Chapter 297


    The buzz was reignited almost instantly as the reporters lifted their microphones and cameras,


    Then, they jostled forward with the hopes of breaking through the guards’ barricade.


    However, although there were more reporters than bodyguards at the main entrance, the ratio was


    significantly reversed on this side of thepound.


    Therefore, the thirty guards on site could easily hold back the twenty-odd reporters here, who could


    not break through the barricade even as they struggled and pushed forward.


    Now that they were growing frustrated at the bodyguards, the reporters realized they were left with


    no choice but to shout at Sonia from a distance, “Miss Reed, is it true that you arranged for Miss


    Gray to be assaulted?”


    “Do you have anything you’d like to say to that,


    Miss Reed?”


    The ovepping questions caused Sonia to frown. After deciding to ignore them, she continued to


    walk without bothering to acknowledge the reporters.


    Since they were displeased and spurred on by herck of response, the reporters threw several


    more questions her way.


    “Miss Reed, is your silence an admission? Did you actually orchestrate the whole incident?”


    “Did you really arrange for six men to carry out the dirty work? Don’t you think that’s despicable on


    your part?”


    This made Sonia stop in her tracks. There was an icy edge to her voice as she asked aloud,


    “Despicable?!”


    The man walking alongside her came to a stop as well and the both of them turned to re at the


    reporter, who had asked the unfortunate question.


    Sonia’s face was impassive as she regarded the reporter with a hard look. “Did you just call me


    despicable?”


    The reporter felt a chill run down his spine when he met her pitch-ck gaze. “A-Am I wrong?”


    He had no idea that a woman could be so intimidating and while the man next to her was wearing


    dark shades that obscured half his face, the reporter could tell that he was staring daggers in his


    direction as well, making him feel like someone was choking the air out of him.


    More importantly, the reporter found that the man looked somewhat familiar. Where have I seen


    him?


    N?velDrama.Org ? content.


    Presently, Sonia let out an insidious scoff as she drawled witheringly, “Looks like all of you are


    convinced that Tina was speaking the truth. So, you all think I’m despicable because you believe


    I’ve done this to her, but it only proves that you’re dumber than I thought. Don’t adults usually have


    better sense than this? If I have to spell it out for you, then the only despicable one in this whole


    incident is Tina herself!”


    Upon hearing this, the reporters fell into a stunned silence, but that onlysted for a second before


    they burst into an uproar.


    “Miss Reed, are you saying that Miss Gray has been lying to us and that you’ve never done


    anything to her in the first ce?”


    “Do you have any proof, Miss Reed?”


    The only reason why they were convinced by Tina’s side of the story was because she had called


    Sonia out on a livestream in front of millions of people. After all, if Tina was found to be lying, the


    bacsh would be of Armageddon proportions. She wouldn’t risk her own reputation like that


    without incontrovertible proof of Sonia’s crimes.


    Yet, the reporters’ conviction wavered after they heard what Sonia had said.


    A few of the reporters had turned on their live streams when they saw her exiting the building


    earlier, which had amassed hundreds of thousands of viewers.


    The viewers leapt into fervent discussion as soon as they heard Sonia’s statement.


    ‘Sonia’s right. We’re all adults here, and we need to hear both sides of the story before we deem


    anyone guilty. Tina might have pinned Sonia as the mastermind, but don’t you all realize how she


    has never once shown us concrete proof? She was only broadcasting the news online, so there’s


    still plenty of room for doubt in her story.’


    ‘Yeah, and more importantly, why didn’t Tina lodge a police report and have Sonia arrested at first


    instance? She’s the victim after all, so she was well within her rights to do so instead of sharing the


    details of Sonia’s crime on the Inte. She was probably just pulling a publicity stunt.’


    While some took on a level-headed approach to this incident, others maintained the belief that Tina


    had been speaking the truth.


    ‘Tina only resorted to publicizing Sonia’s crimes online because she wanted to tell us the truth


    behind the incident. She wanted us to know just how vicious Sonia is. If it meant the whole world


    seeing Sonia’s true colors, I would do the same thing should I be in Tina’s position.’


