Chapter 428
Chapter 428:
The silence that followed was deafening. Donn stood rooted to the spot, completely thrown.
There was something hauntingly familiar about that voice—but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t quite place it.
Helena’s heart clenched with worry as Alden spoke, clearly pushing himself.
“You just had surgery!” She chided him, her tone sharp with concern. “Why are you talking so much? You should be resting p>
“It was just a minor procedure—nothing serious. I can still speak perfectly fine.” A soft rumble of laughter escaped Alden’s throat.
Helena still didn’t feel entirely at ease, and she didn’t want Alden stressing over her work matters either. She eased her words, her voice turning tender. “I’ve got things under control at work. You don’t need to think about any of it p>
Turning to Natalie and Kareem had always made her uneasy. But now, to calm Alden’s worries and let him recuperate, she murmured, “Even if something serious comes up, my parents will step in. Just focus on getting better, okay p>
Alden could tell she was trying to reassure him, so he didn’t press. He just gave a quiet hum of acknowledgment.
“Get some rest. I’ll call you later.” With that, Helena hung up gently.
Donn, who had been standing nearby, silently gathered himself. There was something about the man on the other end of that line that made his chest tighten—an unseen force that stilled his usual bluster. He didn’t dare lash out at Helena again. Instead, he switched tactics, schooling his tone into one of authority. “Ms. Ellis, the winery paid our station for this interview. If anything unfavorable goes out under our name, we’re looking at both financial penalties and a serious hit to our credibility p>
Now that he was finally speaking with some semblance of logic, Helena saw no reason to hold back. Her voice stayed calm but firm. “I wasn’t the one who put that article out p>
“If it wasn’t you, then who was it p>
Donn narrowed his eyes, clearly unconvinced.
𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂 𝓻𝓸𝓸𝓽: 𝓰⍶𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀﹒𝓬𝓸𝓶
Left with no other choice, Helena broke it down for him, dissecting the article line by line. “Just look at the phrasing, the sentence flow—this isn’t how I write. You know that p>
She met his gaze, unwavering. “We’re both writers. You can tell when something doesn’t match someone’s words p>
Writing habits were like fingerprints—hard to fake, even harder to erase.
With his insider’s perspective, Donn knew that.
As much as he wanted to argue, he glanced at the article again, then back at her, doubt still etched across his features.
But this time, he didn’t push. Something in her tone, or maybe the logic, forced him to drop it for now.
Once Donn walked away, Helena found herself hungry for answers. She pulled up the article’s publishing data, her fingers moving quickly across the keyboard. The IP address traced back to Natalie and Kareem’s villa. Only Helena and Liliana had witnessed Terry’s disgusting behavior firsthand.