---- Chapter 22 At 11:59 pm on August 24-a minute before Timothy's birthday- Madeline opened WhatsApp and tapped on the only pinned conversation she had. She stared at it in silence for a long time before quitting the app. For the first time in her life, she didn't wish him a happy birthday. At 6:00 am the following day, she received a notification on her flight from the airline company. ''Ms. Madeline Carlton, your flight will be taking off in four hours. Please arrive at the airport two hours prior to boarding for your check -in." For some reason, she suddenly felt like checking Twitter. She opened it to see that Lacey had recently tweeted, "It doesn't matter who it is if it isn't you." It came with a photo of her at the airport. It was clear who the tweet was meant for. Madeline's lashes fluttered as she scrolled down to look at the ---- comments. That was when she saw that they were all insults and criticism. The commenters called Lacey a side chick, saying that Timothy had a longtime girlfriend. The criticism and mockery were everywhere, just like the compliments she'd been showered with just days ago. However, the matter was quelled less than five minutes later. Then, Bloomberg Group made an official statement refuting the hate comments and standing up for Lacey. Those who weren't in the know continued observing the situation, and those who knew what was going on kept their silence. Madeline was about to call Octavia to catch up on the gossip, but she received a call from Timothy before she could do anything. He didn't even give her the chance to speak as he snapped, "You're truly something, Madeline! I can't believe you tried to drag her into a scandal and make her a victim of cyberbullying! We've been together for so long, but I had no idea you had so many tricks ---- up your sleeve!" Madeline took a few seconds to process this. Then, it dawned on her that someone had pushed the blame on her. Still, none of these things could affect her anymore. She listened as Timothy snapped at her from the other end of the line, his voice sounding somewhat surreal as he turned into someone completely different from the young man in her memories. He seemed like a psycho to her. She said, "I didn't do it-it's up to you whether or not you believe me. Besides, why would I want to get her embroiled in a scandal? How would I benefit from that?" "To force me to go back to you, of course! And you can ruin Lacey's reputation in the process!" he snarled. Madeline fell silent as Timothy continued, "Lacey did nothing wrong, Madeline! I'm the one who let her down! Stop pulling these tricks, alright? Don't