New Life : A Second Chance

Kyle was feeling rather pissed off.

Royally pissed off, actually.

He was well aware of the rumour that was going on.

He was extremely angry that Sayuri was maligned in such a way. She was innocent, with the most beautiful soul ever, and they called her all sorts of slurs. He took note of those that did so. 

He really had take his hat off to Sarah. 

As much as he hated the rumour, though, there was absolutely nothing he could do about it right now. If he actively stepped in to quash it, it would only cause more harm. By denying the rumour, they'd only think he was trying to cover it up and protect Sayuri. That he was being a 'gentleman' and a 'man of honour'. 

Worse, he had no evidence to pin the start of the rumour on Sarah.

If he did, he would have had some valid reason to fire her. After all, the standard employment contract of Smith Industries had one unusual clause.

No gossiping or spreading false information. 

Such actions would be worthy of being fired as loyalty and the good reputation of the company was one of its greatest strengths.

Some might say that this is an unfair clause but if you agreed to it, then you are bound by it. No one was forcing you to sign, and the lure and benefits of working at Smith Industries was just too great that no one minded the clause.

In this case, no one knew who started the rumour. Worse of all, Sarah never participated in it - after all, she was the party to the rumour, so no one would talk to her about it! Added to that, Sarah was efficient and good at her job. 

Kyle couldn't fire her without a reason. That made him even more agitated.

Then, a slow smile formed on his lips.

Well, just because Kyle Smith couldn't do anything didn't mean Kyle Kato Smith couldn't. 

Taking out his knife and as he started playing with it, and he hoped that Ice wouldn't have to step in.

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Sarah was content.

It had been a couple of months now and the rumour had taken root. People were even looking at her more kindly, and trying hard to be supportive without letting her know that they knew her secret.

She smiled to herself while thinking that it was time for the final step. 

The world had to know of this.

She happily posted some pictures via a fake online account that she had created years ago. She had several, which she kept active once in a while for purposes like this. It was posted on a popular blog that had all sorts of rumours.

Kyle Smith may not be in the entertainment industry, but he certainly was an idol to many. Thus, any news on him would be blown out of proportion.

Sarah posted a few pictures and the headlines screamed, 'Kyle Smith's Past Secret Girlfriend'.

The content of the 'news' was basically the rumour that was going around. She didn't embellish it much, and wrote it from the perspective of a 'good friend' that couldn't stand to see the ex-girlfriend suffer so much. 

'My eyes always tear up whenever I see her looking longingly at him, but never stepping forward. Always looking from afar, wishing him happiness.'

Sarah smiled as she typed those words, thinking how much it would tear at the heartstrings.

Then, using her other fake accounts, she 'shared' it into various other platforms and closed the laptop.

Her work was done. 

Now, let the Internet explode.

Sarah wasn't going to see the words posted, or the reaction of the netizens because she wanted to have the appropriate shocked and scared reaction the next day. She knew that people would confront her or ask her about it.

After all, once it is out in the open, that 'gossip' clause in the contract wouldn't hold water anymore. They would be saying that they wanted to verify the news that was already out there.

Then, she can begin the third phase.

Snatching him back.

The next day, when Sarah came to work like normal, she noticed people staring at her. She smiled to herself, thinking that her plan was going smoothly and she was happy. However, she did not show this on her face, though she did smile was normal.

However, she began to realise that the looks weren't what she was expecting. It was strange. She had thought they would be looking at her with sympathy, and even jealousy but this?

This seemed to be more like anger? No, hatred? No.

Disgust.

Yes, that's it.

Was she imagining it?

As she passed by the receptionist's desk, she smiled at the two girls there like she always did. However, they looked a bit uncomfortable and the smile they showed her seemed rather forced.

She was thinking of asking them what was wrong but decided against it.

This area was too public and she didn't want to cause a scene.

Just what was going on?

She hurried to her office and immediately switched on her computer. 

She quickly found that post that she had originally done.

Her eyes grew wide.

What was this?

The blog was done in such a way that the most popular comment would be on top. There, in response to her 'expose', was another big news 'exposing her expose' with the caption, 'The Truth'.

The pictures that she had posted were reposted in that reply, but this time, it was Sayuri's face on it.

Sarah couldn't believe it.

She had created those pictures herself. She had hired a male model to pose with her in various scenes and settings. After that, she created various expressions and faces of Kyle through a computer-generated image (CGI) and photoshopping it onto the model's face. 

So how could there be the same pictures, but with Sayuri instead of her?!