Chapter 308 Reversal

Chapter 308 Reversal

The night of the gala, gunfire erupted. Rows of men in black appeared out of nowhere.

Chaos broke loose. Guests in designer gowns and tuxedos scattered in all directions. Before Maddox could even process what was happening, Victoria had already leapt out the window.

Even now, recalling that night made Maddox's heart race.

He told Victoria over the phone.

"I heard he's still looking for you. You need to be careful—"

"You know him?"

Victoria asked.

Maddox shook his head frantically, then remembered he was on the phone and Victoria couldn't see him. He quickly said, "Of course not."

"But everyone in Marigoldia knows who he is. Mark—a dangerous player who's got connections in both the underworld and with the authorities. He runs Serene Starlight Union, Marigoldia's most mysterious assassin organization. Biggest arms dealer. Largest drug trafficker in the world..."

"Bottom line—he's dangerous. And he's still looking for you."

Victoria hadn't expected him to be this persistent.

They didn't even have any real grudge against each other, yet Mark had set his sights on her.

Victoria's cool voice remained calm and rational.

"Got it. Thanks, Maddox."

"Don't mention it. Now that the plagiarism thing turned out to be a false alarm, I can relax. My actors are waiting for me to start shooting. Talk later, darling."

"Bye."

Victoria hung up.

The public opinion had fermented enough by now. This morning, Emily had cleared up the education credentials issue for her. Now she just needed to add one final spark.

Victoria opened her social media account, dormant for so long.

Author Neo suddenly posted an update.

[Regarding the recent false accusations: I am clarifying that I have not been plagiarized. Marcyen and Neo are both my pen names. Anyone continuing to spread rumors will face legal action.]

The internet exploded.

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Marcyen and Neo are the same person!"

"The big-shot author behind the pen name is an even bigger shot!"

"I can't believe what I'm seeing?"

"I've been trashing Marcyen all this time, and not only did she not plagiarize, but she's also the other literary god Neo?"

"I was wrong. I shouldn't have listened to that streamer's nonsense. Marcyen would never plagiarize."

"Do Emily and Marcyen have some kind of feud? Deliberately smearing someone's name like this is disgusting."

The followers who'd jumped on the bandwagon had made Emily a fortune, but they could just as easily turn her into a laughingstock across the entire internet.

Emily still didn't know Victoria was Neo. The forty-eight-hour suspension was over and her streaming account was unlocked. She couldn't wait to go live.

After adjusting her camera, Emily smiled sweetly at her audience.

"Hi, sweeties! It's so good to see you all. I've missed you so much. My account got randomly banned two days ago, and I'm so happy to finally see you again. While I wasn't streaming, I did something really important..."

She paused deliberately, drawing out the suspense for a few seconds before continuing.

"Plagiarism is so terrible. I didn't want Victoria to keep making this mistake, so I sent evidence of Victoria's plagiarism to Neo. Don't worry, everyone—she'll face legal consequences soon."

Viewers who'd rushed over after hearing the news happened to catch Emily's twisted version of events.

[LOL, does the streamer not know Marcyen IS Neo?]

Emily wasn't looking at the comments at first. She went all out smearing Victoria, hoping for donations.

In her mind, trashing Victoria meant people would send her tips.

"Even though Victoria won't admit to plagiarizing, as her sister, I won't cover for her. She's not just embarrassing the Windsor family—she's embarrassing Emberlyn and disgracing Lucent..."

Emily had hoped this would make her seem mature and reasonable, but out of the corner of her eye, she caught a flood of mocking comments.

Her smile froze. Confused, she started reading the chat.

[Stop streaming just to make money and actually check the internet once in a while. She already clarified everything.]

[She doesn't even know Marcyen and Neo are the same person. She's literally made fools of us all.]

[This is hilarious.]

[I've seen shameless people, but never anyone this shameless. She lies so easily.]

What?!

When Emily saw comments saying Marcyen and Neo were the same person, her eyes flew wide open.

Impossible!

How could those two be the same person?

Neo was clearly a foreign author. She'd even sent her complaint to Maddox, that famous Marigoldia director, asking him to pass it on to Neo.

