novelraw Chapter 233: An Unspeakable Relationship
Chapter 233: An Unspeakable Relationship
Chapter 233: A Secret Affair
Rachel Royce first took Melissa to the office to pick up the gift she had prepared for Evelyn Fitzwilliam, which had just been delivered that morning.
Afterward, they headed to the hotel.
Just as the car pulled up to the hotel,
Rachel Royce received a call from Thomas Sterling.
"Thomas.""Rachel, are you at the hotel?"Rachel Royce could tell from his tone that something was wrong. "Yes, I just arrived. Thomas, what’s the matter?""Rachel, come to Room 108 on the 18th floor."Rachel was puzzled, but since his tone was clearly off, she didn’t ask any further questions.
"Alright, I’ll be right there."Evelyn Fitzwilliam’s birthday banquet was being held on the 19th floor.
Rachel Royce took Melissa to the 19th floor first.
By this time, quite a few society ladies had already arrived and were chatting with Evelyn Fitzwilliam in the lounge. Rachel Royce knocked on the door and went in with Melissa.
The people in the room were startled to see Rachel Royce with Melissa.
Rachel Royce also saw Jane Sullivan sitting inside. ’Looks like she’s really managed to integrate into Evelyn Fitzwilliam and Sylvia Shannon’s circle,’ she thought.
When Melissa saw Sylvia Shannon, she ran toward her, crying, "Grandma!"Sylvia Shannon pulled Melissa into her arms.
Rachel Royce said to Evelyn Fitzwilliam, "Mrs. Sterling, Thomas needs me for something. I have to go find him."Evelyn Fitzwilliam looked like she wanted to ask something,
but before she could, Rachel had already turned and left, not even having had the chance to present her gift.
Rachel Royce took the elevator downstairs.
As she walked toward the room number Thomas had given her, she kept feeling like someone was behind her. Yet, when she stopped to look back, there was no one there.
She quickened her pace to the door of Room 108 and knocked.
The door opened almost immediately.
Thomas Sterling pulled Rachel inside.
Rachel was startled. "Thomas, what’s going on?"The words had barely left her mouth
when she saw the grim expression on Thomas’s face and heard sobbing from within the room.
Stunned, Rachel turned and saw a naked woman sitting on the bed, trying to cover herself.
Thomas kept his back to the large bed, clearly unwilling to spare it another glance.
"Thomas, what is going on?" Rachel could see that nothing had happened between him and the woman, but in a situation like this, if someone were to walk in, it would be impossible to explain.
Thomas asked, "Rachel, was anyone outside when you came in?"
"No," Rachel replied, "but I have a bad feeling about this."
Thomas frowned. "There are paparazzi out there."That was why he didn’t dare leave. The moment he stepped out, he would be photographed. It was obvious he’d been caught in a honey trap.
Rachel instantly understood. Someone was trying to frame Thomas. She glanced at the sobbing woman on the bed, then frowned and walked over. She took a bathrobe from the closet and tossed it to Raina Willow.
"Miss, I don’t care who put you up to this or what you’re trying to achieve, but please, get dressed first."Raina Willow kept her head down, motionless, and did not respond.
Rachel’s voice turned cold. "If you won’t put it on, I can help you." Her tone was unyieldingly firm.
Hearing Rachel’s words, Raina Willow tensed up, her hands clutching the blanket. She looked up at Rachel, her eyes brimming with tears.
The moment she got a clear look at Rachel, Raina Willow was visibly startled.
Looking back at Raina Willow, Rachel was also taken aback. From a certain angle, the woman bore a striking resemblance to her.
A terrible premonition bloomed in her heart.
Raina Willow reached for the bathrobe and wrapped it around herself, but she remained silent on the edge of the bed. She wouldn’t say a word, no matter what Rachel asked.
"You’d better hope the person pulling your strings can keep you safe, or else you should get ready for a prison cell."At these words, Raina Willow was clearly flustered. She lowered her head, her hands tightly twisting the fabric of the robe in her lap.
Just then, Thomas received another phone call.
His face darkened as he listened. He hung up, put his phone down, and pulled up the trending topics in entertainment news.
Rachel walked over. "What is it?"Thomas handed her his phone. "See for yourself."Rachel took the phone. The headline was stark: **CEO of Aetherlight Games and Raina Willow Spotted in Intimate Hotel Encounter.**
As a famous actress, the moment the scandal broke, it shot to the top of the entertainment trending charts.
Prior to this, there were already rumors that Raina Willow was dating a fellow industry insider. While neither party had publicly confirmed it, it was a tacit understanding, and many fans online shipped them as a couple.
The release of this news story was tantamount to announcing that a third party had come between them.
The article included a photograph.
The photo, taken by the paparazzi, showed Thomas helping Raina Willow out of an elevator. It only captured Raina’s side profile, not a full-frontal view. It looked like her, but it was impossible to be certain.
The angle was misleading, making it look as though she were nestled in the man’s embrace in an intimate posture. What was certain, however, was that the man in the photo was Thomas Sterling.
He had attended public events before, so photos of him were already circulating online. His handsome features had already attracted a sizable female fanbase.
Soon, another story shot to the top, claiming the woman in the photo wasn’t Raina Willow at all, but a host from a financial news channel.
Although Rachel Royce wasn’t a major public figure, she hosted that financial program, and her stunning looks had previously generated considerable buzz online.
Combined with the scandal that had erupted around her before, netizens had a very strong impression of her.
Immediately, someone began to steer the narrative.
People started comparing photos of Raina Willow and Evelynn, noting that from certain angles, Raina did indeed bear some resemblance to Evelynn.
They claimed the woman in the photo was Evelynn, not Raina Willow.
Raina Willow’s PR team responded swiftly, claiming the person in the photo was not her. They stated she was at XX Hotel that day for a brand event, a completely different location from the one in the exposé.
They added that they had already reported the baseless slander and rumor-mongering to the police.
With this PR statement, and with Raina Willow’s fans flooding the comments to defend her, it seemed confirmed that the woman in the photo was not, in fact, Raina Willow.
Watching the public discourse unfold, Rachel quickly put the pieces together. Her expression darkened as she stared at Raina Willow, who was still sitting silently on the edge of the bed.
"It seems this wasn’t about you and Raina Willow," she said. ’This wasn’t a honey trap targeting Thomas, but a trap for both of us.’
They were just using Raina Willow’s fame to fan the flames of public opinion.
The fact that this deliberately guided narrative had pushed the exposé onto the trending charts so quickly was proof enough that someone had prepared everything in advance, seizing the most advantageous position to control public opinion.
Thomas, of course, understood this now. Raina Willow was just a decoy.
Netizens flooded the comment sections on Aetherlight’s official website, demanding to know whether the person seen intimately with Thomas Sterling at the hotel was Raina Willow or Evelynn.
The current narrative seemed engineered to force Thomas to admit the woman in the photo was Evelynn, not Raina Willow, and thereby reveal a secret affair between them.
By now, there were undoubtedly paparazzi lying in wait outside the hotel, ready to ambush them, along with a crowd of reporters.