Lahat ng Kabanata ng I was more than pretty: Kabanata 71 - Kabanata 80

I thought it was over.Truly, I did.After they were fired, I imagined that would be the end of Julian Vale and Serena Blake. The office had turned them out in disgrace, the whispers had burned hot and fast, and soon, I expected the world to move on. People always do—until they don’t.Because the story didn’t end when they walked out those glass doors. It only changed scenery.Now, it was out there—sprawled across coffee shops, online forums, business circles, and social media feeds. People who had once admired Julian and Serena from afar were suddenly dissecting their names with glee, chewing on every rumor like it was sugar-coated truth.It started with a single blog post: “Former Corporate Power Couple Exposed in Scandal.”Then came the threads—screenshots, blurry photos, and wild claims that Julian had tried to force himself on one of his former colleagues. At first, I thought it would fade, dismissed as gossip. But the opposite happened. One accusation turned into two. Then three.

It was a perfect morning—too perfect, perhaps—for the kind of storm that was about to enter it.The Bellandi mansion stood tall under the golden brush of dawn, its fine walls reflecting light in soft ripples that danced through the grand foyer. Birds flitted past the open balconies, and the gentle hum of the fountain in the courtyard mingled with the faint scent of roses carried in by the breeze. Everything felt serene—almost too serene.Inside, Samantha Bellandi sat in the sunroom, a delicate china cup poised between her fingers. The morning light caught the glint of her wedding ring—a symbol of decades of love, loyalty, and the kind of quiet endurance that only time could perfect. Across from her, Luca Bellandi turned a page of the newspaper, his brows occasionally lifting at the bold headlines but quickly softening again as he took a sip of his espresso.They were used to mornings like this—calm, predictable, gentle. But fate has a way of dressing storms in sunlight.The butler appe

  The world had barely stopped whispering about them when the news broke like wildfire: Julian Vale and Serena Blake were officially engaged.It was everywhere—on social media, on gossip blogs, in office group chats, and even whispered across dinner tables where strangers feasted on the scandal. The photos were glossy and well-staged—Julian in his tailored black suit, Serena glowing in a champagne-colored dress, her hand proudly displayed with a glittering diamond ring. But for all the shine and polish, the headlines carried a different tone.“From Best Friend to Fiancée—Serena Blake’s Controversial Engagement to Julian Vale.”“Love or Betrayal? The Woman Who Took Her Friend’s Man.”The internet didn’t forgive easily. And though some praised them for “following their hearts,” the majority didn’t mince words. They called her a backstabber. A socia

The next morning came too bright, too ordinary—one of those days that dressed itself in normalcy just to hide the storm beneath.After what happened at the café, Serena told herself she wouldn’t think about Eve anymore. She wouldn’t think about the coffee, the whispers, or the words that refused to leave her head: You took my life for me.To her, Eve was jealous. Bitter. Wicked. That was what Serena repeated to herself, again and again, until the sting of shame dulled into self-righteousness.“I won,” she whispered to her reflection that morning, brushing her hair carefully, the faint roundness of her stomach visible now beneath her silk blouse. “She’s gone, and I won.”She refused to let Eve’s calmness get to her. If Eve could walk away with peace, then Serena would bury herself in noise—shopping lists, nursery plans, dinner menus—anything that kept her from thinking.That day, she decided she would go shopping for the baby.The idea thrilled her. She wanted to buy everything: soft bl

Julian’s voice cut through the silence like glass splitting against stone.“Who the hell are you to interrupt me while I’m talking?” he demanded, his tone sharp and ridiculing, as though even my presence offended him.I didn’t answer.I just stood there in the middle of the whole nonsense —too calm, too still. My silence felt louder than anything I could’ve said.Julian took a slow step closer, that same smug grin I once knew too well tugging at the corner of his mouth. “You think being quiet makes you look stronger?” he sneered. “It makes you look pathetic. You should have stayed gone when you had the chance.”His words dripped like venom—deliberate, cruel, practiced. But I didn’t flinch. My hands stayed steady at my sides, my chin slightly lifted. Just because I wasn’t meeting him as the woman he once broke. I was meeting him as someone reborn from the fire he thought would destroy me.He began pacing in a slow circle around me, his voice lower but still sharp enough to cut. “You alw