Chapter 31
Chapter 31
The hospital.
“Angie Grant the Black Widow’s road to charity.”
“The biggest fraud of the year – Angie Grant the charitable princess.”
…
Lying in bed, Angie could not stop herself from scrolling the same viral news.
– The fake princess and her fake donation. Charitable princess, my ass. It’s all a joke. She’s trying to make a name for herself and rub shoulders with the Quincies.
– I got word that Angie pays bribes because she’s banned from all global charity events after the president discovered her faking donations.
– That’s nothing to the rumor I got for you. She was planning to announce her engagement to Mr. Quincy after earning the prestigious title of Global Ambassador for Philanthropy. Karma sure claps back.
How did things come to this? All eyes were supposed to look upon her favorably. She was to marry into the Quincies and become the most esteemed woman in all of Imperia!
Yet, Angie found herself in the face of public condemnation and mockery!
“Ah!” Letting out a shriek, Angie menacingly smashed her phone on the ground.
“Bam!” Her phone shattered into pieces.
A black stiletto stomped on a piece of fractured mobile screen scattered near the door.
The wearer of the killer stilettos had black nylon stockings hugging along the smooth curves of her toned and long legs. Her skirt, accentuating her perky round cheeks, sat right above the knee while her upper body was cladded with a red tailored-fit overcoat. Her long hair rested against her cleavage without taking attention away from her well-defined yet soft jawline. The sound of Angie’s voice invoked an offhanded smile from the woman.
“How are you, Ms. Angie?” A hint of contempt hid behind the woman’s aloof and assertive voice. Her dark eyes fixated on Angie who appeared to have gone mad.
Angie snapped an angry look at the source of the voice. Digging her fingernails into the pillow, she exclaimed with bloodshot eyes, “Madeline! It was you, wasn’t it?! You did this to me!
“You ruined my life!”
She struggled to get out of bed and stormed toward Madeline while lashing out, “You’re a shameless b–”
“Smack!” Angie took a blow to the face.
With her ears buzzing and head spinning, Angie held her swollen cheek. She stared at the woman, who was brushing invisible dirt off her fingers, in disbelief. “How dare you hit me! You’re dead meat! Noah will come after you for this! Even if you come begging me on your knees, I won’t –” C0ntent © 2024 (N/ô)velDrama.Org.
“Smack!”
There went another slap.
Seeing stars, Angie stared blankly at Madeline.
Madeline took her time wiping her fingertips before offhandedly glancing to a corner. With his head hung low, Albert took the handkerchief from Madeline and stepped back into his position.
“Ms. Angie, I need to clarify a few things with you.
“Our deal ended the moment you stood on the podium. Whatever you had going on with Asher is between you two. I was so kind to visit you, but you insulted me out of the blue and even tried to get physical with me. Why shouldn’t I fight back? You asked for it.”
Although Angie was tempted to refute Madeline, she gritted her teeth and bit her tongue at the thought of the slaps. “But you could’ve stopped everything! Why didn’t you? I paid you so much money!”
Madeline helplessly shrugged. “Me? Stop? Why? I didn’t tell you to attack Asher. You did something bad and didn’t do a good job covering your ass. Who are you to me? Why should I pick up after you?”
Angie hissed through clenched teeth. “I wouldn’t have fallen for it had it not been for the act you put up at the charitable association. You destroyed me! You ruined my life! You b–”
Her cussing was interrupted by Madeline’s raise of the hand. Shaking, she moved back.
Angie’s mind flew back to when Madeline made excessive demands and demonstrated her cut-throat determination toward Asher. Madeline managed to amp up the conflict between her and Asher…
The woman had everything in the palm of her hand!
Madeline was a beast!
Clenching her fists, Angie shouted in disbelief, “Have you been setting me up from the start? The fight with you in the lift, firing Asher, tempting me to buy my way to glory…”
“How can you say that, Ms. Angie?
“The fake donations, the underhand transaction, and putting a price on prestige were all on you. Did I make you do any of that? I merely helped you when you proposed the exchange. Is helping you wrong too?
“Don’t be ungrateful, Angie. Karma might just come back and haunt you.”
With Madeline’s voice echoing in her ear, Angie shuddered as chills crept under her skin.
She had never met a woman like Madeline. The latter was shrewd and wicked, pulling moves that proved deadly every step of the way. Angie was terrified as she knew she alone could not beat the woman.
Still, she had Noah!
Seeing a flicker of hope, Angie stood tall and put on a proud face.
Angie chided, “You might laugh now for plotting my disgrace, but you should know that I’m the future Mrs. Quincy. I give to charity in the name of Gordon. For you to stir the pot, do you think the Quincies will turn a blind eye? Do you think Mr. Quincy won’t stand up for me? Madeline, I’d enjoy the last of my precious life if I were you.”
Madeline sneered and stared at the naïve and stupid woman before giving her a sidelong glance. “Angie, it has been more than twelve hours since what happened last night. Why do you think there are still many hate comments about you online?”
Why?
It was because Noah washed his hands of the whole debacle. The entire matter would have been played down if he had put a curb on it at the event itself.
The Quincies were the movers and shakers of the city. No one would dare go over Mr. Quincy’s head and cross his people – unless the Quincies permitted it themselves.
Angie’s pupils dilated. “He doesn’t care about me!”
“It wasn’t hard to guess, was it?”
Stunned, Angie stared absently at Madeline’s sultry face.
Her heart could not be more broken than the shattered mobile phone on the ground.
Why did he not help her? Did he find out what she did to Colton or…
“No way!” She spoke gruffly, “He said he’ll protect me!”
Madeline could not even take her place once upon a time ago. How could she be abandoned?
The heartache Angie endured gave Madeline the rush of thrill.
There was more devastating news to come.
Handing a black-and-white document to Angie, Madeline patiently explained, “Ms. Angie, your fake donation has caused considerable reputational damage to my charity. This is an indictment my attorney drafted up. Please take a look. Of course, I’d prefer to settle it out of court if possible.”
Angie froze. Her mind went blank as she stared at the words on the document.
“Ms. Angie, you wouldn’t want to have something on your criminal record from being sued if you want to marry into the Quincy family. In that case, you should consider compensating the charity. As the president, I should visit you in the hospital with a gift. Consider this my gift to you,” Madeline generously said.
Snapping out of her trance, Angie shakily grabbed the thin sheet of paper and choked back her anger. She pointed at a clause. “Madeline, this is daylight robbery.”
She scrunched the paper and yelled, forgoing the manners of a lady, “How the hell am I supposed to get you a billion dollars? Why don’t you just kill me!?
“A billion dollars! I can’t believe you’re asking for a billion! I should just hand my company over to you!”
Madeline’s eyes lit up. “Are you sure about that?”
Feeling a dizzy spell approaching, Angie pointed at the door and cried out loud, “Get out!”