Share

Viper Strikes Back
Viper Strikes Back
Author: XL

Chapter 1

Author: XL
last update Last Updated: 2024-09-30 19:05:15
"Ma'am, I filled in the wrong address." The assistant explained awkwardly, looking at the box I was holding. "You haven't opened it yet, right?"

I looked down at the parcel in my hands, and even though the parcel didn't say what it was, anyone who'd bought this specific brand before would be able to tell instantly what it was.

I smiled, and handed it back to the assistant. "Don't worry, I haven't. Here."

The assistant retrieved the parcel and left with an apology.

The night before, Zephyr Grant had asked me, "Honey, are bras without underwire more comfortable?"

I thought he wanted to give me a gift, so I put down the milk that I had warmed up for him and smiled. "Do you know my size?"

My size was slightly different than average, so I always need to head personally to shops to try out their sizes when it came to underwear.

Zephyr and I had been married for years by now, and he had never given me any proper gifts before. He'd always wire me the money and let me pick myself, so hearing him ask about it properly was like if pigs suddenly learned how to fly. I carefully taught him the different brands and styles of underwear, as well as how to pick out sizes, and I even left one of my bras by his pillow 'on accident'.

The next day was my birthday, and to say I was in anticipation would be an understatement.

Lo and behold, the parcel arrived, but so did Zephyr's assistant.

-

Naturally, I was disappointed, but I still comforted myself, thinking that he might have bought the wrong size. He was a complete rookie when it came to this sort of thing, after all, so it was understandable.

I kept on waiting until afternoon, but there was no news from Zephyr.

There was, however, news from somebody else.

Samantha Davis missed the chance to attend the Floral Gala because of breast surgery. As she was one of the most popular candidates for best female leading actress, this news spread through the internet like wildfire.

When I saw this news, my daughter was scrolling on her phone. I glanced at a picture on her phone, but I couldn't get a closer look before she slammed her phone downwards. Taken aback by the furious expression on her face, I didn't react in time to dodge the pillow that was thrown in my face. "Why weren't you the one who got sick instead?!"

My brain lagged, as if it were trying to confirm who the person that just talked to me was.

Daphne had always been an obedient and lovely child, but she had undergone an inexplicable change within the past year, changing from a demure and kind girl who often blushed into someone who swore like a pirate all day.

I had already lost count of the number of times she had cursed me.

My expression became cold, but before I could teach her a lesson, she hopped off the sofa, and shouted, "If you hadn't seduced Dad back in the day, my mom would've been Samantha instead! You're so shameless!"

As if she were worried that I'd have trouble understanding what she just said, she increased her volume. "Don't even get me started on those fans of yours. They're even more shameless than you! They said that Samantha deserved getting sick, so I'll curse you to death so that she can become my mom instead!"

Smack!

I could feel my palm stinging.

Daphne held her face in disbelief, her eyes becoming red as she teared up. "You… You hit me! How dare you hit me?!"

"The next time you say something like that, I'll make sure you won't be able to say it again!"

Daphne glared at me in hatred. "I'm embarrassed to have a mother like you!"

After that, she ran back to her room.

I stood there, dumbstruck, taking a deep breath in an effort to calm the pain in my chest. The moment the door closed, I plopped on the sofa, as if that exchange took all of my energy.

Daphne's phone was still on the table, filled with chats that were still active. From where I sat, I could see the curses and pictures edited with ill-intent directed toward me. That was a group chat filled with my haters, and my daughter was the group admin.

My heart was numb with sadness. I reached and grabbed for the phone, seeing the group announcement my daughter had just posted.

"Today, we'll flood that old viper's tags!"

Old viper—that was what they called me. Before I left the entertainment industry, I was well-known for my slightly upturned eyes, but my haters loved calling me a viper instead.

I was very popular, back in the day, but even twelve years after I left the industry, my haters were still as active as ever.

What really hurt me, however, was how my daughter hated me to this extent.

The phone slid from my hand, and I looked up at the television screen, seeing my plump, swollen figure reflected within. I could only look for a few seconds before I had to tear my gaze away.

Twelve years changed everything, and I lost all my former glory. Now, I was just an old witch, destined to be hated by everyone.

