But was Hera the type of person to spout nonsense without evidence? Those in the entertainnt industry who had heard of her growing reputation had started to take notice, and murmurs began to spread.
Female celebrities, always attuned to daily gossip and trending topics, looked at Christy with a mix of suspicion and schadenfreude. They rembered how Hera had never hesitated to slap down anyone who tried to tarnish her reputation.
Even Alice, who had attempted to accuse Hera of plagiarism, had been thoroughly rebuffed with solid proof.
They knew Hera’s reputation and personality. She wasn’t the type to ruin soone’s na without reason. So if she was speaking out, it could an only one thing: Hera had proof that Christy was being kept as a mistress and that Christy was far from virtuous.
People in the entertainnt industry weren’t naive. It was a murky world, a mix of good and bad, riddled with sches. They could already read the situation; Christy was rely trying to wriggle out of her own ss while throwing mud at Hera.
But since they loved gossip, they didn’t speak just yet. They were waiting to see how Hera would put Christy in her place. They also noticed that Christy seed interested in the two n standing by Hera’s side.
Those who had watched Hera’s livestreams knew how doting and close these n were to her, and they understood that entertaining any thoughts about them themselves would bring nothing but trouble.
So, though silent, were actually snickering, excited to see how Christy would be schooled. After all, while many celebrities weren’t exactly "clean" themselves, so were sponsored, so kept as mistresses by circumstance, but they weren’t as brazen as Christy.
They knew their place and feared exposure, which could an the end of their careers. Christy, on the other hand, flaunted it openly.
And really, who liked a mistress?
Even they knew mistresses were despised, which was why they kept quiet, like mice. Christy was different. Now that she had been exposed, it served as a reminder for all of them to keep their secrets tight, or they could end up like her.
"Such audacity... she really thinks she’s a better actress than us?"
One of the most respected won in the entertainnt industry, soone with far more clout than most, murmured the words, but it was loud enough for Hera to hear. Hera raised an eyebrow but didn’t look over.
She could tell the woman was either genuinely disgusted by Christy’s performative virtue or attempting to catch Hera’s attention. Either way, Hera remained silent.
anwhile, Christy’s face turned livid, shifting through a spectrum of color, pale, crimson, purple, then red again. The celebrity had just called her out for acting, and anyone with experience in the industry could tell the difference between genuine emotion and a performance.
There was no longer a way for Christy to save face; she had nowhere to hide, and the silent judgnt of the audience made that abundantly clear.
Even if President Lincoln wanted to lash out at the person who had spoken, no one stepped forward to be the obvious target; they still feared his status and power. But that didn’t an they wouldn’t kick him while he was down.
After all, he had bullied so many people before that it wasn’t surprising so saw this as an opportunity to get back at him. Or perhaps they had simply grown tired of his arrogance and wanted to knock him down a peg or two.
Choruses of murmurs spread through the crowd, echoing the sa thoughts, and both President Lincoln and Christy felt a deep humiliation. Christy glared at Hera, eyes blazing as if she wanted to devour her alive.
"Why are you glaring at ?" Hera asked, her voice calm but cutting. "It’s not as if I forced you to be a mistress. From what I know, even though you applied for that impoverished student sponsorship at college, you actually stole the opportunity from soone who truly deserved it. You made her do your howork and bullied her at will. Was that fun? Hmmm?"
A smile blood on Hera’s face, bright as sunshine, but to Christy, it was the smile of a demon. That long-buried incident — forgotten by everyone, the girls she’d bribed to keep silent, the poor student she’d tornted — was now being dragged into the light.
Just the thought of it made Christy’s knees buckle in fear. Hera knew the truth, and now everyone else would too.
’No, no... she must be bluffing! No one could know the truth about that incident!’ Christy scread inside her mind, her face contorting in the ugliest expression imaginable. But outwardly, she maintained a blank mask, as if Hera’s words were entirely unfamiliar and she were the one being wronged.
Perhaps driven by fear and her survival instinct, her acting improved by leaps and bounds. Even the actress who had mocked her earlier for appearing pitiful couldn’t detect that Christy was now perfectly feigning ignorance.
"Besides, yes, you’re right. This quarrel started over a parking spot. But because of a simple parking spot, you tried to intimidate people and even attempted to blacklist soone?"
"What if the person you targeted was soone with a lower status, say, from a middle‑class family? Punishing them that severely over such a minor issue is outrageous. You’d cut off soone’s livelihood over a petty squabble?"
Hera’s voice remained calm, but every word struck with precision.
Hera then pointed at President Lincoln. "And you didn’t even stop there. You even tried to force soone to beco your mistress. Tell , are you trying to act like the law in this country? Dictating how people should live? If you say soone should suffer or be ruined, should they simply accept it? But when others hold you accountable, suddenly you cry wolf?"
Hera didn’t pull her punches; she exposed them rcilessly. She had already noticed that several celebrities had begun livestreaming the mont the commotion started, even before she arrived.
So instead of letting Christy and President Lincoln twist the narrative or throw shade at her, Hera chose to strike first, leaving them no room to speak, only to choke on their own fear and unrest.
Besides, exposing so of their cris now would only help Dave gain more support from the netizens watching the livestream. Public pressure would make it easier when he pushed the chief of police to reopen the case, to investigate the death of that poor student, and finally give her and her family justice. And what about the kind police officer who lost his life because he fought to give others justice?
Who would fight to give him justice?
"Ridiculous! Don’t spout nonsense!" President Lincoln snarled, gritting his teeth as he shouted once more.
"Is that the only thing you know how to say now?" Rafael let out a mocking laugh, throwing President Lincoln a sideways glance. His intimidating aura crashed down on the man like a wave.
Rafael clearly didn’t appreciate the way President Lincoln had shouted, especially in front of his woman. The thought of that loud, angry voice frightening his little minx, Hera, made his expression turn even colder.
Hearing Rafael’s retort, President Lincoln bit his lower lip, feeling his insides tremble. He was terrified of what Hera might say next. One by one, his misdeeds were being dragged into the light, and he knew that the more she revealed, the harder it would be for him to escape this quagmire.
He wanted to shut her up, desperately.
But who could possibly understand his fear of Rafael? The man’s aura and stance were like that of a mafia don, one powerful enough to challenge an entire country. Standing under that pressure, even breathing felt difficult.
"Whether I’m spouting nonsense or not, wouldn’t President Lincoln and your lover know better?" Hera smiled mysteriously, a mischievous glint flickering in her eyes.
anwhile, the celebrity who seized the chance to chase clout trained their cara on her, eager to use Hera’s popularity to get their own na noticed on the livestreaming platform.
This was free money falling into their lap, after all. They’d be idiots not to take advantage of it, especially since Hera wasn’t livestreaming herself. For now, all they could do was try to steal the spotlight.
It wasn’t that Hera didn’t like livestreaming right now; in fact, she actually wanted to. But if she did, she feared that people who loved reading between the lines would accuse her of using the situation as content.
They might say she was making up stories or throwing shade, and once public opinion turned against her, the whole point of helping the victim would be lost. Worse, President Lincoln could twist it and use it against her.
He was still a business tycoon, after all; it was impossible for him not to have other strategies up his sleeve. He was an expert at turning black into white, and he could easily flip the narrative.
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