"But first," she said to herself, "I need that file. I need to find out what Dad and Brother are working on."
Her eyes darted toward the hallway to make sure her mother wasn’t lurking nearby.
She opened her internet browser and began typing sexy lingerie sets into the search bar.
"If I’m going to be ready for when Nanhao grovels, I need to look perfect," she whispered, scrolling through images of lacy red and black lingerie.
"This one’s hot... ooh, that one too..."
Her cheeks flushed slightly, but she kept scrolling, ntally bookmarking everything she liked.
She pictured herself standing in front of him, wearing sothing bold and seductive, his mouth falling open in awe.
She giggled to herself. "He won’t know what hit him."
Mrs. Ou sat silently in the dim living room, the only source of light coming from the soft blue glow of the surveillance monitor in front of her.
On the screen, Ou Xiaoxiao giggled to herself, still scrolling through lingerie websites like a lovestruck teenager.
Her fingers danced over the screen, and her lips moved as she whispered sweet fantasies of a future filled with love and power.
Mrs. Ou’s lips thinned into a grim line.
Her eyes, once warm with motherly affection, were now filled with an icy bitterness.
"She really thinks she can fool us," she muttered under her breath, her voice like steel wrapped in velvet.
She watched as Ou Xiaoxiao muttered sothing about stealing the file. The very ntion made Mrs. Ou’s hand clench into a fist.
That was enough.
Her cold fingers reached for the phone. She didn’t even hesitate.
"Ou Lin," she said when her son picked up. Her tone was sharp, filled with warning.
"Xiaoxiao is planning to snoop around for the bidding project files. She wants to sell them again. You know what you have to do."
On the other end of the line, Ou Lin’s voice ca through, low and steady. "Understood."
She hung up without another word.
The screen still flickered in front of her, but she didn’t look at it anymore.
Her eyes fell to the frad photo sitting on the side table.
It was a picture of Ou Xiaoxiao—her real daughter—smiling brightly in a white dress, standing outside a tent, cheeks pink and eyes full of dreams.
That girl was gone.
Or rather, that girl’s body had returned... but not her soul.
The thing walking around now, pretending to be her daughter, was nothing but a snake in borrowed skin.
Mrs. Ou picked up the photo and ran her thumb gently across the glass. Her eyes softened for a mont, then filled again with sorrow.
"When will you co back, Xiaoxiao?" she whispered. "When will I have my daughter back..."
Her voice broke at the end, so quiet that even the walls didn’t echo it back.
But just as the silence settled into the room, her phone buzzed again.
A notification lit up the screen: #YuHoleaTheJusticeSeeker is trending.
She clicked on it, and imdiately her screen flooded with news articles, blog posts, and comnts. At the center of it all was one na—Yu Holea.
The headlines read:"Yu Holea’s Fans Bring Justice to Orphans!"
"Scam Worth 99 Million Yuan Exposed by Forr Star"
"Yu Holea Quits Acting, But Still Saves Lives"
Mrs. Ou’s eyes widened slightly.
Wasn’t this the daughter of the previous head of the Ou family?
She scrolled faster.
It turned out that Yu Holea had mobilized her fans and online followers to investigate an insurance company that had stolen nearly 100 million yuan from an orphanage charity fund.
With enough public pressure, the company was shut down within days. Investigations were opened. Arrests were made.
People across the country were now calling her a hero.
Posts flooded in praising her bravery:
"Even after she left the industry, she’s still helping people."
"Yu Holea... the na we owe so many apologies to."
More and more posts followed.
A passionate fan account released a massive thread revealing every single ti Yu Holea had been unfairly attacked.
— How her stepsister, Yu i, had frad her countless tis, painting her as the sister of a corrupt CEO, a criminal, even as a murderer.
— How even her father had twisted the truth and tried to ruin her na, turning the public against her.
— How, at just 19 years old, she was accused of lacking talent, bullied for her choices, and criticized for things she never did.
The fan wrote,
"She was only a teenager, and she faced more cruelty than most adults do in a lifeti. And still, she stood tall—until we forced her to quit. We failed her."
