The show’s host, known as the queen of the network, really lived up to her reputation. In just a few questions, the ratings shot through the roof.
Who wouldn’t love a good on-air facepalm moment? The audience couldn’t get enough of it.
The live chat exploded with laughter.
“OMG, she totally crashed and burned. I’ve hated her ever since that Pineapple TV show. It was supposed to be a cooking show, but she turned it into a lovefest about her past relationships.”
“LOL, did she seriously not realize this was live? Karma hit her hard. We’ve got a woman like this at my office too-acts sweet up front but stirs up drama behind the scenes.”
“Honestly, I never understood the whole hate campaign against Sarah. Elisa interrupted her meal, got upset when Sarah didn’t humor her, and then played the victim, making it sound like Sarah’s friends were spoiled brats who bullied her. It’s all been her word against theirs.”
“Didn’t Sarah’s friend, that girl named Merry, post a Twitter thread explaining everything? Too bad the internet just flamed her even harder. In hindsight, they probably should’ve waited until Elisa exposed herself like this.”
In no time, Sarah’s and Crystal’s fans flooded Elisa’s comment section, demanding a response.
The comments calling her a “liar” and “angelic bitch” hit Elisa hard, and she started to unravel.
She couldn’t understand how things went so wrong. Everything had been going smoothly. Since she became famous, she’d hired a personal assistant and signed with a agent-she had people handling her day-to-day tasks. But now, with the internet dragging her, Elisa was struggling to cope.
Her assistant nervously picked up the coat Elisa had thrown on the floor.
Suddenly, anger boiled over, and Elisa kicked the assistant. “Why didn’t you remind me it was a live show?”
The assistant’s eyes welled up with tears, but she held them back. “You were the only one allowed to talk to the host. We were backstage the whole time… And everyone told you before the show started that it was live.”
“You should’ve reminded me again after I went on stage.” Elisa shot her a cold look. “What are you crying for? I just said a couple of things, and you’re already tearing up? If you don’t want this job, plenty of people do. I’m docking 500 dollars from your paycheck this month.”
The assistant bit her lip. She couldn’t afford to lose this job, so she said nothing and quietly left the room.
Elisa stared at the nasty comments piling up. Deleting them one by one would’ve taken forever, so she had no choice but to limit who could comment.
What she didn’t expect, though, was for the Heart Throb production team to start releasing behind-the-scenes footage.
One of the clips showed a set assistant warning Elisa that a small snake had crawled onto her. In a panic, Elisa freaked out and tossed the snake… right onto the assistant who had warned her. The poor assistant was terrified, and in the end, it was Sarah who calmly removed the snake and set it free.
As soon as this clip dropped, the internet lost it.
“What a horrible person! The assistant tried to help her, and she just threw the snake on her?!”
“I can’t believe Elisa acted like that… I used to like her, but I’m done now.”
“Wow, the contrast is wild. I thought Sarah was just a spoiled little princess, but she’s actually so cool. She totally shattered my expectations.”
“I don’t think Elisa did it on purpose. Anyone would throw something if they were scared, right? It’s normal for a girl to be afraid of snakes.”
“Sure, she can be scared-but throwing it onto someone else? If that were me, I’d probably have a heart attack.”
Just yesterday, Elisa was still riding high on public praise. Everyone was calling her a hardworking rising star with both beauty and talent. But in less than a day, she’d become public enemy number one.
Unable to stop herself, Elisa opened Sarah’s Twitter, lurking through her profile. Sarah’s latest post was still just a retweet promoting the movie.
Meanwhile, all the people trashing Elisa had moved on… to praise Sarah.
Jealousy churned in Elisa’s gut.
She’d been so close-just a few more steps, and she could’ve taken Sarah’s place. But fate seemed determined to mess with her.
There was a time when Sarah used to fall for her provocations, getting angry and bickering with her.
But now? Sarah didn’t even acknowledge her existence. No matter how much Elisa flaunted her relationship with Ronald, Sarah refused to engage.
Elisa wanted nothing more than to drive Sarah mad, to drag her into a public fight, and make her lose. Her plan had always been to paint Sarah as a ruthless, manipulative villain while she played the innocent victim in need of protection. Slowly but surely, she would’ve replaced Sarah in the public’s eyes.
