###Chapter 8
484 Words
Jaliyah flinched at the sudden destruction.
"Move aside, Jaliyah," Ramona stated coldly.
Before Jaliyah could react, Ramona strode past, carrying a cardboard box downstairs.
In the Mahoney family's backyard, Ramona emptied the box's contents into a large metal barrel.
The moment gasoline and a lighter met the pile, flames erupted violently.
As she watched the burning flames, Ramona's eyes reflected nothing but cold resolve.
She was given a second chance to start over.
This time, she refused to remain Tamera's substitute.
Pulling out her phone, Ramona dialed her best friend Gabriela Maddox.
"Gabi, I need your newspaper to run a story for me. Something explosive that'll trend nationwide within an hour. I'll cover all costs."
"What? Aren't you supposed to be getting engaged to Jermaine tonight? You don't need the whole country to know about your engagement!"
"I regret it."
"About what? Not announcing it sooner?"
"I mean I'm calling off the engagement."
"Call it off? You've got to be kidding! You wouldn't be the one to call it off! That's Jermaine, the guy you've been obsessing over and fawning over for three months!"
When silence answered her, Gabriela finally realized the seriousness of the situation."You're serious about this?"
The next day, news of the Mahoney family's heiress canceling her engagement went viral.
Across Denver, everyone knew Ramona had been deeply in love with Jermaine, the Bauer Group CEO.
Yet at the last minute on the engagement day, she'd called off their engagement, publicly humiliating the Bauer family at what became a farcical event.
"The Mahoney Group heiress Ramona Mahoney called off her engagement to Bauer Group CEO Jermaine Bauer, calling him 'incompetent' to avoid future discord. She apologized to the Bauer Group for any inconvenience."
In the club's private room, Derrick Turner grinned at his phone."Jermaine, is this true? I didn't know that. Take your pants off. Let me take a look!"
When he reached out mockingly, Jermaine slapped his hand away, demanding through gritted teeth,"Which newspaper published this?"
"The Maddox family's media empire," Derrick answered."They've flooded every news channel with this story. Rumor says they printed 100,000 copies just for the front-page edition. Now the entire internet knows about the Bauer Group CEO's ... performance issues. It's the top trending topic. Do you want to see for yourself?"
Derrick provocatively held his phone in front of Jermaine, whose expression darkened by the second. He clenched the glass in his hand, his eyes filled with murderous intent."Ramona did this?"
"Who else?" Derrick replied."Ms. Mahoney and the Maddox heiress have been best friends since childhood. What did you do to piss her off? With how obsessed Ramona was with you, she wouldn't trash you online for no reason."
Just then, Jermaine's secretary Norman Chaney entered the private room cautiously."Mr. Bauer..."
Jermaine's face remained gloomy as he asked,"Did you find out where Ramona is?"
Norman hesitated before answering,"She seems ... to be right next door."
- Writer