The thread went viral within hours.
Suddenly, celebrities began to speak out.
Popular actors, musicians, and influencers posted their support:
"I know what cyberbullying feels like. Yu Holea didn’t deserve it."
"People forget that we’re human too. Thank you, Holea, for being strong when we couldn’t."
"She showed us the dark side of fa. Now let’s learn from it."
The movent grew like wildfire.
A new hashtag was born: #CyberbulliedYuHolea
People from all walks of life started sharing their own experiences with cyberbullying, using her na as a symbol of innocence destroyed by public pressure.
"I was bullied out of school for sothing I didn’t do. I know how Yu Holea felt."
"Reading about her story helped realize I’m not alone."
"I used to judge celebrities so easily. Never again."
The hashtag wasn’t just a trend anymore. It was a mirror held up to society, reflecting the ugly truth behind the screens.
Back in her chair, Mrs. Ou slowly set the photo down and closed her eyes.
She wished Yu Holea could return. After all, she resembled him too much...
.......
At the sa ti, far from the Ou family mansion, Yu Holea sat curled up on a small couch in villa.
Her phone buzzed endlessly on the coffee table, and the screen was filled with a sea of notifications.
#YuHoleaTheJusticeSeeker was still trending.
When the first day she saw the hashtag, she was stunned, but now...she felt numb.
It had been three days.
She thought the internet would forget in a day or two, like they always did. But this ti, it was different.
She stared at the screen, stunned. One video after another, people praised her. Old fans ca out of hiding. New ones defended her like loyal soldiers.
She placed a hand over her chest, her heart beating faster than usual.
"...They really didn’t forget," she whispered to herself.
Even more shocking, she discovered that a group had ford—a whole online community—called "Guardians of Holea."
They had one mission: to protect her from online hate and stand up to cyberbullies in her na.
They flagged harmful posts, reported haters, and even made emotional edits of her past performances and charity work.
Yu Holea had no words. She was moved.
.......
Back at the Ou residence, however, the mood was anything but peaceful.
Ou Xiaoxiao’s nerves were stretched thin. For the past three days, she’d searched high and low for the project files ng Nanhao had asked her to steal. But no matter how hard she tried, the files were always hidden. Even Mr. Ou and Ou Lin ignored her questions. They didn’t even glance her way.
It was like they knew.
This morning at breakfast, she picked at her food, her anxiety bubbling like boiling water under her skin.
Then it happened.
Mrs. Ou had gone out early for a eting, and Ou Lin—usually so careful—had left a file sitting carelessly on the living room desk. A golden opportunity.
Her eyes lit up.
Trying to hide her excitent, she tiptoed over and picked up the folder. The docunts were full of industry terms and figures she couldn’t quite understand, but her gut told her this was it—the project ng Nanhao wanted.
Without hesitation, she took out her phone and snapped photos of every page.
Then she called him.
"Nanhao, I got it. Co over quickly, okay? I’ll give it to you in person."
ng Nanhao’s voice on the other end was tight with urgency. "I’ll be right there."
......
Half an hour later, ng Nanhao arrived at the run-down apartnt where Xiaoxiao was staying.
The mont he stepped inside the narrow hallway, he wrinkled his nose.
Ugh. What is that sll?
He cursed under his breath, thinking this would be the last ti he ever stepped foot here. Once he got the file, he’d block Ou Xiaoxiao’s number and disappear for good.
Still, he forced a polite smile and rang the bell.
Ou Xiaoxiao opened the door with an eager grin. "Nanhao, you ca!"
She leaned in to hug him, but ng Nanhao smoothly sidestepped her, pretending not to notice.
Her smile stiffened, her eyes narrowing for a brief second.
But she said nothing. Instead, she chirped, "The file’s in my room. Co in and wait a second—I just need to freshen up."
She disappeared into the bathroom.
ng Nanhao sighed, tapping his foot impatiently. He was just about to knock when the door creaked open.
His eyes widened.
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