Twisted Ties of Love

"Did the Maple Group blacklist Kristin just to back up Izabella?"

"From what we've seen so far, Izabella is no better than Kristin. But she's young and has been in the industry for less time. Maybe she'll get more popular once her TV drama airs." "Look at Izabella. She's already so popular, even though she's getting slammed every day."

"I can't believe Izabella doesn't have some big power backing her. Showbiz is too complicated. How can a small-town girl keep her innocence?"

"Internet trolls are at it again. They think they're the moral police, just cause they have a mouth to run."

"I'm actually okay with the Maple Group blacklisting Kristin. Her fans are so extreme, they even encourage animal abuse. Kristin deserves to be punished!"

"The Maple Group is way out of line to blacklist artists left and right. All those years of hard work were down the drain. Aren't they afraid of getting sued and having to pay damages?"

Online opinions were all over the place. One moment, people were saying the CEO of the Maple Group had lost his marbles for blacklisting Kristin, who was their only cash cow. The next, there was some new scoop.

Izabella was one to face challenges head-on. After getting hold of photos of Kristin's legs and feet, she sent all the dirt she'd collected to a gossip account.

- Kristin's real name was Kaley Cornett.

A lot of people didn't know who Kaley was. It was not unusual for celebrities to change their names.

But as the gossip unfolded, before and after pictures of Kristin's plastic surgery were revealed.

First to be exposed were pictures of her foot missing toes.

Kaley was first exposed for having ties with the Windham Group's CEO Brett Windham. Three years ago at her engagement party, a lewd video of her with another man suddenly appeared on the big screen. With this lead, more and more netizens started digging deeper. Their collective power and insight were not to be underestimated. If they really started digging, they could uncover all of a person's secrets. Then, netizens exposed how Kaley became a homewrecker, how she successfully replaced the rightful wife, and how she schemed to have Bell Salotti take the blame, and bribed the media to smear Bell Salotti.

"Kristin's foot makes me sick. Her fans have unique taste."

"Look at this foot. Can Kristin's fans still accept her?"

"We shouldn't call her Kristin anymore, but Kaley. I can't believe she's this ruthless. Not only was she the other woman, she was also seeing two men at the same time."

"Has this showbiz news reached the upper crust? Didn't Brett love his wife? Why did he marry Kaley after the divorce?"

"Izabella was framed from the start. I can't imagine how she endured all the attacks online. And all of this was orchestrated by Kristin."

"I've seen shocking news, but nothing like this. Now I understand why the Maple Group blacklisted Kristin. Her unchecked behavior deserves it."

"Does anyone know how Kaley forced Brett's ex-wife to leave?"

"I got some juicy news. I used to be a nurse in a hospital in R City about six years ago. After Brett's wife had a miscarriage and developed a mental disorder, Kristin told her in the ward that if she could have a baby, she would raise it. I've never seen a homewrecker so shameless."

"Brett and Kristin are both evil. Brett's not worthy of his ex-wife. Do you know who she is? Izabella. Not the current showbiz Izabella, but the Izabella who used to be the richest lady in R City, the young lady of the Salotti family."

"Why was there a mosaic on Kaley's indecent video at the engagement party? I want to see the full HD version!"

"Brett's ex-wife's name was Izabella? What a coincidence. Could this Izabella have any relation to the deceased Izabella? Could it be that today's Izabella also had plastic surgery?"

"They look somewhat alike, but it's probably not. Brett's ex-wife is dead, and this Izabella's real name is Bell Salotti. There are records. Izabella is just her stage name."

"Now I finally understand why Kristin has been targeting this Izabella. It's because of her jealousy. She's jealous of the Izabella in the past and the Izabella now. They both can easily overshadow her." Izabella sipped her coffee while looking at her phone.

At this moment, she had gotten her revenge for "Bell Salotti", but things weren't over yet.

Kristin was taken care of. Now it was Nathaniel's turn. She had said she wouldn't let these people off. Izabella twirled the ring on her finger.

News about Kristin's scandal had spread like wildfire on the internet. Brad was shocked when he saw it, but also relieved. Now he understood what Izabella had meant.

If they hadn't terminated Kristin's contract and forced her to finish filming the script, the drama might never have aired.

He was also amazed at Izabella's tactics and abilities. She was able to dig up so much on Kristin. No wonder Kristin would occasionally freeze up and ask for a body double for leg shots.

With all the commotion online, Brett found out too. He couldn't believe Kaley wasn't dead. He couldn't believe that she had been living under a new identity all this time, still hurting Izabella and even causing Niki's death.

He was kicking himself now, wondering why he didn't go all out back then.

Brett was fuming mad. Coughing a fit, his lungs were on fire when he spit out a mouthful of thick blood. He was used to the blood-spitting thing.

"Used to" was a mighty word, it explained all the predicaments.

Brett skillfully pulled out a tissue to wipe the blood from his mouth, went to the bathroom to rinse, and washed his face. Looking at his pale reflection in the mirror, he scowled, "Serves you right!" Screwing up someone else's marriage was bound to bite you in the ass. His illness had stabilized these days, no more spitting blood. But after his call with Casey Dempsey, his condition flared up again. Brett leaned against the cold wall, lost in memories.