    ‘I agree with the above person. For those asking why Tina didn’t lodge a police report immediately,


    let’s not forget that Sonia didn’t, either. If Sonia really was innocent in all this, then she’d be well


    within her rights to make a report as well, but she didn’t. That alone should be enough proof of her


    character.’


    As more viewers voiced out their take on the matter, the opinions only grew more divisive.


    Meanwhile, Tina was watching the same livestream from her hospital room. Her eyes were trained


    on the bullet screen and when she saw how some of theizens were taking a neutral stance,


    which invariably was not in her favor, she was so outraged that she nearly threw her tablet out the


    door.


    However, when she saw that there wereizens who came to her defense, she calmed down with


    relief.


    Sonia was oblivious that her stand-off with the reporters back at the parking lot was being live-


    streamed. She swept her arctic gaze across the crowd and said curtly, “It’s true that I do not have


    any evidence now to clear my name, but that might change tonight.”


    A hush descended upon thepound the moment she said those words, but the reporters and the


    livestream audience burst into yet another uproar after a few seconds.


    Without waiting for the rest of his peers, one of the reporters urged immediately, “Miss Reed, are


    you saying that you are collecting evidence now and you will have everything you need by tonight to


    prove your innocence?”


    The reporter’s gesture did not sit well with his peers, who all looked at him resentfully. He could be a


    little more courteous instead of firing his question right off the bat.


    Yes! Sonia nodded before she turned to look straight into one of the cameras as she announced


    solemnly, “At midnight, I will present all the evidence I have and all of you can decide whether I’ve


    grossly wronged Tina. If I’m proven to be innocent, then I’ll definitely have her thrown into prison!”


    Tim should be done with his surgery by tonight. If he doesn’t give up any evidence, then I’ll just


    have to expose him. I have the audio recordings of our past few phone conversations, including the


    most recent one where he told me about how he was going to take his revenge on Tina.


    No matter how Sonia looked at it, her n to expose Tina’s lies was practically foolproof!


    In the hospital room, Tina felt her heart skipping a beat when she heard Sonia’s bold deration.


    Anxiety filled Tina’s thoughts as her hands tightened their grip on the tablet.


    She said she s been collecting evidence and that she’ll be done by midnight. Is that truly possible?


    At the thought of this, her heart raced at such speed that it could leap out of her throat at any


    minute, which caused all of the color to drain from her face.


    She wasn’t sure if Sonia was telling the truth, but she didn’t want to take the risk. If it turned out to


    be true, then she would be done for.


    After all, Tina had only dragged Sonia under the bus because she was so sure that Sonia couldn’t


    ever clear her name. But now...


    Tina bit hard on her bottom lip as a twinge of regret rose within her.


    While this was happening, the reporters in the parking lot were still angling to obtain more answers


    out of Sonia.


    However, as Sonia felt that she had already said all she needed to, she decided to leave the rest for


    tonight. Not wanting to waste any more time on the insatiable crowd of reporters, she turned to Toby


    and said, “We should go.”


    Toby was pleased that she had referred to the both of them with a collective ‘we’. A look of gentle


    compassion shed in his eyes behind his dark shades.


    “Okay,” he agreed as he adjusted his shades. He had been using them the moment he stepped into


    the elevator and it was more of a deliberate disguise than anything else; he didn’t want the reporters


    to recognize him and blow things out of proportion for her.


    Indeed, his presence right now would only worsen the dramatics, given how everyone knew about


    his past marriage with Sonia and his previous engagement to Tina. Now that the two women were


    going head-to-head against each other, the reporters would only have a field day once they


    captured his meeting with Sonia shortly after he had canceled his engagement to Tina. That would


    be adding salt to Sonia’s injury.


    As such, Toby wore therge pair of shades to obscure nearly half his face, thereby keeping his


    identity a secret from these wolf-like reporters.


    Before long, they came to a stop in front of Sonia’s car and she took out her keys to unlock the


    doors.


    However, just as she was reaching out to open the door on the driver’s side, the sound of scattered,


    hurried footsteps approached before it was followed by a menacing growl, “Die, you wretched


    woman!”