Nathan didn’t say a single word the entire drive back to Vivian’s flower shop.
He just felt like maybe he didn’t actually know Vivian at all.
Vivian stayed quiet too.
Ever since she’d started using Harrison Corp’s entertainment division resources, a lot of shit became
unavoidable.
Plus with this mystery force jumping in, Owen’s team alone wasn’t cutting it anymore, so she’d tapped Harrison Corp resources again.
But she’d been smart about it.
Learning from last time, she’d compartmentalized everything.
She only used Harrison Corp resources to counter negative speculation about herself.
And to expose Elena’s abortion.
The sexual transaction and charity fraud stuff–that was her having Owen’s team handle secretly.
So all Nathan knew was that she’d had the team counter “false rumors” and maybe hit back a little by revealing Elena’s abortion.
Everything else might raise red flags, but as long as she didn’t admit to anything, it was just speculation.
They drove in complete silence.
Until the car stopped outside Vivian’s flower shop and she finally spoke.
“Nathan, I know you’re judging me right now,” she said. “But I’m not gonna lie to you.”
“If I wanted to do this behind your back, I could’ve just gone to Sebastian. He’d jump at the chance to
screw over Louie.”
“But I chose to let you see this side of me.”
Vivian looked at Nathan.
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Those dark eyes held an expression she couldn’t decode
“She’s been coming for me, so I had to defend myself. And I only exposed her abortion–everything I said was fact. She really did have an abortion 10 days before the first live show. I wasn’t making anything up.”
“I don’t know if this disappoints you, Nathan, but I believe honesty is everything.”
Vivian’s eyes got watery.
“Just like…” tears started falling, “just like how I know you still have feelings for Amelia.”
“Some things we can’t run from, so let’s stop pretending.”
Watching Vivian cry, Nathan didn’t know what the hell he was feeling.
He knew people were complicated.
Even with Amelia by his side all those years, he’d never thought she was some innocent angel without
her own tactics.
Actually, he’d often wanted Amelia to know about things, handle them herself, experience what real control felt like instead of just going along with everything.
He’d wanted her to be able to survive on her own if he wasn’t around someday.
But he still believed people needed lines they wouldn’t cross.
That’s how society worked–the basis for trust between people.
Had Vivian really only exposed Elena’s abortion?
“Nathan, I know what you’re thinking. Those other two things weren’t me. I swear on my life–if I’m lying, I’ll get out of this car right now and throw myself into traffic!”
“I’m not the only one gunning for Elena and Louie. Sebastian did stuff last time too.”
“Nathan, if you don’t believe me, then just leave. Your cooling off period isn’t over–go back to Amelia. She’ll be thrilled. I’m dying anyway, don’t worry about me.”
“Besides, I was just defending myself. I did nothing wrong. Looking at what other people exposed later, even if I hadn’t done anything, someone else would’ve leaked the abortion thing.”
“I’m not just fighting for myself, but for all the patients who look up to me and find strength in my story.”
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“Nathan, I have my own dreams too!”
Nathan stared at sobbing Vivian, his head pounding.
From Eddie’s reports and data, Vivian had indeed countered speculation and exposed Elena’s abortion.
But his gut was telling him there was more.
Was he being paranoid?
Nathan couldn’t tell.
Seeing Vivian looking like she might collapse, he finally said: “Go get some rest. You’re sick.”
Meanwhile, Louie had driven Amelia to James Rodriguez’s place.
Everyone was waiting for them.
“What’s the plan now?” Everyone here knew Amelia’s real identity, but they were all worried.
Because they knew that in 3 days, Amelia and Nathan’s divorce cooling–off period would be over.
If they revealed Elena was actually Amelia right now, would it fuck everything up?
Everyone there knew Amelia was dead set on the divorce.
What if it fell through…
And if Vivian found out Elena was Amelia, would she go completely nuclear?
Louie’s phone kept buzzing nonstop.
Amelia could see it was calls from the show’s various investors.
Louie wasn’t picking up any of them.
He was too scared to.
Messages kept flooding in, one after another.
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Amelia looked and saw they were all demanding Elena get kicked off the show.
They were all putting the screws to Louie.
Charity fraud was like kryptonite.
All the investors were too chickenshit to take the risk–f this exploded and regulatory agencies got involved, the whole show was dead.
Louie’s head was splitting. He waved his phone at Amelia, then shoved it away.
They had to figure out a game plan fast, or they were all fucked.
“Hold up, don’t panic yet,” Amelia said.
She’d been strategizing the whole drive over.
“Next live show is the finale. If everything goes according to plan, I can get my divorce papers before
then.”
Everyone nodded.
“So right now, our strategy is simple: stall.”
Amelia looked around the room: “As long as we can keep my spot safe temporarily, prevent me from getting disqualified or the whole show from getting canceled, once I have those papers, most of these problems solve themselves.”
Everyone nodded.
Then went quiet.
Because there were so many unknowns.
First, could Amelia actually get divorced smoothly?
Second, how the hell were they supposed to stall?
Louie knew Amelia’s real identity, but the other investors didn’t, and they couldn’t find out.
The whole living room felt tense as hell.
What had seemed like a manageable charity fraud issue had become the thing that could destroy
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everything.
Everyone was thinking hard.
Just then, Amelia’s phone started buzzing.
She checked–someone calling Elena’s number.
“Who is it?” Harper asked.
Amelia shook her head: “No clue.”
“Could it be some psycho harassing you? Someone who got your number?” Harper looked worried–this kind of shit actually happened in the entertainment world.
Se7ven nodded–he’d been in these circles long enough to see plenty of scary incidents.
“Yo James, can you set up call blocking on Amelia’s phone?” Se7ven looked at his brother.
James nodded and got to work.
Amelia stared suspiciously at her phone but didn’t answer.
The ringing stopped and two text messages came through.
(14)
