Novel Square
Scared of their Shadow
“What’s going on? Why are all your faces dark and gloomy? Did someone pull at your inverse scale or something?” Lily asked as she and Avon came back to their room after going over the finishing touches for the outfits that would be modelled tomorrow night, only to see the rest of their teammates sitting around the room with angry faces.
“Did something happen while we were away? Was it Evie and her group? Or some other people?” Avon pressed, feeling curious as to what might have caused the tense atmosphere in the room.
“It’s them, alright! I can tell they are the ones who would do something like this just so they would win! It’s not the first time Evie has ever pulled such a stunt! I’m going to tear that bitch’s head off when I next see her!” Celina gritted out angrily as she continued to scroll through the show’s page, reading the negative comments she had been tagged with.
Lily pursed her lips, already having a feeling of what might be the problem. She walked into the room and casually sat on the bed as she brought out her phone to see the cause of her team’s anger. Avon cussed angrily, his face contorted in anger whilst scrolling through his page to see there were some scandalous posts on the internet about Lily.
His page had been littered with negative comments from the netizens, and all were directed at one person. “They only seem to be targeting me,” Lily voiced, her tone flat and unbothered by what she had just seen.
“It would seem so, and it’s very obvious they had employed a keyboard army. Their comments are so generic and uncreative that it makes me cringe.” Light added with a helpless sigh, and then he raised a brow at Lily. “I’m calm about this because it’s an everyday occurrence for people in the entertainment industry; how come you seem so unbothered by it?” He asked curiously, and Lily shrugged.
“I just had a scandal in my name for not too long, and I’m sure the mental barrier is still there. I’m not really that affected, but leaving this here would affect the whole team in the long run. I’m still not sure why I am being targeted by their team. I guess they are trying to take out the designer before the next stage that would be broadcast live,” she explained, and Avon scowled.
“Of course! That was their plan!” He exclaimed, “They were aiming to ruin your reputation and your mood so that our next performances will be flawed! Even now, our fans are asking that you be removed from the team! So fucking annoying; they were so impatient that they had to do this the very first week!” He groaned.
Celina let out a long sigh, trying to calm her anger. “Let’s just focus on the event; the Lam PR department will handle it. We can’t let this small thing ruin our mood for tomorrow night,” she encouraged, and Lily shook her head. “I can handle it myself. We just have to proceed with the event like nothing happened; by this time tomorrow, the culprit will be revealed,” she declared, getting a sceptical look from her teammates.
“We know you have the strength. However, ordinary means will not shake the Thompsons, so it’s better you allow Lam’s PR department to handle it,” Avon advised. Lily stood up from the bed and took a seat on the couch with her laptop in hand. She pulled it open with a sinister smile and powered it up.
“No matter what Lam’s PR department does, they won’t be able to do anything to Evie. I’m not saying they aren’t capable; I’m saying our opponent had taken into consideration the kind of people that they are dealing with,” Lily explained. “You don’t honestly think you’ll dig enough to find out why Evie instigated it?” She asked, and Celina shook her head.
“She could never leave a trace back to her. She’s an expert in this game; there is no way it could be traced back to her. But at least the PR department could clear your name and let the public know that the scandal had already been confirmed to be false. All they did was add some twists; they are still repeating the same narrative,” Celina lamented, and Lily chuckled.
“And where is the fun in that?” Remember the mother and daughter we met the other day?” She asked, and the group nodded. “I suspect Evie used them to do this, and if my suspicion is right, I can easily get evidence that Evie was behind it,” she explained calmly as she began typing away on her laptop.
“How will you do that? Are you a hacker?” Light asked, and her fingers froze on the keyboard. She had been so agitated that she almost forgot that no one knew her hacker identity.
Looking up from the screen, she let out a light chuckle: “I’m not! How could I possibly be a hacker? There was software made by the hacker I employed to get evidence of the last scandal with Merissa. The software is still on her phone; it will read and listen to her conversation, and it can also read other nearby devices as long as it’s connected to WiFi or Bluetooth” Lily explained.
“With that software, we should be able to get evidence and clear my name while also bringing down our opponents,” she added with a bright smile.
“What if that doesn’t work?” Celina asked worriedly. The show and the competition weren’t just about her or her teammates; it’s about her family’s reputation and their company. Any mishap could cause more damage than they could resolve.This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.
“If it doesn’t work, Lam’s PR can take over.” Lily guaranteed, and Celina nodded without asking any more questions.
“Since that’s settled, let’s all get some rest for tonight; we need to be on our best games tomorrow night. Before the rumours began to spread, our team was leading the chart, but we got a hit due to the effect of the rumour, so we have to do our best not to allow them to win,” Avon announced.
“Can you gather evidence of the two meetings to discuss the spreading of the rumours?” Lily asked as she continued to type away on her laptop.
{What will you do with the evidence? It’s not difficult to get it; I just have to hack into the CCTVs around the whole place.}
“What do you think I’m going to be using it for? Of course, it’s too scary for a certain someone. Directly posting it is not fun. I’m going to make both of them scared of their shadow by the time the competition ends.