He was good to Kaley, patient and gentle, but he treated Izabella like dirt for four years.

He drove Izabella to commit suicide by fire, but let Kaley, the one who wronged her, off the hook.

Izabella was right.

He was always making excuses for his cowardice. He was less than a cat.

Today, Brett spit a lot of blood and couldn't stop the bleeding. Medicine didn't work. He covered his mouth with a wet towel, and swallowed the blood, his chest aching. The blood kept gushing out of his mouth. It even choked his throat, making him unable to swallow in time. His body was shaking like a leaf in autumn, the towel was soaked with blood.

He came out of the bathroom, and couldn't make it back to the couch. He collapsed onto the carpet. Suddenly, he wanted to see Izabella, even just hearing her voice would do.

Brett took his phone out of his

pocket, and slowly moved it in front of his eyes. He selected Izabella's number in the call log and dialed,

Izabella's number over and over net

again, but no matter how

many

times he tried, all he got was the

cold automated prompt, like a cruel

joke.

If this was karma, did he regret it?

Nope.

He would still make that call to Casey and feed him a load of bull.

If Casey didn't believe Izabella and took his word, then Casey didn't deserve Izabella.

Brett took a breather and made a call, his voice hoarse with command.

"Take care of Kristin. Find out who's behind her."

After that, Izabella never heard from Kristin.

Izabella thought that after dealing with Kristin, her identity in the Maple Group would be exposed. But there was no news, and everyone's focus was still on Kristin. Netizens dug up a lot of old stuff. Izabella saw it once and felt sick, so she turned off her phone.

She called Brad to continue filming. During breaks, she would text or call to check on Casey's condition. After work, she'd go home and learn self-defense from Toby. She kept busy all day without idle time to think about anything else.

A week passed, and Izabella finally finished all the filming.

She had been filming for about two months.

A surprise guest showed up at her wrap party. Izabella looked at the man sitting in the seat of honor - Nathaniel.

"Why didn't you tell me he was coming?" Izabella asked.

Brad didn't expect Nathaniel to come either. He was busy filming with Izabella these days, and the wrap party was arranged by the producer.

"Nathaniel is an investor. No one

would dare to stop him if he wanted to come," Brad said, holding his phone, "someone just posted in the group chat that your wrap party is arranged by him. Izabella, are you hiding something from me? What's your relationship with this Nathaniel? Is he chasing you and you're not into him?"

Fate? Bad fate. Relationship? They were enemies.

Izabella put on a gentle smile. "Mr. York, let's go."

She and Brad went to the main table. She didn't know how the seating was arranged, but she was placed next to Nathaniel.

People took their seats. Waiters were taking orders, asking if there were any dietary restrictions.

Nathaniel looked at Izabella and said, "No chopped parsley."

He knew she didn't like chopped parsley.

Since the cat abuse scandal, Nathaniel has locked himself in his room. He researched various drugs, trying to numb his unrealistic thoughts with busyness.

But as the chaos on the internet grew, it was hard for Nathaniel to ignore.

It wasn't hard to find information about Izabella, soon he found out that the Maple Group was Izabella's, and before that, Brett transferred eight hundred million to Izabella's account. Some people might not know, but as Brett's enemy, he was well aware.

The eight hundred million dollars was the alimony Brett gave to Izabella when they divorced.

Izabella and Bell Salotti were two completely different people.

The difference between them was like night and day. Bell Salotti could never be Izabella. She could try to learn Izabella's manners and

expressions, but she could nevernetText property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

learn the confidence and pride that come from Izabella's bones, et alone run a billion-dollar corporation, or even take over her former company.

Izabella also bought a lot of stocks, all of which were rising. She had already made fifty million from an initial investment of ten million dollars.

The facts have proven that Bell Salotti has been replaced by Izabella.

When Izabella heard Nathaniel say no chopped parsley, she glanced at him.

She took out her phone and sent a message to Casey. "I finished filming today. Aren't you coming over?"

Usually, Casey replied to her messages quickly, but today she sent two and Casey didn't reply. Was he held up by something?

Izabella propped her chin, her mood visibly down.

Soon, the dishes were served. The waiter said with the tray, "Sir, here's the dish you ordered without chopped parsley."

Nathaniel took it and placed it next to Izabella. This scene caught everyone's attention.

"Mr. Krueger, you got it wrong."

Nathaniel retorted, "I didn't mess up. This is yours. You don't do chopped parsley."

That's just how people were sometimes. Even when they were clearly beaten by the facts, they still didn't want to face the truth.

With a sarcastic tone, Izabella said, "That's Bell Salotti, but I'm Izabella." After saying that, she called out to a waiter, "Hey, can you get me something with chopped parsley? I love it." Izabella didn't have any particular food aversions. She liked to add chopped parsley when she cooked, but Brett didn't like it back in the day, so she stopped adding it to please him. Nathaniel's eyes turned cold, and his mood seemed to be controlled by Izabella.

Izabella reminded Nathaniel, "Mr. Krueger, do you remember what I told you before? Bell is long gone." Nathaniel remained silent. He quietly looked at the dish in front of him without any chopped parsley added.