Twisted Ties of Love
Chapter 400

Izabella got hold of the tag Niki used to wear, rubbing it with her fingers. The bloodstain on it had been wiped clean by her, but she always felt that Niki's blood was still on it, and it seemed impossible to get rid

of it completely, no matter how hard she tried.

Izabella sat on a large leather office chair, her legs up, curled into a ball in the chair, just the right fit.

Resting her chin on her knees, Izabella stared blankly at the computer screen, with Casey keeping her company quietly by her side.

As the night fell, Casey glanced at the darkness outside the window, a breeze was blowing, rustling the leaves.

Autumn was coming, and the nights were getting colder.

"Bella, you should take a break. I'll have someone keep an eye on Ariana and Kristin," Casey suggested.

It was almost midnight, and Izabella looked pale and exhausted, but her eyes were unusually bright, showing no signs of fatigue.

In fact, her brain was very tired, as if it was suddenly filled with air. Her eyes were sour, but every time she closed her eyes, the scene of Niki's tragic death and the bloodstains in the dump popped into her mind. The blinding red made her feel like she was back in her past life like she was falling into a hell of despair.

She tried to suppress the burning blood in her chest.

"No," Izabella shook her head and said firmly, "I want to do it myself," She wanted to drag those who were responsible into hell all by herself.

Casey was silent for a moment, then got up and fetched a blanket from the bedroom to drape over her and continued to sit by her side in silence.

Izabella had her own things to do, and all he could do at that moment was to cooperate with her as much as possible. As for the shares in X Entertainment, a decision should be made soon. Kristin's boss should have been replaced long ago.

At one in the morning, Ariana received a message on her phone indicating that five million had been credited to her account.

Seeing that message, Ariana breathed a sigh of relief. Now she could leave in peace. Once a person relaxed, they began to feel hungry. She couldn't cook, and there wasn't much to eat in the fridge. Usually, she would just order takeout.

Ariana didn't dare to go out to pick up her food during the day for fear of danger. Now it was two in the morning, and she thought she wouldn't run into anyone.

She ordered a late-night meal on her phone, and while waiting for the delivery, she packed her luggage. After about forty minutes, the doorbell finally rang.

Ariana was very alert. She first confirmed the delivery over the phone, then looked through the peephole to make sure it was the delivery guy before carefully opening the door.

"Enjoy your meal," the delivery guy said.

Ariana didn't respond, and after receiving the bag, she closed the door immediately. She gave the takeout a little shake and felt it was a bit heavier than usual.

But she didn't think much of it, after all, the weight of the takeout couldn't be exactly the same every time, and it was normal for it to be slightly heavier.

She took the takeout to the dining room, washed her hands, and then started to open the bag layer by layer.

"Ah!!" With a scream, the takeout bag toppled over on the table, and a dead rat rolled out from it into the soup and rice. The rat's head was bloody, its belly was cut open, and even its intestines were exposed. Ariana once said in an interview that what she feared most was rats. So, one could imagine how much of an impact that situation had on her.

She ran into the bathroom, flushing the toilet with one hand and vomiting with the other, and even throwing up stomach acid. Every time she thought of the dead rat in the takeout box, she felt her whole body go numb, got goosebumps all over, her legs went weak, and her back went cold.

Ariana only remembered the terrible state of the rat, forgetting that what she had done to Niki was much more brutal than what had been done to the rat. It's only when people were threatened that they felt fear Ariana vomited until she was exhausted, feeling her stomach as tight as if it was being twisted. She leaned against the bathroom wall, feeling sick, and when she came out, she avoided looking at the dead rat. Besides the dead rat, there was also a note in the bag, which had fallen next to the table leg. She went over and her eyes fell on the bloody big characters on it.

"Bitch, enjoy your meal!"

Was it the restaurant owner who did this? Or was it the delivery guy? Or was someone else pretending to be the delivery guy? But how did those people know she ordered takeout on her phone, and how did they know it was her who ordered the takeout? She had already made her account anonymous.

She was just thinking randomly, but slowly, she started to get scared. Was her phone being monitored?

No way, who could go this far?

Was it Izabella? How could that be? How could she have the ability to do something like this?

Ariana suddenly thought of Casey. Izabella had contact with him early on in the variety show, "Here Comes the Superstars", and it was Casey who posted the video on Twitter that time. Izabella's background was Casey! According to Casey's status and ability, he could totally do it.

It was just that she had been so scared all day that she forgot to think about those things.

Her phone had been hacked once before, and she thought resetting the system would solve the problem. But for those who had the means, if they could hack her once, they could also hack her a second time. It was not impossible that her phone was being monitored.

Ariana looked at her phone on the table, and suddenly realized what was going on. Her eyes widened and she let out a piercing scream.

"Ah!" She had never collapsed like this before. She didn't understand; she hadn't committed a crime or killed anyone, just killed a cat, and when it was dead, it was dead. Why did those people insist on targeting her?

What should she do now? She couldn't throw her phone away, after all, she didn't have a spare phone and couldn't go out to buy one at that late hour. She could encounter a dead rat just by ordering takeout, and if she went out, there might be even greater danger.

She couldn't turn off her phone either, after all, she was leaving the country tomorrow and would need her phone on the way.

