chapter 14 𝓌𝕎Ŵ.ⓝ𝓞v𝕖𝓁ⓦô𝗥𝑚.⒞𝓸ⓜThe next day, Thomas accompanied Alicia to Starlight Entertainment to terminate her contract. The two of them went straight to the company’s legal department. Haley was already waiting inside. When Alicia and Thomas walked in, Haley immediately stood up and stepped forward to stop Alicia. ‘Let’s talk,” Haley said. 𝔀ⓦⓦ.𝓝⒪𝑣𝑒𝕃𝓌𝗼ℝ𝑚.𝗰𝗢𝘮10 vouchers She honestly hadn’t expected Alicia to not only expose the call recording but also to go through with terminating her contract with the company. It completely caught her off guard. Her reputation was already in shambles, and if the Hammonds or Nicolas found out, she’d be in deep trouble. After all, even if the Hammonds and Nicolas hadn’t come forward to clarify Alicia’s background, that didn’t mean they’d tolerate Haley deliberately slandering Alicia behind the scenes. ⒲Ŵ𝗪.𝚗⒪ⓥ𝓮l𝕎𝘰𝗥𝗺.𝚌𝚘ⓜOver the past couple of days, Haley had tried every way she could think of to get in touch with Alicia, but all her efforts had failed. When she heard Alicia was coming to the legal department today to terminate her contract, she showed up early to wait for her. Alicia said coldly, “We have nothing to discuss. Let’s just settle this through the legal department.” Haley’s face went rigid, but inside, she was seething with anger.. She didn’t let it show, though. Instead, she forced a bitter smile and said, “Are we really at this point? Believe it or not, I never wanted to hurt you. “Yeah, I admit I didn’t deal with the hate you got fast enough, but I just wanted to get you trending, boost your profile. “You know how it is in showbiz. The worst thing isn’t getting hate online, but it’s when nobody even knows your name. “You’re getting flamed pretty hard right now, but at least people know your name now. “I was just waiting for the right moment to help you bounce back.” Haley already had a plan for dealing with Alicia. She’d admit a little bit of the truth, then spin the rest. Alicia smirked at Haley. “You don’t even buy your own story, do you?” She leaned in, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Don’t flatter yourself. You’re not the only one with brains around here. The rest of us aren’t idiots. “Sorry, but I’m not interested in playing along with your little schemes anymore.” Without another glance at Haley, Alicia strode past her and took a seat next to Thomas. Haley looked seriously pissed. She never thought Alicia would totally shut her down like this. 1/3
2:14 pm Chapter 14 pp 0175 10 vouchers And from the look on Alicia’s face, Haley noticed that she had zero intention of patching things up. She was hell–bent on ending the contract. Haley was starting to regret it. She shouldn’t have listened to Nicole’s agent and tried to force Alicia to delete her posts. That was what really pissed Alicia off. If she hadn’t done that, none of this drama would’ve happened. ‘What the hell am I supposed to do now? How do I fix this mess?‘ Haley thought. ‘Maybe I should hit up Nicolas later and see if he can bail me out.‘ Alicia turned to the legal department staff. “Let’s begin.” The clerk handed Alicia the prepared termination agreement. “Please review it, and if everything looks good, go ahead and sign.” Alicia slid the contract over to Thomas. Thomas looked it over and nodded. “Looks good. You can sign.” Alicia picked up the pen and signed her name. Just as she was about to sign the second copy, Nicolas burst into the room, striding over and pressing his hand firmly on the contract. Alicia looked up and met his bloodshot, anxious eyes. ‘Looks like this bastard didn’t get any sleep last night. Good,‘ she thought to herself. She said with a blank face, “Get your damn paws off my contract.” Nicolas fixed his gaze on her, trying to keep his cool. “Why didn’t you come to me first? I could’ve taken care of it for you.” Alicia arched her eyebrows, her voice cold. “Who are you supposed to be? Are we even familiar?” Nicolas had never seen Alicia so icy and distant before. Even when they argued or she gave him the silent treatment, her feelings were always written all over her face.
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