Chapter 124: Chapter 124: Burial
In front of the screen, the bystanders also fell silent. If a woman departs while screeching and creating a scene, it means there’s still a place for you in her heart.
But Victoria Monroe said these words calmly and resolutely; this relationship has truly come to an end.
Watching the woman on stage, everyone felt she was on the verge of breaking down.
Eighteen years of emotions, she broke off in front of the national audience, leaving herself no room at all.
Julian Fordham and eighteen years, she discarded them all.
Rachel Hayes, watching the livestream, laughed and said: "Julian Fordham, you deserve it! You’re getting what you deserve today."
Her laughter turned to tears. Julian Fordham was dumped by Victoria Monroe, and what good outcome does she have?
Back then, she dreamed of replacing Victoria Monroe; after all, men are creatures that love novelty.
As long as she behaved a bit better, she could easily win over his family; eventually, he would surely be hers.
Rachel Hayes didn’t expect she encountered a devil, who had no interest in intimacy with other women; his eyes and heart were only for Victoria Monroe and his career.
When Rachel Hayes realized this, it was already too late. She could only flee in disgrace, echoing Victoria Monroe’s words; she could only hide like a pest in the dark sewer!
Even the child in her belly, which she originally wanted to keep as a trump card, has now turned into a ticking bomb.
Victoria Monroe had a miscarriage; regardless of whether the child is his, he would definitely make her and the child pay for Victoria Monroe’s loss.
He admitted in front of the media the harm and injustice caused to Victoria Monroe, pointing the blame towards himself.
From now on, Rachel Hayes’s path in the entertainment world is cut off; she has no prospects.
Her life is destroyed! What Mrs. Fordham, she doesn’t even have freedom anymore.
Julian Fordham said it, if something happens to Victoria Monroe, she and the child will have to pay!
No one won in this farce, everyone lost terribly!
Where should she go from now on? Who will save her?
After Victoria Monroe finished speaking these words, Finn Lancaster and several other staff arrived.
Regardless of whether she was Mrs. Fordham, the production team bore great responsibility for her loss of the child.
Director Lancaster stood on stage and bowed deeply, "Here, I apologize to everyone, due to some reasons, this program can only be suspended."
Then he bowed to Victoria Monroe again, "Secondly, I want to say sorry to Ms. Monroe. Originally, she joined this reality show to help me out, but I was deceived by Rachel Hayes and chose the Fordham Family for the recording, causing Ms. Monroe to be misunderstood by everyone, and even doubt her professionalism. I guarantee with my career, Ms. Monroe is absolutely the most dedicated artist I’ve ever met..."
While Director Lancaster was proving Victoria Monroe’s innocence on site, someone reminded: "Look quickly at the internet!"
At the same time, artists, directors, and staff whom Victoria Monroe had previously collaborated with, suddenly hundreds of insiders revealed their experiences with her.
Several directors agreed with Director Lancaster’s stance, releasing many behind-the-scenes clips of Victoria Monroe during filming.
Even the smallest scene controllers stood up and spoke highly of Victoria Monroe’s character in private.
The crew from which she received her first Best Actress award even posted photos of her injuries; the images of her stitched waist looked horrifying.
The crew members from when she played bit parts exposed how she was bullied by a director, enduring over thirty slaps from the lead actress, repeating water jumps in freezing winter.
Why suffer if she chose to accept eighty million? In the images, her swollen face was painfully high.
Those slaps seemed not to fall on Victoria Monroe, but on those criticizers prying roots.
In a short time, everything about Victoria Monroe’s career was dug up.
Each award is one she rightfully deserves!
Everything coincided with Julian Fordham’s accounts of her injuries before and after.
If not viewed, it’s unknown, but when viewed everyone felt Victoria Monroe’s life has been extremely challenging.
As for Rachel Hayes, someone also dug up her history, though she and Victoria Monroe both started as extras, their paths differ immensely.
Rachel Hayes’s rumors from accompanying screenwriters, directors, producers, cosmetic surgery, suppressing actresses, attaching herself to male stars for hype were countless.
Unlike those anonymously smearing Victoria Monroe, every rumor under Rachel Hayes’s name had real photos and videos.
The worst was someone exposing how Victoria Monroe once saved her and even introduced a role to her.
Originally, the trending searches about her "seducing Julian Fordham" and "sleeping to ascend" disappeared.
Instead, all the phrases were about "Feeling for Victoria Monroe", "Deserved Triple Gold Best Actress", "Whole Internet Supports Victoria", "Victoria’s eighteen years fed to the dogs" and similar.
More vicious were the entries about Rachel Hayes, one harsher than the other.
Rachel Hayes’s private account was flooded with private messages, especially under the fireworks photo she once posted, originally with tens of thousands of blessings, but they turned instantly into insults, telling her to get out of the entertainment circle!
