Emma’s announcement that she took full responsibility for the Bellamy Fiasco cleared Global’s name. Bellamy accepted her apology and believed her when she said she’d acted independently. They even decided to make Amber their spokesperson as originally planned. Amber’s popularity was expected to skyrocket at Global Entertainment. Nathan and Amber recovered from the incident completely.
Emma, however, saw her reputation destroyed. “Queen of hype,” “scheming model,” and other even less flattering hashtags appeared in connection with her name. The internet was flooded with hateful comments. She tried to remain calm. She knew that the higher Nathan and Amber climbed now, the harder they would fall. But for now, even the office cleaner at Global was giving her a hard time.
“Miss Miller, could you please move your pretty legs? Can’t you see him trying to clean up here? Why are you even coming into the office? It’s not like you have a show coming up,” the cleaner taunted. Emma’s expression turned cold. Even though she had fallen to a low point in her career, it didn’t mean she would allow everyone to bully her. She didn’t want to make things difficult for the staff, but she had to start standing up for herself.
She called Nathan on speakerphone so the cleaner would hear their conversation. “Nathan, have I sunk so low that even the office cleaner can bully me? Get her name and tell HR to fire her,” Nathan snapped. “And after, come to my office.”
Emma hung up the phone and looked up at the cleaner coldly. “Even if I’m no longer a model, you can’t talk to me like dirt. I’ll let this go for now, but don’t let it happen again.” The cleaner’s face turned pale, and she broke out in a cold sweat. She hadn’t expected Emma to stand up for herself. “I’m sorry, Miss Miller. It won’t happen again.”
Emma knocked on Nathan’s office door and entered the room. “Emma, your reputation is in shreds, but I’ve made some arrangements for you to start to redeem yourself. You can start by visiting Amber and show some concern for her to show you’re sorry. Maybe you can get some sympathy votes that way. You don’t have to mean it, just put on a show in front of the cameras for a few minutes, and we’ll broadcast the visit live,” Nathan explained.
Nathan had actually thought Emma would refuse to humiliate herself like this, but she surprised him and nodded in agreement. “So, you’ll do it?” he asked. “Yes,” she answered. “I haven’t had the chance to visit Amber since she got hurt. This is a perfect opportunity.”
“In that case, I’ll get you an escort. There’s a swarm of reporters outside,” Nathan said. Luke was waiting outside with the car. On the way to the hospital, Emma messaged Eric, “Don’t worry about the news you’re about to see. I’m on my way to the hospital to visit Amber, but I have a plan, and I want to come home to you tonight. Can you send someone to pick me up from the hospital? I don’t even know where my new home is.”
Eric received Emma’s message while he was in the middle of a meeting. For the first time that anyone could remember, he paused mid-sentence to respond to the text, causing everyone in the room to look around at each other in surprise. They were all intensely curious about who could possibly be so important to Eric that he would interrupt a meeting to answer a text or a call. Eric ignored their reactions and sent his reply, “Good for you. I’m looking forward to seeing you later. I’ll pick you up myself.”
Emma couldn’t help but smile when she received Eric’s reply. Nathan’s assistant noticed her in the rearview mirror. “You can smile all you want, but just wait till you find out what’s coming your way,” he thought.
Emma knew the whole world was currently against her, but she forced herself to put it out of her mind and send a message to her manager. “Nathan has arranged for me to see Amber at the hospital. I’m almost there. Are you ready?” Lisa replied, “Anyone with half a brain could tell Amber is using this as an opportunity to humiliate you. I’ve been ready for ages, and I’m sure the public will enjoy what I have to share. There are pictures and a video.”
“Go ahead and release the pictures, but keep the video for later. I want to give Nathan and Amber some time to argue it out first. Got it? We’ll wait for the right time when they’re at their worst. Lisa, just please be careful,” Emma instructed. She immediately deleted the records of the text from her phone and smiled to herself once more.
In her private hospital room, Amber was sitting up comfortably in bed. Her eyes sparkled at the thought of being able to humiliate Emma. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought Emma would be so stupid as to take all the blame. She’d increased Amber’s recognition and even helped her secure the spokesperson deal with Bellamy.
“Amber, Emma is almost here,” said her assistant Gary. “When she arrives, the cameras will run for a three-minute live broadcast. In just a moment, I’ll ask the doctor to come in and change your bandages. At the same time, I’ll ask Emma to help you wash your feet.”
Amber had been overshadowed by Emma for so long. From this point on, she vowed she would climb higher and higher. She was going to step all over Emma, take Nathan from her, and become the first lady of global entertainment. “This is going to be great. From now on, things will only keep getting better for you,” Gary said.
“For one thing, the annual Top 10 Model Awards committee is about to make their selection, and I know you’ll be selected. You’ll be one step closer to becoming a real superstar,” he added. Amber slowly smiled. This was better than anything she had ever dared to imagine. With everything going her way, her arrogance began to grow.
