Chapter 613 Breaking into a Cold Sweat
"Man, if Sophia wasn't around, I could totally live it up and be Gabriel's girl," Patricia mused.
She got up like she just had an epiphany, strutted over to the mirror, and stared at her reflection, which looked a lot like Sophia.
A wild idea started brewing, 'I'm gonna trash Sophia's rep! Make Gabriel hate her guts!'
That afternoon, Patricia kicked off a live stream, riding the wave of buzz from some nude pics to pull in a ton of viewers.
When folks asked about the photos, Patricia flashed a sly grin.
"Y'all, take a good look at who those pics remind you of."
Someone chimed in.
"They look like the chick who secretly married Mr. Lancaster!"
So, with Patricia's sneaky nudges and the crowd's nosiness, rumors flew that the person in the pics was Gabriel's secret wife, Sophia!
Patricia watched the public turn on Sophia and laughed like she just won the lottery.
That night, she dolled up like Sophia and hit a hotel with two dudes on her arms.
Patricia had someone snap secret pics and splash them online with a juicy headline.
[High-Society Hottie Sophia's Secret Hotel Hookup]
Netizens: [This socialite sure knows how to party.]
[Is Mr. Lancaster not hot enough anymore?]
[Sophia must be nuts. Mr. Lancaster's a total snack, and she goes for two trolls!]
[You don't get it, some rich folks are into weird stuff.]
[Gross!]
Tiffany chuckled at Patricia's antics.
"Patricia must be losing it to pull that stunt, but it's working."
"Get a lawyer, we need a lawyer!" Jennifer was so mad she almost flipped the table.
If Celeste found out, she'd be livid.
Sophia was fuming and speechless. She could tell right away the person in the pics was Patricia, but the netizens were clueless.
Now everyone online was convinced it was her.
"Sophia, I'll have someone announce you're the Blackwoods' heir right now to clear this mess up."
Sophia thought for a sec and nodded.
"Alright."
She didn't want to spill the beans about being the Blackwoods' heir so soon, but she had no choice now.
She couldn't let Gabriel handle it since they were divorced. Technically, she was just his ex.
But before Jennifer could set things straight, Gabriel dropped a lawyer's letter and had his team put out a statement, hitting up a blogger with millions of followers to clear the air that the person in the pics wasn't Sophia but Patricia, the disgraced heir of the Browns.
Patricia had gone under the knife to look like Sophia, trying to jack her identity. Her motives were shady, and they had already reported it to the cops and decided to sue Patricia.
Netizens finally got the scoop and started roasting Patricia.
But when the cops went to nab Patricia, she was MIA, like she vanished into thin air.
"You mean Patricia's missing?" Sophia looked at Gabriel, stunned.
Gabriel nodded, "Yep, the cops have been searching all day. I even sent my guys out, but she's just gone."
She furrowed her brows and thought, "How the heck did Patricia just vanish? Someone must've hidden her, or..."
Sophia asked, "Could Tiffany have helped her skip town?"
"I've got eyes on Tiffany. So far, no contact between her and Patricia. We've also got people watching all the major stations, airports, even the highway exits."
Patricia was totally boxed in. She couldn't leave City B even if she grew wings.
"So where could she be?" Sophia wondered.
Sophia thought of a bunch of places Patricia might hide, but came up empty.
After two days of searching, Patricia finally showed up.
When Sophia went to the hospital to see Patricia, she found her a mess—mentally unstable, vacant eyes, drooling, and her limbs all limp. She freaked out at the sight of any guy.
The doctor sighed.
"She must've been through hell. When we checked her, her body was covered in bruises."
Sophia was stunned, her brows knitting together. "Who could've been so cruel to Patricia?"
She couldn't figure it out and wondered, "Besides me, who else could hate Patricia this much?"
Gabriel stood outside the ward, waiting for Sophia to come out, and they left together.
Patricia did this to herself.
Sophia felt conflicted. She had wanted to nail Patricia with the law.
Patricia was so in the wrong, and she could've successfully sued her, but now that was clearly off the table.
In the car, Gabriel kept glancing at Sophia.
"Are you wondering who did it?"
Sophia guessed, "Logan must've made a lot of enemies. Maybe this is payback from one of them."
Gabriel's lips curled slightly.
He didn't really buy the enemy-of-the-Browns theory.
"Why didn't they strike when the Browns first fell? Why wait until now to go after Patricia?" Gabriel pondered.
He had a suspect in mind, but without proof, it would be slander to say it out loud.
Sophia's phone buzzed. She picked it up and saw a Facebook message from Jake.
Jake: [Hey, just saw the news. Don't sweat it. I know you're not that kind of person.]
Sophia replied: [All good now!]
Jake: [Great! Sorry for being so busy lately.]
He added a "sad" emoji.
Sophia sent him a "smiley" face.
Inside the CEO's office of Micro Circuit Group, Jake looked at the smiley face Sophia sent and his lips curled slightly, but the smile vanished in a second, replaced by his usual cold look.
The assistant came in.
Jake asked, "No traces left?"
Assistant replied, "None."
Jake nodded.
Patricia was playing dirty to slander Sophia. Letting her live was already his mercy.
He wouldn't let anyone mess with Sophia's rep!
Back at the hospital, Tiffany was pale with fear when she saw Patricia.
When she came out, her hands were shaking.
Before Patricia disappeared, she had gotten a call from that mysterious person.
The mysterious person asked if she was behind the photos slandering Sophia online. She denied it and pointed the finger at Patricia.
And then Patricia ended up like this.
Tiffany leaned against the hospital wall, breaking out in a cold sweat at the thought of that mechanical, icy voice.
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