Rising From Betrayal Reborn As The Family Outcast novel Chapter 11

Chapter 11

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

“Let’s talk,” Haley said.

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Alicia.

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.

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

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Chapter 11

around here. The rest of us aren’t idiots.

“Sorry, but I’m not interested in playing along with your little schemes anymore.”

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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.

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.

This time, though, he could tell she was furious, and it was the kind of anger that meant she was truly done with him.

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Chapter 11

9:

Nicolas gave her a pitiful look. “Do we really have to end this? Can’t you just let it go?”

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Back then, whenever he acted hurt and tried to patch things up, Alicia would always give him a way out.

Seeing the way Nicolas looked at her, Alicia knew exactly what was running through his mind.

But she wasn’t the Alicia from her past life anymore, the one who’d always go easy on him, always let him off the hook.

She shook her head. “No.”

She frowned, “Move your hand, or I won’t be so nice.”

Nicolas never expected that playing the sad puppy and begging for forgiveness would leave Alicia totally unmoved.

He stubbornly kept his hand on the contract. “I’m not moving. I won’t let you do this.”

Nicolas bit his lip, his voice low and urgent. “If you’re upset with the company or anyone, just tell me. I’ll fix it for you. Can’t we just find a middle ground?”

From the moment Nicolas stormed in and slammed his hand down on the contract to the way he was practically begging Alicia, everyone in the legal department was floored.

People thought, ‘What’s going on here? Wasn’t Alicia supposed to be pretending to be Nicolas’s childhood sweetheart? But now, it doesn’t look like she’s the one putting on an act.‘

Everyone knew Nicolas was the golden boy of Starlight Entertainment. He was arrogant, high–profile, and never afraid to do whatever he wanted.

But this was the first time anyone had ever seen him actually swallow his pride and beg anyone.

If they weren’t seeing things, Nicolas was actually acting all pitiful and whiny with Alicia.

They couldn’t help but wonder if they were seeing things.

It wasn’t just the legal department staff who were stunned. Even Haley saw this side of Nicolas for the very first time.

Up until now, all she’d ever seen was the two of them fighting, giving each other the cold shoulder, and leaving on bad terms.

She never imagined Nicolas had this side to him when it came to Alicia.

Alicia knew that once Nicolas started playing the thick–skinned act, there was just no talking sense into him.

So she just yanked his hand off the contract, twisted his arm behind his back, and with a swift kick, sent Nicolas sprawling to the floor.

Before Nicolas could even recover, Alicia sat down, grabbed the other two copies, signed her name, and pressed her fingerprint down in one go.

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Chapter 11

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The contracts from Starlight Entertainment already had the official seal, so once she signed and stamped them, the contract was officially terminated.

Then she pulled out her phone and sent the termination fee to the account listed in the contract.

She turned to the legal team, who were still in shock. “The agreed termination fee’s already in your company account. Go ahead and check.”

She picked up her copy of the contract, glanced at Thomas, and said, “Mr. Wise, let’s head out.”

Thomas was totally floored by the way Alicia handled things just now.

But he snapped out of it fast, got up with a grin, and said, “Let’s go.”

It was common knowledge that the Moore family and the Delaney family were always trying to set up Alicia and Nicolas as a couple.

But after today’s drama, people weren’t sure if the Moore and Delaney families would ever get their wish and tie Alicia and Nicolas together.

Thomas didn’t feel the slightest bit sorry for Nicolas.

Thomas spat inwardly, ‘Now, he’s suddenly trying to patch things up, begging Alicia not to walk away.

‘He’s acting like he’ll handle anything for her now, but where was all that concern when she actually needed him?‘