Related chapters

  • Viper Strikes Back   Chapter 2

    Soon, it was evening.From the live broadcast shown on my television, Samantha was the one who was awarded the best female leading actress even though she was absent from the event. The MC announced that someone else would accept her prize in her stead. These words caused a stir in the audience, and everyone knew what the significance of that would be.Everyone in the industry knew that Samantha was Zephyr's first love, which he couldn't get since they were in school.The very first artist Zephyr had signed under his entertainment label was Samantha, and he'd been protecting her ever since.Meanwhile, I was seen as the villainess who got into his bed using any means she could, tearing the fairytale couple apart.However, Zephyr's attitude was the only thing I cared about. He had promised me that he and Samantha were only colleagues, and that he wouldn't overstep any boundaries with her. Samantha could've let her assistant take the award in her stead, after all.The next second, I

    Last Updated : 2024-09-30
  • Viper Strikes Back   Chapter 3

    It was one past midnight, and the front door finally opened.Daphne practically pranced into the house like a happy deer, while Zephyr followed behind her.Turning on the lights, they seemed to be confused that I wasn't waiting for them in the living room like I always did.Daphne didn't seem to care whether I was asleep or not, and shouted toward the bedroom, "Wash my clothes! I'll leave them on the sofa!"After that, she started reminiscing about what she did today. "Dad, Samantha's so pretty! You have to take me with you again next time, I absolutely love her!"Zephyr smiled and nodded. "Of course I will. Good eye, by the way. She's the one who's voted as the most beautiful in the industry right now, after all."He paused as he saw the balloons and ribbons in the rubbish bin, but after a few moment's hesitation, he took out his phone and transferred a hundred thousand dollars to me.While the money was transferred into my account, I was looking at the surveillance footage on

    Last Updated : 2024-09-30
  • Viper Strikes Back   Chapter 4

    I chuckled softly as tears streamed down my face."Yeah, I'm unkind. That first love of yours that's keeping someone else's husband wrapped around her finger is the purest woman in the whole entire world! You two are a match made in heaven, Zephyr!"Zephyr was furious outside the door, only because I dared have the absolute gall to slander his oh-so beloved Samantha.Putting on my earphones, I sent a message to Verona Brooks, who used to be my manager back in the day. She was the one who was the most against me stepping out of the industry, and she ended up creating a company of her own, with quite a few popular artists under her label."You should know that your value's much less than before, Theresa.""I do. For the first three years, I won't ask for any payment for acting as long as I get to act."This was a deal that Verona couldn't refuse, so she accepted quickly, and we planned to discuss this in full the next afternoon.The next morning, Daphne pounded on my door once mor

    Last Updated : 2024-09-30
  • Viper Strikes Back   Chapter 5

    Verona was astonished to see me, both at my weight and at the wounds on my body. After a while, she spoke, "You know as well as I do that your current figure won't do. I'll give you half a year to become slimmer, and if you can't do that by then, you'll have to go somewhere else.That evening, what greeted me when I got home weren't words of care and concern, but instead Daphne's venomous shouting. "How dare you hit Samantha? Honestly, you're just embarrassing yourself! Compared to her, you're even more like a pig! Gosh, why isn't she my mom instead?"Then, she threw her phone at me, letting me see the posts she was looking at."Theresa Carter's now a pig on two legs!""Zephyr's a faithful man who didn't abandon his wife, while Theresa attacked an innocent woman out of jealousy.""Samantha's much more honorable than a viper in the sewers."The entire internet was filled with posts slandering my name, and these posts could have easily been removed by Zephyr… If he wanted to, anywa

    Last Updated : 2024-09-30
  • Viper Strikes Back   Chapter 6

    And so, my days became peaceful once more.My daily routine went from doing chores and buying groceries to working out, watching movies, and practicing my lines.I had always been someone who could go to lengths to reach my goals, and even back when I was an active actress I had put on forty pounds of weight, then lost sixty pounds within a short amount of time. It wasn't good for my health, but I did it for the sake of fitting the character.Within a short week, I lost eight pounds, surprising even Verona.Speaking of Verona, she hired an acting teacher for me, and my hard work and diligence was even enough to impress the teacher, who had cultivated countless talented actors in the past.I knew that I had no way back, and that I had to make up for all my lost time.The second week, I lost another ten pounds, and my face started to show signs of returning to the way it used to be.I consumed five movies every day, gaining experience and knowledge as I completely immersed myself

    Last Updated : 2024-09-30
  • Viper Strikes Back   Chapter 7

    Attached to the post was a picture of Samantha and Daphne holding their hands and entering the Grant Estate."Gosh, how could someone be this much of a b*tch? I know the paparazzi who posted this, and they told me that Samantha's the one who paid them to make this post! Is she trying to force your hand or something? Have you gotten divorced or not?"The entire matter of divorce, even on mention, was a headache and a half.I wanted nothing more than to have a divorce, and I was even willing to leave without taking anything with me, but Zephyr wasn't willing to sign the papers no matter what. Every few days, he'd call me and try every hand he could, from appealing to my emotions to threatening my future. For the sake of getting divorced, I couldn't even block his number, either.I didn't understand what he was doing, honestly. He was the one who would get to be with Samantha in broad daylight if I stepped away, so why wasn't he willing to get a divorce?As if we jinxed it just by ta

