Chapter 20

Jean did not know that the worst had yet to come.

An online stream of a certain platform suddenly flooded with tens of millions of viewers.

A man was sitting in front of the camera. He was chubby, haggard, and stubbled. He had a pair of bloodshot eyes. His hair was so greasy that it almost dripped with oil. There was an ashtray on the table that was full of cigarette butts.

“Hi, everyone. My name is John Page. I was the manager of the late actress Elaina Lee two-and-a-half years ago. I have never had a good night’s sleep after her death. The sight of her tragic death has been haunting me, and she kept asking me why I didn’t tell the truth whenever I closed my eyes,” the man said.

“Just like someone said two days ago, Elaina’s death was not an accident. It was Jean Mitchell. She stole Elaina’s boyfriend and hired a group of men to assault her sexually—all that for a role in a movie. Elaina could not stand the humiliation and killed herself by jumping off a building.”

The man cried in front of the camera. “I am sorry. I am a coward. I have a wife and children. I am just an unknown celebrity manager. Jean could make me disappear because she has the help of her backers. Back then, she seduced me and sent me naked photos and videos at night on multiple occasions as she asked me to keep quiet about what she had done. I deleted those indecent photos because I didn’t want my wife to misunderstand me. I now can’t produce any direct evidence to prove what this evil woman has done. It was not until the sexual scandal exposed who Jean really was that I dared to come forward to tell my story. I swear by my life that what I have said is true. If there is any untruth about my words, may God take my life.”

In front of the camera, John’s voice was sonorous, his eyes determined. His tears became a weapon of sensationalism.

Since he used to be Elaina’s manager, his words carried weight in the eyes of the netizens.

Those who stumbled upon and watched the live stream started to spread the words, and the live stream quickly rose to the top of the hot search list.

This live stream also directly pushed Jean, who was already on the cusp of a damning sexual scandal, into hell.

…

At three in the afternoon, Jean was at home, looking for Selena’s information online. She wanted to find out who set her up that night. She figured she could probably find the answer from Selena.

Not long after, she got a call from Jenny, her manager.

“You had better not go online or watch TV, Jean. I will call you before I arrive. Don’t open the door for anyone except me. Do you hear me?” Jenny sounded worried, unlike on normal days.

“What happened?” Jean clenched her fist.

“Don’t ask. Just leave it to me. Remember what I said, don’t—”

“But I… am looking at it now.” Jean’s voice shivered.

She was now on Twitter, looking at the unsightly photos, reading the insults that drowned her like a tide.

Her stiffened fingers tapped open the tweets one by one. In everyone’s eyes, she was a stinky rat that was rotten to the bones.

#BloodInJean’shands

#JeanTheKiller

#BloodForBlood

She opened a tweet.

‘Elaina treated you so well and said multiple times that she treated you as her own sister. She helped you a lot. Anyone who has a conscience would not bear to do such a heinous thing—stealing her boyfriend, driving her to kill herself while making yourself famous on the back of her personal connection. You should have just died!’

Many netizens were calling for the police to investigate Jean for Elaina’s death. They demanded justice for Elaina and wanted Jean to be convicted for the crime.

Elaina might have passed away, but her vast fan base remained. Besides, there was an army of cyber troopers using the anti-Jean sentiment to smear Jean. She now became the most hated person on the planet.

Curses, insults, doctored photos, and the entire Internet had come down on her.

She looked at all this in shock, murmuring to herself. “What is all this? I don’t even know Elaina’s boyfriend!”

Elaina was Jean’s only mentor cum friend in show business. Jean had been depressed for nearly two months after Elaina committed suicide. She did not eat or drink for days. It was Jenny that forced her to eat something.

Jenny sighed. “I have foreseen that someone was going to smear you. But I didn’t expect that they would use Elaina’s death to attack you. I have already made a police report, and the company has issued a statement to refute this fake news. This accusation will be untenable without evidence.”

She did not tell Jean that online, Jean had become the ungrateful, despicable murderer.

Her company would only get more condemnation by trying to refute the rumors.

“The company may have to abandon you, Jean.”

Earlier, Jenny had talked to her boss, who agreed to stop all activities of Jean until the issue died down.

But now…

Jean knew it was not possible and that the company had forsaken her.

That is the way capitalism works.

“I am grateful for having you for the past five years. I will take care of the rest from now on,” Jean said to Jenny.

The road ahead was dark, but she was prepared to face it alone.

She would not let the perpetrator of the smear campaign go unpunished.

Jenny had a lump in her throat upon hearing what Jean said. Jenny gritted her teeth. “D*mn it! This is a freaking lie to bring you down. The company’s PR is struggling to delete the so-called dirt on the Internet. I am dead sure there is an army of cyber troopers doing this. John is only a pawn. Someone else must be pulling strings, wanting to ruin your life completely.”

An indecent video circulated on the Internet, purportedly showing Jean and a few of her backers in indecent acts.

Jean’s reputation was ruined. Vicious accusations and curses were flying around online.

The situation had become so serious that the police had reopened the case and grilled Jean repeatedly for what happened back then.