Chapter 97 Sorry

Chapter 97 Sorry

The urgent ringtone shattered the quiet morning.

"What?" Isabella's voice was thick with impatience.

"Isabella, check the semifinal list I sent you! Olivia's name is on it!"

"What?" Isabella's heart jumped. She sat up abruptly, instinctively retorting, "Impossible! That bitch never got a semifinal invitation!"

She quickly opened the file her friend sent and scanned through it rapidly. Her eyes widened in fury and disbelief when she spotted Olivia's name among those shortlisted.

Didn't she not receive an invitation? Why... could she have been hiding it before?

Her nails dug into her palms as Isabella's face twisted. She said through gritted teeth, "No way. I absolutely cannot let her enter the semifinals!"

To stop Olivia from participating in the semifinals, Isabella hurriedly arranged to meet a few friends to discuss a plan.

Ten minutes later, they gathered in a bar's private room.

"What do we do now?" Once everyone was there, Lily Jennings asked with some worry.

Seeing her panicked look, Evelyn McCoy glanced at her like she was an idiot. "What else can we do? Either block Olivia on competition day so she can't participate, or bribe the judges to give her low scores."

"No kidnapping." Isabella immediately rejected the first suggestion.

She unconsciously bit her nails, her face dark. "She was just kidnapped recently, so she'll definitely be more careful this time. Plus, even if we succeed, covering our tracks afterward would be a hassle. Not worth it."

Isabella could use this competition to humiliate Olivia. That way, her father and brother would give up on supporting her, and their attention would naturally return to Isabella.

So Olivia still had to compete, but her results had to be terrible!

After thinking for a moment, she looked at everyone. "Let's bribe the judges. Do any of you know the judges?"

They looked at each other, and for a moment no one spoke.

Isabella was a bit speechless and said impatiently, "Can't any of you even contact them?"

"I might be able to try." Evelyn raised her hand, her expression somewhat hesitant. "My father seems to have a friend who knows Layla. If it's just making a connection and introduction, it shouldn't be hard."

Layla again!

Disgust flashed across Isabella's face. She hadn't forgotten how Layla had humiliated her and her mother in public before.

That bitch Layla was so close to Olivia, she definitely wouldn't agree, and might even ruin her plans. She rejected it immediately. "She won't work. Do you know any other judges?"

The room fell silent again.

Seeing that bribing wouldn't work for now, Isabella had to settle for another plan. "Then during the competition, we'll expose her past scandals and use public pressure to make the organizers cancel her qualification."

Evelyn perked up, her eyes gleaming with gossip. "What scandals?"

Isabella smiled smugly, opened her private photo album, and shoved her phone in front of everyone. "Look!"

"Oh my god!" When they saw the intimate photos of Olivia and Alexander, gasps rang out one after another.

This was her and James's trump card.

Lily asked weakly, "If we go too far, will it affect the competition?"

"Plus I heard Alexander has a bad temper. If he finds out we spread his sex scandal, won't he kill us too?" Evelyn touched her suddenly chilly neck, saying with some fear.

They couldn't afford to cross Alexander.

Isabella frowned slightly and compromised. "Worst case, we'll blur his face." After all, they wanted to ruin Olivia's reputation. Who the man was didn't matter.

The group discussed the plan enthusiastically, completely failing to notice that the door had been pushed open a crack, and a dark camera lens was pointed at them, recording their every move.

Meanwhile, Olivia had just woken up when she received a meeting request from Louis, who specifically mentioned 'having something important to give her'.

Could it be a trap? But what would his motive be?

After thinking for a moment, Olivia agreed to meet.

That evening, Olivia arrived at Louis's bar as agreed.

After they sat down face to face, Louis took out a USB drive from a drawer and pushed it in front of her. "This is compensation from the Turner family."

"This is...?" Looking at the USB drive, Olivia was suspicious.

Hadn't they already given her compensation? And what was on this USB drive?

Hearing this, Louis had someone bring a laptop, plugged in the USB drive, and played its contents.

The video was a bit blurry and the angle was awkward, but Isabella and her friends' voices were exceptionally clear.

The content was their morning discussion in the private room about how to stop her from participating in the semifinals.

Olivia wasn't worried after watching it. After all, Layla was also one of the judges for this competition. With her there, Isabella couldn't possibly manipulate the scoring.

Even if, in the worst case, she did find a loophole, Olivia could ask Layla to step in and have the organizers review the results.

However, the video mentioned her past. Though somewhat embarrassing, the opportunity was rare, so she tried asking Louis if he could tell her more about her and Alexander's past.

She still didn't want to believe her former self would do such shameful things. Plus, she really wanted to know what Alexander thought of her.

Louis interlaced his fingers, his tone calm as he reminded her, "Ms. Harper, compared to that, I think you should focus more on the current situation."

"What?"

"Alexander has been working around the clock lately. Because the intensity was too much, he's already in the hospital." He paused and added, "As far as I know, you two separated just a couple days ago. Him working so hard probably has something to do with you."

"How..." Olivia's pupils contracted. She instinctively wanted to ask about Alexander's condition, but when the words reached her lips, she remembered their current relationship. She abruptly changed the subject, pretending to be indifferent. "His business has nothing to do with me."

They had already cut ties. She wasn't warm-hearted enough to care about her boss's private life.

Louis's tone was heavy as he reminded her, "He's very sick."

"Mr. Turner, Mr. Blake is an adult. These are all his own choices. What he's busy with is work, not private matters with me. Please don't put the blame on me." Olivia didn't want to stay longer. She picked up her bag to leave. "I'll take the item, thank you."

Louis didn't try to persuade or stop her. He quietly watched her flustered retreating figure, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes behind his glasses.

He bet she would definitely go to the hospital.