    Last Updated : 2024-09-30
  • Viper Strikes Back   Chapter 8

    Arriving on the site, I realized what Verona meant.The spokesperson of the brand was Samantha.When I arrived, she was sitting there in a rocking chair, while Zephyr sat next to her, looking down and tapping away at his phone. Not much later, my phone rang with a notification, and true enough, it was a message from Zephyr."Today's my birthday, so please come back. I ordered a cake, so let's talk."I read the message, before looking up at Samantha clinging onto Zephyr, the two of them sticking close together without caring about the stares of the crew around them.I scoffed and shook my head, deleting the message and turning off the phone.The cameraman told us to change into our clothes, and once we finished changing, we were greeted with whistling. Hearing the commotion, Zephyr looked up, and he couldn't remove his gaze from me once he laid his eyes on me.I was wearing a tiger mask that covered half my face, so I wasn't worried that he'd realize who I was. In my reflection,

    Last Updated : 2024-09-30
  • Viper Strikes Back   Chapter 9

    Two months later, my figure had returned to how it was prior, and even better than before at that. My face, with maturity, became even more alluring than it was before.After such a long time, I finally got the chance to act for the script I had obtained from Verona a while ago.Coincidentally, the day I joined the set was the day scheduled for Samantha's last shoot. This time, I went in there without wearing a mask, showing my face proudly."Woah, who's this?""She's so pretty! Wait, is she part of the cast? Is someone as beautiful as her not the main female lead?""Well, you know how it is with capitalism sticking a bunch of uglies into the cast nowadays. It's more common for beautiful ones like these to not get a good script.""Gosh… Wait, why does that face look familiar to me?""Hah, you're just saying that because she's pretty."I walked to the director and greeted him, "Hello sir, I'm Jennie Lind."Other than the director, Samantha and Zephyr were the only two others in

    Last Updated : 2024-09-30

Latest chapter

  • Viper Strikes Back   Chapter 12

    Because the incident ended up with someone hurt, it spread like wildfire on the internet.That day, the top trending topics were about this incident, and as the internet went, everyone was happy to add oil to the fire. True enough, once news of voting manipulation and hiring haters to spread rumors about her competitors came out, all the effort she put into maintaining her pure and innocent public image went straight into the bin.As time went on, people found more and more evidence of Samantha bullying rookies in the industry, and the people who were oppressed by her in the past took this chance to finally speak up for themselves.Meanwhile, Verona and I only needed to watch from the sidelines.Verona asked me if I wanted to see Daphne, who had been brought into juvie for a few days, not eating or sleeping well.I turned to look at her curiously. "What does that have anything to do with Jennie Lind?"Then, a week passed, and the situation only escalated from there.At that poin

  • Viper Strikes Back   Chapter 11

    He told me how much he missed me, and how he was fed up with life without me. Every day, he'd have to go back home and face the empty house, each and every corner filled with our memories, and begged me to give him another chance.I only listened to him ramble on and on, before I asked, "Were you the one who drugged me?"During my last checkup, the doctor explained that the reason I had gained weight in the past was due to being injected with hormones, which made it impossible for me to lose weight, no matter what I did. That was the main reason why it became significantly easier for me to slim down once I left that house.I didn't expect that the man I loved was the one who had done something too vile to me, and just like Verona said, he took away my crown as the best leading actress, and later on tried to destroy my life. At this point, I was struggling to decide whether he had actually ever loved me.Hearing my words, he froze for a very long time, before he replied, "I loved yo

  • Viper Strikes Back   Chapter 10

    After that, I was greeted with a bunch of gasps as everyone finally reacted."Woah, those are some heaven-sent looks!""She looks like she came straight out of a novel!""Since when was there such a beauty in our country?""I'm turning traitor and stanning this little vixen instead now!"As the sounds of discussion became louder and louder, even the cameramen who came for Samantha turned their attention to me instead. The crowd grew larger and larger around me, and even the security guards were called to establish order.Of all people, I saw Daphne there in the crowd. She clumsily shoved her way into the crowd, holding a plaque that congratulated Samantha on being done with her shoot. The moment she saw me, her eyes gleamed, and she did all she could to waddle closer to me through the crowd. "Who are you? What's your name? Are you a rookie? Do you have a fan club yet?"I couldn't help but feel a sense of irony seeing her like this. I wonder how she would feel if she knew I was

  • Viper Strikes Back   Chapter 9

    Two months later, my figure had returned to how it was prior, and even better than before at that. My face, with maturity, became even more alluring than it was before.After such a long time, I finally got the chance to act for the script I had obtained from Verona a while ago.Coincidentally, the day I joined the set was the day scheduled for Samantha's last shoot. This time, I went in there without wearing a mask, showing my face proudly."Woah, who's this?""She's so pretty! Wait, is she part of the cast? Is someone as beautiful as her not the main female lead?""Well, you know how it is with capitalism sticking a bunch of uglies into the cast nowadays. It's more common for beautiful ones like these to not get a good script.""Gosh… Wait, why does that face look familiar to me?""Hah, you're just saying that because she's pretty."I walked to the director and greeted him, "Hello sir, I'm Jennie Lind."Other than the director, Samantha and Zephyr were the only two others in

