Streaks of sunlight peeked into the room Alexa was in, and she stirred awake due to the intensity. At first, she lay there not knowing where she was, but a few seconds later, she recalled where she had gone the night before and sat up abruptly.Due to the sudden movement, her head swayed and ached as though everything inside had been overturned.“Great! A nasty hangover so early in the morning,” she cursed under her breath.She vaguely remembered betting with that vulgar old man to have a few drinks in exchange for getting his help with the company. Usually, she wouldn’t be so accommodating or dumb enough to think he didn’t have ulterior motives, but even though she knew of his hidden thoughts, the company’s situation was too dire for her not to take the risk.Thinking of that, then... how did she get here? The place didn’t look like a hotel, and strangely, the designs felt familiar. She slowly rolled out of bed, checking herself. Somehow, she had been changed into a pair of casual pa

Max hadn’t noticed it earlier, but now that she said it, he realized why he felt rather off about their reactions. It was fine if the victim couldn’t face anyone, but what was with the mother too? She should have been furious or sheddIng angry tears for her daughter. But rather, she looked nervous, too. Coupled with how obvious it was that Noah was being framed, it was clear that there was something fishy.“I see.” He muttered in a low voice and nodded at the maid. “Thank you.”The maid looked nervous, but when she heard that, she seemed to finally sigh with relief and bowed. “Then, I’ll take my leave.”Max nodded lightly and returned his attention to the screen while she turned and left the room. It seemed the podcast was already coming to an end, so he simply took a screenshot of their faces and exited the page. Then, he sent the pictures to Milton and told him to dig into the family, especially the father.He was about to take a shower and prepare for work when he got another call

But to their surprise, he merely picked up the tablet and leaned in his chair to look at the tablet indifferently. It was an announcement from a broadcasting station called ‘Sunrise Daily’ and they had announced that they had invited the victims to a live cast show to talk about the scandal. In the announcement, the victim’s father also stated that they would be bringing forth evidence of their claim. Max pursed his lips silently and looked at the time of the announcement. It was only a couple of minutes after the podcast earlier this morning, and it was obvious that it was prepared in advance. The podcast must have been done in order to bring traffic to the livecast they intended to show. But what caught his attention was actually the reporter of the announcement. It was the same person who Noah had hit in the photos that morning. He had initially thought it was just Photoshop, and the person must have just found a bunch of similar photos and aligned them, editing the faces and

Apex Villa...In one of the apartments in the villa, the TV was playing an announcement posted by the Sunset Daily broadcasting station. A figure slouched across the long sofa like a depressed soul, matching the black hoodie he wore. The room was quite dark, with only the mild light from the TV, as all the curtains were drawn. It wasn’t until the door opened that a few rays of light managed to enter.“Noah!” Lauren’s voice boomed as she strode directly to the curtains and pulled them apart one by one. She turned to him, placing her hands on her waist. “I told you to stop sitting in the dark like this. Are you trying to make yourself depressed?”“I am depressed,” Noah replied, without looking away from the announcement that had been playing on repeat.Lauren frowned as she approached him. “No, you’re not. You should be strong in times like this so you can fight back.”Noah didn’t respond, which made her sigh. She sat down. “We already knew this was going to happen, didn’t we? It’s like

"Hi, it’s Alexa." Her voice came through the phone, hesitant but clear. "I’m not sure if you have my number." "Yeah, I do," Max replied smoothly, his lips curling into a smile that didn’t quite reach his voice. There was a pause on the other end before she spoke again. "I heard you’re going to Erica’s engagement?" "Who’s Erica?" His tone was nonchalant like he hadn’t a clue what she was talking about. "Grandpa Langley’s granddaughter," she clarified, her confusion evident. "We’re supposed to go together. Didn’t Grandpa tell you?" Max blinked, and then the memory clicked. "Oh, right. Got it. I just didn’t know her personally." "Okay," she muttered, her voice dropping. After another pause, she ventured, "So, what’s the plan? Are we meeting at the hotel entrance?" Max could feel the awkwardness building like she was tiptoeing around something. Maybe it was the memory of that night when she'd gotten a little too tipsy. To break the tension, he leaned back in his chair and said, "Sin