Chapter 13 Ulterior Motives

Amy went quiet for a few seconds, trying to get a grip on her emotions. "I'm really sorry, Emily. I've always felt bad about what happened with Ethan and me. I don't know who else to talk to, so I ended up telling you everything. Sorry about that. And about what happened with Mia at the airport, I'll talk to Ethan and ask him to drop it. You don't need to stress too much."

"Do I still need to go to Mountain View Manor this afternoon?" Emily asked.

Amy looked confused. "What?"

Emily explained, "Ethan said I need to go to Mountain View Manor at 7 PM tonight to explain things to him in person, or else Mia's going to jail."

Emily had her reasons for telling Amy this.

She added, "Ethan also said he's doing this to prove his innocence to you."

What she really wanted to say was, "And the reason why Ethan posted my nude photo was to make you stay."

Emily didn't dare to claim she understood Ethan anymore, or anyone else for that matter. She wasn't even close to Amy. And why did she need to prove her innocence to Amy?

Emily hoped Amy would stop her from meeting Ethan again. It would be even better if Amy went to Mountain View Manor and confronted Ethan herself. After all, what woman would want to see the guy she loves meet his ex at a hotel?

Amy stayed silent for a long time, maybe thinking about what Emily said or trying to figure out if it was true.

"I get it; I'll call Ethan and talk to him," Amy finally said. "Ethan's probably just saying that out of anger. Emily, you know how stubborn and soft-hearted he is. Don't worry too much about it."

"Thank you," Emily said sincerely. "I'll cover all your hospital treatment costs. I know you don't need the money, but I have to do this for Mia. I hope you won't refuse."

Knowing Emily's personality, Amy didn't argue. "Alright, I'll have my assistant send you the bill after I'm discharged."

After hanging up, Emily felt a bit of the weight lift off her shoulders.

What she didn't realize was that the person who most wanted her to go to the hotel and drug her wasn't Ethan at all. She underestimated how malicious some people could be. She thought it was Ethan's revenge, but it was someone else's long-standing desire for her.

At 2 PM, the Maple Valley Police Department released a report saying a man involved in Amy's incident had been taken in for questioning.

At the same time, the official Twitter account of the "Long Lost Family" show posted a long tweet. They explained the whole incident, including why they invited Mia to the show.

Since Mia didn't know how to book a flight, the show had booked her ticket to Maple Valley. Mia only knew the date and flight details through the show team.

The show didn't just make empty claims; they attached a recording of their conversation with Mia.

In the recording, it was clear that Mia was an uneducated rural woman who didn't know anything. When the show asked about her arrival time in Maple Valley, Mia kept saying, "It's up to you; it's up to you," and even asked about how flying worked.

The show also released another video; it was the full airport surveillance footage of Amy's incident.

In the video, you could see Mia getting shoved into the crowd. She spotted Ethan and tried to get to him, but then this guy, who had been cursing and throwing stuff at Amy, forcefully pushed Mia. She stumbled and ended up bumping into Amy.

The "Long Lost Family" show knew how to get people talking.

They tagged Amy in their post, hoping she wouldn't let the real culprit off the hook and would clear Mia's name. They wanted to stop the bad guys from using edited videos to keep cyberbullying Mia.

The long tweet blew up in the comments section.

People were furious at the person who first spread the video.

That person had maliciously edited the footage, twisting the truth and facts, which led to a bunch of clueless netizens attacking Mia. This not only subjected Mia to online hate but also caused her a lot of psychological stress.

The circulated video wasn't the full version and didn't show the face of the guy who actually pushed Amy.

As the full airport video shared by the show got retweeted more and more, people saw that Mia was pushed and accidentally bumped into Amy. Mia even tried to apologize after the collision but didn't get the chance.

Some comments pointed out that Mia, being older, shouldn't have been pushing through the crowd.

But the online sentiment was shifting in a positive direction.

With the video getting more attention, people started getting curious about the show Mia was going to be on.

Clearly, the "Long Lost Family" show had nailed their PR move.

The next episode was definitely going to be a hit.

At 4:30 PM, Emily's phone rang.

She stared at the familiar number on the screen.

After a moment of hesitation, she answered.

As soon as the call connected, Ethan's angry voice blasted through. "Emily! You just can't leave me alone, can you? We're divorced! You said we were done! So what lies did you feed Amy?"

Emily held the phone a bit farther away, worried his loud voice might burst her eardrum.

She replied, "This morning, Ms. Wright called to confirm if we are really divorced. I said yes and assured her I have no regrets."

Emily kept scrolling through the constantly updating comments under the airport incident video on her computer.

She continued, "Ms. Wright seemed really insecure about your relationship. She sounded unsure. So, I asked her if I still needed to go to Mountain View Manor this afternoon to meet you and explain in person. That's all we talked about. Any other questions?"

On the other end, Ethan was silent; Emily could only hear his heavy, angry breathing.

Emily said, "Ethan, we're divorced. We have nothing to do with each other anymore. So, let's not meet again. No more entanglements. It's the only way to be fair to Ms. Wright."

She hoped against hope that Ethan would resume his integrity and added softly, "This is good for me, for you, and for Ms. Wright."

Ethan hung up without a word.

Emily put down her phone, feeling empty inside. As long as Mia was safe, everything else was negotiable.

Feeling temporarily relieved, Emily ate something and then called Hubert.