2
I got in the car and opened my phone. Several messages from my friends were waiting.
【Oh my god, Sarah, you’re trending! Did you know the woman with your fiancé is an influencer?]
【Are you okay, sweetie? Someone just sent me the pictures. How dare Eric flaunt his mistress in front of you? That scumbag!]
【That influencer with your fiancé is always on her live streams talking about a man who loves her and buys her everything… so it
was Eric all along.]
【I can’t believe it. Eric never used to have so much as a female mosquito around him. We all thought he was so clean. Why is he
suddenly keeping an influencer?]
I carefully crafted my replies, then clicked on the trending topic..
The photos and videos were crystal clear, capturing every moment of the tense confrontation between Eric and me. The commen-
ts were overwhelmingly in support of the influencer.
[Is this woman trying to steal our Lingling’s boyfriend?]
【Did you see how her boyfriend treated her? He was so harsh. But he’s always so sweet to Lingling.】
【This woman just lingered around them. After they left, she kept staring. Is she trying to look heartbroken?]
【Ugh, get lost, you green tea bitch. Stop trying to seduce someone else’s boyfriend.]
So, my fiancé was now someone else’s boyfriend.
I sank into the back seat, my mind a blank. The fact that this topic was still trending, and even gaining traction, meant that Eric had to have approved it.
Did he really love me, as those comments suggested? Was his love allowing the internet to twist the truth and hurl endless abuse
at me?
closed my eyes in pain. After a long while, I made a call, my voice hoarse. “Get this trending topic taken down. Now.”
00:32
Chapter 1
The comments became active again:
[My heart aches for her. If only she had just given in, acted a little cute, it wouldn’t have come to this…)
【These brain–dead netizens are just following the crowd. Song Ling is the real other woman! I’m so angry.]
00.32 C
【The Crown Prince did go a little too far, but Sarah is too independent. He wants to see her rely on him, to be helpless without
him.)
[I have a feeling this topic won’t be easy to take down. Someone is already doxxing her. Once the Burrell Group sees this, it’s going to affect their stock prices.]
My eyes lingered on the last comment.
Sure enough, my phone rang a few moments later. The voice on the other end was exasperated. “Someone is constantly buying up this trending topic. We’re trying to take it down, but it’s a constant back–and–forth. The effect is minimal.”
I said nothing. The person sighed. “Did you piss someone off? This topic is being pushed so hard, it’s impossible to get it down. This is a major operation. Isn’t your fiancé doing anything? Is he just going to sit there and watch?”
Because the one buying the topic is my fiancé.
But… not for long.
My father’s call came next. His voice was laced with fury. “Sarah! What is going on? If someone hadn’t told me, I would have never
known!”
I took a moment to compose myself. “Is it my fault that Eric is cheating?”
“Plenty of men cheat! But how could you let this become a public spectacle? And let that woman flaunt it in your face?!” my father’s
voice rose to a shout.
I explained patiently, “Eric bought the trending topic. He’s the one keeping the mistress. Dad, this has nothing to do with me. I’m already trying to get it taken down.”
My father scoffed. “If you can’t keep a man’s heart, it’s your fault.”
He hung up.
The car came to a stop. “Miss Burrell, we’ve arrived at the villa,” the driver said.
I moved like a zombie, pushing open the car door and walking, step by step, towards the dark, silent house.
My father’s words were so self–righteous. When he cheated, when he kept a string of mistresses, he blamed my mother for getting old and losing her charm. He conveniently forgot who had used her entire dowry to support his business, who had been the one sacrificing everything for him in the background.
