Chapter 509
After Nathaniel's death, a video surfaced online, sparking a whirlwind of debates across the web because the woman in the video bore an uncanny resemblance to Izabella.
The woman in the video was dressed in tattered clothes, her body covered in blood and sweat. Her disheveled hair clung to her pale face, her head hung low, her appearance too pitiful for words. The video was muted, but seeing the woman trembling and opening her mouth in pain, one could tell how painful she must have been.
The video lasted for a full ten minutes, too cruel for most to endure the entirety of it. It was removed two hours after its upload due to its violent content.
But that was enough time for it to trend, and some who had seen it early enough managed to save it, secretly sharing and spreading it.
[I saw the original video, it's too bloody and cruel. I've never seen such horrifying methods of torture. According to professional analysis, these methods are definitely real. When I saw the woman in the video, I subconsciously touched myself, truly feeling the pain.]
[Am I the only one who thinks this looks like Izabella?]
[Maybe she's into thrill-seeking.]
[The video is muted, but I swear I can hear her heart-wrenching cries for help. Someone save her.]
[It's really looking more and more like Izabella. Could it really be her? Considering she suddenly retired from acting despite winning Best Actress, something seems fishy.]
Many netizens speculated that the woman in the video was Izabella.
And it indeed was Izabella, but from several years ago. To be precise, it was her from her past life.
Izabella's hand trembled as she held her phone, quickly regaining her composure after a brief moment of shock.
Even after so many years, she thought she had forgotten what should be forgotten. But when she saw this video, her body couldn't help but tremble.
The video only captured ten minutes, but she had been tortured for over an hour.
Have you ever seen true torment?This material belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.
The erosion of humanity, the desperation of a creature trapped in a living hell, that's what you'd call a fate worse than death.
These mere ten minutes were just the tip of the iceberg.
Izabella never thought Nathaniel would keep these videos, let alone that they would leak after his death.
Izabella put down her phone, contacted her PR team via her phone, and ordered them to remove the video from the internet. But by the time she had called, the videos had already been cleaned up, and many big marketing accounts had been blocked.
The official account of the Dempsey Group issued a clarification statement, and a legal notice, demanding those who defamed Izabella to apologize immediately, or they would receive a court summons. The internet was not a lawless land, and people should pay for their mistakes.
Izabella had over 60 million fans. When she announced her retirement from entertainment, these fans didn't leave her.
Upon learning she was being slandered again, they immediately came out to refute the rumors, comparing Izabella's face with the woman in the video.
They were similar, but the differences were also obvious.
Who was the woman in the video? What happened to her afterward.
Afterward, she died.
How she died was lost in time, and with someone controlling the internet, no one knew the original truth.
However, the man who tortured the woman was revealed - Nathaniel, who was recently executed by firing squad.
Everyone condemned him. Nathaniel deserved his fate.
This incident, while not huge, did have an impact on Izabella.
Izabella's real identity was questioned, and her current resume was fairly ordinary.
Everyone suddenly realized that rumors about Izabella were fake. Then what was the real her like? Wasn't her resume just as simple and misleading as Casey's? Could it be Izabella also had a remarkable identity?
She had to thank Nathaniel for this. Bell's information was all made up by him. Except for her age, none of it was true, and no one could find out anything by investigating.
Although Casey had been
discharged from the hospital, his
body hadn't fully recovered to its
previous state. To regain the
physique he had when filming
"Interstellar", he needed to gain
weight and build up his muscles.
So, he stayed at home cooking, playing the role of a house-husband, and occasionally went to Izabella's company, delivered food, and helped Izabella handle some trivial matters.
The moment he saw the news
online, he immediately set out for the Maple Group. On the way, he saw a dessert shop Izabella liked and thought that Izabella might cheer up after having something sweet, which she loved.
He bought a cake that looked particularly appealing.
Worried about disturbing Izabella's work, he called Secretary Hansen to inquire about the situation.
Knowing that Izabella was in a meeting, he sat in the reception room to rest, with the cake placed beside him, and browsed the internet on his phone.
The video issue had been resolved,
and he could no longer find it by searching keywords. He closed his eyes, recalling the video he couldn't finish watching. Izabella's pained face in the video was like a thorn in
his heart, a slight movem like
it would pierce through his ribs, and he wished he could pull it out.
He had witnessed Izabella's torment firsthand, and just thinking about it made him clench his fists.
Reality was often crueler, and the world had been too unfair to Izabella.
Since Casey regained his memories, sometimes when he recalled the past, especially when he was the simple-minded Ryker, he felt as if it was all a dream.
He wished it was a dream, so Izabella wouldn't have suffered so much.
If he hadn't disappeared those years, if he had found Izabella sooner, would everything be different?
Everything was interconnected. Perhaps if one part of the process had been slightly better, the butterfly effect that ensued would also have been different.
Casey harbored a secret in his heart. He regained his memories because he bumped into Izabella's brother, Lucas, who noticed his prosthetic right hand on the plane.
Ryker, due to a brain injury, had a low IQ, with mental capacity equivalent to a six or seven-year-old. He tried to protect Izabella in his own way, despising everyone who hurt Izabella.
His rash actions were made without considering the consequences. Was this against the law? Would Izabella dislike him for it?
Now, Ryker had become Casey. Far from the naive boy he once was, he had grown wiser, yet more cautious. He trod lightly, his every move calculated, fearful that one wrong step could send Izabella running. Suppose, just suppose, Izabella knew the truth-that it was his hand that had caused her brother's injury. Would she fear him then? Would she turn on her heel and leave him behind?