Who To Blame

WARNING: SENSITIVE CONTENT AHEAD.

. . .

"What! This is all an act!"

Jin was fast enough to catch her mother for the second time, but this time, on the couch.

"Please lower your voice, Mom," he said.

"What do you mean I should lower my voice?! Huhuhuhu. You shouldn't have told me! I was already thanking the gods for this miracle just to find out it's all for the show! Huhuhuhuhu."

"W-What? What do you mean miracle?" Jin rubbed his temples, whispering something to himself, "It's not that impossible. Tsk."

Zeirenne, who was seated beside her Aiyi could only offer her some tissues. Within a minute, the tissue box was emptied, the floor covered with wipes. But Mrs. Yang still hasn't ran out of tears as she kept on blowing her nose.

In the middle of this commotion, Dorothy came running inside the office, bearing a remote at hand.

"Miss Lin!" she said before switching the TV on, "You have to see this."

Shock, before any other emotion, made up their faces.

A few hours ago...

"Please don't do this to me, Mr. Gancho!"

"I didn't do this to you, stupid man! You did this to yourself! If you gave that flashdrive to me earlier, I wouldn't be firing you right now!"

"Mr. Gancho please I have a sick daughter! She needs treatment and I can't lose this job! You can tell me anything and I'll do it for you. I'll do everything I promise!"

Inside White Scoop Entertainment Agency, a commotion has been stirring the attention of everyone on sight. For hours, Pedro has been begging his boss to let him keep his job.

"Anything? You say?" Mr. Gancho contested, a dark intent lingering in his eyes.

"Anything."

"Then... I'm giving you one more chance to prove yourself to me. I think you already know what to do? Right... Mr. Dominguez?"

Pedro Dominguez forced the lump inside his throat down. Somehow, the desperation from his war against crippling poverty got the best of him.

That afternoon, he opened his laptop, searching for a specific file amongst his past endeavors. He found the file he'd been looking for already in his recycled folder. He never wanted to use this, but in desperation, decided to use it as his final resort.

"I'm so sorry, Rina," he whispered to himself, calling out his daughter's name, before restoring the file, "Your idol should keep you alive this time."

In a short while, the internet broke. At the same time, someone's world crumbled into pieces.

International Sensation Farrah Young Busted!

The article went on about how an international idol has been dating a man 25 years older than her. This blew the internet by a storm and countless photos were leaked on the internet. There were shots taken inside a car, with a man's arms around her shoulders and many other disturbing pictures.

All the news channels revolved around this news.

And the man on the topic, turned out to be... Mr. Dela Cuesta, one of the officials from the summit.

Zeirenne gripped the helms of her dress while watching the news. Somehow, the made it seem like it was the woman's sole fault, being in an illicit affair with a married man.

They all watched in silence as live coverages showed flocks of reporters in front of Mr. Dela Cuesta's office and his house. But Miss Young had it worse, aside from reporters flocking her house and agency, some of her fans who turned her back on her, decided to visit her address in rage. The internet didn't do her good with all the slandering and comments getting out of hand.

As if things couldn't get any worse, an hour after this revelation, Mr. Dela Cuesta decided to come clean. Saying he was seduced.

Just before her concert, Farrah Young was informed of this. Backstage, tears started streaming down her face, as the comments got inside her head.

The crowd inside the arena started going rowdy. A few moments earlier, they were chanting her name. But now, only hurtful words were coming out of their mouths.

"HOMEWRECKER!!!

"GOLD DIGGER!!!"

"SLUT!!!"

A bitter smile escaped her lips while the tears kept on streaming down her pretty face. After maintaining a clean image all throughout her career, this was the first time in a long while, she was being called 'slut' again.

"A-am I really?" she mumbled between sobs.

Then and there, she ran away from that place and all the people.

Barefooted, she let her legs take her anywhere, anywhere without a crowd. But with her fame, it was a hard thing to do. She was running, and they were talking. With their fingers pointed at her, the whispers on the streets turned into screams.

But the voices inside her head screamed louder. And After an hour, another news swept the world like an avalanche.

International Sweetheart Commits Suicide

The whole world watched a gruesome thing live. Flashed within the screens inside different homes, people were flocking over the lifeless body of a young lady, drenched in muddy water. Without any items to confirm her identity, everyone who was watching her getting pulled from the water vouched for the rescuers. She was indeed Farrah Young.

"WAAAAAAAAAHH!" a loud scream filled the entire alley as a young girl fell off from her wheelchair.

Her weak body couldn't handle the pain she was going through, and in an instance, just like her world, she collapsed on the ground.

The last thing she heard was a thud, and then everything went dark.

Meanwhile...

White Scoop Entertainment Agency has been receiving calls nonstop. Before the tragedy struck, different entities reached out to their agency. Hoping to get some scoop for their ruthless commentaries.

But then, it happened. The news that shook the whole world. In the blink of an eye, every phone inside this vile company rang. Upon hearing the news, Pedro's vision blurred, senses dulled. Guilt started creeping up his throat and he was left crouching on the floor, his nails leaving plastered lines on his neck.

