Aria continued to cry for a long time, and all Noah did was hug her as he rubbed her back gently. He did not say a word, console her, or even kiss her. She needed to let out all that she had tolerated, and Aria was glad that he was giving her her time.
They stayed in each other's embrace for a long time until Aria's cries died and were reduced to hiccups. She wiped her cheeks and pushed herself closer to Noah's chest, taking more of his warmth. "Once Maggie joined Jared's gang, we could not continue with what we doing." She hiccuped softly. "But that did not stop us. We pulled in Ivy to our plan, and then we started to use the media to pull them down."
Noah recalled how the matter first came into full view before the public, courtesy of Ivy's brave work. It was only after the video went viral that people started to take note of the problem again. Though the matter had already become an issue when Mr. West was investigating it, it had not become a nationwide problem.