But Sarah refused to play along.
And this indifference was eating Elisa alive-worse than all the insults and dirty tricks from before.
Biting her lip, Elisa swore to herself.
If Sarah could survive the last wave of internet hate and clear her name with her work, so could she.
Winning Ronald away from Sarah was proof enough that she could beat her. And if she could take him, she could take even more in the future.
******
Meanwhile, Sarah and Crystal were having the time of their lives, thoroughly enjoying Elisa’s downfall.
Suddenly, Crystal remembered something. “Hey, Sarah, when’s your current shoot wrapping up?”
“Probably another month or two,” Sarah replied. “Depends on how fast the director moves. Director Colby is really demanding, so the whole crew’s taking it slow.”
Crystal nodded. “There’s a crime drama gearing up for production soon-big budget, major studio backing. Half the actors in the industry are auditioning for it. I think you should try out for the lead role if you have time.”
Sarah had already heard about it from Alice, so she gave a small nod.
Crystal kept scrolling through her phone, rubbing her eyes halfway through. “Have you noticed that Elisa made her profile picture look almost exactly like yours? Same angle, same side profile. At a glance, it really looks like you.”
Even though Elisa was getting a lot of hate, she kept riding the wave of attention, showing off her relationship with Ronald and posting selfies.
She even wore outfits nearly identical to what Sarah wore in Heart-throb. Elisa’s die-hard fans hyped her up, saying she looked even more elegant than Sarah. Meanwhile, anyone who wasn’t a fan couldn’t even comment on Elisa’s Twitter.
Crystal clicked her tongue. “It’s a whole new level of shamelessness.”
Sarah gritted her teeth. All she wanted was to charge Elisa a copyright fee. Who gave her permission to cosplay her? But the thing is, the first one to start a fight always loses.
Elisa’s specialty was playing the victim-acting all innocent while stirring up drama. If Sarah made a fuss, she’d just fall right into Elisa’s trap. And no doubt, Elisa was sitting around hoping for exactly that.
But Sarah wasn’t about to stick to one style of clothing or one kind of image forever.
In Heart Throb, her princess character was delicate and pure, like a white poppy blooming in the night. Meanwhile, in The Mysterious Family, she played Mollie, a cool, tough-as-nails woman who fought hard for her friends-completely different from the princess vibe.
The Mysterious Family hadn’t started promotion yet, so only a few people knew Sarah was playing Mollie. For now, most of the public still saw her as the sweet princess.
It just so happened that there was a big gala coming up in a few days, and most of the cast from Heart Throb had been invited-Sarah included.
Sarah had set up a small Twitter account on the side. She used her main one for promotions and business, while the smaller one was for sharing her personal life.
Elisa had already followed the account within three days of it being created.
Sarah posted a photo of herself in a gown on the small account. She wore an off-shoulder, voluminous dress made of layers of vibrant magenta tulle that trailed on the floor. A slit down the side revealed a glimpse of her long, slender leg.
Sarah’s skin was naturally pale-so pale that even a pinch from Holden would leave a mark for days. The vivid color of the dress made her flawless skin look even more radiant, like smooth porcelain.
As soon as she posted the picture, it blew up. The designer behind the gown quickly followed her and proudly claimed it as their brand.
Meanwhile, Holden had just set up a Twitter account to mess around online.
He’d mentioned to his assistant that he didn’t have one, so the assistant promptly handed him an official account connected to his company.
The Smith Family Group invested in a variety of industries, and though the family kept a low profile, nearly everyone in the business world knew of their influence.
The account Holden was given belonged to Circle Tech Company, one of the group’s subsidiaries. Since a new mobile game was launching soon, Holden had been keeping an eye on things.
Holden casually used the company account to surf the web and, while at it, followed both of Sarah’s Twitter accounts-just because, by chance, he saw the picture Sarah posted and thought it looked pretty good, so he saved it.
Sarah’s fans lost their minds, thinking this might be a sign that Holden wanted her to become a brand ambassador or land some kind of sponsorship deal.