Ariana was full of regret, wishing she could go back in time and throttle the past, which was driven by self-interest.
But it was too late for that now.
She held her phone tightly, her hands shaking. The company had ditched her. Her agent no longer gave a damn about her fate. And Harper wasn't going to help her anymore.
All she could do now was try to save her own skin. She had managed to find Izabella's contact details. Nobody answered her calls, so she texted.
"Izabella, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have framed you. It was my agent who made me do it. I'm innocent; this whole mess has nothing to do with me. Please, can you post a statement online forgiving me? I can compensate you for your losses, as long as I can afford it."
Her phone was silent. No reply. Ariana waited anxiously, constantly unlocking her phone every time the screen went black and checking for a message from Izabella.
Many people called her and texted her, but she didn't dare answer or read the messages, frightened of the accusations and insults she would receive.
It wasn't until her phone battery was nearly drained that Ariana received a reply from Izabella.
"You want me to forgive you, but have you ever thought about leaving me alone? If I hadn't saved those videos and voice recordings, would you be apologizing like this?"
The answer was clearly no.
Ariana's intention was to bully Izabella. Even if she was bashed by netizens and her reputation ruined, she didn't care.
Ariana tried calling Izabella again, but she had been blocked.
Izabella had just gotten off a plane and was in a taxi. She casually opened a text from an unknown number, quickly replied, and then blocked the number.
If a simple "sorry" could make up for all the wrongs she had done, what's the point of laws?
But judging from the text Ariana sent, something seemed to have happened while she was on the plane.
From the news online, Izabella had a rough idea of what it was.
The situation had resolved itself pretty perfectly, and she hadn't had to do much.
Leaning against the car window, Izabella stared blankly at her phone screen. An image of Casey popped into her head, and she found herself smiling.
She finally understood why the flight attendant kept glancing at her on the plane and why Casey suddenly called to apologize.
She was worried about getting Casey involved in her mess, and it turned out that Casey was worried about the same thing. Without her knowing, he had already quietly sorted things out.
This man had helped her so much without making a fuss, but she didn't know how to face him.
Even if he wasn't Ryker Dempsey, she would still want to be friends with him. But she couldn't shake the fear that her feelings for him might be influenced by other motives or that Casey would find out that she initially approached him because he looked like another man. That wasn't pure sentiment.
Izabella remembered Casey's instructions and texted him once she got home safe and sound.
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