Divorced CEO's Forgotten Wife Strikes Back (Riley and Bryce) novel Chapter 233

Chapter 233 Confrontation

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“Then what about you? How many laws have you broken, Bella? You caused the fire at the border. Your carelessly tossed cigarette butt killed so many people!”

Bella’s face paled, her eyes wide with panic as she stared at Riley.

“What… what are you talking about? I don’t even smoke! How could the fire have anything to do with me? I helped put it out! I saved lives!”

Bryce glared at Riley, his face flushed with anger.

“Riley, you keep targeting Bella. You’ve already cost her job at Cloud Airlines. Isn’t that enough?”

“Targeting her?” Riley let out a bitter laugh, her eyes fixed on Bryce. “Isn’t it her own actions that cost her that job?”

“What has Bella done wrong?” Bryce shot back, his voice rising. “Even if she didn’t save her colleague back then, it was out of fear. Isn’t it human to be scared in a situation like that? And didn’t she help put out the fire and save others?”

“So it’s fine that she hid the truth and basked in the glory qf/being called a hero?” Riley retorted, her voice laced with 5:50 disdain. “And that’s not all she hid. She concealed that she

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started the fire! She’s the one responsible, yet she’s been soaking up praise without a shred of guilt. It’s laughable!”

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“Bella said she doesn’t smoke,” Bryce insisted. “How could a cigarette butt she tossed cause the fire?”

“She doesn’t smoke?” Riley’s laugh was cold and sharp. She flung a handful of photos at Bryce’s face. “These are pictures of Bella smoking before the fire. She didn’t just smoke–she’s been at it for years!”

Bryce froze, stunned, as he picked up the photos. In them, Bella held a cigarette between her fingers, exhaling smoke with practiced ease.

It was a side of her he’d never seen. He’d always thought Bella didn’t smoke, but the photos showed a seasoned smoker.

Bella’s face drained of color when she saw the images. “Those photos… They’re not real! They’re fake, synthesized!”

“We’ll find out if they’re fake when they’re tested,” Riley said icily.

Bryce’s expression grew complicated, his lips tightening. “Even if Bella did smoke, that doesn’t mean she caused the fire. The fire department and police already ruled it was Jaxon’s unextinguished cigarette that started it!”

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“That conclusion only came about because Jaxon was already dead,” Riley said, her voice cold as steel. “If he were alive, do you think he’d let that injustice stand?”

“You don’t have proof,” Bryce said, voice rising. “You’ve got nothing.”

Before he could finish, Riley tossed more photos at him, these ones screenshots from the restored video, showing Bella smoking and discarding a cigarette butt.

“This is Bella smoking at the exact spot where the fire started,” Riley said. “Ten minutes after she tossed that butt, the fire broke out. Are you still going to say it’s unrelated?”

Bryce picked up the photos. Though the figure’s face was unclear, the outline of her features was unmistakable. It was

Bella.

He knew her too well.

Bella’s body trembled when she saw her own silhouette in the images. Where had Riley gotten these photos?

When were they taken? By whom?

“Riley, you’re slandering me!” Bella shouted, her voice.

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desperate. “You think you can pin this on me with a few blurry photos?”

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“Whether it’s you or not, the police and a judge will decide,” Riley said. “I’m here to confront you for myself and my brother.”

“What?” Bella barely had time to react before Riley closed the distance, raised her fist, and struck Bella’s face hard.

Bella stumbled back, nearly collapsing if Bryce hadn’t caught

her.

Clutching her cheek in pain, Bella glared at Riley. “What gives you the right to hit me?”

“The right?” Riley’s teeth ground together, her voice shaking with fury. She grabbed Bella’s collar, yanking her close. “My brother, Samuel, went missing for five years because of the fire your cigarette started. Do you think I don’t have the right to hit you?”

Bella froze, speechless.

Bryce’s face darkened. He’d heard Riley mention her brother, missing for five years after the border fire.

He hadn’t realized Samuel’s disappearance was tied to that

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