Page 68 of Until You (Forgive Me)

“How was it getting in?” Andrew asked, turning to Christian.

“It worked a charm,” Christian said.

They’d had no difficulty in accessing the studio. The rumour had been that Isabella would do the interview via video conference. Only a few staff had been privy to the truth. As a result, it had been plain sailing.

Andrew had been there to greet them. He’d already done his Healthy Heart segment but was staying for moral support.

“Five minutes,” someone said, approaching her, the makeup artist stepping forward and powdering her nose. Isabella felt hot and uncomfortable. She’d been asking herself all morning why she was doing this. Her past was her past, but then she thought about May and the business, Christian, and Skylar. It had turned Scarlett and everyone else’s life upside down. As if sensing her raging thoughts, Christian stepped forward and lifted her chin with his finger, making her look at him.

“You’ve got this,” he said, dropping a chaste kiss on her lips that fired up her blood.

She raised a hand to his cheek, cupping it as the floor manager approached.

“We’re ready for you, Isabella,” he said, leading her towards the desk where the two anchors were sitting. The rest of the country had gone to a commercial break, so it was just them.

“Hi, Isabella, are you ready?” Eleanor, the lead reporter, asked, holding out her hand in greeting.

Isabella’s stomach turned over, but she managed a small smile. “No… but let’s do this.”

The smile Eleanor sent her was one of sympathy. If she’d made the wrong choice, it was too late to back out now. Who knew what they were going to throw at her when they started? She took a deep breath as one of the crew began the countdown.

“We’re back. With us this morning, we haveThe Missing Heiress, Lady Isabella King.”

Isabella greeted the presenters, and the questions started thick and fast.

“So where have you been hiding and why? We know you want to tell your side of the stories that have been released.”

“As most people know, I’ve been living in Thailand. I run a mindfulness and yoga retreat with my Thai business partner, May.”

“Quite a different lifestyle than the one you left behind. What made you choose that path?”

They had already prepped Isabella with the questions that they were going to ask. It had been one of Christian’s stipulations.

“After my stint in rehab. I needed to get away. We all know what happened with the press and the stories that were circulating about me. I went travelling. I wanted to step away from the life I was living and sort myself out.”

“The stories that circulated? You’re talking about the photos of you linked to drugs and a sex orgy?”

Isabella cringed. Could they even ask that question when there might be children watching? Isabella could only hope Skylar wasn’t, or any of her friends.

“Yes, those would be the photos.”

“You claim to have no knowledge of how they were taken? Surely, that cannot be the case.”

Isabella smarted at the woman’s tone. She saw Christian take a step forward, his face a mask of thunder. Andrew grasped his arm.

“I don’t know where those photos came from.”

The woman looked at her notes. “We have a sworn testimony from your specialist at the rehab centre where you were sent by your stepmother. He claims there were no traces of any drugs in your system, either in your urine or your blood.”

“That’s correct. They took the blood and urine samples within forty-eight hours of my lost evening,” Isabella said.

“Why do you call it your lost evening?”

“I went out drinking with friends. My engagement had just ended, and my friends were helping me commiserate. I was at a club, and that was the last thing I remember.”

“It’s confusing, as some of your friends state they saw you taking drugs that night, that you went off willingly with a group of guys. Someone is lying. Why would your friends have lied?”

The woman was relentless. Isabella’s eyes flashed to Christian, who had been approached by one of the team. He looked to be deep in conversation.

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