Chapter 21 Trending Topic
Emily thought everything would return to normal after going home alone, but overnight, photos of her and Charles spread through Emerald City's social circles like wildfire.
The first to go viral was a side profile of Charles sitting in his Bentley—jaw tense, eyes filled with subtle light as he gazed toward the Mirage Fashion building.
The caption read, [Caught this handsome guy waiting for his girlfriend after work. Look at those eyes!]
The comments section quickly identified the vehicle. [Isn't that Mr. Windsor's car from the Windsor Group?!]
More photos emerged: Charles looking at Emily during a red light, his gaze through the window glass misinterpreted as tender affection; Charles opening the car door and watching as Emily walked away, their silhouettes elongated by streetlights, creating an inexplicable sense of compatibility.
The hashtag #Charles Mystery Lady remained trending all night.
Internet sleuths combed through Emily's social media accounts, digging up her design portfolio and international experience, commenting, [So she's an internationally renowned designer—no wonder Mr. Windsor is interested.]
Clara was applying an expensive face mask when she saw the news. Her hand trembled, causing the sheet mask to slide onto the floor.
She stared at Emily's composed face on the screen, her nails digging into her palm as she slammed her phone onto the dressing table. "That bitch! She must be doing this on purpose!"
Early the next morning, Clara stormed toward the design department. Just as she was about to unleash her fury, she ran into Emily coming out of the break room with a coffee.
"Good morning, Ms. Johnson. Rough night?" Emily leaned against the doorframe, a faint smile playing on her lips as her eyes swept over Clara's pale face. "I suppose anyone would lose sleep if their boyfriend was caught in a scandal."
Clara struggled to maintain her composure. "Don't misunderstand, Emily. Charles was just giving you a ride. Those online rumors are completely baseless."
Emily raised an eyebrow, taking a slow sip of her coffee. "Just a ride? Mr. Windsor waited quite a while for me outside the Mirage Fashion building last night. Oh, and he asked if I'd like to have dinner with him sometime."
Though the statement might not be true, it precisely hit Clara's sore spot.
Charles had never proactively asked Clara to dinner—it was always her pushing and pleading.
"You're lying! Charles isn't like that! He only has eyes for me!"
"Is that so?" Emily stepped forward, reducing the distance between them to barely two feet. The subtle scent of cedarwood drifted from her skin. "His gaze tells a different story—it's all over the internet now. If you're so insecure, maybe you should hurry up and marry him before someone else steals him away."
She paused deliberately, lowering her voice to a whisper only Clara could hear. "By the way, Charles complimented my outfit last night. He said it had much more taste than your dress."
Clara's face instantly drained of color. She was most sensitive about people saying Emily had better taste than her. When she first took over Mirage Fashion, critics had accused her of being "a money-grabbing philistine contaminating the design world."
"Emily! Get out! Mirage Fashion doesn't welcome women who sleep their way to the top!"
"Sleep my way to the top?" Emily smiled, her eyes curving with joy, but there was a chill lurking beneath the surface. "At least I'm straightforward, unlike someone who's been playing girlfriend for six years without even getting a formal commitment."
She patted Clara's shoulder lightly. "My advice? Keep a close eye on your man. Charles isn't your personal property. If he decides to try something new someday, I wouldn't mind playing along. After all, taking what belongs to someone else, especially from you, sounds quite intriguing."
Those final words pierced Clara's heart like needles.
Back in her office, Clara finally snapped, violently hurling documents to the floor. Among the scattered papers were sketches where she had attempted to imitate Emily's style—now seeming particularly ironic.
Meanwhile, Emily returned to her office, and the moment she closed the door, her smile faded. She tugged at the corner of her mouth while looking in the mirror, contempt filling her eyes.
Steal Charles?
The very thought disgusted her.
But if it made Clara miserable, what harm was there in playing the part?
Her phone vibrated with a message from Charles: [I'll handle the online situation.]
Emily glanced at it briefly before blocking the conversation.
Handle it?
She actually hoped the drama would escalate. She wanted to see what "brilliant" move Clara would make when backed into a corner.
Charles hadn't married Clara in six years—there had to be a reason. A reason both of them knew but never voiced aloud, allowing them to coexist peacefully all these years.
Emily intended to shatter that stability.
Clara might not fear Emily, but what about an enraged Charles?
Would she fear him?
---
The rumors about Charles and Emily grew like wildfire. Internet users analyzed every detail of their interactions frame by frame.
Tech-savvy netizens enhanced the photos, claiming Charles's gaze toward Emily concealed deep affection.
Some even created overnight "love compilation" videos titled "Ice-cold CEO exclusively adores aloof designer," garnering over a hundred million views in a single night.
Emily stared at the interview requests flashing on her phone screen, her fingertip hovering.
Trending topic? Internet celebrity?
She scoffed. How boring.
She switched off her phone, calculating, 'the bigger the scandal, the better.'
Ideally, it would cause Clara to lose Charles as her support completely. Yet something about Charles's eyes made her inexplicably irritated.
In this whirlwind, no one was more delighted than Lily Martin, CEO of Aurora Vision Entertainment.
Lily was renowned throughout the industry for her beauty and decisive business approach.
Years ago, she had worked with Charles on several collaborative projects. When Clara discovered this, she used Charles's name to create obstacles for Lily at every turn, even sabotaging several of her company's film projects without cause.
The two women had been bitter enemies ever since.