Chapter 236 Chapter 236
While waiting for Nicholas' Bugatti to appear at the main gates of the campus, Caroline leaned against the brick wall in the shade of a tree and opened her social media on her phone.
Immediately, Claire's name monopolized her feed again. StarColi's public relations machine had been activated in full force.
An official public statement was released regarding the “incident” at the hotel.
In a long text with a white background (the classic format for celebrity apologies), Claire published a note explaining why she and the other actress ended up rolling on the floor. The text was a masterpiece of victimhood. She claimed that it was the other party who cornered her, humiliated her with unspeakable words, and intentionally provoked her. According to the note, Claire only resorted to physical defense because she “feared for her integrity” and could no longer endure the psychological abuse.
To complete the white lotus theater, she claimed that, after the commotion, she ended up with bruises and injuries much worse than the other celebrity. In other words: she was the real victim in the story, and the other actress was the vile aggressor.
Claire appeared incredibly innocent, fragile, and cornered in her post. In each paragraph, she justified her actions in such a way that the blame fell solely on her opponent's shoulders.
The audacity was such that the note ended by stating that Claire's lawyers were already drafting a lawsuit for defamation and assault against the other actress.
It was crystal clear: Edward Collins had poured a mountain of money and resources from StarColi into saving his fiancée's image.
Almost all of the main comments under Claire's statement were overwhelmingly supportive. The few negative or sensible comments were quickly buried or reported until they disappeared. Several of the country's biggest gossip pages — which had clearly been bought by the agency's PR team — reposted Claire's statement with supportive captions.
Caroline scrolled through the comments section of these pages and saw exactly the same pattern of responses from “supporters”:
\[Fan #1\]: It's okay, Claire, we're with you! Everyone makes mistakes. Besides, it was that other crazy woman who insulted you first. Any hot-blooded person would have lost their temper and done the same in your place!
\[Loyal Defender\]: Guys, Claire only defended herself because the other woman started the verbal aggression first! Honestly, if someone cursed at me to my face and tried to humiliate me in public, I would have slapped her too. No one is made of steel. Think about how you would react! Would you just smile?
A few lucid users tried to argue that it was not appropriate for a public figure to get into a fistfight in a hotel lobby, and that this kind of violent behavior was a terrible example for teenage fans. But these voices were quickly silenced and attacked by a pack of accounts with no profile pictures — the classic bots hired by the agency.
The comments section had been practically “cleaned up.”
To complete the charade, shortly thereafter, some anonymous profiles claiming to be “eyewitnesses in the lobby” appeared, swearing up and down that the other actress had intentionally provoked Claire and wouldn't let her leave.
The script was perfect: Claire had resisted like a saint for long minutes, but the other woman was so cruel that Claire “broke” emotionally. Claire's public image, meticulously built over the years, was that of the “first love of high school.” The pure, untouchable, sweet, and innocent girl. In the eyes of the general public, she was an adorable, harmless, and kind little girl. She had over 10 million followers. When the video of the fight leaked the night before, her fan base went into denial. They simply refused to believe that their “untouchable fairy” would roll around on the asphalt pulling hair.
They were desperate for a plot twist.And Edward's team gave them exactly that.With the official statement and the army of bots, the fans felt validated. They went on a virtual crusade, hunting down and cyber-lynching anyone who dared to say anything mean about Claire.The intimidation worked. Within hours, many ordinary internet users no longer dared to express their real opinions for fear of being attacked or having their accounts taken down by fanatical fans.This loyal legion, added to the influencers paid by StarColi, took over the narrative on the internet. Some mid-level celebrities, wanting to curry favor with Edward's agency, even posted messages of support for Claire in their stories.The situation, which had previously smacked of the definitive ruin of Claire's career, suddenly took a completely different turn. The villain had become the wronged damsel.Caroline locked her phone screen and let out a cold laugh, shaking her head.Money can buy even innocence, she thought cynically.But Claire's lie had an Achilles' heel invisible to the public. Caroline knew a secret that the “fans” and “false witnesses” did not know.If Claire was a few weeks pregnant and still threw herself into a physical fight that left her “with more injuries than her opponent”... she was either lying about her pregnancy to get Edward arrested, or she was the most reckless mother in the world.Either way, that PR house of cards was built on quicksand.The unmistakable, powerful sound of an engine cut through her thoughts.Caroline looked up and saw the sleek black silhouette of the Bugatti Veyron pulling smoothly up to the curb, exactly where she had been waiting for it.Caroline continued scrolling through her feed silently, the light from the screen reflecting in her dark eyes.She had already guessed that StarColi would resolve this mess for Claire. After all, Claire was the agency's main asset, an artist in whom StarColi had poured rivers of money and resources. Given that fact, and considering her close relationship with President Edward, how could he sit idly by and let her sink?Given the large number of “supporters” and influencers bought off, it was obvious that StarColi had burned through an astronomical amount of public relations money in a matter of hours to clean up her image.The revolting thing was that the strategy seemed to have been an absolute success. The fire was contained.