Chapter 303 Warmth Won't Be Late
Being with Giuseppe in the middle of the night? That meant after he left, Giuseppe went to see her again. The thought of his lips, which had kissed hers, now engaging in the same act with Giuseppe—and that she might not even resist—filled him with a dark, swirling turmoil so deep it could suffocate.
"Cough, Mr. Vittorio, do you think we still need to handle the press?" Tony risked asking, his voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
The man glanced at him coldly. Giorgio's lips curled into a frost-laden sentence, "No need, pick up Charlie this afternoon and bring him home."
Wait a minute…
Mr. Vittorio was seriously angry, even planning to bring Charlie home to keep him away from Anna...
These days, notoriety is as good as fame. Once Anna's popularity spiked, she would amass a huge following that could complicate future endeavors.
Seething, she dialed Giuseppe's number, "Are you insane? Do you seriously want to pursue something with Anna?"
Giuseppe was perpetually composed, as if seeing right through her, "Silly Katherine, she's officially my girlfriend now. Do you think she'll approach Giorgio again? And do you think he’ll care about her?"
Wait, what?
His rhetorical question left Katherine speechless. With Anna being coupled and no longer single, Giorgio couldn't pursue her. Psychologically, Giorgio was a stickler for cleanliness and wouldn’t fancy a woman who had a boyfriend. And even if he did, he would suppress it!
"So… you're doing this to help me?" she asked.
Giuseppe hummed softly, "If I don't help you, who will? Don't worry, I'm not interested in her. This is just a game."
Hearing the tender tone of his voice, Katherine’s emotions finally steadied, "Fine, but you better not fall for her. When the time is right, we'll kick her to the curb."
"Mm, you can go ahead and clarify that it was you with me last night. Let's end this news," Giuseppe said in a deep tone before hanging up.
After three seconds, his assistant looked at him and gave him a thumbs up, "Sir, with just a few photos, you made Anna admit she's your girlfriend, opened up a path for future relations, tested Mr. Vittorio, and made Katherine jealous and concerned. Three birds with one stone, brilliant indeed!"
Giuseppe murmured a low chuckle. Yes, he indeed planned to keep Anna close, to constantly test Giorgio's feelings for her, and to see the extent of Giorgio's concern for her.
As for Katherine, she was just another pawn in his game…
"The days are long; there's time to play."
…
That day, Anna first acknowledged the romance, and then Katherine spoke out. The previous trending topics were finally suppressed.
The focus of public attention once again shifted back to Anna.
"Some people should apologize to her, shouldn't they?"
"Pff, why doesn't she apologize to her foster mother?"
"Has everyone forgotten about the foster mother situation?"
"An amoral woman, how can she live so happily?"
"Can't the law take care of her?"
With each condemning comment, it seemed like the crowd wanted to tear Anna to pieces verbally. The previously fading scandal of her foster mother was suddenly a hot topic again.
Having dropped her two kids off at school, Sara was scrolling through the news on her phone while eating breakfast at a cozy diner. She couldn’t help but comment, "Anna, your old news is getting rehashed; someone's definitely out there trying to get you."
Anna didn’t argue; the internet lacked memory, or if it had any, it wasn’t so vast.
Indeed, someone was targeting her.
As she thought about it, her phone rang with an incoming call from Mirlinda.
"I've found out who's slandering you."
Found out!
"Who is it?" Anna asked, eager for the answer.
"It's that hot-shot Tuesday reporter,” Mirlinda replied. "He always drops bombshell stories on Tuesdays. Seeing your name making rounds, he's been fabricating news about you. I've also found out he's behind the leaked photos with your foster mother, and some of the trolls are from his own studio. If you need it, I can provide evidence."
A reporter?
Just a reporter?
Anna was surprised and a bit skeptical. "You sure about this?"
"Yeah, you don't know the ins and outs of the entertainment industry. Trending news is their golden bowl; they'll grab at anything, and this guy is ruthless. If I'm not mistaken, the photo from last night was snapped by him too. It would be wise to stay vigilant."
"…Thanks," Anna replied after a moment.
After the call, Sara, following the conversation with interest, asked, "So? Is the behind-the-scenes villain that B-word?"
Anna shook her head.
Initially, seeing Sara so certain and then Mirlinda so sure, she had suspicions about Katherine. But now, it seemed unlikely that Katherine would create buzz at her own expense.
"No, it's not her. It's the Tuesday reporter we've all been following—Drew Vee."
"Ah, him?" Sara exclaimed in disbelief, inadvertently swallowing her bite. "To be outed by a blogger you follow, isn't that just terrifying?"
Anna, too, found the world full of marvels. Before, it was others' stories she followed online, and now she was the story. Indeed, the tables had turned.
Just then, Sara’s phone erupted with various notification sounds. She picked it up, eyes widening, "Anna, look! Mr. Dalio is clearing the air for you!"
What? Simon?
Anna grabbed the phone anxiously and saw that Simon had started his account on Twitter with a brief and direct message.
[Not only did Mrs. Wendy verbally abuse and physically punish Anna, but she also sold Anna to a pervert. How should one deal with such a foster mother?]
Justice may be delayed, but it will always make its voice heard; silence does not mean indifference but rather a decision not to chase the limelight.
Accompanying the article was a hospital report revealing that Anna had been injured and illegal drugs were discovered in her system. There was also a court verdict. A guy with a last name starting with A was convicted of trafficking girls and illegal imprisonment, receiving a life sentence.
As soon as the news broke out, Twitter exploded!
Who is Simon? An heir to an immense fortune, a man of great stature who could rival Mr. Vittorio in wealth, and yet remarkably low-profile and reserved. He was not one to play around with social media, and he didn't even have a personal Twitter account. But now, he had created an account to support Anna and was personally dropping evidence. When he provided proof, who could question its credibility? It had to be real!
Even more shockingly, Wendy was accused of selling girls.
"People still do that in the 21st century?"
"What kind of life has Anna lived these past twenty-plus years?"
"Being sold, being drugged?"
"That means she is the victim! And we've been blaming her all these days!"
"Why didn't she come forward to explain?"
"Didn't you hear what Mr. Dalio said? She didn't want to seize on trending issues—maybe she was thinking the same."
"How tragic, right? How oppressed must she be to face such things and still maintain kindness?"
"I think I suddenly understand why she can be so volatile..."
"Unless you've tasted her suffering, do not preach kindness to her."
"I feel like crying; I shouldn't have been a keyboard warrior..."
"I'm so sorry..."
The tone of the comments shifted dramatically.
Anna, reading these, felt an unexpected pinch at her nose. She wasn’t angry or upset when she was bad-mouthed, but her apologies and compassion suddenly made it hard. To know that people cared about her after all... There was still love in the world...
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