Chapter 12 Break the Deadlock
“Don’t take any work for now. Just chill in the dorm and don’t stress too much. The company will handle it. I’m off to talk to Mr. Arellano. Stay put.” After giving these instructions, Helena hurried away.
Graciela stayed in the dorm, growing more annoyed with every thought.
no
She thought, “Is Leanna out of her mind? She couldn’t control Lamar at the bar. How can she blame me? Why didn’t she slap him hard?”
Just thinking about it made Graciela furious.
She should have slapped Lamar in the bar that night.
Emery was right. Lamar was a total jerk.
He had Leanna by his side, but he still hit on her. He pinned her
against the wall, taking advantage of her. Then he acted like
they were close, pretending to care where she got hurt.
Graciela vowed to herself that the next time she saw Lamar, she
wouldn’t let him off easily.
“It’s weird! Why does my heart race when I think of him?”
Graciela couldn’t understand herself. She didn’t even know him!
“It’s so annoying.” She buried herself in the blanket, curling up.
Just then, her phone rang.
“Hey, Emery”
Emery rambled, “Grace, where are you? I just saw what was online. Are you okay? Don’t listen to those trolls. They’re just bored, messing up their own lives and trying to boss others around. Don’t take it to heart. Got it?”
“Emery!” The concern from her dearest one made Graciela lose her composure. Her eyes got wet, and her voice quivered. “I miss
you so much!”
Ever since she was born, she had always been the apple of her
family’s eye, surrounded by praise and admiration. When had
she ever been insulted like this?
No matter how cheerful Graciela was, she couldn’t help but feel
down.
Emery was heartbroken. “Grace, don’t worry. I will announce
our relationship right away. You’re the heiress of the Ferguson
family. Not to mention going to Pinnacle Restaurant, even if you wanted the moon in the sky, I could get it for you!”
“No!” Graciela stopped him quickly. “We agreed I’d make it in showbiz on my own! I can solve this myself. Emery, don’t interfere.”
“But I feel sorry for you,” said Emery.
Graciela pleaded, “I know you feel sorry for me, but I’m grown up and can handle things. Emery, trust me. I’ll find a way to fix this properly. Let me do it myself, please.”
Emery had no resistance to Graciela’s coquetry and gave in. “Fine! If you need help, you can always come to me.”
“Sure. Don’t worry, Emery.” Graciela blew a kiss on the phone. “Emery, go ahead with your work. Don’t worry about me.”
Emery had to hang up the phone.
He couldn’t help but sigh.
Graciela was dead–set on getting into showbiz. If Morton and
Michael found out about this mess, they would surely blame
him.
Luckily, those two were still abroad for now.
Emery made an internal call and told his secretary, “Keep an eye on showbiz these days. If the nasty rumors about Grace don’t
die down in a week, you use the official account to reveal
Grace’s identity.”
“Yes, Mr. Ferguson!”
It was at the top–floor CEO’s office of the Arellano Group.
After the morning meeting, Lamar leaned back in his leather chair, pinching the bridge of his nose, eyes closed.
Curtis noticed and told the secretary to make coffee. Then he
stood there, unsure if he should speak.
“Just speak your mind,” Lamar said in a deep voice.
“Yes, Mr. Arellano,” Curtis replied quickly. “Ms. Ferguson and
Ms. McLean have been clashing lately.”
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“What’s wrong?” Lamar opened his eyes, frowning. “Did Graciela bully Leanna?”
Curtis’s mouth twitched. It was tough to say who was being
bullied.
“Ms. McLean’s fine,” Curtis said. “It’s Ms. Ferguson who suffers
from cyberbullying.”
“What happened?” Lamar’s frown deepened.
Curtis quickly handed over the file.
Lamar read it and stayed silent.
The file was detailed, and Curtis had investigated thoroughly.
Leanna’s motives were clear.
“Mr. Arellano, should we step in?” asked Curtis.
“No need. Just leave it be!” Lamar tossed the file to Curtis and closed his eyes again. “You can go out!”
“Yes” Curtis carried the file, shrugged indifferently, and left the office.
M
F
Lamar opened his eyes, picked up the group photo on the desk, and gently stroked Leanna’s pure face in the photo, murmuring, “Leanna, don’t you trust me? It’s over between her and me. Why do you keep making things hard for her?”
The person in the photo just smiled softly, giving no reply.
After hanging up with Emery, Graciela racked her brain but
couldn’t think of a way to break this deadlock.
She thought, “Ask Ambrose to help clear my name? That time at
the police station, he wouldn’t even take a photo. Clearly, he’s
very protective of his privacy. Someone like that probably doesn’t want to get mixed up in such tabloid news.
“Ask Emery for help? I just firmly refused that. Beg Leanna for mercy? Might as well kill me!”
Graciela pounded her head in frustration, wishing she was smarter to handle such complicated stuff.
She murmured, “Forget it. Let’s check with Willa and see if she has any ideas.”
Then, Graciela called Willa.
“Grace, don’t worry. Helena and I just discussed it. First, we’ll send a lawyer’s letter and go after those clickbait accounts for legal liability. Then we’ll release some other news to divert
public attention. Meanwhile, we’ll start with people around
Leanna and see if we can get them to talk and find evidence
they framed you.” Willa’s plan was crystal clear.
Graciela suddenly saw the light and clapped for Willa. “Wow!
Willa, you’re amazing! I was racking my brain and couldn’t
think of a way. Compared to you, I feel like a total newbie.”
Willa chuckled, “These are typical showbiz moves. You’ll get the
hang of them once you have been around a while.”
“Besides,” Willa teased her, “aren’t you just a 19–year–old
student?”
“That’s right!” Graciela laughed too. “I’m still a 19–year–old little girl!”
“Seriously, were you having dinner with Emery that day? Actually, if you’re willing to announce your relationship, or that you’re the boss of Gralla Entertainment, solving this would be a piece of cake. Are you sure you don’t want to try?”
Graciela thought it over and answered firmly, “Not for now. I want to challenge myself and see how far I can go on my own.”
