Chapter 26 The Real Story. Ariana braved the storm by taking a seat. She crossed her legs and said,. "Let's be realistic. The company has already given up on you. I'm your only lifeline now. "Shut the fuck up!" Sarah yelled, her eyes blazing. Ariana snorted, "Yelling will get you nowhere. You said that Lynch framed you. Why don't you take him down instead of venting your anger on innocent people? Just so you know, Donna assigned me to you because she wants to watch us fight. I don't want to give her the pleasure of seeing that happen. If you cooperate with me, I can help you get your career back. "Ha-ha! What makes you so confident? You must think this is child's play!" Sarah couldn't help laughing at her. "You act like you have another choice. If I'm being honest, we are both in the same boat. We have to work together to survive. " Ariana smiled and stared into Sarah's eyes. Sarah finally sheathed her sword. She stopped yelling and took a deep breath. "Well, can you really help me?". Ariana clasped her hands together and said meaningfully, "Donna wants to see me fail, so she made me your agent. I'm just a newcomer. Why do you think that she's getting worked up over a newbie?". "Are you trying to say that she's gunning for your backer, not you?" Sarah tapped her chin thoughtfully. The whole arrangement was dubious. Having known that Donna always tried to bring down those who posed. a threat to her, and judging from how elegantly Ariana carried herself,. Sarah suspected that she was from a family of old money. Ariana smiled brightly. "That was a good guess. Maybe it's because I'm the CEO's wife. Sarah rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. Stop joking about something like that. "I'm not joking," Ariana muttered seriously. It was the absolute truth. Why did no one believe her?

"Please! I wasn't born yesterday. Tell that to kids; they will believe you. " Sarah chuckled. She shook her head and sat back on the sofa. Then she lit up another cigarette. In the blink of an eye, Ariana grabbed the cigarette off her hand and said, "Don't you know smoking is bad for you? As a singer, you shouldn't be touching a cigarette at all!". Sarah sucked her teeth. "What difference does it make? My career is finished. No one wants to listen to me sing or buy my records. She took out another cigarette from the box. Seeing this, Ariana had no choice but to hand the cigarette back to her. She then looked at her and said, "You might be bad business for others, but not for me. You are my only shot at gaining a foothold in SJ Entertainment. Basically, we need each other now. Trust me. I'll do my best to help you. Sarah took a puff and stared blankly at the wall. She calmed a little. Ariana's soft voice sounded like music to her ears. This was the first time in ages that she heard something positive from anyone. It was nice to know that someone still believed in her when everyone else had already written her off. Even if the company's PR department tried all it could to clean up the. mess after the scandal, it would be pointless. She was a singer who had. been away for five years, while Lynch was making waves as an A-list actor. Many of the top guns in the entertainment industry were supporting him just because of the amount of profit he brought them. So, it was impossible for the company to offend so many people just for a has-been star like Sarah. Ariana was naive and ignorant. That was why she could be so full of hope. She knew nothing about the dog-eat-dog world out there. "Tell me what happened. I need to hear your side of the story, so I know where to begin," Ariana continued. Sarah squinted her eyes and slowly blew a puff of smoke into the air. She had nothing to say. Her silence made Ariana anxious. She leaned forward and took Sarah's free hand in hers. "We have to come up with a solution while the heat is still on

If we allow this to die down, there might be no comeback. " Sarah took a deep breath and finally spoke. "Fine. I guess I can trust you on this. What exactly do you want to know?". Ariana breathed a sigh of relief. She had just jumped over the first hurdle out of the numerous ones that Donna and Jasper set just to sabotage her. Seeking help from Theodore was out of the question for now. He was just too unpredictable. Since she was finding her way through this industry by herself, she was thankful that Sarah was finally ready to open up to her. Her first step to gaining a foothold in the company was to solve Sarah's crisis. "Tell me about your marriage to Lynch and how things degenerated to this level," replied Ariana, releasing her hand. Sarah sighed and took a deep drag on her cigarette. Then she told Ariana the whole story. It was true that she and Lynch got divorced more than a year ago. However, he was the one who had an affair during their marriage. His infidelity was one of the major reasons why they got divorced. The sex tape was real. The man in the tape was Vincent Gray, an unknown model. She had only started dating him after her divorce was finalized. "Why haven't you said this to the media? You aren't the guilty one here, Lynch is!" Ariana said angrily. Sarah gave her a bitter smile. "I'm guessing you didn't get the chance to check the news today. Hearing this, Ariana whipped out her phone and checked the news. The hottest one was about Vincent's post. In the post, he apologized to Lynch and alleged that Sarah was the one who seduced him. He also stated that they slept with each other while she was still married to Lynch. "The moment the sex tape was leaked, I called Vincent several times so he would explain to the public, but I couldn't get through to him. I wasn't sure about it at that time. But with the latest development, it's all clear to me. Vincent is on Lynch's side. They both set me up. Bastards!" The more Sarah spoke, the angrier she became. Her pretty face and eyes were red at this time. She pounded her fist on the armrest of the sofa. It. was as if she would explode any time soon