Chapter 20

I was speechless, my mouth opening and closing without knowing what to say. I took a slow, deep breath, the bitter, suffocating ache in my chest pressing down on me. I couldn’t. I couldn’t take this gamble. I had long understood that, in Alexander's heart, compared to Isabella, I meant nothing. With Alexander, he could push me aside to catch Isabella when she was about to fall—why couldn’t he push me aside to shield her from malicious gossip? After all, those were just rumors online, and they couldn’t hurt me in the least. Olivia, sensing my silence, grew more arrogant. "Director Vivienne, do you dare to take this bet?" I didn’t answer. I simply ended the call. I knew this was a losing game, and there was no point in playing. Even if Alexander didn’t know about this, if he ever found out, he might even side with her. But I couldn’t just let it go. I needed an explanation. The head of the photography studio had already sent me the surveillance footage fro