Jessie Sterling fell silent for a mont.
’There was so truth to the accusation that her comic was based on real events. After all, when she first started drawing, she never imagined it would catch Zoe Marx’s eye or that she would sign with a comics platform. She just wanted to docunt her life, much like the friendship story about a little bear and a little lamb she’d previously serialized on Weibo.’
Seeing Jessie Sterling’s expression turn serious, Mochi couldn’t help but speak up again. "Seriously, don’t take it to heart. The ones spreading rumors behind your back are just people from the newcor chart, plus losers like that ’Twin Shadows Under the Moon’ guy. Guys just love to stick together. They’ll squawk endlessly over the tiniest little thing, acting like they’re the only ones who are allowed to win."
"Twin Shadows Under the Moon?" Jessie Sterling repeated the na. She had heard it just a mont ago.
Mochi, however, thought Jessie didn’t know who that was. She turned and pointed toward another area where people were playing board gas. "The one sitting right in the middle, that’s Twin Shadows Under the Moon. His na is Shawn Stuart, and he’s also an artist on our site. He’s one of the more famous male artists."
Jessie Sterling had t Shawn Stuart before.
She pressed her lips together. Those who knew her could tell she was displeased.
She hadn’t provoked anyone, yet soone was slinging mud at her. Of course she was unhappy.
She had never suffered the indignity of being falsely accused like this before.
"He seems very popular?" Jessie Sterling asked, observing the n and won gathered around Shawn Stuart. They looked like a little clique, with Shawn as the center of attention—the moon surrounded by stars.
Bella shrugged. "You could say that. It’s what happens when you have a famous sister."
"Huh?" Jessie Sterling was confused.
Bella asked, "You’ve never been part of this circle, have you?"
Jessie Sterling nodded.
Bella let out a laugh. ’I thought so.’ When she first t Jessie in the underground parking garage, she’d thought the other woman looked like a celebrity, or maybe a rich heiress. Soone from a different world, not a part of their ani-and-comics scene, and even a bit unapproachable. But now, looking into Jessie’s almost unnervingly innocent eyes, she felt she must have been blind before. Jessie was just like a little lamb—friendly, pure, and adorable.
"Then you must have heard of Cheryl Stuart, right?"
Jessie Sterling let out a gasp. This ti, she was genuinely surprised.
Bella, unaware of what was going through Jessie’s mind, continued, "Shawn Stuart is Cheryl Stuart’s cousin. He once helped so of the artists on our site who are celebrity fans get autographed photos of her. He has a decent online following himself. Part of it is from the comics community, and the other part is because he sotis has Cheryl Stuart make a cao in his holiday videos. Her fans started following him after they found out they were related."
At this, Bella scoffed in disdain. "He talks about other people driving traffic as if they’ve committed so unforgivable sin, but why doesn’t he take a look at himself? When he posts videos of Cheryl Stuart, does he not realize he’s doing the exact sa thing? What a complete hypocrite!"
’What a small world,’ Jessie Sterling marveled to herself.
"So, Shawn Stuart is the one claiming that my story is fabricated from soone else’s real life?" Jessie asked.
After all, the traffic she generated by giving out cash gifts mainly affected the other new artists on the newcor chart. Shawn Stuart wasn’t on that chart, so for him to side with them, there had to be a reason. Or, perhaps, he knew sothing she didn’t.
Bella and Mochi exchanged a look. Mochi then took out her phone, tapped on it a couple of tis, and handed it to Jessie. "See for yourself."
On Mochi’s phone screen was Shawn Stuart’s Weibo account. Last month, Shawn Stuart had made a post that had already garnered over a thousand comnts.
[Twin Shadows Under the Moon: While adapting soone’s real-life story into a novel or comic is rarely considered copyright infringent, I personally find it to be a pretty scummy move. A certain new artist on our site really loves to take unorthodox routes. One minute, it’s using cash gifts to drive traffic; the next, it’s taking soone else’s love story and passing it off as their own material. It’s... hard to know what to say.]
The top comnt was from a user asking what proof he had that the artist used soone else’s story, and how he could be so sure they didn’t have permission.
Shawn Stuart pinned this comnt and replied to it.
[Shawn Stuart: Let’s not talk about anything else. Just take the rooftop fireworks scene in her comic. I think anyone from Southaven would find that display very familiar. It was a local trending topic back then—a private fireworks show that cost millions. And what a coincidence, I happen to know the person who arranged it. I can also state with certainty that there’s no way they gave permission for it to be used.]
His argunt was so confident that many people believed him.
Especially considering he was Cheryl Stuart’s cousin—and she was a well-known second-generation heir in the entertainnt industry—it made sense that he would know a rich heir from Southaven.
Jessie Sterling, on the other hand, was speechless. ’When had she ever t Shawn Stuart? How co she didn’t know about it herself?’
Jessie Sterling handed the phone back to Mochi. "He makes it sound pretty convincing. You guys don’t believe him?"
Mochi scoffed. "I’d believe anyone over him."
Bella nodded as well, showing she was on the sa side as Mochi.
"We were at the annual party last year, too," Mochi began. "You know how they invite a few lucky readers every year? Well, last year there was this really pretty girl. Shawn Stuart was fluttering around her like a social butterfly, trying to win her over. She was a fan of his comic. Before the party was even over, Bella and I happened to be in the room next to his. The next morning, we saw that girl coming out of his room, her eyes all red and puffy."
Mochi pursed her lips. "We only found out later that he’d told her he would introduce her to so big shots in our circle. He organized a private drinking party and got her completely drunk."
Bella jumped in, "And the most shaless part? Last year’s party was on an island, and that fan was a local there. The mont the event ended, Shawn Stuart dumped her."
Jessie Sterling frowned. "Didn’t she report him?"
’What a bastard!’
Bella looked helpless. "He could just say it was consensual. What’s more, Shawn Stuart openly said that if she took him to court, plenty of people who saw them acting intimately that night would testify for him. The whole thing eventually blew up online, and he and his guy friends ganged up to sar her na. They accused her of trying to set up a honey trap. It was infuriating. She was just an ordinary girl, and her reputation was completely destroyed online."
"Anyway, that guy is just scummy. Bella and I aren’t into chasing celebrities, and we’re not fans of Cheryl Stuart, so we obviously despise Shawn Stuart even more. That’s why you really shouldn’t take the rumors he’s spreading online to heart. If you do, he’ll only get more aggressive. You might not know this, but to him, infamy is still a form of fa. He loves to pick on smaller artists who are too scared to fight back; he’s pulled this kind of stunt online multiple tis. And each ti, he ends up gaining a new wave of fans. Even now, there are people who see him as so kind of ’crusader for justice.’"
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