CEO’s Regret After I Divorced (Serena and Ryan) novel Chapter 100

Chapter 100: Chapter 100 Holly killed herself

Author’s POV

Holly tried to rush after Serena to argue, but several designers immediately blocked her way. Celeste stood in front with eyes blazing with fury. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"What else do you want? Didn’t you hear what Serena said? Get the hell out! Even if we lose this contract, I won’t let you bully her anymore, especially when she’s pregnant!"

"Yeah, did you think everyone at Dreamland Studio would just roll over for you?" another designer chimed in.

Holly shot Celeste a venomous glare. "You better remember this! Don’t come crying when you regret it!"

"Just get lost already. Whoever regrets this is a loser. We’ve been sick of you since day one!"

Holly was practically shoved out of the conference room. Though they didn’t use much force, to her it felt like the ultimate humiliation.

"Security! Please escort this person out!" someone called.

Clearly, nobody in the studio liked her. Most staff just watched the scene unfold with curious eyes, content to observe the drama.

They were actually being quite decent about it - nobody piled on with additional insults or mockery. Even so, by the time Holly was escorted out of the studio, she was in tears of rage.

Her emotional state was visibly deteriorating, but the studio door closed firmly behind her. Nobody came out to check on her.

Clutching a box with her belongings, Holly had just turned the corner when she stumbled and fell.

Her ankle twisted painfully in her high heels, swelling up immediately and causing her to gasp in pain.

In her confused state, she heard what seemed like demonic whispers, making her mental state even more precarious.

When Holly regained some clarity, she realized she was having another episode.

She suffered from bipolar disorder.

With trembling hands, she frantically searched her purse for her medication, but couldn’t find it.

She had forgotten to bring it this morning...

Suddenly, a woman appeared before her, slowly crouching down.

"Painful, isn’t it? Perhaps only death will bring you release," Sophie whispered softly, pushing Holly deeper into her disoriented state.

She could barely make out who was standing in front of her, her pupils already dilating erratically.

"It’s all Serena Quinn’s fault." Sophie dropped a knife in front of Holly.

Holly grabbed the knife, bringing it close to examine it.

"Just cut yourself. This way, you’ll escape all this suffering, and that bitch Serena will pay the price for hurting you."

"Don’t worry, I won’t let her get away with this," Sophie continued.

Sophie’s words penetrated Holly’s mind like a hypnotic spell, completely distorting her judgment.

Without her medication, Holly was already prone to fixating on negative thoughts.

At the mention of Serena’s name, she became even more agitated.

"Serena Quinn! I hate you!"

With a soft cry, Holly slashed the knife across her own wrist.

Not long after Sophie walked away, a passerby discovered Holly.

By then, she was lying in a pool of blood, barely breathing.

The passerby panicked, immediately calling police and an ambulance.

When Holly was rushed to the hospital, she was pronounced dead shortly after entering the emergency room.

Her family arrived at the hospital only to hear the devastating news, collapsing in grief.

Before the police could properly investigate, news outlets were already breaking the story.

Various "evidence" surfaced suggesting that Holly had committed suicide right after a confrontation with Dreamland Studio staff.

The reports explicitly named Serena Quinn, accusing her of workplace bullying that had driven a vibrant young woman to take her own life.

I invited them in, my legs barely supporting me as I led them to my living room. "I can’t believe this is happening," I said, my voice sounding distant even to my own ears.

"Please don’t worry," the officer said, noticing my pregnant state. "We just need to understand the situation. Could you walk us through what happened today?"

I took a deep breath, forcing myself to focus. "It started with this project for Will Enterprises..." I explained everything—Holly’s constant undermining, her arbitrary rejections, how she’d tried to use Mr. Will’s name to intimidate us.

"I asked her to leave," I concluded, my voice small. "I didn’t... I never imagined she would..." I couldn’t finish the sentence.

The officers thanked me for my cooperation and left. But their visit was just the beginning of the nightmare.

My phone started ringing incessantly with numbers I didn’t recognize. When I finally answered one, a venomous voice screamed through the speaker:

"You murderer! Why don’t YOU die instead?"

I hung up immediately, my hands shaking so badly I could barely hold the phone. More calls kept coming. Eventually, I turned my phone off completely.

Curiosity and dread drove me to open my laptop. I had to see what people were saying, needed to understand how bad this was getting for Dreamland Studio.

What I saw made my stomach lurch. The comments were vicious:

"Evil capitalist drove someone to suicide!"

"This is straight-up workplace bullying! She was just an ordinary working person!"

"Dreamland Jewelry is dead to me! A company with such a heartless boss must make equally soulless designs!"

"They’re literally profiting off blood money now. BOYCOTT DREAMLAND!"

I slammed my laptop shut, unable to read anymore. Somehow, everything had been twisted to make Dreamland—to make ME—the villain. I should have listened to Maya about Holly from the beginning. But it was too late now.

A series of sharp knocks at my door made me freeze in terror. What if it was some crazed stranger who’d found my address? What if—

"Serena, it’s me."

Looking through the peephole, I confirmed it was Ryan before letting my shoulders sag with relief. Even in my current state, seeing him still felt like an anchor in a storm.