Chapter 44
Amara was at loss for words, stunned as she stared at Liliana.
She never intended to rewrite the script or use a stand–in just to humiliate Liliana. How could Liliana even think that? Was she brainless?
No, she wasn’t. Liliana was sharp as a tack. She must have been so furious she couldn’t help but lash out, or maybe she was just trying to get under Amara’s skin. If that was the case, she’d succeeded.
Amara closed her eyes shortly; despite fury filled with her chest, she got ahold of herself. She knew getting worked up wouldn’t solve anything. Ignoring Liliana, she left the room without another word.
Liliana didn’t bother to call after her. Before the slap mark on her cheek could fade, she snapped a carefully angled photo, capturing both her beauty and the pitiful bruise, and sent it to Finnian.
Her phone buzzed almost immediately with Finnian’s name flashing on the screen. A small, satisfied smile crept onto Liliana’s face.
Back in her own break room, Amara fought back tears but failed at the thought of her grievance.
She had been through a lot since young, faced plenty of scorn and derision, but even those people had their limits. They hadn’t used such vile language to tear her down.
Yet, in the past couple of days, she had been bombarded with thousands of hateful comments online, including some particularly harsh slut–shaming remarks that left her deeply hurt.
She heard urgent knocks on the door “Amara!”
The door flew open, and there stood Finnian, his face a thundercloud as he stormed toward her.
Amara barely had time to wipe her tears before she saw him. His usually handsome face was dark with anger, a menacing air surrounding him, and she froze.
“Did you hit Liliana?” he demanded, skipping any pleasantries.
Amara nodded. “Yes, I did.”
Actually she had already guessed why Finnian was there after a momentary pause, but the chill in his voice still sent a jolt of agony to her heart.
“How could you?” he spat, his eyes cold and intense, an intimidating aura exuding from him. “Did you forget she’s pregnant?”
Amara was silent. Yes, Liliana was pregnant–with Finnian’s child. But she was pregnant too, and she was the one being torn apart online. Why didn’t anyone care about her?
Finnian’s gaze bore into her as he noticed Amara didn’t respond. “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“I have nothing to say,” Amara replied, her voice barely a whisper, her face ashen.
“Liliana asked someone to spread lies about me online, which led to me getting cyber bullied. That’s why I hit her. But I can’t prove she did it. If you don’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do.”
After finishing her piece, she stared at the floor serenely, waiting for Finnian’s response, hoping he would just leave. She couldn’t handle this anymore.
“I’ll deal with the article,” Finnian finally said after few seconds, his voice low and ominous. “But you need to apologize to Liliana.”
“What?” Amara’s head snapped up in disbelief. He wanted her to apologize?
Just then, the door creaked open again, and Liliana walked in, looking frail and delicate. She clutched Finnian’s sleeve and said, “There’s no need to apologize. Ms. Sullivan’s been through so much with those awful comments. It’s understandable why she was upset. Although I didn’t do what I’m accused of, my cheek’s fine
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now. No need for apologies.”