Chapter 144
144 The Truth They Couldn’t Handle
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“Don’t forget, Rebecca ended up like this because she was trying to help you. Where’s your conscience?” Franklin snapped.
Connor hurried to defend himself. “After everything happened, I’ve been trying to fix it. I even brought a gift to talk to Scarlett…”
“Wait a second.” Stanley cut him off with a deep frown and a cold gleam in his dark eyes. “Rebecca got in trouble, and instead of going to the people behind the system, you ran to Scully? What’s your angle here?”
Connor nearly choked on the water he was gulping down. He slammed the glass down and said, “Don’t you get it? Red Star Flash–that’s Scarlett.”
Judging by the stunned loo
ks on their faces, he realized they had no idea.
“Well, yeah. She told me to keep it between us. Said it was just for casual posts, so I didn’t think much of it.” He shrugged. “Honestly, if I hadn’t taken a second look at her old avatar, I probably wouldn’t have recognized it during the conference either.”
“I went to see Scully hoping she’d go easy on Rebecca. But there were other people around, and she wouldn’t budge out of respect for them. Then I saw you all talking with her. I assumed you were trying to get her to authorize a statement for Rebecca, so I left.”
The Joyner family sat frozen in disbelief.
Scarlett was Red Star Flash?
The same account whose offhand posts from years ago had left the Lane family’s representative deeply impressed?
She studied medicine–what was she doing writing proposals? Sᴇaʀch Thᴇ ꜰindηovel.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access s of novels early and in the highest quality.
And not just writing, but writing well enough to command attention?
They couldn’t believe it.
Didn’t want to believe it.
Couldn’t bring themselves to believe it.
But then Connor showed them the screenshots.
The evidence was irrefutable.
Franklin’s fingers trembled. If Scarlett hadn’t cut ties with them, he could have demanded she give the rights to Rebecca. He could’ve insisted she discuss any future opportunities with Rebecca first.
But she had cut ties.
Oliver stared at the screen, eyes blazing. He didn’t want to believe Scarlett was that talented. But more than that, he didn’t want to believe that Rebecca had plagiarized.
He’d believed Rebecca’s side of the story for so long–that Scarlett was just imitating her. That Scarlett was petty and jealous.
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Now that the truth was staring him in the face, he felt like a fool.
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If time could be rewound, he’d go back and slap some sense into himself for every cruel word he’d ever said to her.
Eugene and Stanley were just as shocked, but Scarlett had shaken them so many times already, their reactions were more muted almost numb.
Suddenly, Franklin’s voice cut through the silence.
“She accused Rebecca of plagiarism, had her arrested, and then took it a step further–framing her for
arson!”
He was practically growling now,
“This isn’t just revenge against Rebecca. It’s revenge against all of us.”
He clenched his fists. He regretted everything.
If only he’d known how capable Scarlett was. If only he’d used her kidney for the transplant first.
The Joyner family wouldn’t be in this position now.
But it wasn’t too late.
Scarlett was in Jandale. She was likely attending the Lane family banquet. It wouldn’t be hard to find her.
Once they had her, they could force her to grant the authorization and change her testimony about the
arson.
Then Rebecca would be safe.
Connor listened to Franklin’s twisted justifications and frowned. “Wait… what arson?”
He’d been so busy handling banquet arrangements that he’d completely forgotten about the fallout with Rebecca. His assistant hadn’t even reminded him she still needed help.
He had no idea she was now facing criminal charges.
Stanley leaned in, lowering his voice as he quickly explained.
Connor shot to his feet. “What? That fire… Rebecca started it?”
Ever since discovering that Scarlett hadn’t faked being disabled at the birthday banquet, he’d felt guilty. He’d even thought about reaching out, trying to make peace.
Rebecca had once told him to treat Scarlett better. She always came off as kind and considerate.
But if she really had set that fire, then everything she’d ever said was a complete farce.
“No. I don’t believe it.”
Franklin nodded firmly. “Neither do I. Scarlett’s framing her.”
“My private investigator is still looking into it. Once we get all the evidence-”
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144 The Truth They Couldn’t Handle.
His eyes narrowed coldly.
“I’ll make sure Scarlett pays for this.”
As if on cuc, his phone buzzed again.
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“See? That’s the message from my investigator. I’ll have our lawyer set up a virtual meeting. We’ll drop the evidence on the cops right now.”
He grinned.
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