Michael’s post was retweeted by hundreds of thousands in a matter of hours. He almost never used Twitter and had never paid attention to how many followers he had. However, hours after he sent out that tweet, he now had almost ten million followers. His tweet was now trending.
"All Hail Michael Lucas! You must sue those who are defaming your wife!"
"Wow! Mr. Lucas has finally spoken out to protect his wife! We believe in you and we believe in Wendy too!"
"I just told my best friend that the journalists were making stuff up earlier in the morning and that I don’t believe in any of those articles. I stand with Wendy. I stand with Mr. Lucas."
"That Christian from DR Group is such a slimy weasel. I am so going to fla him under the official Twitter account of DR Group!"
"Mr. Lucas, how could you not see that your wife cheated on you? Go do a DNA test on her baby now before she gives birth to a bastard."
"Are you retarded? Mr. Lucas knows his wife better than you do. What evidence do you have that Wendy isn’t carrying his child? Why would Mr. Lucas support his wife if she had really cheated on him?"
"I’m Team Wendy as long as Michael believes in her."
...
Michael’s tweet soon beca the top trending hashtag. He allowed himself a broad smile after seeing that most people sided with him and Wendy.
"She’ll be very happy when she sees my trending tweet," Michael thought.
Although he didn’t care much about the derogatory comnts that weren’t based on facts, he felt a little annoyed nonetheless as there were so many of them, most of which were directed at the woman he loved.
As Michael scrolled down to read more of the comnts while tapping on the desk, his cellphone started to ring. To Michael’s surprise, it was a call from Christian.
"Why is he calling right now?" Michael thought as he took the call. He was confused.
"I’ve told you, Michael, that the winner hasn’t been determined yet," Christian said smugly.
"You called just to say this?" Michael chuckled and kept tapping on the desk with his fingers. "You’re celebrating your victory way too soon."
"Do you like the present I gave you this morning?" Christian smiled and said. "Do you want to go online and see what has happened?"
"I know what happened. Was that a distraction? Are you really dumb enough to believe that people will forget about all the horrendous things you did just because you bribed so journalists to defa Wendy and ?" Michael said sarcastically.
"Get over yourself."
"So you do know what happened. I’ve got to say, my brother, that I really admire your patience even though you’re being cuckolded."
Christian smiled and continued, "Then I’ll have to give you so tips. Wendy was in Rheinsville City two months ago, so I reckon you’d better do a DNA test on the baby she’s carrying, or there’ll be people online who keep trash-talking both of you every day until you prove them wrong. Maybe you can let all those comnts slide, but you’ve got to think about Wendy, isn’t it? She’s a pregnant woman after all and I don’t want her to suffer emotionally. I checked Twitter this morning and the public is saying so very nasty things about her."
"How about you go online again and check the comnts?" Michael said.
He was glad that he sent out the tweet earlier on, and he had riled up those who supported him. Otherwise, Christian would have gotten what he wanted.
"Get real, Christian," Michael said.
...
Christian did not realize that Michael was angry. In fact, he thought Michael was just holding back. However, he had a bad feeling after listening to what Michael had said.
He frowned as he logged into Twitter.
Christian knew that Michael had taken down the entertainnt news that morning. It didn’t matter, as long as the news was out. As soon as Christian logged into Twitter, he saw the trending news: ’Michael’s posts in support of Wendy’. When he clicked on the link, it took him to Michael’s tweet.
Even though the post had been uploaded recently, it was already one of the most searched topics. Christian’s grip tightened around his phone as he read through the comnts. He kept scrolling through the comnts. They were all taking Michael and Wendy’s side. This shouldn’t be happening!
Christian had employed a group of ghostwriters yesterday morning to divert public opinion in his favor. Yesterday morning, there was a host of comnts disparaging the two of them. How co the second Michael posts on social dia, public opinion changed? There were even multiple users who accused Christian of slandering Michael and Wendy. Although that was indeed the truth, the results should have gone in his favor.
Michael didn’t hear any noise coming from the other end of the phone. He laughed, goading Christian, "Did you see it? Your ghostwriters were too few. They were absolutely useless. All I had to do was create a single post to ruin all your years of hard work. I know you’ve been running out of funds recently. If you need the money, you can always tell , I’ll lend it to you. I can’t guarantee a large sum, but if you need ten thousand, or even a hundred thousand dollars, I can give it to you."
Even though the amounts Michael listed out were substantial, they still felt like an insult to Christian’s pride.
"You think posting on Twitter will do you any good? Just look at the comnts and you’ll realize that all those people were already supporting Wendy and you. If you look elsewhere, there’s plenty of people still against you."
No matter what, he could not admit defeat. After all, Christian had been the one to make the call.
