Chapter 369 Already Prepared

Chapter 369 Already Prepared

Victoria and Wilmer had seen this coming. As soon as they noticed the trending topic, their studio released a statement confirming that Victoria's adoptive parents were indeed Ella's biological parents. Many people took this as a confession from Victoria. They bombarded the studio's and Victoria's social media with insults, demanding that Victoria give Ella back her life, saying she didn't deserve her success. 

Among these were Ella's fans and paid trolls, but there were also many who just resented the rich. A successful, beautiful young woman like Victoria was an easy target for their anger, and they were eager to pounce on any perceived flaw.

Of course, Victoria's fans were fiercely loyal and got into heated debates with the haters. However, some fans felt disillusioned by the incident and stopped supporting her. Watching Victoria's follower count slowly drop, Ella, lying in her hospital bed, smiled with satisfaction. She had also arranged for the media to interview Brian and Joan, Victoria's adoptive parents, to accuse her of being cold and ungrateful. Victoria had no way to defend herself.

So, what was Victoria doing during all this? She went to visit the Bakers, the family who had raised Ella. After talking with them, Victoria posted a video. The cover featured her face, unadorned yet still strikingly beautiful.

"Hey everyone, I'm Victoria. Some of you might be expecting me to apologize to Ella, but I won't." The camera then showed a small but tidy stall. As people wondered where this was, Victoria's voice continued, "This is the slum where Ella claimed to have lived for eighteen years. In reality, it's just a modest household." 

"They may not be wealthy, but they have always treated Ella with care. Her adoptive parents are hardworking and honest people. Despite their own struggles, they sent Ella to a private high school. But Ella, do you even recognize your former parents? You say I never returned to the Scott family, but have you ever gone back to visit your own home?"

"You know very well why I didn't return to the Scott family. When you first came back, our parents were worried about you feeling left out and asked me to give up my room for you. I didn't say a word in protest. But later, when you accidentally pushed me into the lake, that water was freezing. When I woke up, our parents didn't care about my condition; they just explained that you didn't mean it and asked me not to hold it against you. I left with my injuries, knowing there was no place for me in the Scott family. I was willing to return to the Bakers, to restore everything to its rightful place."

"When I went to college, the Scott family cut off my financial support. If the Hamilton family hadn't found me, I would have had to take up a tutoring job. What exactly do I owe you? You claim I owe the Scott family for raising me, but why don't you mention how much the Scott family received from the Hamilton family? Those gifts and contracts were enough to support ten of me."

"As for your accusation that I sidelined you in the entertainment industry, I never intended to compete with you for the 'Meeting the Divine' script. But your parents came to my company, using their past kindness to pressure me not to compete with you and to introduce you to my resources. Is it considered sidelining if I don't give up my resources to you? If so, then everyone in the entertainment industry is sidelining you."

At this point, the video showed a middle-aged couple with weathered faces smiling and greeting Victoria. "Victoria, what brings you here?" This couple was Ella's adoptive parents. Ella had not contacted them in years, but after Victoria returned to the Hamilton family and became financially stable, she sent them monthly living expenses in Ella's name, repaying their kindness in raising her. Victoria had planned this all along to counter Ella's narrative effectively.

Victoria smiled warmly at them. "I'm filming a video. Why don't you say hello to Ella? Maybe she'll see it and find time to visit you."Mentioning Ella brought tears to the couple's eyes. "Ella, we're doing well now. You don't need to send us money anymore. We know you're busy, but we hope you can visit us occasionally. We really miss you." They hadn't seen Ella in six years and missed her dearly.

At the end of the video, Victoria included the transaction records of the monthly payments she had sent to the couple, proving she had been supporting Ella's adoptive parents financially.

Once the video was posted, the tide turned. The people who had been attacking Victoria now turned their anger towards Ella. It became evident that Ella was the one who was truly cold-hearted, not recognizing her adoptive parents and slandering these honest people. 

Victoria had done everything she could, both financially and emotionally, and owed nothing to the Scott family. She had left the Scott family at eighteen, and their decision to cut off her financial support for college indicated they didn't want to acknowledge her as their daughter either. If the Hamilton family hadn't found her, her college life would have been much harder.

Mira was the first to share the video, adding her own comment: "We were college classmates. Victoria didn't even remember my name when she helped me catch a snake to prevent it from biting me. But Ella falsely accused me of stealing several times, and every investigation proved her wrong! Just because I come from a modest background, she looked down on me and humiliated me. When she was the student council president, she embezzled school funds and was expelled from Nexus College for her terrible attitude. Many students at Nexus College know about these incidents, showing Ella's true character."

Although Mira didn't have many followers, the high-profile nature of the situation meant her post received a lot of attention and comments. Ella's fans sent her hateful messages, but she quickly blocked them and set her account to private.

Vera, a high school classmate who had been bullied by Ella, also spoke out. With Victoria's financial support, she had gone to college and was now a well-known lawyer with thousands of followers. She recounted the bullying incidents and shared surveillance footage from back then, proving that Ella had not suffered but had made others suffer.

Victoria's counterattack left Ella with no room for rebuttal. Even the interview with Brian and Joan that Ella had arranged turned into a joke. Netizens now saw Brian and Joan as biased parents who mistreated their adoptive daughter in favor of their biological one. The tide had completely turned, and no one was attacking Victoria anymore; they couldn't outmatch the support from Victoria's fans. Instead, they flooded Ella's social media accounts, berating her for her audacity in twisting the truth.

"Ella, you claim to have suffered for eighteen years, but you led the bullying in school. Do you think netizens are fools you can manipulate at will?"

"Initially, I felt sorry for Ella, but now I see she's inherently malicious. If she had grown up with the Scott family, she would have bullied even more poor people and might have caused serious harm. It's like in 'Dark Academy,' where the tycoon's daughter causes a death but escapes punishment thanks to her parents' wealth."

"Ella pushing Victoria into the lake was definitely intentional! She always felt Victoria had stolen her life and harbored deep malice towards her. But Victoria never wanted her life; Victoria's own life is much better."

Ella's plan to incite online harassment against Victoria backfired within half a day, turning the vitriol towards herself. Her past misdeeds in school and the entertainment industry were exposed, ruining her reputation more severely than Tessa's downfall. Brian and Joan realized that Ella had been the one sowing discord between them and Victoria all these years. However, since Ella was their biological daughter, they forgave her when she cried.

With her reputation in tatters, Ella could no longer stay in the entertainment industry. Brian and Joan planned to send her abroad for further studies once she recovered, hoping she could start anew in a place where no one knew her, away from the harsh judgment of domestic public opinion.