The press conference officially began.

Noelle Lockwood made her entrance, all eyes on her.

Below the stage, fans screamed and camera shutters clicked. Noelle Lockwood gave a deep bow to the audience. "I’m very sorry to take up your time. The main purpose of today’s press conference is to, hopefully, discuss compensation for the fire with Yara."

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

"Our Noelle is deaf in her right ear now, and it’s all that Yara’s fault!"

"And look at her, hiding who knows where, while our Noelle is pushed into the line of fire. People who don’t know any better might even think our Noelle started that fire!"

"Get Yara Lockwood out here!"

"Get Yara Lockwood out here!"

The roars from the crowd grew louder and louder. Her objective achieved, Noelle Lockwood feigned a worried look to the side.

"Yara, everyone’s just a little emotional. Please don’t mind them..."

Only then did the crowd realize that Yara Lockwood had been there the whole time!

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

A few fans exchanged knowing glances. ’Anyway... Noelle’s manager said we’re minors. There’s strength in numbers. Even if Yara dies, she’ll have deserved it!’

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

Estelle Lockwood said meaningfully, "Miss Lockwood, this is a press conference, after all. It’s being live-streamed, and so many people are watching. It wouldn’t look good to let your fans run wild, would it?"

Noelle Lockwood felt something was off. Today’s press conference was clearly arranged by the Lockwood Group, but she had never seen those bodyguards before. ’Could it be...?’

’No, impossible. With Yara’s reputation right now, there’s no way Nathaniel would still be protecting her!’

Noelle Lockwood calmed down, forced a smile, and said deliberately, "Yara, please don’t be angry. My fans didn’t mean it. It’s really because..."

She trailed off, looking utterly helpless as if she were swallowing all the pain herself, then turned to her fans below the stage.

"Thank you all for your concern. I’m fine. I invited everyone here today to let you all know that as long as Yara apologizes to me, and to everyone who suffered losses in the fire, I will forgive her."

Noelle Lockwood acted understanding, magnanimous, and considerate. "As for the compensation, I’m sure Yara would never refuse to pay."

"Yara, please, apologize now."

A dark glint flashed in Noelle Lockwood’s eyes.

’I know reporters are live-streaming this, and hundreds of marketing accounts are on standby online.’

’As soon as Yara apologizes, the second she opens her mouth, those marketing accounts will plaster it everywhere that Yara is a heartless monster who endangered lives.’

’I’ve been in the entertainment industry for so many years; I know best how to control public opinion. I’ll use the same methods I used to drive away Estelle Lockwood to destroy Yara now.’

But...

Ten seconds, twenty seconds, thirty seconds...

A full minute passed, but Estelle Lockwood remained completely still.

Noelle Lockwood bit her lip, deliberately trying to stoke the crowd’s anger. "Yara... it’s just an apology, that’s all. Compared to all the people who were hurt, all you have to do is apologize. Are you not even willing to do that?"

"...I’m sorry, Yara. I’m really not trying to force you, but I’m worried. If you’re too stubborn to apologize, you might end up in jail."

"We’ve known each other for so long, after all. I just couldn’t bear to see that happen..."

"I will not apologize."

Estelle Lockwood cut Noelle Lockwood off coolly.

The venue fell silent for two seconds.

Then, the crowd erupted in fury!

Noelle Lockwood’s eyes turned red and she swayed. "Yara, why...?"

"Why should I apologize for something I didn’t do?"

Estelle Lockwood raised her eyes slightly, a faint, unreadable smile on her face. "If Miss Lockwood is so insistent that the arsonist apologize... then shouldn’t Miss Lockwood know best who really started that fire?"

A flicker of guilt crossed Noelle Lockwood’s eyes, but her confidence quickly returned. ’How could Estelle Lockwood possibly find out? Impossible! So what if I arranged for someone to set the fire? I paid someone to destroy all the surveillance footage!’

"Yara!!" Rose Lowell screamed, rushing forward. "Have you no conscience?! Noelle was so seriously injured because of you! She’s giving you a chance to make amends, and this is your attitude?!"

"My poor daughter! What did she ever do to deserve meeting someone like you!"

The fans, filled with righteous indignation and burning with rage, looked like they wanted to skin Estelle Lockwood alive.

Noelle Lockwood’s eyes were red. She lowered her head and shed silent tears, as if tacitly agreeing with Rose Lowell’s words.

Watching Rose Lowell’s display of doting motherly love, Estelle Lockwood couldn’t help but laugh.

’So this is my good ’mother’.’

"Miss Noelle Lockwood." Estelle Lockwood spoke slowly, after having her fill of the mother-daughter duo’s performance. "I’ve always been curious. Why are you so certain that I was the one who set that fire?"

Noelle Lockwood pressed her lips together, looking helpless, as if her heart had died a little. "Yara... you were right beside me. I saw it with my own two eyes."

"So that’s how it is."

Estelle Lockwood nodded. "So the entire internet is calling for my head, and your fans are telling me to go die, all because you ’saw with your own eyes’ that I committed arson."

"But..."

Noelle Lockwood’s heart suddenly clenched.

’But? But what? What on earth is Yara trying to say?!’

"But, as luck would have it, I managed to recover a piece of surveillance footage."

Estelle Lockwood chuckled and snapped her fingers. A moment later, surveillance footage from the mall that day actually appeared on the big screen!

Everyone saw Noelle Lockwood and several of her fans surrounding Yara. Just then, not far from them, a man in black used a lighter to ignite some pre-placed alcohol-soaked cotton and threw the kindling onto a pile of fabric nearby!

Then, in just a few seconds, the fire blazed to life!

This...

Everyone was stunned. The entire venue fell into a dead silence.

Estelle Lockwood slowly broke the silence. "Miss Lockwood, you saw it with your own eyes?"

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

The surveillance video was crystal clear. The fire had nothing to do with Yara at all!

And yet Noelle Lockwood and all those fans were right there, but they could still spout such nonsense like ’I saw Yara set the fire with my own eyes.’ What were their real intentions?

If there hadn’t been any surveillance footage, if all the evidence had been destroyed in the fire, then... wouldn’t Yara have been forced to take the blame for a disaster she had nothing to do with?

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

"This... The arsonist isn’t Yara at all!"

"How could Noelle Lockwood have gotten that wrong?!"