She was dubbed "Viper Lady", "Acting Sister", "Vixen" and other shameless nicknames.
The entire internet’s opinion flipped in an instant, everyone sympathizing with Victoria Monroe, cursing Rachel Hayes.
But what good does that do?
Victoria Monroe and Julian Fordham’s marriage was already broken, even if Rachel Hayes was killed, they couldn’t return to the past.
Everyone was hoping that Victoria Monroe could use this opportunity to make a comeback, grabbing all sorts of resources effortlessly, and her popularity skyrocketing.
However, at the end of the press conference, Victoria Monroe stated that she had no plans to return for the time being.
She stood up and bowed, "Thank you all for your support. We shall meet again down the road."
Amongst the reluctance of the crowd, she once again disappeared from the spotlight.
She became a legend in the entertainment industry, retreating at the peak of her career twice.
Her silhouette overlapped with the time when she won the Best Actress award, only that year she was splendidly dressed, joyfully lifting her gown as she ran towards her happiness.
Today, she faced the world without makeup, covered in scars, limping away dejectedly.
In just three years, her life underwent a complete transformation.
The screen froze on the scene of Julian Fordham running after her.
This epic romance ultimately turned into a tragedy.
Amongst the thousands of people present, even those fans who came to condemn Victoria Monroe felt a heaviness in their hearts.
Julian Fordham chased her to the backdoor, which was already heavily guarded by bodyguards.
Assistant Woods, holding a black umbrella, waited at the door. Seeing Victoria Monroe about to get in the car, a hand halted at the car door.
Julian Fordham’s hoarse voice sounded in her ear: "Victoria, I’m sorry..."
Victoria Monroe’s gaze fell on the hand at the car door, not with a luxury watch on the wrist, but wrapped in thick bandages.
In her eyes, there was no sign of pity, only an impenetrable coldness, "Tomorrow at nine, see you at the Civil Affairs Bureau."
"Victoria..."
Assistant Woods said sternly, "Mr. Fordham, Miss Monroe just had a miscarriage, she can’t be exposed to the wind, please leave."
His words made Julian Fordham loosen his grip.
Julian Fordham could only watch helplessly as the car door closed and then drove away.
It was as if their end was sealed, Victoria Monroe didn’t want him anymore.
"Victoria..."
Julian Fordham, emotionally overwhelmed, recklessly chased after the car, disregarding his image.
"Victoria, I know I was wrong, please don’t leave me..."
The rearview mirror reflected Julian Fordham’s figure running frantically in the heavy rain, Victoria Monroe’s fingers tightly clutching her down jacket.
She remembered the first time she went to shoot on location, it was the first third female role she took, and to save money, she took a slow green train.
As the train started, the usually composed Julian Fordham ran after it, calling her name, "Victoria Monroe, wait for me! I will definitely make you happy!"
She waved back with a forceful smile, "Yeah, I’ll wait for you, Mr. Fordham."
The promises of youth were eventually extinguished in the long river of time.
He finally became a somebody, but he also lost her.
The two images overlapped, nothing remained unchanged.
Julian Fordham, exhausted, fell heavily into the pouring rain.
Rhys Hawthorne asked solemnly: "Should we stop the car?"
Victoria Monroe tightly closed her eyes, no longer looking at the man kneeling and heartbroken in the rearview mirror, she said hoarsely: "No, just keep going, don’t look back."
Corbin Prescott, holding an umbrella, tried to help him up, "Boss, Mrs. Fordham has already left."
The cold wind mixed with heavy rain pounded Julian Fordham’s face from all directions, he murmured softly: "Yes, she’s gone."
He had initially thought that their eighteen years of friendship would mean Victoria Monroe would return to his side after her anger and resentment.
But now he clearly understood, he had no chance left.
Victoria Monroe truly didn’t want him anymore.
His face was covered with water streaks, indistinguishable between raindrops or tears.
He covered his face with his hand, choking with emotion: "I worked so hard to climb up, just to give her a safe haven, to never let her get slapped on set again, I wanted her to be the Mrs. Fordham everyone envied, but... what did I do to her?"
In his climb to the top, he was blinded by profit and lost his true self, forgetting what was most important to him.
He disregarded the fundamentals and hurt the person most important to him, but when he realized this truth, he had already pushed Victoria Monroe away.
Julian Fordham couldn’t accept this ending, he tried to get up to chase after Victoria Monroe.
The pain in his joints and physical weakness caused him to stumble again, splattering his face with mud and water.
He crawled forward in the torrential rain, "Victoria..."
Seeing his emotional breakdown, Corbin Prescott hurriedly changed the subject: "Boss, your baby is to be laid to rest."