Bound by the Past, Locked by the Heart novel Chapter 314

"Willa, have you considered that something is seriously wrong with this whole situation? I've been paying people to pull down the trending topics since yesterday, but they won't budge."

It wasn't that Willa hadn't thought about it.

She was still relatively new to the company. Aside from Lana's blatant hostility, she couldn't fathom who else would have the motive to pull something like this.

But the timing was far too coincidental, striking right after she had struck a deal with Julian York.

It was entirely possible that whoever was pulling the strings wasn't just targeting her.

Just like last time, this was nothing but a trap.

In a flash of clarity, Willa immediately thought of Randal Yates.

Anxious, she pulled out her phone, ready to dial his number.

Right then, a message popped up on her screen.

*[Don't worry about the media. Don't look at it, don't respond. I will handle it.]*

Staring at the text on the screen, Willa suddenly realized that she hadn't seen Randal for days.

—

When Randal received the blistering phone call from Sophie, he was standing in the top-floor office of Vanguard Properties.

Sophie ripped into him for a solid twenty minutes, tearing him apart from "you're a useless piece of trash" all the way to "if anything happens to Willa, I will ruin you." He didn't dare say a single word in return.

After hanging up, he scrolled through the online forums, reading every vicious post line by line. A suffocating wave of emotion washed over him, something far heavier and more unbearable than anger—guilt.

This was all because of him.

If he hadn't made that selfish decision at the wedding back then, Willa would never have been subjected to this living nightmare.

He dialed Scarlett Sterling's number.

She answered on the second ring, sounding surprised. "Why are you calling me? Did something happen?"

"The online posts. Did you know about them?"

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