Chapter 252 Chapter 252
Claire was already the hottest and most hated topic on every social media platform and WhatsApp group in the country, but she herself had no idea.
At that very moment, she was in the middle of a live broadcast in a well-lit studio and hadn’t had a chance to check her phone backstage.
It was a PR interview about her “day-to-day life.” The host would ask questions that had been previously agreed upon, rehearsed, and approved by StarColi. Then, she would read some questions sent in by online users on a big screen to make the interview more “interactive and fan-friendly.”
The live stream was going perfectly.
The host smiled at the camera and then turned to Claire, in a sweet tone of voice: “Claire, we all know that you’re an incredibly kind, pure, and loving person in the eyes of your fans and the public. But everyone’s curious: do you have a side that no one has ever seen? Tell us, for example, some traits of your personality or parts of your life that are very private.”
Since it was an interactive live broadcast, Claire was sitting in front of a huge monitor displaying fans’ reactions and the real-time chat.
She held the microphone with both hands, put on a slightly shy expression, and smiled as she began her perfectly rehearsed response: “Of course. I think everyone has a side that no one knows. Even celebrities have a human side behind the cameras. We can’t show absolutely everything about ourselves to the world.
She sighed adorably. “Take me, for example. Usually, I seem very outgoing, sweet, and optimistic in front of everyone. But I cry, too. There are also moments when I experience negative feelings—sadness or insecurity. That’s my private side… my most fragile side.”
The host feigned surprise and empathy. “Oh? Really? Does our little fairy Claire have negative feelings too?”
Claire nodded, batting her long lashes. “Of course. Even the happiest person has their difficult moments, don’t they?
The hostess gave a welcoming smile: “And in difficult moments like these, what methods do you use to regulate your emotions and not hurt the people around you?”
Claire flashed her best, most innocent smile and opened her mouth, about to recite an answer about “meditation and reading fan letters,” when her eyes landed on the giant monitor in front of her.
A comment pinned in bold letters cut off the stream of hearts rising on the screen:
\[User_774\]: So that’s why you have a hidden side? So you can meddle and STEAL your own sister’s fiancé behind her back?!
Claire’s voice died in her throat. She was stunned, and her mask of sweetness melted away instantly, giving way to an expression of pure panic.
The host, realizing that the actress had frozen and was turning pale as a ghost, turned to look at the screen. She was equally shocked, her eyes widening.
The next moment, the dam burst.
StarColi’s bots could no longer hold back the wave of genuine hatred. Hundreds of furious comments began popping up and scrolling across the screen at an absurd speed:
\[Disappointed_Fan\]: Haha, so the “little fairy” was the eye-popping mistress all along! So that was your “private life” that nobody knew about, huh, you sly one?!
\[WebJustice\]: Claire, have you no shame?! It’s disgusting enough to be a mistress and steal someone else’s man, but to steal your own HALF-SISTER’S fiancé?! How disgusting!
\[CinePipoca\]: I’ve never seen a woman as repulsive and cynical as you on TV. Not only did you sleep with your sister’s fiancé, but you also orchestrated a cyberattack to smear her with lies about an abortion! You’re sick! That’s so low and despicable it makes me sick.
\[AntiLotusBranca\]: Someone with a character as rotten as yours should be banned from the entertainment industry forever! We don’t want our kids watching a homewrecker!
\[User_Anon\]: CLAIRE, GET OFF TV!
\[HaterArmy\]: We need to cancel this rotten-hearted white lotus right now! BOYCOTT CLAIRE! DISGUISED VIPER!
The comments poured in like a waterfall of insults. Words like “mistress,” “snake,” “hypocrite,” and “fake” flashed in capital letters.
Everyone in the studio saw it. The silence in the room was deafening, broken only by the hum of the equipment.
The production crew backstage was completely in shock. The cameramen’s eyes widened, the producers froze. No one managed to react in time to cut the feed immediately. That level of meltdown on live TV was unprecedented.
Internet users wouldn’t stop. The live stream’s audience, fueled by the gossip, tripled in thirty seconds, just so people could log in and berate the actress.
Realizing the catastrophe unfolding on national television, the host finally snapped out of her trance and intervened to stop the carnage.
“U-Uh… it looks like we’re having some technical issues with our network!” she stammered, laughing hysterically and forcedly.
She quickly made a frantic “cut!” signal with her hands to the director. The screen was abruptly turned off and the broadcast was interrupted with a “We’ll Be Back Soon” card.
But the absolute damage had already been done. The entire country had watched Claire’s terrified face as she read her own truths live on air.
Claire’s expression was terrible. Panic and rage distorted her delicate features, shattering her “innocent fairy” facade.
She wanted to rip the microphone from her neck, run out of the studio, and desperately call her manager—or Edward—to ask what nuclear disaster had just happened on the internet.
But the red light on the main camera was still on. The broadcast was live for hundreds of thousands of people. She couldn’t just get up and run away; that would be an unforgivable admission of guilt and the absolute end of her career.
Beside her, the host was sweating cold. She had already conducted interviews with dozens of celebrities, but a live, real-time virtual lynching was a completely unprecedented situation. The awkwardness in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife.
It would have been infinitely easier to contain the crisis if it had been a pre-recorded show. Editing would have cut everything out, and the PR team would have salvaged the episode. But this was live. It was a sudden and devastating attack. There was no safety net.
The host swallowed hard, wondering who else, besides them in the studio, was reading about that massacre.