An Inevitable Fate?

Crysta frowned. She spoke after thinking for some time.

"See, babe, those photos made him look bad in front of your dad and everyone. What did he gain from that? Shouldn't he be displaying himself as a the-most-eligible-guy in front of your dad?"

Rachel rolled her eyes.

"You are overestimating him. But, I hate to admit that you do have a point."

"Haha, that's right. I always have a point!"

"Alright, enough of your CID mode. Let's sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

They both sighed. They hoped the next day to be better if not the best.

It was morning at 7 am, Rachel's phone rang.

She woke up from the slumber and reached for the phone that was on the nightstand.

She squinted her eyes to see the caller ID. It was from Darren.

'Not a good sign!'

"Hello?"

Her voice was hoarse.

"Rachel, did you see the news?"

"News? What news?"

She rubbed her eyes. Just 3 hours back she had fallen asleep and now, she was sleepy.

"God, Rachel. The media has released articles about yesterday's banquet. To be specific, those articles are about those photos! They are making up erroneous news using them."

"Wh...what?"

Her voice was no more than a whisper. She breathed heavily due to anxiety.

"Calm down. You are with your friend, yeah? Okay, come to the hospital right now. I'm on my way. There might be reporters searching for you. Be careful."

"Okay."

She frantically opened her phone and googled the news. She didn't have to search more. She was on the top in the hot news.

Thanks to Aaron, she had become the most trending topic overnight.

"Yesterday, the Steins Industry held a year-end banquet in the Blue Swan Palace, one of the most reputed, luxurious halls. Of all these years, this year's banquet was on high-profile. They announced the collaboration of their company with the McSweeney Company. They have become the first company in the country to get tied-up with the most prestigious company."

"At the end of the banquet, shocking photos were released by them. It was the daughter-in-law, Ms. Rachel Stein with the CEO of Lee Industries, Mr. Lee Aaron. The photos showed the intimate interactions between the two of them. Recently, there were rumors about Ms. Rachel Stein getting married to one of the close family friends. As it was a private commemoration, not many guests were invited except for the family members and a few close businessmen. The photos have made a commotion in the business circle, regarding Ms. Rachel Stein's private life. The guests who were present at the banquet have given us an interview.

First-person: Those photos are real for sure. They looked so intimate in those photos. There should be something going on between them. No doubt about it!

Second-person: We all heard she was getting married but we don't know any further details. We saw her making an entrance with Mr. Darren. That confirmed that he was her rumored fiance. But now, she is with someone else. How can she cheat her fiance? God, she has humiliated her family. She is such a bad influence on young girls!

Third-person: I work in the Steins Industry. We all knew she was married to our boss's son. The young master lost his life due to an accident. Now that we heard about Ms. Rachel getting re-married, we all were truly happy. But, we didn't expect her to betray her family and her fiance. They must have felt mortified due to her actions. Mr. Colin collapsed on the stage after seeing the photos. Our boss must have felt utterly ashamed. We, the employees, treated Ms. Rachel as our role model but she truly became a disgrace to everyone.

We all are waiting for the news from Mr. Colin Stein and Ms. Rachel Stein's side. Stay tuned for the updates on further information."

Rachel didn't know that she was crying by the time she finished reading the article. Her fingers were shaking from fear and embarrassment. She re-read the article twice to make sure that she wasn't hallucinating.

She prayed for someone to tell that all this was a dream. She wanted to wake up from this dreadful dream.

"What's wrong?"

Beside her, Crysta woke up, lazily. She got alarmed, seeing her friend, crying her eyes out.

She snatched the phone from Rachel's hand and read the article. Her blood started to boil.

"What the f.u.c.k? Are they blind? How can they simply make-up things without consulting the involved parties? They are asking for a death wish!"

She was burning with fury.

"What... what do I do?"

Rachel was now trembling. Crysta felt her heart-breaking, seeing her friend in the helpless situation. She hugged her close, patting her back to console.

"Don't worry. It's not your fault. They are spouting nonsense just for the publicity. First, we need to go to the hospital. Aunt is alone there. Alright?"

Rachel broke the embrace, nodded before leaving the bed to get ready.