Chapter 624
Aubree approached slowly and wrapped her arms around Brielle. “They say acting is living a different life, and right now, if you asked me to shoot a tearjerker, I could burst into tears this second. John’s a great director, and working with him beats hanging around a hospital any day.”
Brielle closed her eyes, mustering all her strength to keep from shaking. “Alright, I’ll fill John in on everything.”
Aubree wanted to laugh, but the cracks on her lips would split open with even the slightest smile, leaving her mouth stained with blood.
Brielle thought Aubree would ask about Andrew, but she didn’t. She just talked about wanting to act. So, Brielle didn’t press the issue. Instead, she quickly got in touch with John and Ricardo. As for the rest – the crew and the staff – they were all willing volunteers from Stellar Stage Entertainment.
The film required a lockdown. Everyone except John had to hand in their cell phones, and they all signed NDAs promising not to breathe a word of the project until the film’s release.
The controversial John, and Aubree, needed a place that was utterly quiet and safe.
Brielle worked fast, and by dusk, she had Aubree and Ricardo on their way. A caravan of cars left the bustle of the city behind, heading for a quaint town on the outskirts to start filming.
A movie could take two to three months to shoot, during which no one would hassle Aubree with gossip.
Brielle breathed a sigh of relief, then pulled out her phone, which was still buzzing with news about the Clements and the Rowland families. They were due to meet that evening at the Harmony Haven Hotel.
Looking at the address, Brielle’s lips curled into a cold smirk. Going by her gut, she should take the gun Max had given her and send that cheating couple straight to hell. But that’d be letting them off too easy. She wanted to plan carefully, to ensure Tessa and Andrew lived in agony for the rest of their lives.
Tessa cared about her social standing and Andrew’s affection. Did Andrew care about Aubree even the slightest bit? If he did, he was already losing. Brielle would turn that sliver of care into a sword and plunge it into his heart.
Her eyes churned with emotion as she took a deep breath to calm the storm within. She would make Andrew realize what he had missed, what he had lost.
She dialed Patrick and instructed him to spread the news about the Rowland family’s 30–billion deficit, making sure it overshadowed the wedding news. The Rowland family wanted to use the merger as a smokescreen for fundraising – wishful thinking.
After setting this in motion, Brielle opened her chat with Sophia. The last messages were from
1/2
12.05
before she visited Dustin.
Grem Sophia’s years by Tessa’s side, she must’ve known some dirt on the Rowland family.
As the Rowland family was about to be thrust into a media storm, Brielle planned to hit them
with more scandals.
Sophia provided just a name, Zaiden.
Briele quickly looked up Zaiden – Tessa’s cousin, a respected oncologist at Beaconsfield’s top hospital Sophia’s hint meant she had heard something incriminating about Zaiden within the Rowland family.
Brielle raised an eyebrow and had someone dig into Zaiden’s past. Feedback came swiftly, Zaiden had been reported by patients within the hospital, but with the Rowland family’s clout,
no action was taken.
Brielle gathered the whistle–blowers, planning to expose Zaiden in a live stream that would coincide with the news of the Rowland family’s financial woes.
The stream initially had a meager audience, but with a little investment, viewership soared to millions, and the Rowland family was none the wiser.
Meanwhile, at the Harmony Haven Hotel
Members of both the Clements and Rowland families trickled in. Everyone had their own lives and businesses, so their arrivals were staggered. Among those yet to arrive were Tessa and
Andrew.
Andrew sat in a sleek black car, his fingers clutching his phone, staring at Aubree’s text from the evening. [So tired. Let’s end this.]
ith it, a necklace was delivered by courier, the same one that had made Aubree happy for nights on end.