  • Viper Strikes Back   Chapter 8

    Arriving on the site, I realized what Verona meant.The spokesperson of the brand was Samantha.When I arrived, she was sitting there in a rocking chair, while Zephyr sat next to her, looking down and tapping away at his phone. Not much later, my phone rang with a notification, and true enough, it was a message from Zephyr."Today's my birthday, so please come back. I ordered a cake, so let's talk."I read the message, before looking up at Samantha clinging onto Zephyr, the two of them sticking close together without caring about the stares of the crew around them.I scoffed and shook my head, deleting the message and turning off the phone.The cameraman told us to change into our clothes, and once we finished changing, we were greeted with whistling. Hearing the commotion, Zephyr looked up, and he couldn't remove his gaze from me once he laid his eyes on me.I was wearing a tiger mask that covered half my face, so I wasn't worried that he'd realize who I was. In my reflection,

  • Viper Strikes Back   Chapter 7

    Attached to the post was a picture of Samantha and Daphne holding their hands and entering the Grant Estate."Gosh, how could someone be this much of a b*tch? I know the paparazzi who posted this, and they told me that Samantha's the one who paid them to make this post! Is she trying to force your hand or something? Have you gotten divorced or not?"The entire matter of divorce, even on mention, was a headache and a half.I wanted nothing more than to have a divorce, and I was even willing to leave without taking anything with me, but Zephyr wasn't willing to sign the papers no matter what. Every few days, he'd call me and try every hand he could, from appealing to my emotions to threatening my future. For the sake of getting divorced, I couldn't even block his number, either.I didn't understand what he was doing, honestly. He was the one who would get to be with Samantha in broad daylight if I stepped away, so why wasn't he willing to get a divorce?As if we jinxed it just by ta

  • Viper Strikes Back   Chapter 6

    And so, my days became peaceful once more.My daily routine went from doing chores and buying groceries to working out, watching movies, and practicing my lines.I had always been someone who could go to lengths to reach my goals, and even back when I was an active actress I had put on forty pounds of weight, then lost sixty pounds within a short amount of time. It wasn't good for my health, but I did it for the sake of fitting the character.Within a short week, I lost eight pounds, surprising even Verona.Speaking of Verona, she hired an acting teacher for me, and my hard work and diligence was even enough to impress the teacher, who had cultivated countless talented actors in the past.I knew that I had no way back, and that I had to make up for all my lost time.The second week, I lost another ten pounds, and my face started to show signs of returning to the way it used to be.I consumed five movies every day, gaining experience and knowledge as I completely immersed myself

  • Viper Strikes Back   Chapter 5

    Verona was astonished to see me, both at my weight and at the wounds on my body. After a while, she spoke, "You know as well as I do that your current figure won't do. I'll give you half a year to become slimmer, and if you can't do that by then, you'll have to go somewhere else.That evening, what greeted me when I got home weren't words of care and concern, but instead Daphne's venomous shouting. "How dare you hit Samantha? Honestly, you're just embarrassing yourself! Compared to her, you're even more like a pig! Gosh, why isn't she my mom instead?"Then, she threw her phone at me, letting me see the posts she was looking at."Theresa Carter's now a pig on two legs!""Zephyr's a faithful man who didn't abandon his wife, while Theresa attacked an innocent woman out of jealousy.""Samantha's much more honorable than a viper in the sewers."The entire internet was filled with posts slandering my name, and these posts could have easily been removed by Zephyr… If he wanted to, anywa

  • Viper Strikes Back   Chapter 4

    I chuckled softly as tears streamed down my face."Yeah, I'm unkind. That first love of yours that's keeping someone else's husband wrapped around her finger is the purest woman in the whole entire world! You two are a match made in heaven, Zephyr!"Zephyr was furious outside the door, only because I dared have the absolute gall to slander his oh-so beloved Samantha.Putting on my earphones, I sent a message to Verona Brooks, who used to be my manager back in the day. She was the one who was the most against me stepping out of the industry, and she ended up creating a company of her own, with quite a few popular artists under her label."You should know that your value's much less than before, Theresa.""I do. For the first three years, I won't ask for any payment for acting as long as I get to act."This was a deal that Verona couldn't refuse, so she accepted quickly, and we planned to discuss this in full the next afternoon.The next morning, Daphne pounded on my door once mor

DMCA.com Protection Status