Twisted Ties of Love

Chapter 360

Everyone's guessing the identity of this account, with the only clue being someone from the "Here Comes the Superstars" crew.

Ariana's chill as a cucumber, and with so many in the crew, even if they suspect her, they've got no beef.

This was a classic PR move in the entertainment business, just dropping a bigger bombshell, and the netizens were easily distracted.

Like this time, she used her alt account to stir up a topic about "Casey", Now all the eyes of the random netizens were on this post, debating if Casey and Izabella were an item.

One comment read, "It's weird, when the show had issues that day, all the paparazzi outside didn't see Izabella leave. I'm scratching my head. Who managed to sneak Izabella out without anyone noticing?"

Another one jumped in, "Don't scare me. Mr. Dempsey is as clean as a whistle; there's no way he'd fall for some crazy chick. Don't believe the gossip; don't spread the gossip."

Someone else chimed in, "Rumor has it, Mr. Dempsey did visit the dressing room that day, but not to see Izabella. He was just cheering up everyone there. But I find it odd—since when did Mr. Dempsey become such a people person? Seems fishy."

Another netizen pointed out, "Not just Izabella, Mr. Dempsey also vanished on the day of the incident." Copyright by Nôv/elDrama.Org.

The netizens were pretty sharp; they've pretty much pieced together the situation.

As Ariana read these comments, she realized something was off. She originally wrote this post just to vent, but could she have accidentally spilled some serious tea?

Ariana felt a mix of emotions—a bit of schadenfreude but also a bit unsettled.

The schadenfreude part was that if Izabella really had something going on with Casey, she'd definitely be torn to shreds by Casey's fans.

Casey's more or less a saint; there were no scandals, and he's committed to his acting career, mostly in roles without any romantic angle.

While not many female artists dare to approach him, he's definitely got his fair share of admirers. That's what made Ariana uncomfortable; why wouldn't Casey give her a second glance?

Her agent called her with a tone of reproach: "Why can't you be more careful? Izabella managed to film that video. But don't worry; we've controlled the situation. Just let Harper take the fall. And you two don't need to fake a relationship anymore. You've cost us tens of thousands; we'll keep you off the schedule for a while. Don't worry, I've handled the PR stuff."

Ariana smirked. These people only cared about their profits. One second they're praising her, the next they're ready to toss her aside like trash if she’s not profitable.

"I don't need your help," she said coldly.

Her agent was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

Ariana replied, "I've got it under control. The company doesn't have to spend any money on PR." These PR expenses would be deducted from her commission. Why should she let the company handle it if she can take care of it herself?

"What did you do? I'm warning you: don't post anything reckless. I can't save you if you mess up."

Ariana didn't pay her any mind.

Her agent was worried about Ariana's attitude: "I'm coming over now. Stay in the backstage lounge and don't touch your social media. I'll manage it for now."

With that, the agent hung up.

The internet was buzzing today, especially about Izabella. Just when the heat was dying down from the last incident, someone dropped another bombshell about her.

Netizens pieced together the clues, leading to Casey's first ever scandal and a spot on the trending list.

#Casey Izabella#

Meanwhile, Izabella was oblivious to her trending status. She was on her way to the airport with her luggage.

She had just boarded the plane when she received a call from Casey.

"Where are you?" Casey sounded anxious.

Izabella was puzzled: "I've just boarded the plane."

"You're at the airport? Where are you going? I didn't mean to; please don't be mad."

Casey was rambling and apologizing before Izabella even knew what was going on. She was confused. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

There was a pause on the other end. "You don't know?"

"What should I know?"

Casey hesitated, then smoothly changed the subject: "Nothing; where are you headed?"

"I'm going to J City to take care of some things."

"Alright, take care of your business and stay safe. Call me if you need anything." Casey wanted to hang up but waited for Izabella to do so.