"T-this can't be real... this can't be real... I-i didn't mean for this to happen..." he mumbled to himself, already in the state of delirium.

The shock made him lose his senses, his world turned black, and surroundings stopped making noise. Only the vibration inside his pocket managed to bring him back to reality. Subconsciously, he reached for his phone, bringing it up to his ear as he pressed his head on the foot of his desk.

"Hello!" A woman's voice said in urgency across the line. This made him jolt, followed by a sick feeling of something crawling underneath his skin. He was having a bad premonition, and Manang Cynthia was the one to confirm this, "Rina collapsed! We're on our way to the hospital!"

He didn't know how, but after a few minutes, he found himself looking at his daughter's unconscious figure. The paleness she's always had made him anxious. She'd always looked sick but this time was different, because she looked devastated as well. Her daughter would smile despite all the pain, but this time, it was not the case.

"Rina! My daughter!" he ran towards his daughter's side with the nurses trying to calm him down, "Rina!"

He was bawling his eyes out, before his sorrows drowned on another parent's tears.

"Farrah!"

Pedro felt a lump on his throat as he faced the next bed inside the Emergency Room. There was Farrah Young, struggling between life and death... just like her daughter.

"Farrah, my daughter!" he watched as a woman on her forties went down on her knees, "P-please don't leave me... p-please don't leave me..." the woman mumbled on repeat for countless times.

. . .

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Mr. Dela Cuesta shouted, he faced Mr. Gancho, "I would've given you money if you asked?! Why did you have to reveal that?!!

They were inside Mr. Dela Cuesta's secret villa.

"Mr. Dela Cuesta please forgive me! It was the work of my stupid reporter! That jerk didn't even tell me about this!"

Mr. Dela Cuesta glared at him, they were both hysterical. Mr. Dela Cuesta from anger, and Mr. Gancho from being terrified.

"I don't believe you! Someone put you up to do this, right?! Who is it?! I'm gonna kill that person!"

Mr. Gancho gulped before finding this as an opportunity to escape Mr. Dela Cuesta's wrath.

"Uhm... y-yes Mr. Dela Cuesta! I was pressured into doing it so I wasn't able to do anything!"

Mr. Dela Cuesta clenched his jaw before grabbing Mr. Gancho by the collar, "Then tell me who is it?! Or kiss your life good bye! Who dares to go against me?!"

Thinking fast, there was only one name who entered his mind. Someone strong enough to go against Mr. Dela Cuesta.

"I-it was Zhi Lin! R-right! That lady boss who wanted to bring you down!"

Mr. Dela Cuesta froze, "That bitch!" He threw Mr. Gancho to the ground before storming out of the room.

"Romero!"

His assistant came running forward, following closely on his footsteps, "Yes, Mr. Dela Cuesta?"

"That bitch Zhi Lin..." he mumbled, "take care of her..."

"Uhm... you mean... I should make sure she eats on time or the oth--"

Romero stopped on his tracks as Mr. Dela Cuesta faced him with veins popping visibly on his head, "Of course the other kind of taking care! Kidnap her then make her suffer! Do anything to ensure her pain! I'm gonna show her what happens to people who go against me!"

Romero bowed his head before rushing out to call someone, "Hello, is this CHAOS Incorporated's number?" he said on the phone after three rings.

The man on the other side of the phone bobbed a simple, "Yes. Who is this?"

"This is Mr. Dela Cuesta's office--" Romero was interrupted halfway as the other person on the line stumbled across something.

"Wait Young Man! Thank you for your help. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have been able to take our beloved Rina to this hospital," he heard someone say on the other line. It sounded like an old lady was running after his call-mate.

"No problem."

There was a pause. Thinking his call-mate already turned his back on the lady, he started speaking again.

"So Mr. Dela Cuesta has something for you to do--" Just to interrupted again the second time.

"Wait, Young Man! Can you at least tell me your name? I want to formally thank you."

Romero waited for the answer as well.

"Willy... you can call me Willy."

After a few seconds, Willy finallly spoke, "Ehem. Excuse me. What were you saying?"

"Ohhh... Mr. Will--"

Romero felt chills running down his body even before hearing such a cold voice, "I don't remember giving you the permission to call me that."

He gulped before collecting his thoughts.

"Oh, forgive me for that... I-I ah... I mean... Mr. Dela Cuesta wants you to take care of someone. And oh by the way, it's the other kind of taking care. You don't have to drive her around or make sure she eats on tim-"

"Who am I supposed to kill?"

"Oh that's such a... direct way to say it. But it's someone named Zhi Lin. I think you can search for her picture yourself," Romero said.

Willy was about to end the call but Romero continued speaking, "Oh wait, this is important! Mr. Dela Cuesta said that she should suffer first before you know... dying. I'm counting on you then Mr... Mister."

The call ended and Willy immediately boarded his car. He took out one photo from his compartment and slid it into his pockets. He zoomed through the highway.

His destination?

Pontecelli Penthouse.

. . .