Arabella didn’t understand why they should not tell the public Ashlyn was pregnant with Devin’s child. Still, she followed her sister’s instructions and stopped worrying about it.
Nothing mattered as long as Raina ended up marrying into the Jones family and they could live a better life.
“I’ll tell someone right away!” Arabella exclaimed.
“Wait,” Raina said suddenly, pulling Arabella back. “You must not let anyone find that we’re behind this.”
She had every intention of ruining Ashlyn, but she didn’t want to get them both in trouble.
“Don’t worry,” Arabella said. “We won’t be the ones spreading the news this time. No one will connect this to us.”
“That would be best, Arabella.” Raina nodded. “Thank you.”
“I hope you don’t forget about me when you become Gordon’s wife, Raina,” Arabella said.
“Don’t be silly,” Raina replied. She was very pleased with how things worked out. “What are you saying? We’re sisters!”
Arabella believed in her sister. It was because of Raina that she had managed to date Amor.
It wasn’t long before the news of Ashlyn being pregnant began to spread.
It started with a socialite spreading the news among her friends. Then someone posted it online. People began to wonder who the woman was. This woman was hooking up with rich men and now she was pregnant. She wasn’t even sure who the father was.
It was only a matter of time before someone began mentioning Ashlyn’s name.
There were too many similarities between the wild woman and Ashlyn. The woman was divorced for only one year, she was an only child, and her family was in the real estate business. That alone was enough to link the gossip to Ashlyn.
The gossip was in line with the previous things said about Ashlyn. Two months ago, the Internet had been overwhelmed with the hot topic of Ashlyn and Gordon getting back together. Now she was pregnant.
The people online had differing stances on who the father might be. Four men were suspects: Gordon, Devin, Fred, and Vernon.
These four men were from wealthy and powerful families. The people felt it was amazing Ashlyn was able to string them all along at the same time.
Jessie was surprised the most when she saw the trending search online.
She was the last person to know about her best friend’s pregnancy.
Jessie called Ashlyn to find out what was going on. Ashlyn just got off a plane and wasn’t aware of the rumor. She thought Jessie was just lonely and answered the phone accordingly. “I don’t have time to talk to you now, but we can have dinner tonight.”
“Forget about dinner! I can’t believe I am the last to know you’re pregnant. How could you not tell me?”
Ashlyn was so shocked she was speechless for a few moments. She thought maybe Jessie was drunk. “What do you mean by that, Jessie?”
“The internet is boiling over with news about you being pregnant. Why are you still pretending you’re not? Is the father Gordon or Devin?”
Jessie decided to kill Gordon if the baby was his. She was going to get rid of that scumbag, Gordon, so he couldn’t hurt Ashlyn anymore!
Ashlyn was about to laugh because she knew it had to be a joke. She listened more closely to the seriousness in Jessie’s tone, and realized her friend was not joking. “I’m not sure who told you I was pregnant, but I just got my period yesterday.”
It was Jessie’s turn to be stunned into silence. She finally responded after a while. “I don’t understand, Ashlyn. The news is all over the Internet. Some people even analyzed who the father might be. They even mentioned Fred and Vernon!”
It was then Ashlyn knew there was an unfounded rumor spreading about her.
“I just stepped off the plane a few moments ago. I’ll call you back after I check what is going on.”
Ashlyn hung up and looked over at Talia with shock.
Talia had a shocked expression as well, and Ashlyn figured she must have heard the rumor already.
Talia hung up the phone when she realized Ashlyn was staring at her. “Miss Ramos…”
Ashlyn could only smile. “I have been with you in Fliatan these past days. You bought me painkillers when I started cramping last night, remember? You know that I am not pregnant.”
Talia knew Ashlyn was not pregnant and that she was on her period.
“I’ll look into the rumor right away.”
“I’ll see what it says online,” Ashlyn replied as she nodded.
Ashlyn went to Twitter first. There were over one hundred million views on the news of her pregnancy and over thirty million comments. The people online were openly discussing who the father of her child was.
The rumors and the analysis online were believable. If she had not been a part of it, Ashlyn would have thought it was true.
It was incredulous to Ashlyn that as soon as she came back, there was a pregnancy rumor about her. She felt so much anger that she laughed.
She was not a star or something. If she happened to be pregnant, it should be nobody’s business but hers and that of her family.
Talia investigated what happened. After half an hour, she came back with a brief report. It showed the rumor originated in the upper-class circle.
“Find out who spread the rumor,” Ashlyn said with a frown.
Talia had someone already on the case. Stevie had probably already heard about it since the news was so widespread. “I have someone looking in on it. Don’t you want to dispute the rumors online?”
“I think whoever started this would only get what they want if I did that,” Ashlyn replied. “Everyone would think the rumor must be true.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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