She ignored them all.
When she arrived at the spa, she parked and saw a message from Leo pop up.
“Let’s break up.”
Tara’s heart remained steady. She opened the chat and typed a single word, “Okay.”
A minute later, Leo replied.
+25 BONUS
Chapter 15
“I’ll give you 50 million as compensation for the past three years. The villa you’re staying in is yours. I’ll have my lawyer contact you for the transfer. Also, I’ll send someone to pick up my things and the car.”
So, he didn’t even want to see her one last time.
After leaving the spa, now dressed in fresh clothes and wearing a mask and sunglasses, Tara blended in discreetly.
She was a public figure now–infamous, but still known.
Fame, even in the form of scandal, was still fame.
She sold her car to a used car dealership and then took a cab back to the villa.
The part–time cleaning lady greeted Tara with a look that flickered with curiosity and gossip.
Clearly, she had seen the flood of videos circulating online.
Tara kept her tone calm. “Take some time off. Come back when Mr. Carter asks you to.‘
The lady, understanding the gravity of the situation, didn’t pry. She packed her things and left quietly.
Tara returned to her room and took a morning–after pill. She threw away the rest, bottle included, into the trash.
:
After booking a flight to Birkham for the day after tomorrow, she collapsed into bed and fell into a deep sleep.
She was utterly drained, having kept herself going purely on sheer willpower.
When she woke the next morning, she felt somewhat refreshed. After breakfast, she set about clearing the villa.
She threw away her personal items–everything from toiletries to water glasses, tableware, and slippers.
Next, she called a secondhand furniture service. Dining tables, chairs, sofas, bedroom, and closet furniture–everything she had used or shared with Leo–was hauled away.
By the time she was done, the villa was almost completely empty.
Dragging her suitcase and carrying a shoulder bag, she walked out of the villa and checked into a hotel for the night.
That evening, after the promised fifty million was deposited into her account, she donated the entire sum.
Then she removed the earrings she was wearing, placing them on the table.
These weren’t ordinary earrings. They were micro cameras.
Chapter 15
+25 BONUS
Leo had never allowed her to go to nightclubs, and when drunk, he always stayed nearby to rest rather than having her pick him up.
So, when he called her to a nightclub late at night, it immediately raised her suspicions. Taking precautions, she had worn the camera earrings.
Little did she know how crucial they would be.
She edited the footage into five segments:
–
One of the nightclub parking lot.
–
–
One of the events inside Room 88.
One of the scene where paint was thrown at her outside the nightclub.
One of her conversation with Nina in the police station restroom.
And one of her being hit with rotten eggs at the station entrance.
The following day, just before her flight, she sent the edited videos to her lawyer, the police, several media platforms, and Leo.
Then, in fluent Genovian, she sent Leo a voice message.
“Thank you for teaching me to grow up through reality. Goodbye—and I mean goodbye forever.”
