Bound To Him

This was the big bomb he threatened her with, this was the start of her downfall. 

She was shaking and having a problem with her breathing, she couldn't get enough air into her lungs for her to function. All she could think about was that she was ruined. 

"Sara? Sara? Are you still there?" Bonnie could be heard through the phone. She placed the receiver on her ear.

"Sara, what's with the news? People have pictures of you taking drugs. This is going to ruin your modeling career," Bonnie said in a panicked voice.

"This is not me, Bonnie, you know I don't even drink alcohol. I...I... take care of my body… why would they do this to me?" Tears were running down her face, and her voice was crackling as she repeated her earlier statement.

"I know Sara, what's with all this evidence anyway, when did this even happen? I was with you the whole time. 

We have to figure out a way how we can prove this. Hire a lawyer and find out how we can get you out of this mess," Bonnie said.

"Okay, okay… I will see what can be done," Sara said hiccuping.

Sara knew there was nothing else she could do. Even if she hired the best lawyer in the world, nobody could help her. Joaquin was very powerful, he had a plan, and he executed it, anything she says against him will be useless.

"Sara, the manager wants to talk to you, can you come to the office. We have been bogged down by calls from every reporter in the world. The situation is getting out of hand. 

Try to wear a disguise, they are all waiting outside, oh and use the side entrance, I will wait for you there," Bonnie said.

"I will be there in an hour," Sara said, wiping her tears.

Sara washed her face, tied her hair up, put on jeans, a plain white t-shirt and a big black hooded sweater, she covered her face with make-up, made herself pretty so they wouldn't see how broken she really felt inside. To cover her face, she wore a ballcap and her darkest sunglasses.

"Sara, where are you going?" Mrs. Wesley asked.

"Mom, I need to go to the StarLight office. There's a new assignment for me," Sara lied. Her heart was beating very fast. She was scared, what her parents would say when they saw the news. She cannot probably hide it for a day or two, enough for her to figure out what to do.

"Sara, you're working too hard these days. You just got home, can't you relax for a bit? We have everything you would ever need. You don't even need to stress too much about the business, your father can wait, just relax," Mrs. Wesley said softly.

She just wanted her daughter to lead a good and carefree life. Her husband was working so hard already for all of them. Thankful that at least her youngest daughter settled down with a very caring husband, it was now Sara's turn to find one.

"Mom, It'll be fine. I'll be there for an hour, I'm not doing a shoot today. I'll be back before you know it," Sara said, giving her mom a fake smile. She had to get out of there before she started breaking down.

She got up to the manager's office from the side entrance with Bonnie's help. The manager said, "Why did you do this Sara?" as he placed the incriminating pictures in front of her.

"That's not me! You've known me for two years now, and I would never do anything like that. Don't you trust me?" Sara said, standing her ground.

"I trust you Sara, but being associated with your right now is dragging our company right into the mud. I cannot let my company fail because of bad publicity. Nobody will ever sign up with me again," he said.

"If you help me fight this, then we can get to the bottom of it. You'll know what I'm saying is the truth," Sara said.

"I cannot help you with this scandal. I'm afraid I am not ready to fight whoever it was that you pissed off. Our company has a good reputation right now, and I cannot risk losing it for the sake of one model. I'm sorry,��� he said, shaking his head.

"What are you saying?" she asked, confused, "You were making millions because of me, I stayed loyal to you and did not transfer to other companies even though they were offering me more than you were paying me. How can you do this to me? You won't even help me clear my name? You cannot betray me like this," Sara yelled.

"Sara, it's business. I need to consider the profit for the whole company. We were thankful that you were loyal, but all the clients that booked you as their ambassador either want their money back or to have you replaced with another model. 

Tell me, what is your use if nobody will hire you? Do you think that after this scandal, anybody else will hire you?" the manager ended.

"It's just a rumor, this is not evidence, how can you make your decision this hastily? Don't you need time before you decide?" Sara pleaded.

"In the modeling industry, every second is important, things can change in the blink of an eye. People have fickle minds, and they change models all the time, you know that, you've taken over a lot of modeling gigs that were already assigned to someone else. You were the flavor of the month, and now you're not," he said, nonchalantly.

"I'm sorry Sara, but I have no choice, I have to end your contract," he said with no emotion showing on his face, not even remorse.

Sara was humiliated and angry. Was this the same guy that praised her to high heaven when she was bringing him project after project? Now he's treating her like dirt on his shoe.

"Aren't you being a little too cruel? You always have a choice, you know, you can always believe me and fight for me. You cannot just end my contract without prior notice." she said angrily.

"Well, it was one of the rules, that if a model gets involved in a scandal or anything illegal, we can terminate the contract any time we want. Do you want me to show you where it says that on your contract?" he asked sarcastically. 

"But I am your top model, you cannot replace me," Sara said, frustrated.

"Sara, you only became my top model because I made you my top model, I can get someone else to replace you," the manager said.

"You will never get anyone like me. I will make sure you regret your decision," Sara said arrogantly.

The manager had his share of threats from these models before, and there was nothing new to what Sara was saying, at some point or another they fell and he didn't care.

Sara left, and as soon as she got home, she started sending out her resumes and started calling people. How hard was it to transfer companies anyway?

She was beautiful and talented. Her name alone was the reason a lot of products were selling millions of dollars in the market, surely she could just open a door, and they'd come clamoring for her attention.

Emails came back, saying they were not open to hiring new models at the moment ,and people on the phones either hung up or never called her back. 

How is she different from other models and actresses that encounter scandals? It felt like someone was behind all these rejections, even the B grade companies won't give her the time of day. Was it Joaquin? Is he still behind all these after that fake news he leaked into the press?

Sara was deep in thought when the phone started beeping. Someone kept on sending her messages. She was hoping it's a call back from one of the companies. 

Opening the message from an unknown number, she saw, "Hello Kitten." She shivered. It was from Joaquin. He was the only person who called her that, saying that it was his nickname for her.

"Miss me, kitten?"

"I'm definitely missing you."

Came one message after another, and all of them endearments, she was about to block the number when the last text caught her eye.

"You cannot escape from me."

"I will not keep quiet until you come back to me. I will finish what I started." There was a photo attached. It was in that room from that dreadful day.

She panicked and blocked the number. Now she had confirmation that he started all the rumors. He probably informed all the companies to ban her from the entertainment industry as well.

Sara started wailing out loud, how can she ever recover from this?

She heard someone banging at her door, wiping her tears. She opened it and saw her parents on the other side.

Mr. Wesley had a concerned and angry expression while Mrs. Wesley had tears spilling down her face. "Sara, why did you not tell me this was happening to you?" Mrs. Weasley said hugging her as soon as she opened the door.

"Mom I didn't do anything, it wasn't me, they faked all those pictures," she started crying in her mother's arms just like when she was a kid. She felt like she wasn't alone anymore.

"Shh… Of course, we know our baby won't do anything like that," Mrs. Wesley said, rubbing her back, consoling her. She knew her daughter was arrogant and very self-righteous, but she would never involve herself in doing anything illegal.

Mr. Wesley was in the office when he got the news of his daughter's scandal. He was very worried, and rushed home immediately, confiding in his wife so they could both come and console her.

He trusted his daughter. He would support her and do everything in his power to set things straight. He now regrets allowing her to become a model, if they only listened to him, she wouldn't be in this predicament right now, but then it's too late to lay blame, right now all she needs is their love and their understanding.