Chapter 199: Chapter 197: Learning the Truth
"I believe you. Let’s talk at the café across the street."
Just as Elliana Lyle stepped through the door, Bella’s voice came from behind.
Turning back, she realized Bella was standing at the bottom of the steps, not intending to come up.
Norman Bennett was a big name; Bella knew she couldn’t negotiate in front of someone so important. These two girls, however, were different.
From her perspective, although Luna was smart, she was somewhat reckless, while Elliana Lyle, though not exactly weak, was someone easier to deal with.
"Alright, let’s go."
Once inside the café, Bella didn’t demand Nancy leave; the four of them sat in a secluded corner.
"Alright, spill it," said Elliana.
Bella lifted her hand to play with her hair and smiled, "You have to ask for me to answer, right? However... I have two requests."
Upon hearing the last sentence, Elliana fell silent, and Luna also lifted her eyelids to stare at Bella.
Finally, Elliana said, "You’d better not push it too far. My patience is limited!"
Seeing that she was angry, Bella directly replied, "It’s not hard for you to handle. I want you to ensure my safety, and I don’t want money; I want to join your workshop. You provide the resources, and the results depend on me. How about it?"
Nancy didn’t understand anything, seemingly her sister was negotiating a deal with Elliana Lyle.
So she interrupted, "You guys..."
"Adults are talking, so kids don’t interrupt!" Bella snapped back at Nancy, who immediately fell silent, receiving a warning look.
Elliana contemplated Bella’s words. Bella, who used to be in a girl group, though nothing could be found about her, had reasonable demands.
After thinking it over, she said, "Agreed."
Wasting no time, she went straight to the point, "How did Nancy get into the girl group, and which company was it?"
Bella touched her earlobe, gazed upward to the right, and started, "Nancy and I used to do livestreams. Because we were pretty, a talent scout discovered us."
That was not a lie. Bella was indeed very beautiful, like a fiery fox, a kind of beauty that once seen, one couldn’t look away.
And Nancy was the epitome of a cool goddess, a school flower back in her days, stunningly beautiful, yet exuding a distant queenly aura.
So it was reasonable they were scouted.
After several seconds’ pause, Bella said, "The management company was Roland."
"What?"
Hearing the name Roland, Elliana almost stood up but managed to keep her composure, continuing to ask, "Do you know Shane Southwell?"
At the mention of Shane Southwell, Bella visibly tensed, her face showing hints of fear, hesitant to speak.
Luna said, "Shane Southwell has already gone abroad and, barring any surprises, will never come back."
This statement was like a sedative, causing Bella’s tense nerves to relax.
"Are you afraid of her?" Elliana observed that Bella was clearly terrified of Shane Southwell; they must be related!
"No."
In just a few seconds, Bella regained her composure as if nothing had happened.
After that, Bella began to recount what happened after joining Roland.
January 2016.
Bella and Nancy stepped into Roland’s doors for the first time, beginning their hopeful journey for the future.
But they were not special. Besides their outstanding looks, they had no other standout qualities, training like everyone else.
Only those who passed the training had a chance to debut.
However, Nancy seemed to be a natural artist, learning everything quickly. In the end, Nancy achieved the best results among everyone.
And Bella barely passed.
Back then, the company planned for them and five other girls to form a girl group named Angel Girl.
Everything seemed to go smoothly, but an unexpected incident led to their forced disbanding! That’s also why they never officially debuted.
The incidents involved a wealthy man and three young girls; you could easily guess the nature of it.
Back then, the situation was no less scandalous than Timara Zephyr’s!
And when Bella recounted this, she was also hesitant.
Elliana had heard of this incident, but at that time, she had just started college and didn’t care at all.
Bella said, "Back then, I didn’t have a penny to my name, and my younger sister was about to start high school. My parents said they couldn’t afford the tuition, four thousand dollars, and I had sent all my earnings from streaming back home. Shane Southwell’s secretary came and suggested I accompany a wealthy man from the company to maybe earn some extra cash."
At this point, Nancy was utterly dumbfounded. The year she started high school, she had eavesdropped on her parents’ conversation.
One sentence was: "We’ll save thirty thousand in the bank; our son will have plenty of expenses in the future!"
She thought her parents had a change of heart and paid her tuition, but it turned out her sister had found a way to pay it; the incident had happened because of her...
"Shane Southwell’s secretary asked you to go? So the breakup was because the media caught wind of it?" Elliana asked.
Upon hearing this, Bella raised her head, showing a disdainful face, though tears welled up in her eyes, she said sarcastically, "Did Roland want a girl group at all? No, they just wanted to oust that shareholder. The girl group was merely a tool, and we were all just lambs in his hands, for him to slaughter as he pleased."
"Why do you think Roland wanted to oust a shareholder? And that the girl group was just a tool?" Elliana asked in confusion.
"It was arranged by Shane Southwell’s secretary, wasn’t it? And that left us two options: either go abroad to be repackaged or leave. I chose to leave."
At this point, Luna asked, "Why did only you choose to leave?"
"I... my family was still in the country, and I didn’t want to go abroad," Bella replied, releasing her grip on her clothes beneath the table, then clenching again, showing her nervousness.
Finally, Bella said, "After being taken abroad by a man named George Lyle, there was no more news. I don’t know where they went; that’s all I know."
This was the truth; she didn’t know Nancy’s whereabouts, only that Nancy had gone abroad but didn’t know the specifics.
"George Lyle?" Elliana felt like she missed something, but after pondering a long time, she asked, "Who was the talent scout who discovered you?"
"I only remember one named Adrian, and another with the last name Young; I forgot the name."
It turned out to be Adrian Young!
Elliana was astonished to find that these two people were connected to Nancy!
After searching around, she realized what she was looking for was right in front of her all along?
Now, having gathered a few clues, there was still no precise information about Nancy. It was clear the next opponent was Roland.
"I’ve said everything I needed to. When are we signing the contract?"
Elliana’s mind was overwhelmed with facts, and she replied tiredly, "Go to the workshop and find Victor King. I’ll give him a heads-up."
After Bella and Nancy left, Luna said, "You’re quite agreeable."
Elliana covered her face with both hands, shaking her head with frustration, "It’s not being agreeable; it’s that Bella’s a tough nut to crack. She’s definitely holding back something important..."
But she just couldn’t figure out what Bella hadn’t shared.
Luna said, "It seems she truly doesn’t know where Nancy is. Remember, when people speak, they always embellish themselves, even just a little, but it doesn’t change the gist."