Izabella didn't think much of it. A flight attendant was doing safety checks and reminded Izabella, "Ma'am, we're about to take off. Please turn off your phone or switch it to airplane mode."

"Okay." Izabella responded to the flight attendant, then said into the phone, "I'm about to take off; I’ve got to go."

She ended the call, switched her phone to airplane mode, and put it in her bag.

Her main reason for going back to J City was to pick up Nikki. She estimated that she'd arrive around eight and could arrange for Liam to drop off the cat somewhere. She didn't even want to see Brett.

As the plane smoothly ascended, Izabella asked for a glass of water and a blanket from a flight attendant.

The flight attendant brought them over quickly. As Izabella thanked her, she noticed the attendant giving her a complex look and double-checking her several times, as if confirming something. But due to her duties, the attendant could only focus on her work.

Izabella tried to ignore the strange feeling, but even with her eyes closed, she could feel multiple gazes on her. She peered around with her sunglasses on and saw a group of attendants whispering not far away.

She couldn't hear what they were saying, but by reading their lips, Izabella could make out a few words.

One was Casey, and the other was trending. Since they were still looking at her, it must have something to do with her. She guessed that she and Casey were trending.

That's why Casey just called to apologize. As for what exactly happened, Izabella had no clue. But being trending with Casey can't be for anything good.

Izabella just wanted to ignore it now; she shut her eyes to rest.

On the other hand, Casey breathed a sigh of relief after he knew Izabella had boarded the plane to J City. He figured he had three to four hours to sort this out.

As soon as the news broke, Casey's agent, Seth, found him and asked whether the trending topic was true.

How could he not know as an agent? From the moment he first saw Izabella on the plane, Casey was like a dog with a bone, his eyes lighting up.

It's a shame he wasn't there on the day, so he didn't know the real deal. But judging by the trending gossip, he reckoned it was likely true.

"I think you owe me an explanation."

With an unapologetic tone, Casey said, "There's nothing to explain; I did take Izabella away that day, but we didn't go to a hotel; we went to my place."

"What? Your place?!"

"Is there a problem?" Casey looked at him with contempt. He didn't think it was a big deal; one day he would take Izabella home anyway. So what's the difference between sooner and later? He needed to pursue Izabella as soon as possible and let her get used to his house. If she didn't like it, he could always redecorate.

Seth was very disappointed. If this wasn't a problem, then what was? Casey had no idea how serious this was.

"Now your fans are bashing Izabella, and you still think it's not a big deal." Seth had been working with Casey for two years, but he’d never been to Casey's house.

"Those are not fans."

"Then what are they?"

"Haters. I've had the tech guys block their accounts."

"You did that already?"

Casey nodded, and Seth quickly checked his fan group on his phone.

"Darn, someone reported my account; I got blocked."

"Me too."

"Ah, my account with 500k followers is just gone; so annoying."

"It must be Izabella's fans."

"Izabella has fans?"

"A lot of her fans showed up today."

"So annoying, Izabella is even trending with Casey; when will she leave the entertainment industry?"

"Guys, stop complaining in the group; go defend Casey; someone's bashing him again."

"I wonder who's spreading rumors about Casey; if I find out who, I'm going to teach her a lesson."

"Izabella must have a backer, a big shot at that; I roughly counted that over a thousand people have been blocked, and they are all Mr. Dempsey's fans; is she intentionally targeting Mr. Dempsey?"

Seth's fingers were flying over the keyboard; he was lost for words. These fans could never imagine that the "fool" they were cursing was their idol, Casey.

"What are you looking at? Let me see." Casey moved his head over curiously, but Seth blocked the screen with his hand before Casey could see anything.

Seth dared not let Casey see his fan group's messages; he was afraid that if Casey got angry, he would block his own fan group.

"Casey, I suggest you calm down; don't do anything; people are starting to suspect Izabella has a backer." He originally wanted to say "sugar daddy", but it didn't sound good, so he changed it on the spot.