Page 79 of A Million Shades Of Love and Betrayal

She grinned when she saw what I had in my hands. “You know me so well,” she said, taking the ice cream from me and making herself comfortable on the couch.

I settled beside her, my concern still lingering. “Are you okay?”

She dug into the ice cream and took a bite, closing her eyes in bliss for a moment before answering. “I feel... liberated. Like I can finally breathe again.”

I smiled, relieved to see her so at ease. "How did he react?"

She smiled. "As expected, he acted all innocent until I made it clear I wouldn't take him back. Then he went right back to blackmailing me or at least he tried it.

I couldn't help but stare at her in awe. "Should we check how the video is doing?"

“Yeah, let’s find out,” she said, scooting closer so she could see my phone screen. I opened Instagram and navigated to her profile. The video was the first thing that popped up, already showing an impressive number of views.

“Two million views,” I announced, my eyes widening. “And it’s climbing fast.”

Yasmin’s eyes sparkled with satisfaction. “Wow. People are watching it.”

We scrolled through the comments together, some of which were brutal in their condemnation of Ethan.

“Look at this one,” I said, pointing to a comment. “‘Ethan is such a snake. How did Yasmin ever put up with him?’”

She laughed, shaking her head. “If only they knew.”

Another comment caught my eye. “Good riddance to bad rubbish. Yasmin deserves so much better.’”

“I’m glad people see the truth,” she said, her tone more serious now. “But this isn’t just about me. It’s about making sure he can’t hurt anyone else.”

I put my arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. “You’re incredible, you know that?”

She leaned into me, resting her head on my shoulder. “I couldn’t have done it without you. Or our family”

“Speaking of which,” I said, hesitating for a moment. “Are you sure you want to go through with the press conference tomorrow?”

Yasmin straightened up, looking me in the eyes. “Absolutely. This needs to be public. People need to see that standing up to bullies and blackmailers is possible. Plus, the more visibility we get, the harder it will be for Ethan to weasel out of this.”

I nodded, admiring her resolve. “Alright. We’ll be right there with you.”

“Thank you, Rafe. For everything.”

“No thanks needed,” I said, kissing her forehead. “We’re in this together.”

We continued watching the view count climb, the comments flooding in faster than we could read them. Each new notification felt like a tiny victory, every supportive message was a reminder of the strength of the community rallying behind Yasmin.

“Hey, look at this one,” Yasmin said, pointing to a comment from a verified account. “This is so brave of you. Thank you for sharing your story, Yasmin. You’re an inspiration to us all.’”

“Wow, that’s from a pretty big influencer,” I noted. “This is blowing up.”

She smiled, though it was a bit wistful. “I just hope it makes a difference.”

“It will,” I assured her. “It already has.”

-53-

Yasmin

As we arrived at the venue, the sheer number of reporters and cameras was overwhelming. But I squared my shoulders and walked in, holding Rafael's hand tightly. We were led to a backstage area where we could see the conference hall filling up. My dad was the first to take the stage, and I watched with pride as he addressed the crowd with his characteristic calm and poise.

"Good morning, everyone," Ivan began, his voice carrying clearly across the room. "Thank you all for being here today. I'd like to start by addressing a particularly insidious rumor that was started recently."

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