If Marcyen and Neo were the same person, didn't that mean Victoria was Neo?

Too shocked to think, Emily blurted out, "That's impossible. You must be mistaken. Neo is clearly a foreign author. How could she be Victoria..."

Something suddenly clicked in her mind.

Emily's eyes lit up. Victoria must have deliberately spread false information to clear herself of plagiarism!

Neo was mysterious and had never shown her face. Even if Victoria pretended to be Neo, no one would know.

Victoria was really stupid. Not only did she plagiarize, but now she was impersonating a foreign author.

Absolutely idiotic.

Emily frowned and said, "Sweeties, have you been tricked? Victoria can't possibly be Neo. She must be spreading rumors to clear herself of plagiarism. You absolutely can't believe it..."

The viewers never expected Emily would continue smearing Victoria.

Internet warriors went on the offensive, cursing Emily out.

[This brain-dead streamer should be banned for life.]

[Modern medicine is too advanced—that's why low-intelligence idiots like this streamer with atrophied brains can survive. In the old days, natural selection would've taken care of her.]

[Getting recommended this stream is karma for mindlessly following gossip. Don't believe or spread rumors. I'm never watching this trashy content again.]

Amid the flood of insults, someone suddenly sent a gift.

Emily's gloomy mood lifted slightly. "Thank you for the gift, sweetie."

Then a banner message appeared in the chat.

[No need to thank me. This is for you to go to the hospital and get your brain checked.]

The chat went silent for a beat, then erupted.

[HAHAHAHAHAHA I'm dying.]

[Bro, you're too generous.]

[Exactly—go get your brain checked.]

Emily's smile, which had just started to form, froze instantly. Her expression nearly cracked.

The chat had completely spiraled out of control, filled with mockery and abuse.

Emily took a deep breath and ended the stream abruptly.

She opened her browser. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her, but what she saw made her world collapse.

Neo had posted an update just minutes ago.

Marcyen and Neo really were the same person!

So the mysterious foreign author Neo everyone was talking about was Victoria!

Victoria could have clarified this from the start. Why didn't she say anything earlier? Why now?!

Thinking about everything she'd done, Emily realized she was a complete joke...

Remembering what she'd just said on stream—and that she'd sent the complaint to Maddox—Emily felt her vision go dark.

Victoria, that bitch!

She did this on purpose! She deliberately let Emily humiliate herself.

All her big donors had left her stream. The only tip she'd gotten tonight was someone telling her to get her brain checked.

Emily could have made a fortune tonight, but instead, she didn't earn a cent and got cursed out all evening.

Her eyes darkened. She immediately called Wayne, only to find she'd been blocked.

With nowhere else to turn, Emily could only go to Jennifer.

A phone rang.

Victoria answered. Kevin's voice was excited.

"Neo, that's so unfair! You had an identity abroad and never told me! If I'd known you were the internationally renowned author Neo, I would've bought the rights to your work ages ago. There are several novels I've wanted to turn into films. You hid this so well—you never mentioned it once. Do you even consider me a friend?!"

Victoria raised an eyebrow and countered, "Are we friends?"

Kevin froze for two seconds, then wailed, "Neo, that's really hurtful! We've known each other for years, and you don't consider me a friend?!"

Kevin's fragile heart was genuinely wounded.

Then he heard laughter from the other end of the line and realized she was teasing him.

Kevin complained for a bit, but his lips curved upward despite himself.

At least she has a conscience!

Victoria's tone was light. "What did you need?"

Kevin dropped the playful tone. "Neo, that move was brilliant. You've completely shut up everyone who was talking about plagiarism. The whole world knows Marcyen and Neo are the same person now. You didn't respond because you were waiting for this moment, weren't you? It was a risky move, but it really scared me. The film is ready to re-release. Not only did we not lose momentum—we gained several times more. The projected box office has already hit ten billion."

By the end, Kevin couldn't help grinning.

Who said following Neo was bad luck?

Not unlucky at all—it's the best luck ever!

Victoria hummed and hung up.

The moonlight was bright tonight. She walked to the window and immediately noticed the car parked below.