I Refuse to Be Your Second Choice novel Chapter 234

Steven Wright was nowhere to be found. The woman sat at a table with two other women, probably her friends.

Her face was ghostly pale as she dropped her purse to the floor. The bag popped open, and a frog jumped out, croaking twice, loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Where did that come from? Why do you have a frog in your bag?” one of her friends yelped, just as freaked out, and started waving for a waiter.

The frog hopped a few steps before a quick-thinking waiter managed to catch it.

The woman was so shaken she couldn’t even speak. The room was buzzing with whispers a moment later.

“That’s the woman from those dirty pictures online, isn’t it?”

“Pretty sure it is,” someone else replied, holding up their phone and glancing between the photo and the woman. “Yeah, it’s her. It’s all over the news, still trending.”

“She actually has the guts to show up here? Embarrassing.”

“Honestly, people will do anything for money these days. Who cares about some scandalous photos?”

One of the woman’s friends couldn’t take it anymore and spun around, yelling at the gossips, “What are you even talking about?”

“Come on, she knows what she did. It’s gross just being in the same room as her.”

After hearing that, the woman and her friends, still rattled, finally pulled out their own phones.

At that exact moment, a news alert popped up on Natalie Watson’s phone where it sat on the table. She tapped the notification. A grid of nine blurry, nude-toned photos filled the screen. Some showed lewd poses, others featured the woman being intimate with a man.

There was no doubt. The woman at the center of the storm was the same woman at the table.

Bruce Ward looked at her, clearly confused.

Isabella’s eyes drifted toward Sophia, her stare full of contempt.

Sophia sensed something and looked up, locking eyes with Isabella. She went white as a sheet, scrambling to grab her bag, her words tumbling out, “It’s my fault… I… I’ll leave, I’ll go right now…”

Natalie, remembering everything she’d seen the night before, watched the silent exchange and understood immediately. This was all Isabella’s doing.

Sophia ran out, humiliated. Isabella just smirked, looking even more pleased with herself.

Suddenly, it hit Natalie. If Isabella had caught Arianna Mitchell with Steven Wright, then everything that happened today could have happened to Arianna instead.

Was that why Alexander stopped her from calling Arianna last night? Did he already know how ruthless Isabella could be? With that thought, Natalie glanced over at Alexander, her mind racing.