You Had Me, You Lost Me, You'll Never Find Me novel Chapter 75

"Ryan, what are you guys doing?"

Before Ashton could reply, Reina's voice drifted over from the doorway. She sounded confused. "Are you two fighting?"

Ryan shot Ashton an icy glare before turning toward Reina, instantly switching to a gentle tone. "It's nothing. Just having a quick word with Ashton."

Reina nodded blankly. Looking at Ashton, who had his head down as he lit a cigarette, she asked pleadingly, "Ash, can you tell me a story?"

Ashton crushed out the cigarette. "Coming."

—

After Ashton left, Sylvia found her phone in the bathroom. It had been casually tossed onto the counter. She immediately dialed Valerie's number, breathing a slight sigh of relief when she confirmed her mother was perfectly fine.

That bastard had been lying to her.

Just as she finally relaxed a little, she received a call from Penelope Caldwell. Penelope sounded absolutely frantic. "What's going on with you? I heard you're trying to terminate your contract with the agency?"

Sylvia was stunned. "No, I'm not."

Penelope's tone softened a fraction. "Then why was there a lawyer here earlier demanding to cancel your contract? They already had the penalty fee prepared."

Sylvia's expression hardened. "I don't know anything about that. I never hired a lawyer."

Penelope was confused. "Did we run into a scammer? But what kind of scammer pays a multi-million dollar penalty fee?"

Sylvia hesitated, then explained what Ashton had done. Penelope was utterly shocked.

"So what do we do now?"

Sylvia outlined her plan.

After hanging up, Sylvia saw a message from Julian Sterling. He mentioned he had been sent on a last-minute business trip and had left some soup warming for her in the kitchen.

She replied that she would be home soon.

A while later, she texted Ashton: "When are you coming back?"

Five minutes later, he replied: "Soon."

Sylvia glanced at Zelda Zane, whom she and Penelope had just tied to a chair. Breaking into a cold sweat, she quickly sent another text: "I'm suddenly craving takeout from Carter's Restaurant."

Carter's Restaurant was insanely popular, located on the far side of town, and always had a long line. Going out of the way to get it would take a significant amount of time.

To make sure Ashton agreed, Sylvia sent a voice memo, her tone dripping with sweetness. "I really want to eat there right now. Will you bring it for me?"

A blogger named "Gossip Kingpin" dropped crystal-clear photos of Ashton carrying Sylvia back into his apartment.

The comment section immediately blew up, with users accusing the blogger of being desperate for clicks.

Sylvia had been riding a wave of popularity lately due to the "body double" scandal, gaining a massive influx of supportive fans. She was at the peak of her momentum.

Naturally, her fans defended her, claiming the photos were photoshopped. They accused Gossip Kingpin of having malicious motives, pointing out that Ashton had just announced his engagement to Reina Winslet, making this an obvious smear campaign.

In response, Gossip Kingpin fired back: "Hilarious. You think I need to photoshop anything? I'll be waiting for all you fans to apologize."

Then, he released a video.

The angle was tricky, but it clearly showed Sylvia's side profile—specifically the distinctive mole by her eye—along with the exact moment she buried her face into Ashton's chest. It was undeniable.

The fans instantly went silent.

Unlike photos, faking a video to that degree was nearly impossible.

Public opinion sharply reversed. Countless people felt utterly betrayed and flooded Sylvia's comment section with vicious abuse:

"Are you out of your mind? You manipulative bitch. You're just jealous of Reina and want to steal everything she has."