Chapter 725 The Crafty Celebrity

Melanie was utterly dumbfounded. She would have thought she was dreaming if her cheeks were not burning in pain.

She screeched, “I’m telling the truth! Why did you hit me?” Years of experience in show business had hardened Melanie’s character, and she hardly feared Victoria’s family background.

Melanie continued, “I have evidence. I recorded all the sweet-nothings that Mr. Taggart said to me yesterday!”

With that said, Melanie grabbed her phone off the bedside table and began playing a recording in front of everyone.

The voice in the recording had barely uttered two words when Victoria rushed forward like a mad woman. She wrenched the phone from Melanie’s hand, flinging it onto the floor and trampling it.

Victoria was far from done. She smashed a nearby vase and clenched her right fist around one of the ceramic shards. Her eyes were bloodshot as she glared at Melanie and shrieked, “A recording? The thing I hate the most in this world is other people touching my things. I’ll teach you a lesson. Then, it’s his turn!”

Christina sensed that Victoria was on the verge of losing control. She immediately shouted at Lyle “Hurry! Hold her back!”

Alas, Victoria had already launched herself nimbly at Melanie.

“Victoria!” Sebastian acted on reflex, placing himself in front of Melanie. Victoria’s shard-wielding hand was forced to a stop just half an inch away from his heart.

Disbelief filled Victoria’s gaze. She stared at her boyfriend through tears and accused him, “How can you defend her?”

Hastily, Sebastian explained, “I don’t want you to be blamed for harming someone else.”

Fury had clouded Victoria’s judgment. She could not calm down and consider his concerns rationally. Tumultuous emotions welled in her chest, fueling her urgency to get rid of the vixen behind Sebastian.

She waved the shard in her hand and gave Sebastian an ultimatum. “I’ve never been a clingy person, Sebastian. Give me an answer now. Who will you choose? Me or her?”

A fearless Melanie fanned the flames by goading, “What man would ever fancy a shrew like you?”

“Shut up! You have no right to speak here!” Victoria retorted furiously.

Melanie’s expression soured. She replied scornfully, “Don’t think you can erase what happened between Mr. Taggart and me because you’ve destroyed my evidence. They say alcohol is a truth serum. I believe Mr. Taggart is indeed interested in me.”

Her claims were immediately refuted by Sebastian, who said coldly, “I’m not the least bit interested in you. In fact, I don’t even know your name. Why would I confess to you while drunk?” He turned to Victoria and pleaded, “I didn’t touch her, Victoria.”

While Sebastian was not a hundred percent sure if he had uttered any flirty words to Melanie, he was confident that he had never bedded her.

He never did anything outrageous when he was drunk. Alcohol turned him into a quier, unsociable man.

And when he was drunk out of his mind, it was near impossible to wake him up.

Melanie clenched her fists angrily. With her evidence gone and Sebastian insisting on his innocence, she was rapidly running out of options.

That was, unless, she took a risky bet.

She made up her mind and asked, “Are you trying to wash your hands of this, Mr. Taggart? Fine. We’re all adults here, and I can’t force you to admit to your actions. We both got what we wanted out of our one- night stand. I may have failed to win the affection of someone as wonderful as you, Mr. Taggart, but I no longer have any regrets after spending a night with you. I’ll leave now before I bring you more trouble.”

After that, she turned and collected her clothes and things off the floor, making a move to leave.

Before she could leave, Christina stepped forward, stubbornly-blocking Melanie’s path.

Bewildered, Melanie demanded, “What are you doing?”

“Shouldn’t that be my question to you?” Christina stared at her probingly and dropped her bombshell. “You sent me a bunch of provocative texts and photos, demanding five million to keep you quiet. When you realized you couldn’t blackmail me, you changed your mind and set your sights on Mr. Taggart instead of Mr. Hadley. Just what are you trying?”

Mélanie replied calmly, “What photos? I have no idea what you’re talking about. I know who you are, but we’ve never had any past interactions. I know my place, and I would never try to steal something that didn’t belong to me.”

Christina promptly whipped out her phone and scrolled through her text history. She displayed her screen to everyone in the room and declared, “You’re the texter. Did you think I wouldn’t be able to track you down if you pretended to be a tabloid reporter?”

Still, Melanie insisted, “I lost my phone a while back. Someone’s using my phone to do horrible things; I’m a victim here too! I’m a celebrity, and I value my reputation more than anyone else. I didn’t send you those texts, and that’s that! Don’t try to accuse me of false crimes to help your friend!”

Her words elicited a scoff from Christina. “You go on and on about valuing your reputation, but here you are, taking advantage of someone else by implicating them in a scandal. Do your fans know what a scheming liar you are?”

A fall from grace was every celebrity’s worst nightmare. Melanie was no different, and she reacted viciously to Christina’s accusations.

Melanie argued, “Being the Hadley family’s daughter-in-law doesn’t give you the right to bully others! I’m not afraid to admit I fell for Mr. Taggart at first sight. He was managing the entertainment company for Mr. Hadley, and I entered showbiz for him. I like him, and I want to grow closer to him. There’s nothing wrong with that. We had a one-night stand, but I’ve never thought of becoming a mistress that would ruin someone else’s relationship. I’m not forcing him to take responsibility for what happened last night.”

Her ability to distort her scheming ways into the pining actions of an admirer disgusted Christina to no end.

“If you want to destroy me, go ahead and spread the news. The worst that’ll happen to me is my departure from the entertainment industry.” Melanie added, “I like Mr. Taggart; I just like him too much! There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that!”.

Every word out of her mouth drove Victoria closer to madness.

Victoria cried hoarsely, “I won’t let you off for this! I swear I’ll ruin your reputation so you’ll never make a comeback in showbiz!”

Sebastian, who was trying his best to restrain her, took a scolding as well. “Let go of me! Don’t touch me!”

Since her verbal protests fell on deaf ears, Victoria began scratching and biting Sebastian.

He allowed her to vent her frustrations on him and continued to apologize profusely, “I’m sorry I upset you. You can hit and scold me as much as you want, but please don’t leave me.”

Victoria bit him so hard that she drew blood. Though the wounds were on Sebastian’s body, her own heart ached with pain. He really was her biggest weakness.

She stared at him with red-rimmed eyes and stopped hitting him.

Nathaniel, who had remained stoically silent throughout the confrontation, suddenly piped up, “Lyle, tie her up and bring her with us.”