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Chapter 13 Grace's Schemes

In the office, Isabella's phone just wouldn't stop buzzing. Without even glancing at it, she knew it had to be her brothers blowing up the group chat again. Daniel had set up this group chat to keep Isabella and Michael's marriage on the down-low.

Isabella turned to Jerry and said, "Jerry, can you check the group chat for me? It's driving me nuts."

Jerry grabbed the phone and started scrolling through the messages. After a bit, Jerry looked up and said, "Ms. Harris, there's a problem. Michael just announced his engagement to Grace, and now the media's saying you're the other woman."

Isabella's eyes flared with anger. She was furious at being called a mistress because of the false accusations. Her brothers in the chat were losing it too.

Charles, her third brother, was livid.Charles: [The Johnson Group is really asking for it! We can't let this slide. We should find a way to bankrupt them.]

Ethan, her fourth brother, was even more pissed.

Ethan: [Charles is right. Not only should we bankrupt them, but we should also get back at Michael and show him the Harris family isn't to be messed with.]

Samuel, trying to keep a cool head, jumped in to calm things down.

Samuel: [Let's not lose our heads here. We don't have all the facts yet. We need to stay calm.]

Isabella saw these messages, and a warm feeling washed over her heart. But she didn't want her brothers doing anything crazy because of her.

Isabella: [Don't get worked up. Michael and I have been divorced for a long time. I have nothing to do with Michael.]

Her message made it clear she wouldn't let herself be slandered and would definitely fight back.

Meanwhile, things were a mess on Michael's end too.

The phones in the PR department were ringing off the hook, and David's phone wasn't any better. Reporters were swarming in.

Michael's engagement and his second marriage news blew up like a bombshell in Riverdale City and even nationwide.

When Michael heard the news, his face turned red with anger, and he shouted, "What is going on? Who leaked this information? Fire everyone who had access to this news!"

Michael was busy dealing with the chaos at the Johnson Group when his phone suddenly rang loudly. It was Grace calling. On the other end, Grace's voice was trembling with tears. "Michael, I'm surrounded by reporters. I'm so scared, please come save me."

Hearing this, Michael was anxious and immediately wanted to rush out. David quickly stopped him, saying with concern, "Mr. Johnson, you can't just go out like this. We don't know the situation outside, it might be a trap."

Michael frowned impatiently and said, "Grace is in danger, I can't just leave her." With that, he rushed out of the Johnson Group without hesitation.

Grace was surrounded by a group of reporters, unable to move. She looked pitiful, with tears in her eyes, appearing helpless. But in reality, it was all part of her scheme. The scandal about Isabella was orchestrated by her.

Reporters were bombarding Grace with questions, "Ms. Hernandez, what's your relationship with Michael? Did you know about his second marriage?"

Grace put on a show, acting all conflicted, and said, "Michael and I are just good friends. I don't know much about anything else." But her vague answers only made the reporters more relentless, and the scene got even crazier.

Just then, Michael showed up. He bulldozed through the crowd, reached Grace, and shielded her, yelling, "Stop asking questions! If you have any issues, come to me."

Meanwhile, Isabella was watching the whole thing unfold on a live stream in the office. She was so heartbroken that she could hardly breathe. The difference between love and indifference was painfully clear.

She once thought she had a place in Michael's heart. Even though they had their issues, she endured it all silently. But now, seeing Michael rush to Grace without a second thought, she finally got it. To Michael, she was probably just a way to buy some time.

She muttered to herself, "Isabella, you fool. All your efforts were for nothing." Any lingering feelings she had for Michael vanished in that moment. She knew she couldn't be foolish anymore; it was time to move on and live her own life.

Isabella and her brothers hadn't been sitting idle; they had been digging into Grace's past. And they found a lot.

Daniel, a top-notch hacker, started by snooping through Grace's social media. What he found was jaw-dropping: intimate photos of Grace with another man. The two looked super close, their actions and expressions were way too cozy.

But that wasn't all. Daniel also found evidence that Grace had given birth in Celestria. There were photos of stretch marks on her belly and medical records from a plastic surgery clinic. These pieces of evidence were like ticking time bombs.

When Isabella saw all this, she had mixed feelings. She stood there, staring at the photos and documents, speechless for a long time.

Daniel, fuming, said loudly, "Is Michael out of his mind? He chose Grace over you. Look at what she's done, and he doesn't even know."

Isabella gave a bitter smile. Although she felt a pang of sadness, she knew the past was the past. She silently told herself, "Isabella, you can't be sad for Michael anymore. He's out of your life now."

Of course, Isabella wasn't someone who would just take the hit and do nothing. Even though she no longer loved Michael, she couldn't just let Grace get away with it. She was planning to find the perfect moment to expose all of Grace's dirty secrets.

Isabella thought to herself, 'Grace, you think you can get what you want so easily? No way I'm letting that happen.'

Her brothers were all in, believing that someone like Grace needed to be taken down. So, they started plotting how to drop the evidence in the most explosive way possible, to completely destroy Grace's reputation.

(I am the author of this book. Thank you all for your love and support! There will be an advertisement coming up next. I hope you can patiently watch the ad, or consider subscribing to remove the ads, because the upcoming chapters are truly exciting. Trust me, you definitely need to keep reading!)

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