Chapter 87


    Crystal racked her brains to find out the person who betrayed her, but to no avail. While she admits to


    doing those things out of her own volition, these are things she kept hidden to everyone, including her


    family. The people in her kink parties always signed a nondisclosure agreement. The leaked photos


    and videos came to her as a surprise. To this day, her team still has not found the person behind the


    Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org.


    leak.


    And while she continued to search for the culprit, people had a field day tarnishing her reputation. She


    became the press’ darling to a PR nightmare overnight. She thought that the news would eventually


    just die a natural death as long as she kept to herself and avoided the media, but it had dragged on.


    And as time passed, the more vicious they became. Their words did not only sting but shed her to


    bits. Comments ranged from the truth, to an interpretation of the truth, and to utter lies.


    The couple of weeks after her scandal broke out were the toughest days of her life. The days she spent


    as the Jewelry Heiress where people tiptoed around her and watched their words when talking to her


    had been a distant past. It almost felt like it was just a dream and her reality was the hell she lived in


    now.


    She had never encountered such difficulty in her life. All her life, her family shielded her from all


    difort the harsh world had. Her father helped her resolve all her problems, no matter how big or


    trivial. Even her drug use, he had helped keep it quiet. Nobody knew she had been in rehab twice


    already.


    However, after the scandal, like a broken dam, she stood in the middle of a deluge of harsh words from


    all her social media and news. People cursed her, called her names, and exposed her past misdeeds.


    Her pristine image turned to muck overnight.


    But this time, it’s different. She never felt so lonely in her life. She stood alone in the flurry of harsh


    words, usations, and judgement. Everyone seemed to have something nasty to say to her.


    Everywhere she looked, all she saw were the condescending eyes of people judging her. Whore. Drug


    addict. Brat. Slut. People who used to wish her nothing but the best things life offered cursed her and


    wished her dead.


    Even her family did not treat her kindly. Her father did not even wait for the news to turn cold. He called


    the Rain patriarch to apologize and cancel her engagement with Justin out of embarrassment for what


    happened. No amount of begging stopped him from deciding.


    The people whom she thought were her friends publicly disassociated themselves from her faster than


    she could blink her eyes. All the people she called just to have somebody to turn to, either ignored her


    or dismissed her.


    What hurt the most was Justin, whom she envisioned sharing her life with did not even bother to give


    her even an ounce of concern. This was the man she had an unrequited love for as long as she knew


    what love meant. She knew he did not love her. He’s an illusion she always wanted to have. His


    inaction just proved what she meant for him — nothing. For him, she deserved nothing of his time or


    affection. He did not even try to ask her how she was after all the undeserved judgement and ridicule


    she received from the media.


    She couldn’t help but shake her head and smile a bitter smile. No one bothered to ask how she’s doing


    but Serene. Of all the people who would go out their way to reach out to her, it had to be her, Justin’s


    ex-girlfriend.


    She found Justin’s, Dn’s and ina’s reaction when they saw Serene in the studio odd and piqued


    her curiosity. She had her investigated right away. That was how she learned about her past


    rtionship with Justin. The way Justin looked at Serene made her jealous. He never once looked at


    her with such longing and passion.


    When Serene reached out to her after the scandal, she found her action hypocritical. She expected


    Serene to mock her like the rest, but she did not. She sincerely offered a shoulder to cry on and said


    she knew how being alone and abandoned by the person you treasured most felt like. Did Justin


    abandon her too?


    Initially, she wanted to vent out her anger on her, but in the end, Serene’s sincerity won her over. She


    even felt a tinge of guilt in her heart. After she learned about Serene’s connection to Justin, and her


    own conclusion that her children were his, she had paid people to kidnap her children. However, the


    empathy she showed her melted her core.


    How ironic her life had been. The people whom she counted on abandoned her and the person she


    was bent on hurting embraced her and apanied her in her sadness. She’s not as despicable as


    people painted her to be. In thest minute, she had asked the people she paid to not continue with the


    task. How could she hurt her children when they were also victims of Justin’s heart of ice, like her and


    Serene?


    But then the weight of all the burden she had to carry weighed her down. Her career, which was just


    starting, now crushed and did not show signs of recovery. The family she expected would protect her,


    cast her away. Her friends, who she thought would help her out like she did before, avoided her like the


    gue. And Justin, the man she loved for years, the man she’s supposed to marry, did not even


    protest when their engagement got canceled. Was he relieved he’s no longer marrying her?


    There was not a day or a night where her heart did not feel pain or her mind not get troubled. She took


    a deep breath as she looked at the horizon. The sun is poised toe out, the indigo sky beginning to


    see pockets of light at a distance. She smiled and closed her eyes. She felt the chilly wind against her


    skin, and heard its whisper to her ears, “It’s over. Now, you can finally have peace.”