"I really envy you for being able to find sothing to be happy about." Michael’s tone was heavily laced with sarcasm.
"Don’t feel too pleased with yourself, Michael. What does it matter if public opinion turns against ? What does it matter if everyone condemns online? You can’t determine who’s won and who’s lost until the very end."
"Of course. We still don’t know who’s going to co out on top, so why are you in such a hurry to call ? Are you admitting to your lack of confidence?"
"You..." Christian was so fed up with Michael that he didn’t know what to say in reply.
Just as Christian was about to hang up in spite, Michael’s tone beca more serious.
He coldly said, "Christian, you better hide Clent well. Don’t ever let find him."
After he finished speaking, Michael quickly ended the call.
Christian nervously gripped his phone as he listened to the beeping sound signaling the call was over. He raised his hand, ready to smash his phone to pieces. But his reason stayed his hand. He had already smashed countless phones. His assistant had just bought him the phone he was currently clutching. The next mont, the phone was dropped onto the desk. Christian pressed the button on his intercom, coldly giving an order, "Co in!"
Christian’s assistant hastily entered the office, her voice quivered, "Sir..." "Reach out to the press again. I need Michael and Wendy to be featured on the front page tomorrow too. I need to control the public opinion, otherwise, you’ll need to hire more ghostwriters!" Christian forcefully told her, "Keep a close eye on the entertainnt news. If Michael has soone to take down the news, contact the press and have them put the article back up."
"Okay." His assistant agreed hurriedly. Christian was unwilling to watch the public opinion turn against him so easily.
...
Wendy had seen Michael’s Twitter post. Without a doubt, she was touched by Michael’s actions. He was always thinking about her, helping her solve any problems.
That night, Wendy and Michael were laying in each other’s arms in bed. Wendy whispered to him, "Thank you, Michael."
"Silly, what are you thanking for?" Michael tightly hugged Wendy saying, "Don’t worry. I’ll try my best to find Clent as soon as possible and get revenge for you."
"I’m sure you’ll find him in no ti." Wendy shut her eyes, resting her head on Michael’s chest. She listened to his heartbeat in a strong rhythmic lody, "Clent knew that we were looking for him, but he still ca to Lake City. What do you think he wants?"
"He probably ca to Lake City to find Christian. Clent has underground connections, and right now, what Christian needs most is money. Clent risked his life to get to Lake City. I think that he wants to expand the drug market here."
This train of thought had occurred to Michael yesterday. Clent had sohow always been able to evade Michael. It was safest for him to stay in Rheinsville City because that was his territory. But he was still willing to take the risk to co to Lake City. That was enough for Michael to guess that Clent’s goal was worth the risk.
"You an that he’s planning on joining forces with Christian to execute his plan?"
Wendy opened her eyes a crack as she listened to Michael speak, "But I thought our city was always heavily regulated. That why it’s always been safer here than in any other city."
"Even if it’s heavily controlled, there will still be people willing to risk their lives for money. Especially, Christian, he’s already reached the point of no return. Except for going down the path he’s chosen, I don’t think he had any other choices that would enable him to quickly make the money he needed for the second stage of his project."
Michael continued, "The markets in other cities are already overcrowded. The market here, even if it is strictly controlled, still presents a good opportunity for him.
Acquiring wealth is a gamble. Isn’t a market that hasn’t been infiltrated by black-market drugs a good target for expansion?"
"He’s gone mad." Michael’s theory hadn’t even occurred to Wendy. She couldn’t mask the doubt in her voice, "Just forget about Clent. He isn’t from Lake City.
Christian on the other hand, is a resident of Lake City. He’s from Zeilheim City. You think that as soon as he doesn’t have money, he plans on plotting against his hotown?"
"Christian spent ten years in Rheinsville City, and he was involved in illegal dealings.
I wouldn’t be surprised if his hands are covered in blood and drugs." Michael sighed, "If he still has a conscience, how could he think of committing these types of cris?"
"But..." Wendy had sothing she wanted to say, but she knew that Christian was ruthless. She knew he would be able to hurt his countryn all for the sake of money.
"Michael, we can’t let him get away with this." Wendy disentangled herself from Michael’s arms, turning to look at him, "Drugs are too dangerous. As soon as they bring the drug trade here, too many people will be hard. Our governnt has worked hard trying to provide a safe environnt for all of us. We can’t let our city be destroyed."
"It won’t be. I won’t let them get away with their sches." A glimr of determination flashed in his eyes as he looked at Wendy.
He was trying to convince himself just as much as he was trying to convince Wendy.
Christian was willing to do whatever it took, but Michael could not stand by and watch him destroy his hotown’s peace.
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