Chapter 216: Ridiculous Rumor (1)
Sienna covered her cheeks for a second and quietly laughed at herself.
’What are you even thinking about, Sienna?’
Just then, her phone vibrated again.
The sound instantly pulled her back to reality, and every flustered yet arousing thought about Zachary disappeared.
She looked down at the screen. A new message from Mia had appeared.
"Sienna, have you seen this?"
Below the message was a link to an online article.
Her curiosity immediately replaced her earlier embarrassment.
Without wasting another second, she tapped the link.
As the webpage loaded, her eyes moved to the headline.
[ Forbidden Love in a Five-Star Hotel ]
She frowned.
"What is this?" she whispered to herself. "Why would Mia send it to me?"
A strange sense of unease settled over her.
Her heartbeat quickened as she continued reading.
[ A scandal has erupted at a five-star hotel involving a love triangle between a female employee, the company’s GM, and his legal wife. ]
Sienna instinctively shook her head.
"No... it can’t be about me."
She tried to convince herself that it was only a coincidence.
There were countless hotels, countless companies, and countless scandals. There was no reason to believe this article had anything to do with her.
Even so, an uneasy feeling lingered in the pit of her stomach as she forced herself to keep reading.
The farther she scrolled, the colder her body became. Every sentence sounded more familiar than the last.
[ The female employee seduced her married boss. When he refused, she beat him. However, there’s a twist: she has now framed him for sexual harassment, leading to his imprisonment. ]
By the time she reached the end of the article, the color had completely drained from her face.
Her knees suddenly weakened, and she stumbled backward. If she hadn’t caught herself against the wall beside her, she would have collapsed onto the floor.
Breathing unevenly, she stared at the screen in disbelief before reading the article again.
Although the article never mentioned the hotel’s name or identified anyone directly, she knew without a doubt that it was referring to her, Benjamin Foster, and Benjamin’s wife.
Her fingers tightened around the phone as a chill slowly spread through her entire body.
Sienna took a slow, deep breath, forcing herself to calm down and think clearly.
’No! This definitely isn’t about me.’
She shook her head, refusing to accept what she had just read.
’I didn’t seduce him. He was the one who pursued me. He was also the one who told me he was already divorced. Yes... this article can’t be about me.’
She repeated those thoughts to herself, trying to calm the growing panic in her chest.
For a brief moment, it worked. The tension eased just enough for her to take a step toward her bedroom.
Then her phone vibrated again. She froze. Her mind immediately raced through countless possibilities.
’Huh!? Did Mia send me another article?’
Her fingers tightened around her phone before she gathered enough courage to unlock the screen.
Just as she had feared, there was another message from Mia.
"Sienna, check this link! Someone is seriously trying to ruin your reputation."
A second message appeared immediately afterward.
"Who do you think knows about this and would actually dare to leak it to the media?"
Sienna’s breathing became heavier as she tapped the new link.
The previous article had avoided mentioning anyone by name. This one was different. Although it only used initials, they were unmistakable.
Her hand instantly flew to her mouth to stop herself from crying out.
"Oh my God..."
Her voice barely escaped as a whisper.
’Why is this all over the internet?’
’Who did this?’
Without wasting another second, Sienna hurried toward her home office. She switched on her laptop and quickly searched for the article.
She needed to know when it had first appeared, who had published it, and whether there was any clue about the person behind it.
Several minutes passed as she searched through different websites and social media posts.
Finally, she pieced everything together.
The original article had actually been uploaded two days earlier.
At first, it had attracted very little attention. It only exploded today after a well-known hotelier shared it on social media, causing countless people to repost it.
The realization made her stomach tighten.
She immediately picked up her phone and called Mia.
The call was answered on the second ring.
"Hello? Sienna..." Mia answered, her voice already filled with concern.
"Mia..." Sienna replied quietly, sounding far weaker than usual.
"You’ve read the articles I sent, right?" Mia asked without wasting any time.
Sienna nodded instinctively before realizing Mia couldn’t see her. "Yes," she answered softly. "I have read them."
"What the heck with that journalist! Whoever they are!" Mia exploded. "I really want to know who wrote those trashy stories. Who’s trying to spread this disgusting rumor?"
The anger in Mia’s voice matched the frustration building inside Sienna.
"I want to know too," Sienna admitted. "I’m just as confused as you are."
Silence settled between them for several moments as both of them tried to make sense of what was happening.
After a few seconds, Mia finally broke the silence. "Sienna... can you think of anyone who might’ve leaked this information?"
Sienna frowned as she forced herself to think logically. She did have one suspect. The problem was that the more she thought about it, the less sense it made.
"If you’re asking who? My first guess would be Benjamin." Sienna paused, trying to organize her thoughts. "...But what confused me was why he would do something like this? He’s already in jail. More importantly, he knows the truth. All the evidence completely disproves everything written in those articles."
She stared at the screen of her laptop. The entire article was built on lies and twisted assumptions. Whoever had written it wasn’t trying to report the truth. They were trying to destroy her reputation.
"I know," Mia said. "Benjamin is still behind bars. Besides, what does this have to do with his wife—" She halted mid-sentence, as if a new thought had suddenly occurred to her. "Oh my God, Sienna..."