chapter822

"That's right. But not long ago, Mr. O'Brien instructed me to reclaim the property."

He paused, then added, "And your studio as well. Please pack up your things and vacate within the next two hours. If you can't manage it, we'll clear it out for you."

Rachel's face twisted in disbelief. "The house and the studio were gifts from Haynes! Since they were given to me, what right does he have to take them back? When did he become so petty?!"

Benson remained unfazed, his tone almost gentle. "The house and studio were originally intended for Ms. Cameron. When you were diagnosed as terminally ill, they simply let you use them first. Since you're no longer sick... it's only proper for them to be returned."

He smiled at Rachel, polite as ever, but the contempt in his eyes was impossible to miss.

"Ms. Pearce, you know as well as I do your privileges were all because of your illness. Without it, do you really think Mr. O'Brien would go out of his way to grant your wishes? Are you more important than his wife and son?"

Rachel's lips trembled. She couldn't get a word out.

Benson checked his watch and reminded her, still smiling. "Ms. Pearce, you have twenty-five minutes left to pack your things."

Twenty minutes later, Rachel wheeled her suitcase out the front door.

She shot Benson a venomous glare-the mask she'd worn for so long finally slipping, revealing a woman as poisonous as a viper.

"Benson, you'll all regret this!"

Benson had heard threats like that a hundred times; they didn't faze him in the slightest.

"Ms. Pearce, don't forget to clear out your studio. We'll be back in two hours to check."

Dragging her suitcase behind her, Rachel checked into a hotel for the night.

By then, her name was plastered all over the internet, trending for all the wrong

reasons.

The controversy only grew as no one bothered to step in on her behalf.

Sponsors rushed to cut ties, some even releasing public statements about dropping her.

Even the competition Rachel had recently entered disqualified her after accusations surfaced that she'd manipulated her livestream numbers and was involved in all sorts of scandals.

Most of her fans-unable to find a single excuse for her-quietly

Wo

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abandoned her. In just a few hours, she lost millions of followers.

Rachel scrolled through the endless stream of biting comments, her heart pounding in her chest.

Still, she didn't lose her grip completely.

She might have lost Haynes, but she still had Joshua Gardner. No matter what, she was sure Joshua would help her.

Rachel dialed his number without hesitation. "Joshua, what the hell is going on online? How does Stella have so much dirt on me?"

Joshua sounded almost bored. "Not sure. I think Foreman Richards gave it to her?"

"Foreman?" Rachel was skeptical. "You really think Foreman would know all those details? Some of that stuff is way too specific-"

Joshua cut her off, his voice airy and unconcerned. "Hmm? Too specific, you mean?"

At this point, Joshua was Rachel's last lifeline. She couldn't afford to antagonize him.

Besides... Joshua had no reason to do this to her.

She took a steadying breath and softened her tone. "If Stella really has all that evidence against me, you've been by her side all this time why didn't you help me destroy it?"

Joshua let out a short laugh. "Destroy it? Do you think Stella's stupid enough not

to keep backup copies of something so important?"

Rachel was left speechless, the words catching in her throat.

After a long moment, she tried again. "Even if you couldn't destroy it, you could've

at least stopped her from leaking it, right?"