Chapter 217 Hidden Agendas
Chapter 217 Hidden Agendas
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“You call that teaching her a lesson? Looked more like she taught you one,” Selina snapped, her voice sharp with anger.
Mikita frowned. “Well, I scratched her face.”
“But do you realize what’s happening online right now? They’re digging into her identity. If the Whites see it, they’ll know Anneliese was never some delinquent dropout. Do you know how much effort I spent back then to hide all of that? And now it’s all about to come out!”
They said enemies often understood one best. Selina had been the only one to discover the truth–that Anneliese had been a prodigy admitted into Astoria University’s advanced youth program and had already graduated at 18.
Back then, Anneliese had even delivered a lecture at the university’s auditorium, leaving an invitation for the Whites. Selina had hidden that invitation, burned it, and then pretended to be sick, forcing the entire family to stay at the hospital instead.
She had gone to great lengths to make the whole family believe Anneliese was worthless, nothing but a troublemaker who hadn’t even finished high school. Anneliese, with her proud and distant nature, had withdrawn further from the family, and Selina’s lie had lasted all the way until now.
“So… what do we do? I didn’t expect things to blow up like this. I just wanted to slap her twice and make her pay for the watch, Who knew she’d be so cunning and hard to deal with?” Mikita whined, her voice full of frustration.
Selina drew in a long breath. “Did she see your face clearly? What if she recognizes you?”
“No, no, of course not. I was wearing makeup. Besides, she’s never met me before. Even if she notices we look a little alike, there are plenty of people who resemble each other–she won’t think too much of it.”
“Don’t you dare act on your own again!”
“So what, we just let that little tramp get away with it?” Mikita’s voice quivered with unwillingness.
She hadn’t managed to get the upper hand at the store; instead, she had been slapped hard by Anneliese and tricked into buying a useless watch. Her face was still swollen–how could she possibly let it go?
Selina thought for a moment. “I’ll send you two videos and some photos. Spread them around the socialite circles, the wives‘ groups. Try to get them into Halden’s circles too.” She added sternly, “And don’t you dare send them out yourself.”
“I know, I know,” Mikita answered quickly.
After hanging up, Selina dug out the footage from that banquet where Jonathan had held Anneliese so tenderly, treating her like the most precious thing in the world. She sent them to Mikita.
A woman with such a scandalous reputation being cherished by Jonathan–she was unworthy. Selina knew she wasn’t the only one who would be consumed with jealousy.
She checked the trending search again, then called the platform, speaking as if she were a family member of both Anneliese and Mikita. She demanded that their faces be blurred and their voices altered.
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17:32 Mon, 15 Sept⚫A
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Chapter 217 Hidden Agendas
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Removing a trending post outright required money and influence, but blurring and voice masking were easy–after all, posting videos without consent was against regulations.
Soon, the video on the trending feed was processed, and Selina finally breathed easier.
“Mr. Fullbuster, that looks like Ms. Claude’s car.”
The Maybach was approaching Maple Bay when Zion spotted Anneliese’s car parked by the roadside. He quickly alerted Jonathan.
Jonathan glanced outside, recognized it instantly, and ordered, “Stop the car.”
Inside her own car, Anneliese was scrolling through the trending feed.
She only found out she had gone viral because Jackson had called her. She hadn’t expected that the passerby who had secretly filmed the scene would upload it online. Since the person was a beauty blogger with some followers, the post shot to the top instantly.
Anneliese disliked being in the spotlight. Worse, she genuinely feared her identity being exposed and dragging unnecessary trouble her way.
She had already returned to school and planned to focus entirely on drones and eVTOL research. Who knew if she might one day be pulled into classified projects? The last thing she needed was overexposure.
She was just considering whether to contact the platform to find the uploader when the video suddenly changed–faces blurred, voices altered.
Anneliese blinked in surprise, then let out a soft laugh. Looks like netizens these days know where to draw the line after all.
Just then, a knock sounded on her window. She rolled it down, still wearing the faint smile from moments before.
The brilliant winter sunset filtered through the bare branches above, casting golden light across her delicate face and making her beauty seem almost unreal.
“Well, aren’t you back early today? I was just about to head to the supermarket,” she said, her eyes lighting up with surprise.
Jonathan’s dark gaze locked on her, and then, without warning, he reached in, pinched her chin, and tilted her face upward. Leaning down, he closed the space between them little by little.
Their breaths mingled. Stunned, Anneliese froze, her lashes trembling as she held herself perfectly still.
