Khloe slowly tugged the tablet toward her, wallowing in fear. What was this all about? She glanced at the screen that was already open. It was an article, an article about her t.i.tled "Family Drama: The Case of the Horrible Step-family?""What the h.e.l.l is this?" Khloe whispered loudly.
The article started off with telling about the Finch family and Garcia Entertainment, before Khloe and her mother had become part of it. It talked about Kylie and her mother, who had been a lady in every sense of the word. Then it talked about her death and how that had affected Kylie so negatively only propagated by her father"s new wife and daughter.
The article also depicted several pictures of Kylie"s rebellious phase alongside pictures of her and Alice attending exclusive parties wearing expensive clothes. Beneath them, the caption read: "Cinderella and the evil stepmother?" The article went on and on telling the story of how poor Kylie was ostracized by her own father. However, what the next paragraph stated made her blood cold as ice.
A picture of Khloe with William Woolf was posted with their faces enlarged. The article explained how Khloe was worried that the scandal would be known by her fiancé and his family, so she forced Kylie to bear the blame with the help of her father. The article ended by sympathizing with Kylie and calling Alice and Khloe the "step-family from h.e.l.l!"
Khloe scrolled down further to see comments had been popping up as she read. The article was by TMZ, and despite the name, it was still considered a reputable source of information. Every single comment that her eyes landed on was calling her and her mother an insane b.i.t.c.h while they felt sorry for Kylie for living with such people. Many were bashing her father as well for not taking care of his daughter.
Khloe was numb, absolutely numb after reading all this. How the h.e.l.l did this happen?
"Khloe, is this true?" Aiden spoke up huskily, his voice shaky and low.
Khloe scrambled off the bed and ran towards Aiden, falling at his feet. She gasped at his hands and spluttered out, "No, no, it"s not true!"
Aiden scoffed, "Then how do you explain that picture? How do you explain kissing Woolf? Or is that another person that just so happens to look exactly like you?"
"That is...that…" Khloe stuttered with cold sweat forming all over her forehead. How the h.e.l.l should she explain this? How COULD she explain this? She could blame it on Kylie, but her face was too clear in the picture, and Aiden was not stupid. As she was thinking this, her cell phone went off. Glancing at Aiden, Khloe picked up her phone.
It was a notification from Instagram; apparently, the original poster of the article had posted more photos. There were photos of when Kylie and Aiden were together, then immediately below, were photos of Khloe and Aiden at their engagement party. There were thousands of comments below calling her a "b.i.t.c.h," "house-wrecker," and on and on.
The worst thing out of all was Khloe could not think of a single excuse to get herself out this s.h.i.thole she had found herself in.
Her cell phone was ringing nonstop, so was Aiden"s. She chose not to pick up, but messages were also pouring in, messages she could not help but read.
"So, Ms. Finch, are you pretending to be aggrieved while forcing Kylie to take the blame for you?
"The time in the photos tells everything, you still want to deny it?"
She could not help but reply back to this one message, "No! No! These are all Kylie Finch"s conspiracies! I have done nothing wrong!" Before she had pressed send on the message, her phone started ringing again. Frustrated, Khloe threw her phone on the bed screaming in anger. Trembling in rage and fear, Khloe turned around and faced Aiden, tears slipping down her face.
"Aiden, you gotta trust me…but I…I have to go. I don"t feel well. I gotta go home. I"ll explain everything to you later."
Aiden simply stared at her, not saying a word in response. Somehow, even her tears seemed fake to him now.
Khloe grabbed her stuff as quickly as she could and ran downstairs. As soon as she got inside the car, she made a call to her dad, "Daddy, have you seen the news on the Internet? What should I do?" She burst out crying.
"Honey, it"s just fake news, no big deal! The company will handle it..." However, Laurence was not as calm as his voice sounded.
The scandal would not only affect Khloe"s future; more importantly, it implied that Kylie, his first-born daughter, was declaring war on him. He did not care about losing Kylie, but he was afraid of losing 50% shares of Garcia Entertainment.
"Daddy! I know she did it! This must be posted by Kylie! She deliberately tried to smear me!"
Laurence was quiet for a few seconds before he spoke, "Khloe, tell your daddy the truth, was that indecent video of Kylie…was that scheme planned by you?"
"Daddy...I...I…" Khloe was at a loss for words. But that was all Laurence needed to know the answer to his question, and he hung his phone up in anger.
Laurence then immediately dialed Kylie"s number. The bell rang and rang no answer. "Not even picking your father"s calls, you ungrateful brat!" Laurence muttered to himself.
Kylie was browsing on her tablet on one hand while her cellphone laid beside her. She could guess who it was and why that certain person was calling her nonstop, which made her smile. But no matter how much he called, Kylie simply did not intend to answer the phone. The action made her sad; at one point, this little girl had yearned to be noticed by her father, the only man she had ever known in her life.
Hearing the sound of the vibrating cell, Ethan tilted his head to look at Kylie. His one arm encircled Kylie"s shoulder, slightly pulling her to his side. The sound was now getting annoying, so she turned her phone on silent and placed it upside down on her bedside table. She then stretched and turned to Ethan, cuddling into his warm embrace.
Her head clung to his chest, listening to his powerful heartbeats, making sense of loss in her heart gradually disappear.