110 No Mercy 2

Waking up to the sound of someone walking loudly, Ellen looked around the two-bedroom house, wondering whether her roommate had returned.

After standing up and going into the hall and seeing no one else, she was about to go back to sleep but stopped when she saw a small parcel pushed into the house from under the gap on the front door.

Curious, she picked it up and was startled when she saw her own name on the front.

Inside, there was a memory card.

Thinking that this might be some sort of practical joke, she took it to her laptop and inserted it.

There was only a single video file inside, but when she clicked on it, she was shocked when she saw her own face pop up.

The location was some sort of bar, and she looked like she had drunk one too many beers.

Ellen couldn't believe it was her, because she didn't have the blue cocktail dress that the woman in the video was wearing. However, it was her face, so as she heard the words uttered by the woman in the video, she froze with shock.

"Of course it was me who clicked those photos of that bitch who was with my William! He is mine! No matter what, before he leaves Seattle, I will be his girlfriend! Serves her right for being courted! I hope she goes and dies somewhere in shame!"

As if this wasn't bad enough, the woman in the video took out a strip of tablets from her pocket and pointed them at the camera before saying, "This is my master plan. You think I'm afraid to show it? In the last party tomorrow, I'm going to send up a water bottle to his room with these pills. U wanna know what they are? Haeeheee!"

That laugh was her own, whenever she got some plan that was she was very proud of.

More and more, even if she didn't want to believe it, Ellen started to think that this was her in the video.

At least, no one would believe anything otherwise.

"It's an aphrodisiac. After he drinks it, I'll go to his room and we will have an awesome night together. He will have no choice! Genius, right? In this age, he wouldn't dare to blow me off, unless he wants to lose everything. I know, I know, I'm smart. And a slut. I'm smart slut. Heeheeeheeeee!"

As the woman in the video devolved into drunken laughter again, the clip ended.

Ellen could only sit and stare, unable to comprehend what was happening.

If this video went public, she could imagine what would happen.

First of all, she would lose her job, but that would actually be the least of consequences.

She might be jailed for intent to defraud someone, and her public image would be so ruined that she would never be able to find the job again.

Her orthodox family would definitely disown her, and she would have no money and no one to call her own.

No. It couldn't happen.

In panic, Ellen quickly took out the memory card and started stamping it under her foot.

This went on for five minutes, as if she was taking out all of her frustration on the card.

After it became almost unrecognizable, Ellen finally looked up but panicked once again when she heard her phone ring.

It was 2 AM in the night, so she wondered who could be calling at this time, but seeing the phone say 'Hidden Number', she picked up anyway.

"Hi, Miss. Smart Slut. If you think that destroying that card will destroy the video clip, you're dumber than I thought. If you don't want this video to go public, you have only one option. Listen to these instructions and follow them to the T, and maybe this video won't see the light of day. You must have understood by now that no one will believe you if you say that that isn't you."

Sweat appearing on her forehead, Ellen listened with rapt attention, knowing that this was probably her last chance to lead a normal life.

…

Back in New York, Luke was pacing around the kitchen of the Redmond family with an expression of alarm on his face.

He had seen his friend's face plastered on all the gossip magazines all over the country, and as if that wasn't enough, some reporter had actually approached him in his diner for a statement.

After that, he had just been about to call Mary, but she called him herself, panicking that Derek had come home crying because some reporter had asked him questions outside his school.

Thankfully, it hadn't taken long to settle Derek down, and he was now waiting for Mary to come down after making sure that the little kid was asleep.

After Mary descended the stairs, Luke said, "Mary, I said that CEO is trouble! What did Liz say? Did you talk to her?"

With a deep sigh, Mary replied, "Yes, I did. She didn't even know about it until I told her. She didn't give any reply, but I could tell that she was very angry. And you know what she does when she's angry."

Hearing this, an expression of slight fear actually came on Luke's face before he shook his head and said, "I need to get over there. Maybe she needs my help."

Just as he was about to head to the door, Mary stopped him by laying a hand on his shoulder.

"If she needs help, you know that she will ask. I need you here. But first, tell me honestly. Do you love her?"

The last question completely stumped Luke, who could only stare at Mary for a few seconds without answering.

However, after that, he shook his head again and said, "I dunno. And that doesn't even matter. What I do know is that that man is trouble. As people who care about her, we should try to keep her away from him. Don't you think so?"

Sighing, Mary replied, "Or maybe she knows that, and she still chose him. If she did, can you handle it?"

Hearing a knock on the door, both of them had to stop the conversation, but on realizing that it was another reporter from the camera that was visible through the window in the kitchen, Luke answered, "Again, I dunno Mary. First, let me vent my frustration on these damn reporters."