Love In Disguise: Rebirth of the Heiress
Chapter 71

Chapter 71: Chapter 71

I narrowed my eyes. "What does she have on you?"

Lola’s lips trembled, and she hesitated, as if weighing her options. "You don’t understand..."

"Then help me understand," I snapped, stepping closer, my voice sharp enough to slice through the tension. "Because right now, Lola, you’re just another liar caught up in your own mess. And I’m losing patience."

Her shoulders slumped, and she averted her gaze, tears pooling in her eyes. "It’s not that simple."

I folded my arms, glaring down at her. "Oh, it’s simple. You either talk, or I make sure your life becomes an even bigger mess than it already is."

"You’re cruel," she whispered, her voice shaky.

"And you’re wasting my time," I shot back. "What’s the deal, Lola? Why are you working with Jessica?"

She glanced up at me, her lips trembling, and finally said, "She promised protection."

I laughed bitterly, my voice echoing in the empty room. "Protection? From what?"

Lola took a shaky breath, her voice barely audible. "From the people using my face to sell nudes."

The words hung in the air like a bomb waiting to go off. I blinked, momentarily caught off guard. "What?"

She wiped at her eyes with trembling hands. "Someone’s using my face, okay? They’ve been posting my pictures, selling them like I’m still... doing that stuff. But it’s not me."

"You’re saying someone is impersonating you?" I asked, my voice dripping with skepticism.

"Yes," she said, her voice rising slightly, a mix of frustration and desperation. "I mean, I did sell nudes before, but that was years ago! I stopped! And now... now they’re back, and it’s not me!"

I leaned against the table, watching her closely. "So why not go to the police?"

"Because whoever’s behind it knows things about me," she snapped, her voice breaking. "They threatened to tell my son’s father about his son and he would take my son away from me."

That caught my attention. I straightened, my gaze narrowing. "Your son’s father?"

Lola nodded, her voice barely above a whisper. "He’s not... he’s not someone you mess with. He’s—he’s a gangster, okay? If he finds out about this, he’ll kill me. Or worse."

"Worse?" I asked, my voice cold.

She nodded, wiping at her face. "I can’t let him know. I can’t let my son know. So when Jessica said she could help, I had no choice."

I stared at her, my mind spinning. "Help? How? By dragging you into more trouble?"

Lola flinched, guilt written all over her face. "I didn’t know what I was getting into. She... she said she’d protect me. That she knew who was behind it and could make it stop."

"And you believed her?" I asked, incredulous.

"What choice did I have?" she hissed.

I shook my head, exhaling sharply. "So, what? Jessica’s your knight in shining armor now?"

"She’s not," Lola admitted, her voice cracking. "She’s in the business too. Streaming, selling, all of it. And that night..."

"What about that night?" I demanded, leaning closer.

Lola hesitated, her hands wringing together. "I went out with her. I thought it was just a normal party. But I was drugged. I woke up in a room, and..."

Her voice trailed off, and she swallowed hard, tears streaming down her face.

"And?" I pressed.

"I don’t remember much," she whispered. "Just flashes. Faces I didn’t recognize. Jessica was there, laughing. And then... then the pictures showed up. I didn’t know what to do."

The air in the room felt heavy, her confession hitting me like a freight train.

"So you let her use you," I said, my voice colder than I intended. "You let her pull you deeper into this mess, and for what? Empty promises?"

Lola broke down, sobbing into her hands. "I didn’t know what else to do. I thought she’d help me."

I stood there, my emotions swirling between anger, pity, and disgust. Whatever sympathy I had for Lola was overshadowed by the chaos she’d allowed herself to create—and drag others into.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "I don’t even know what to say to you, Lola," I muttered.

She wiped her face, her eyes red and swollen, but didn’t respond.

"Just go," I said finally, turning away from her. "Go before I change my mind."

She hesitated for a moment, her feet shuffling against the ground, before nodding weakly and walking toward the exit.

The room fell silent as the door shut behind her, and I was left alone with my thoughts.

It was daunting.

Gabriel and Jessica. They were two sides of the same coin, and both needed to pay for what they’d done to me and others. But how? How could I bring them down together, force them to experience the same pain they had caused me?

I exhaled sharply, my gaze fixed on the door she had just walked out of.

For a moment, I didn’t move, rooted to the spot as a wave of exhaustion hit me. It wasn’t just physical, it was the kind of weariness that made your thoughts heavy, tangled, impossible to make sense of.

Gabriel and Jessica.

Those two names rattled around in my mind like stones in a jar. How could I take them both down? How could I ensure they faced the kind of pain they’d so carelessly inflicted? I clenched my fists, the tension in my shoulders refusing to ease.

"It’s impossible," I whispered, sinking to my knees. My thoughts spiraled, chasing threads of plans that felt too frayed to hold.

The room seemed colder now, the silence pressing against me. The anger that had been burning inside of me for days suddenly felt dimmer, replaced by an ache I couldn’t name.

Then it hit me.

A sharp, white-hot pain that pierced through my back, so sudden and violent I let out a scream.

"Ahh!" My voice cracked, the sound echoing in the empty room.

I fell forward, my hands scraping against the floor as I tried to steady myself. The pain spread quickly, like fire licking through my spine, consuming every nerve.

"What the... what is—" My words broke off into a gasp as another wave of agony surged through me.

I clawed at the floor, my nails scraping uselessly against the surface. My chest heaved, my breaths shallow and rapid, as if I couldn’t pull enough air into my lungs.

The room spun around me, blurring into a haze of shadows and dim light.

Sweat slicked my forehead, dripping down the sides of my face. My vision darkened at the edges, but the pain was so sharp, so vivid, I couldn’t lose consciousness entirely.

"Help," I croaked, though I wasn’t sure who I was calling out to. My voice sounded foreign, small, swallowed by the room.

I tried to lift myself, to push through the pain, but my arms gave out. I collapsed onto the cold floor, my cheek pressing against the unforgiving surface.

Something was wrong—terribly wrong.

The pain in my back twisted, a sharp, pulsing agony that seemed to burrow deeper with every second.

My head swam, my thoughts dissolving into a chaotic jumble as the world tilted and twisted around me.

The last thing I saw was the faint outline of the ceiling above me before everything went dark.