CHAPTER 43: A CHILD BORN WITHOUT LOVE (2)

He only took Helcia in because he needed her as a prop for his fundraising event.

Standing in front of cameras and flashing lights, he admitted to cheating on his wife, but twisted the truth. He claimed it wasn’t his fault, that a prostitute had drugged him and trapped him with a child on purpose.

Even so, with a solemn look for the crowd, he declared that he would "take full responsibility" and accept Helcia as one of his precious daughters.

Once again, Helcia was treated as nothing more than a tool by her parents, people who didn’t even bother to pretend they loved her.

So, to summarize the story—no, Helcia’s mother never stole Gideon from Addison. He was the one who willingly stepped into that brothel and paid Olivia with his own hands.

"If that’s what you want." Lando looked at me with something deeper than anger toward the Davenport family. There was pity too, a kind of sorrow for everything I—although it was Helcia, not me—had been forced to endure.

His gaze softened as he reached for my hand. "Then we’ll tear down every lie they’ve built and make sure the world sees them for who they really are," he said firmly. "All you have to do is wait."

I let my hand slip into his, clutching it tightly. "And what about Rosélle Beauty? What am I supposed to tell them?"

"I will take care of it," Lando said. "Besides, it would be their loss if they choose to let you go." He brushed his thumb across my palm, as if he wanted to feel every line of my lifeline. "If one door closes, you can open another. There will always be other chances for you."

The way he said it, it almost felt like he was promising to hold those doors open himself, and after staring at him for a while, I realized, maybe he really meant it.

"Lando," I finally called his name for the first time, forcing back my tears so I wouldn’t break down again. "Thank you."

A faint smile touched his lips, making him look gentler, softer. "There’s no need to say that," he replied. "You’re my wife. I’m just doing my duty to protect you."

After making sure I would be alright, Lando left for a three-day business trip.

While he was gone, the news about Madeline’s filth spread like wildfire, plastered across headlines and social feeds. Her perfect image crumbled piece by piece, replaced by the ugly truths she could no longer hide.

The same people who once threw cruel words at me now rushed to apologize in public. Some even tried to reach me through social media, but since I had already deactivated all of Helcia’s accounts, they had no way of getting to me.

Meanwhile, Gideon kept calling me again and again, but I blocked his number without hesitation.

Addison and Madeline also spammed me with messages, pretending to be kind, begging me to say that what they did to Helcia in high school was nothing more than a joke, so I also blocked their numbers.

A joke, my ass.

[Your one-week lucky buff has expired.]

I let out a harsh sigh when I saw that notification. Well, goodbye lucky charm, hello bad luck. Even though I felt sad, that one week had been a joyride. I even managed to convince Rosélle Beauty not to sever our contract, and they even scheduled me for a photoshoot tomorrow.

Not long after, Penny popped up again with a new notification.

[Mission of the Week (1/2)]

[Mission: Get 10k followers on Zentra+!]

[Reward: $6,000]

[Time Limit: 4 days]

[Bonus: If Host can reach more than 15k followers, Penny will give a $15,000 bonus]

[Note: You can’t ask Lando to boost your video on Zentra+]

I widened my eyes when I saw the mission. "Penny! You gave me ten grand before just for making Lando call me pretty, and now you’re only offering six grand for something this hard? Do you know how difficult it is to get 10k followers?"

To make things worse, I couldn’t even rely on Lando this time, which meant the challenge would be twice as hard.

[Penny would also give you a bonus if you surpass 15—]

I cut her off before she could finish. "It’s already impossible to get ten thousand, let alone fifteen thousand!" I snapped. "And you only gave me four days? Penny, does that even make sense? I don’t even have a new account yet!"

The reason I shut down all of Helcia’s accounts was because I wanted to cut ties with her past. This body was mine now, and I wanted to build something new. A new persona that belonged to me, not Helcia.

[Then you better start making a new one now, Host.]

I groaned and rubbed my face. "I don’t even have a good photo ... and if I post a video about the scandal, my fame will still stay stuck in the ’scandal folder.’"

I dropped my back onto the bed, feeling a bit frustrated because Penny only gave me four days to finish the mission.

However, since this was the weekly mission, I couldn’t afford to slack off! If I failed, Penny would take fifty percent of the total reward.

It was just three thousand, but money was money, and I couldn’t let it slip through my fingers!

Alright, let’s make a plan.

First step: I needed a brand-new account. Clean, fresh, with no trace of Helcia’s past anywhere on it. This time, I would build my own persona, maybe something light, sweet, and bubbly.

Honestly, that shouldn’t be too hard. I wasn’t exactly a gloomy person on the outside to begin with.

Then, second step: content. I couldn’t just throw up random pictures and hope for the best. I had to grab attention quickly. Something fun, something that would pull in thousands of followers in no time.

Third step: timing. Four days wasn’t much, which meant every post had to count.

Since I didn’t want to gain followers by playing on sympathy, I had to find another way.

I pushed myself upright on the bed, my heart pounding with both nerves and excitement. "Alright, Penny," I muttered under my breath, "let’s take a walk outside and see what we can do."