Chapter 5: A Scum’s Schemes
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
On the other hand, Vasili led Irina through a swarm of reports to reach the office. He peeled off his suit angrily and tossed it on the sofa in his office.
“Damn it, those annoying reporters!”
?
Vasili had nowhere to vent his anger. He was not angry because the reporters who buzzed about like flies doubted his relationship with Irina, his professionalism in TY Entertainment, or Irina’s strength. Instead, he was mostly infuriated by Alex.
When the chaos ensued during the runway show, he immediately received the video sent to him by the organizers. He saw Alex standing up for Natalia. Others might have missed this detail, but how could he not?
Alex and Vasili were arch-enemies.
Alex had openly used ‘Dominating Gaze’ on everyone. It was an ancient trick that belonged to the vampire race. Alex used this ability to forcefully change everyone’s minds and brainwash the public’s deep-rooted prejudice against Natalia.
A model’s individual prowess had always been the most important pillar in the modeling industry. If not for the prejudice they had for her, the audience would have accepted Natalia’s presence and grant her the acknowledgment of achieving perfection in this runway show.
“It’s alright, my dear. Don’t be angry. This is just a small matter.” Irina gently leaned on Vasili. “The media doesn’t have any evidence. We just need to release a statement and say that I have been substituting for Natalia for many years. Ever since Natalia voluntarily announced that she’s retiring from the entertainment industry, the company is trying to promote me instead. Isn’t that enough?”
Irina reached out and traced circles on Vasili’s chest with her fingers. Her purring voice was soft and seductive. “Let’s just go with this statement for this matter—I hurt my ankle and Natalia came up with the idea for the company’s sake. Natalia has always defended you. She’ll agree to this.”
Vasili calmed down a little after hearing Irina’s words.
However, it still felt like thousands of needles pricked his heart. Even if he abandoned Natalia, he would not allow Alex to defend her.
Vasili made haste. Soon enough, he quickly posted the press statement but it did not seem to have much effect.
TY’s announcement was quickly canceled, and the message disappeared without a trace.
Vasili refused to believe that nobody had a hand in this.
Vasili immediately spent a massive amount of money to purchase ad accounts. He wanted to find out just how capable the mastermind behind this scheme was. However, this time, the culprit did not take any further action.
Natalia’s substituting for Irina stubbornly remained a trending topic in the entertainment section, and it was extremely popular.
Meanwhile, all the mainstream media outlets in A Country received a peculiar instruction from the CEO of HR Entertainment—ensure that the news of Natalia’s substitution stayed the headline. If the topic fell in popularity or got canceled, whoever was in charge should expect to face the wrath of the CEO of HR Entertainment!
Were HR and TY not arch-enemies? This time, HR insisted on publicizing TY’s news and propelling it to the top of the search rankings. Was the sky falling?
The media’s curiosity was eventually dispelled. They could neither afford to offend HR nor TY. Instead of being stuck between a rock and a hard place as they tried to uncover this, they decided to view this as a rare piece of good news. After all, it was rare for these two companies to come to any sort of agreement.
With #Natalia’sSubstitute gaining unwavering popularity, varying comments on Natalia, Irina, and even TY started taking off.
However, most people maintained the same view—Natalia was a scheming woman.
Some people said that Natalia’s achievements in the past might have been obtained by exploiting Irina as her substitute. Now that she wished to return to the entertainment circle, she came up with such a gimmick. Natalia was so greedy that she wanted to snatch all of Irina’s achievements over the years and make them the embellishment on her crown!
With that said, everyone started a flurry of discussion once more.
Indeed, Natalia appeared on many major showcases earlier with a mask on her face.
For a moment, Natalia’s ‘conspiracy’ became a fact on the Internet. Her reputation was completely ruined.
Bailey never peeled her eyes off the Internet. When she saw such a statement, she could not help but curse out loud. “Oh, God! They’re all crazy. Utterly crazy. This is Irina and Vasili’s scheme. How stupid. They’ve all been deceived.”
Natalia took Bailey’s hand, reached out with another hand, and turned off Bailey’s phone screen. “Bailey, I’m sorry to cause you so much concern. Trust me, this situation is only temporary. It will pass soon, I promise.”
Bailey nodded and held Natalia’s hand tightly. “My poor girl, my heart truly aches for you…”
‘Everything will get better.’
Natalia kept repeating the phrase to herself.
The curtains to the show had just been pulled open. The real show was about to commence.
There was a glint of cruel determination in Natalia’s eyes. She wanted Vasili and Irina to have a taste of how it felt like to be stepped on by others. It was also her revenge for all the plotting and betrayals they had for her over the years!