Chapter3
The online storm came faster than I expected.
Less than three hours after leaving the press conference, Ryan's PR team had already spread the prepared press releases across the entire internet.
Exclusive Insider Revealed: A Brand's Red Carpet Scandal - Why Did the Backstage Assistant Take Over the Role?
"An insider revealed: Ethan's controlling nature led to repeated delays in core projects, nearly resulting in a breach of contract!"
"Lane stands up for the wronged executive McGrady and calls for the industry to clean up its cancerous practices!"
To salvage her reputation after losing control, McGrady readily cooperated with Ryan's manipulative tactics. She posted two updates on various social media platforms, accompanied by several photos of herself looking tired and haggard at work, with ambiguous captions: "Three years of hard work almost ruined, but for the sake of the bigger picture, I had no choice but to endure the injustice. Thank you, Ryan, for your healing."
She's using this vicious victim narrative to try and completely weld the labels of "incompetent, procrastinating, and emotional" onto my head.
My phone was getting hot from all the notifications in my colleagues' groups. Those media intermediaries and half-baked PR people who usually fawned over me were now openly mocking me in the groups, while pledging their loyalty to McGrady, who was now in power.
Faced with the sky full of dirty water, I just found it laughable.
Should I engage in a flame war with them? Or should I post a lengthy essay with exclamation marks on social media to prove my innocence?
That's a weak tactic used by losers.
I poured myself a cup of black coffee, calmly opened the laptop in front of me, and pulled up the encrypted database that I had already prepared.
The core of the information war has never been about who shouts the loudest, but about who holds the most compelling and damaging evidence.
I coldly tapped on the keyboard, extracting three things:
- Email system logs showing that in the past three months, the Ryan team has forced the modification of haute couture design layers five times on the grounds that it "does not highlight their status," causing serious delays in the process.
Second, in order to curry favor with Ryan, McGrady overstepped his authority and altered the entire set of IP address operation records signed by the project leader in the backend database.
Third, the original audio of those appalling and disparaging remarks made on the red carpet, and the complete high-definition recording of their attempt to seize power.
I marked these with a dead link and generated a PDF matrix package called "Timeline of Absolute Responsibility".
Recipients: Global Partner and General Counsel for North America of the brand, and three top opposing media outlets that have been keeping a close eye on Ryan's scandals.
Click send. Close the laptop.
This blow was enough to shatter the bones of these clowns.
Just twenty minutes later, the entire online public opinion was like being hit head-on by a speeding heavy truck, instantly derailing and resetting.
To avoid being dragged into the mess, the brand reacted ruthlessly. Their global official account bypassed the North American branch and released a "fact-checking statement" stamped with the official legal seal.
The statement was concise and to the point, directly presenting the timeline chart I had provided to the entire world.
Who's delaying the progress? The email logs are crystal clear—it's Ryan.
Who is creating the risk of default? The back-end operation records are glaringly obvious—it's McGrady.
Who is the real scapegoat and the core engine that ultimately safeguards the project's bottom line? The written "Ethan's Veto Power Exercise Explanation" says it all.
The internet was instantly plunged into a frenzied explosion after a deathly silence.
"Oh my god! So it was my brother who was delaying the progress? And that so-called assistant is actually the core person in charge of the project?"
"I'm shocked! McGrady actually humiliated his core partner to the point of being subservient to a male celebrity?"
"This is the 'wronged' female lead that Ryan labeled her as? Hilarious! Turns out she's a total idiot who clung to a guy and betrayed his lover!"
The group of colleagues who were just mocking me fell silent instantly. Those who had tried to laugh at me now looked at McGrady with horror, their pity replaced by disbelief at his perceived idiocy.
I opened McGrady's social media account and watched as the comment section was being flooded with tens of thousands of negative comments every second.
She panicked. Completely panicked.
In her extreme fear, she made the most foolish response—deleting the post and then stubbornly shifting the blame.
"I didn't mean to target Ethan. I was also misled by the complicated communication process of the third party! As a female entrepreneur, I'm under too much pressure..." She published a nonsensical explanation with trembling hands.
But nobody cared about her cheap tears. This attempt to shift the blame to "ignorance" only made things worse in the face of irrefutable evidence. Even Ryan's fans started to fiercely counterattack, accusing McGrady, this "old woman," of deliberately setting a trap to drag their brother down.
Ten minutes later, the decisive blow arrived.
The brand's official account updated again, with only a cold, impersonal sentence:
In light of the recent public opinion crisis and the breakdown of trust, our Group is immediately and temporarily freezing all forms of cooperation with "McDy Studios." According to the contract, Ms. Maddie is solely responsible for all public opinion consequences arising from this major reputational incident and is ordered to pay the first installment of breach of contract damages equivalent to two million US dollars within 72 hours.
This is what happens when you anger the rule-makers.
Without bloodshed or anger, simply by going with the flow, she could be transformed from an arrogant female boss into an industry outcast burdened with huge debts.
As I watched the missed calls from McGrady popping up on my phone screen, claiming he was having a meltdown, I immediately added him to my blacklist.
The punishment has only just begun, and I have no time to watch the wailing of the defeated. My phone vibrates again; a private message bearing the logo of a top European public relations conglomerate appears.
"Mr. Ethan, your first-class ticket has been confirmed. We look forward to witnessing how you rebuild your empire."