Ariana was so anxious that she no longer felt hungry. She looked at her suitcase not far away.

The only solution at that time was to temporarily put her phone aside. In a few hours, she would be able to leave the country.

Ariana turned on the TV to distract herself. It was only three in the morning, and her flight was at eight. She had to stay awake for another five hours.

At six in the morning, Ariana was looking at the breaking dawn, ready to head out to the airport early. The people who had cursed and insulted her were only a threat in words; the most they would do was send her a dead rat like they did last night. They wouldn't dare physically attack her in the real world.

That would be illegal, after all.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Ariana was about to grab her luggage and leave when her phone buzzed in her bag.

Any small noise made her nervous. Since yesterday, she had set her phone to block calls from unknown numbers. The only ones who could reach her were people saved in her contacts. She had deleted most of them, and of the few which were left, she could easily guess who was calling her at this hour.

Sure enough, the caller ID showed "Kristin".

Picking up, Ariana answered, "Hello?"

"Where are you?"

Even though she couldn't see Kristin's face, Ariana could sense the other woman's mood through the phone. She answered honestly, "I'm on my way to the airport. I've received the money. Don't worry, once I'm abroad, I won't come back. Also, transfer the remaining five million to my bank account."

"What's your game, Ariana? Did you forget what I told you yesterday? Or do you think I, Kristin, am someone you can mess with?"

Ariana had been up all night, and her nerves were on the edge. She didn't quite get what Kristin meant, but she could definitely feel her anger.

Hearing that, she herself started to become angry, "Kristin, what are you trying to say? Are you blaming me? If it wasn't for your idea, would I have ended up like in this situation? Forced to leave my hometown and live alone abroad? You ruined me, who gives you the right to yell at me this early in the morning?"

She already had the money, and in two hours, she would be boarding her flight. She wasn't afraid of Kristin.

"You finally show your true colors."

Ariana retorted without hesitation, "You're no saint either, who are you trying to fool with your holier-than-thou act?"

"Ariana, I believe I've been more than fair to you. We had an agreement; I give you money, and you keep your mouth shut. But just after I had transferred you the money, our call got leaked. Are you joking with me?"

Ariana paused, even in her dazed state she realized something was wrong.

"What recording?"

"Stop playing dumb! It's trending already! Ariana, I won't let you off, you're not leaving the country today!"

After the call ended, Ariana instinctively tried to open Twitter, but since she had already deleted the app, she had to use the phone's built-in browser. Once in, she saw the trending topics.

The trending topic was "Ariana and Kristin's call recording".

Turned out, from the moment she called Kristin yesterday, her phone was tapped, and she had no clue.

She only read the headline of the trending news, not bothering to click to read more. All she wanted to do was get out of there as soon as possible.

Kristin's threat over the phone was definitely serious.

Having worked with Kristin before, Ariana knew just how ruthless she could be, especially when it came to exploiting people's weaknesses.

If she fell into Kristin's hands, her life would be over.

Ariana grabbed her luggage, put on her sneakers, and prepared to leave.

The moment she opened the door, she got another shock. The doorstep was filled with wreaths and paper dolls.

After the scare last night, Ariana had become somewhat more resilient. Even though she wasn't screaming, she was still stunned by the bizarre situation.

She needed to leave that place. If she stayed any longer, the pressure would eventually break her, drive her insane if it didn't kill her first.

If she could turn back time to two days ago, Ariana would never have thought that she would endure all that because of a cat, just like she never thought that she would be ruined because of Izabella two months ago. The same mistake was repeated twice.

Ariana, with her mask and sunglasses on, thought her disguise was perfect, but she was still recognized as soon as she left her apartment complex.

A rotten egg hit her squarely, the foul smell hitting her nostrils, followed by garbage being thrown at her from all directions.

Ariana didn't have time to dodge. The people surrounding her wore masks, their eyes filled with malevolence, looking like a bunch of thugs. Those were the people who had been attacking Ariana online. They got her address and phone number last night, along with her flight schedule.

Not wanting to miss that chance, they had been staking out since dawn. Seeing her at that moment, their pent-up anger from the night exploded.

Ariana hadn't expected them to attack her physically. The rotten egg on her face made her want to throw up. She tried to wipe it off with her hand, but the more she wiped, the more nauseous she felt.

But she couldn't keep up with the speed at which they were throwing eggs at her. In a short while, she was stained all over, even her hair had vegetable leaves in it.

"This is illegal! I'm calling the police; you're all getting arrested!" Ariana was seething with anger. Her sunglasses had been knocked off, and she glared at everyone.

They weren't afraid of her threats.

"Ariana, you're a wicked woman!"

"You're scum! Go to hell!"

Ariana had lived a luxurious life before. She would've continued to live that peaceful life in the entertainment industry if she hadn't crossed Izabella. But now, she was reduced to this, humiliated. She had never lived so miserably in her life.

Every part of her body hurt. She stood her ground; the last bit of her sanity left her soul. She glared menacingly at everyone present.

“This is just a cat; I didn't break any law. Who gives you the right to treat me like this! And that cat has nothing to do with any of you, I mistreated it, are you going to take revenge for it by killing me? Don't forget, animal abuse isn't illegal, but murder is. What you're doing now is a crime, and I'll make sure you pay for it!"