We have no choice
A smashing sound resounded through the room as Freya, Evie’s assistant’s phone, came into contact with the wall, shattering at the great impact. Freya flinched and glared down at her feet, unable to voice her dissatisfaction with the seething Evie, who had thrown the device. “Who the fuck is this ‘Just a concerned citizen?” Evie screamed angrily while flailing her hands in all directions.
“The account is newly created, and we have not been able to find the poster’s IP address; it’s been redirecting us every time we checked. Which means it was created by a hacker or someone very proficient with internet networking,” Dan, the PR staff assigned to Evie for the show, explained, and Evie sneered. “Then try harder! You have to fucking try harder and take down that post before the runway show tonight!” She demanded.
Evie bit her nails anxiously as she walked back and forth. She had tried to get help from her family to clear the post, but immediately she put the call through to her father; he had told her to fix the mess she caused herself.
It wasn’t the first time she had sabotaged others using real or fake scandals, and each time she’s only ever gotten a scolding from her father, after which they always helped her clean up so that it wouldn’t be traced back to her.
As she thought about the possibility of her parents already giving up on her due to her failure, her heart sank, and she became even more anxious and enraged. “No way! I can’t lose the crown in the family! If I do, all those cousins will come looking for paybacks!” She muttered to herself, “I need to find a way to fix this.”
Freya kept her distance and stood by the door, knowing how violent and unreasonable Evie gets every time she is in a bad mood. It is a trait that runs in their family; whenever any of them were angry, they always enjoyed throwing things, no matter how expensive they were. Evie was, however, the worst of them, as she has a stronger temper than the rest of her family after being pampered all her life.
“Pay someone to take down the post; do something. I don’t care what you have to do; just do something!” Evie ordered.
“It’s not that we aren’t trying; we could not take the post down no matter how we tried. We’ve forwarded it to the senior team, and they are currently working on it. Until we get a report, we can’t do anything from our side. More than it is affecting your image, the image of the company you are currently representing is being dragged through the mud, and you don’t think we want to fix that.” Dan explained calmly.
“This is all your fault, yet the company has to clean up for you! Can you not go around causing trouble? The opportunity was only given to you due to your family’s connection; it has nothing to do with your competence. I’m not sure why they even keep hailing you, but you don’t deserve it.” Wisdom, the company’s manager, joined, his eyes full of contempt and ridicule.
“The clothes you sewed were full of errors that I’m even ashamed to touch! Yet we still have to present that as our product; do you know how shameful it is to the company image?” The manager demanded coldly, making Evie’s anger flare up even more.
“If you dare throw me out of the team and watch my family pull out our investment in your decaying company! What do you mean that what I sewed was full of errors? Did I not tell you the equipment I was given was damaged?” She lied, and Wisdom scoffed.
“Keep telling yourself lies; very soon, you’ll be brought out of your delusions. I’m off. Oh great, Miss Genius, find a way out of the hole you’ve dug for yourself!” He declared and walked out.
“Take down the post as soon as possible; the sooner the better,” Evie ordered.
“If you cannot take it down, get in contact with them and ask them what they want! That should be simple enough for you, right?” She sneered. “Someone like that who isn’t even confident enough to come forward with their identity should not be a threat to me. Yet, your incompetence is putting me in a tight spot!”
“We’ve also tried to get in contact with them, but they have blocked all message requests.”
While she was throwing tantrums, a knock resounded at the door, making Evie pause in her step. As Freya pulled open the door, Merissa walked in, dressed in an outfit that covered her face without showing her identity. “What are you doing here?” Evie exclaimed, Ok, shock!
“Did someone come with you?” She demanded as Merissa casually took her seat.
“I got a message from the poster, and it says, ‘Hope to see you at the nationals. I don’t know who they are, how am I supposed to guide against them during the nationals?” Merissa gritted out and glared at Evie, her eyes filled with judgement and accusations.
“You told me you would get it covered on your side and make sure that the rumour was not traced back to us, and yet here we both are!” She yelled angrily, and Evie’s eyes darkened.
“How dare you yell at me! Who do you think you are to raise your voice at me?” Evie demanded, narrowed as she threw a slap in Merissa’s face. Surprised at the sudden slap, it took Merissa a while to register what was happening as she gaped at Evie with wide eyes.
“What the hell? Did you just slap me?!” She breathed out as she moved closer to Evie before throwing a slap of her own with a flushed face. “Let’s get this right; I’m only associating with you because we have a mutual enemy, and I thought we could take care of her together. Me being your fan? That was a lie just to get your attention; I’m not going to be bullied by you and remain silent about it!” Merissa gritted out and landed another slap just as Bethel and the rest of Team Six walked in with different expressions on their faces.
“So you really were the ones behind the rumours circulating about the designer from Team four?” Mila, the female model for Team six, demanded with her hands crossed over her chest. Evie, upon hearing her question, froze in place, not knowing how to defend herself. She opened and closed her mouth multiple times wanting to explain but not knowing where as she didn’t know how much they had heard.
“From your reactions, I can tell you are the ones behind it,” she breathed out and facepalmed. “At least if you are going to do something like that, do it to perfection, don’t flop, and get it traced back to you. Now, you have given everyone a messy clean-up to do. How annoying.”
“All that does not matter right now. We can’t keep dwelling on what has already happened. We should find a way forward, and we need to do it quickly before tonight’s runway,” Seb, the male model, joined in with an exasperated expression. He glared at Evie and then at Merissa, his favorability for both of them hitting rock bottom.
Being from the fashion world, he was not new to the scheming that goes on amidst them, but just as Mila had said, if you were going to be doing such a thing, at least do it right and not bring the others down with you!
“How do we solve it? We’ve not been able to get in contact with them, and the post can’t be taken down,” Freya explained timidly, and Seb shrugged.
“We have to apologise to the people affected. I’m talking about apologising to Lily and the whole Team four members. I am also aware that Bethel is part of the plot, so it leaves us no choice but for us all to apologise, since it was done by half of our team,” he explained.
“Hell no! I will not be giving that poor, wretched girl another apology!” Merissa declared immediately with a defiant attitude. “I did nothing wrong! I was only exposing her scandal; why do I have to be the one apologising again? She should be the one apologising to me!”
“I think you have repeated that to yourself until you have stated believing it, because how else will you open your damned mouth to say something like this?” Mila replied with a glare. “I’m telling the truth! Lily appears innocent on the outside yet, she’s nothing but evil and scheming! I’m just exposing all of that to people so they won’t get deceived!” Merissa insisted and Mila sighed.
“You can stop now, we all know the truth. Even the netizens know the truth. Why else do you think our team’s hand has been tied and we had no choice but to apologise?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Immediately after the poster made a post, we checked the authenticity of her evidence and also the pictures you provided. Yours were all fake, and hers are all real. Why else do you think Thompson’s PR is keeping quiet? Even Evie has been abandoned, and now she will have to fend for herself to clear her name,” Mila explained, and Merissa’s shoulders sagged.Content rights belong to NôvelDrama.Org.
As she looked towards Evie, the other turned away with a huff while glaring at the wall behind her. “For the sake of our team and the company we are all currently working for, we have to apologise. After this event, we all have to go back to our various locations, but if we don’t clear this up, we will all be affected for a long time. I’m not begging you, it’s required that we all apologise.” Mila added, and Bethel cleared his throat awkwardly.
“The higher-ups said if we aren’t able to clear up the mess before the end of today, we will have to pay for the loss. All of us.”