Chester tried to steady his voice, anxiety aging his words 1 hallove you. Inanna Please, trust me too. This will blow over 1 promise
The video was almost airtight in its logic, a calculated hit that left little room for doubt. But targeting Joanna so ruthlessly? It wasn’t some deep–seated grudge not really. In the end, it all boiled down to one thing money
With the right price, even the creator of that video could be persuaded to admit it was all a fabrication. That much Chester was sure of Yet, even after sending people to dig into the paparazzi, he couldn’t get a single useful lead on whoever was behind it.
He pressed a hand to his aching forehead. “Joanna, go to the hospital and get a certificate proving you haven’t had any facial surgery. Stream the whole thing live” If he couldn’t find the puppet master, at least this kind of approach might keep her fans on her side. He never believed Joanna would do something as reckless as getting secret cosmetic work done. Still, things were complicated. His relationship with Celestine was tense, and the old man was watching his every move, ready to pounce.
He could no longer leverage the Fordham family’s power to simply scrub Joanna’s name off the trending lists and silence the rumors overnight. And with the way people were talking, trying to suppress it would only make things worse.
Joanna’s lips were colorless as she bit them hard. “Chester, is there any other way?” she pleaded. “I don’t want to go to the hospital. I’m terrified the doctors will judge me, stare at my face like I’m some kind of specimen….*
He had the power to shut down the tabloids, to erase her name from every headline, yet he was forcing her to prove herself in this humiliating way.
She’d only just finished another round of restorative procedures–not plastic surgery, but the kind of careful touch–ups her work demanded. If she went to the hospital now, it would be walking straight into a trap.
Chester assumed she was just anxious about the doctors and tried to reassure her “Don’t worry, Joanna. The doctors are all top experts. There’s no way they’ll misjudge your face.”
But in the next moment, Joanna broke down, her sobs raw and desperate why should I let strangers judge my face? Why do I have to be paraded in front of everyone, like some criminal? I’m so tired. Why does it have to be me? Just let me
ester,
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go, let them tear me apart online if they want. Can’t you see? These people are just venting their own frustrations. I’m just the target they’ve picked to crucify. I don’t care anymore!”
Her crying was so intense it shook Chester. He couldn’t understand why she was so adamantly against this plan, but he was even more afraid she might do something reckless.
He had no choice but to order his people to work through the night, tracking down the original creator of the video. If they still couldn’t find them, then they’d create a new account and post a public clarification themselves. He refused to believe the real culprit would just sit back and do nothing.
Three hours after the plastic surgery scandal first caught fire, a new account appeared out of nowhere: the original creator of the video.
“Good evening, everyone. I’m the creator of the video about Miss Joanna Sinclair. That ten–minute clip was originally meant as a satirical example of fake rumors on the internet! I never expected the media to take it out of context. There is no evidence at all that Miss Sinclair has had any cosmetic surgery–everything in the video was fabricated. Please, don’t jump to conclusions. I sincerely apologize to Miss Sinclair.”
The user posted several images and reports debunking the claims, and it was enough to sway a good number of people. Joanna’s fans, in particular, finally felt vindicated.
Just as the storm seemed to be dying down, another video surfaced–one that sent shockwaves through the internet.
This time, it was a montage of home movies and school event footage, documenting Joanna from elementary school through high school. No voiceover, no photoshopped images, just seemingly unedited video. The transformation was so stark, some viewers even questioned if they were looking at the same person.
As her fans scrambled to find a way to fight back, the video delivered its final blow: footage of Joanna, after her transformation, kneeling in tears and begging for forgiveness.
On screen, she clung to a young woman whose face was blurred for privacy, sobbing, “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have stolen your lead role. It was selfish of me. Please, I’ll do anything–just take down those videos about my surgery. I’r you.”
egging
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