyes of the crowd below had shifted.”
Where there had once been admiration, now there was only scorn, even open disgust. Someone even fucking spat in my
direction.”
Seeing their reactions, I felt a cold dread creep up my spine.
Was this how people would look at me from now on?
The thought made me clutch Rodney’s hand tighter, my nails digging into his skin.
The sudden sting seemed to snap him out of a daze. His expression shifted, as though only now realizing how unfair all of this was to Freya.”
With a sharp motion, he yanked his hand free from my grip.
Gasps and murmurs rippled through the audience. In full view of the stunned crowd, Rodney turned his back on the stage and began… walking away.”
I stared after him, disbelief flashing in my eyes.
When it sank in that he was truly leaving me at such a critical moment, my entire body trembled.\
My voice broke into a furious feral roar N
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6:12 AM P
My voice broke into a furious, feral roar.
“Rodney! Rodney! You stop right there!”
His footsteps faltered for a split second. But just as he had once walked away from Freya’s desperate cries in that freezing storage room, he now made the same choice.
He kept fucking walking–without looking back!
