Chapter 127: The Arsonist Wasn’t Yara Lockwood...

Chapter 127: Chapter 127: The Arsonist Wasn’t Yara Lockwood...

The press conference officially began.

Noelle Lockwood stepped onto the stage, drawing the attention of everyone present.

Fans screamed from the audience as camera shutters clicked incessantly. Noelle bowed deeply to the crowd. "I apologize for taking up everyone’s time. The main purpose of today’s press conference is to discuss compensation for the fire with Yara."

Her fans were filled with righteous indignation. "Noelle, why should you have to pay compensation? You’re a victim too!"

"Our Noelle has lost hearing in her right ear! It’s all because of that Yara!"

"And she has the nerve to hide who-knows-where, pushing our Noelle into the line of fire! People who don’t know the truth might even think Noelle started the fire!"

"Get Yara out here!"

"Get Yara out here!"

The voices from the crowd grew louder and louder. Having achieved her goal, Noelle feigned a worried expression and looked off to the side. "Yara, everyone is just a little emotional right now. Please don’t mind them..."

Only then did the crowd realize that Yara had been there all along!

The fans’ fury surged. A fan in the front row grabbed a plastic water bottle and, without a second thought, hurled it viciously at Estelle Lockwood’s head!

A few fans exchanged tacit glances. Whatever the case... Noelle’s manager had told them they were minors, and there was safety in numbers. Even if Yara died, she deserved it!

Estelle calmly dodged the projectile. The next moment, bodyguards stormed in from the right and forcibly dragged away the fan who had thrown the bottle.

Estelle gave her a meaningful look. "Miss Lockwood, this is a press conference being broadcast live. With so many people watching, it wouldn’t be a good look to let your fans run amok, would it?"

Noelle sensed something was off. Today’s press conference was clearly arranged by the Lockwood Group, but she didn’t recognize those bodyguards. Could it be...

No, impossible. With Yara’s ruined reputation, there was no way Nathaniel would still protect her!

Forcing herself to calm down, Noelle squeezed out a smile and said deliberately, "Please don’t be angry, Yara. My fans didn’t mean it. It’s just because..."

She trailed off, looking utterly helpless, as if she were shouldering all the suffering in the world by herself. Then, she turned to the fans in the audience.

"Thank you all for your concern. I’m fine. I invited everyone here today to let you know that as long as Yara apologizes to me and to everyone who suffered losses in the fire, I will forgive her." Noelle played the part of an understanding, magnanimous, and considerate victim perfectly. "As for the compensation, I believe Yara definitely won’t refuse either.

"Yara, please, apologize now."

A dark glint flashed through Noelle’s eyes.

She knew there were reporters live-streaming the event right now, not to mention hundreds of marketing accounts on standby across the internet. As long as Yara apologized—the moment she opened her mouth—those accounts would launch an overwhelming smear campaign, branding Yara as a heartless monster who endangered people’s lives.

Having been in the entertainment industry for so many years, she knew exactly how to manipulate public opinion. Just as she had driven Estelle Lockwood away in the past, she could use the exact same tactics to destroy Yara now.

However... ten seconds, twenty seconds, thirty seconds...

A full minute passed, but Estelle didn’t move an inch.

Noelle bit her lip, deliberately stoking the crowd’s anger. "Yara... it’s just an apology. It’s nothing much. Compared to what those who were injured went through, all you have to do is say you’re sorry. Are you really unwilling to even do that?

"I’m sorry, Yara, I really don’t mean to force you. But I’m just worried that if you stubbornly refuse to apologize, you might end up going to prison.

"We’ve known each other for a while, and I just can’t bear to see..."

"I will not apologize." Estelle calmly cut Noelle off.

The venue fell dead silent for two seconds before the crowd erupted in outrage!

Noelle’s eyes turned red, and she swayed slightly on her feet. "Yara, why would you..."

"Why should I apologize for something I didn’t do?" Estelle lifted her gaze, a half-smile playing on her lips. "If Miss Lockwood insists that the arsonist apologize... then you, of all people, should know exactly who started that fire, shouldn’t you?"

A flicker of guilt crossed Noelle’s eyes, but she quickly regained her confidence. She wondered how Estelle could possibly find out. It was impossible! So what if she had arranged for someone to start the fire? She had already bribed people to destroy all the security footage!

"Yara!" Rose Lowell shrieked as she charged forward. "Do you have any conscience left?! Noelle was severely injured because of you! She’s giving you a chance to turn over a new leaf, and this is the attitude you show her?!

"Oh, my poor daughter! What sin did she commit in her past life to run into someone like you?!"

The fans were equally enraged, burning with a fury that made them want to swallow Estelle alive.

With reddened eyes, Noelle lowered her head and wept silently, as if tacitly confirming Rose’s accusations.

Watching Rose play the part of a fiercely protective mother, Estelle couldn’t help but laugh. So this was her wonderful "mother."

"Miss Noelle Lockwood," Estelle drawled, having sufficiently enjoyed the mother-daughter duo’s little performance. "I’ve always been curious. What makes you so sure I was the one who started that fire?"

Noelle pursed her lips, looking both helpless and utterly devastated. "Yara... you were right next to me at the time. I saw it with my own two eyes."

"Is that so." Estelle nodded. "So, the reason the entire internet is calling for my head and your fans are telling me to go die is all because you saw me commit arson with your own two eyes. However..."

Noelle’s heart suddenly clenched. She wondered what was coming next. What on earth was Yara trying to say?!

"However, as coincidence would have it, I managed to recover a piece of security footage." Estelle chuckled softly and snapped her fingers. Moments later, the security footage from the mall on the day of the incident actually appeared on the massive screen behind them!

Everyone watched as the video showed Noelle and a few of her fans surrounding Yara. Right at that moment, a short distance away from them, a man in black used a lighter to ignite some pre-placed alcohol-soaked cotton and tossed the kindling onto a pile of nearby fabric!

Then, in a matter of seconds, flames shot into the sky!

This...

Everyone froze. The entire venue fell into a deathly silence.

Estelle unhurriedly broke the quiet. "Miss Lockwood, you saw it with your own two eyes?"

Those words—"with your own two eyes"—were like a resounding slap across Noelle’s face!

The security footage captured the scene with absolute clarity. The fire had absolutely nothing to do with Yara! Yet Noelle and so many of her fans, who had been right there at the scene, still dared to spout the utter nonsense of having "personally witnessed Yara start the fire." What kind of malicious intentions were they harboring?!

If it weren’t for this footage, if all the evidence had actually been destroyed in the blaze... wouldn’t Yara have been forced to bear the brunt of this baseless accusation forever?!

Noelle’s face turned deathly pale. Her earlier smugness and composure vanished in an instant, and she teetered on her feet.

"This... the arsonist wasn’t Yara at all!"

"How could Noelle possibly mistake that?!"