Chapter 1039 The Talk of the ‘Internet’
It was not until now did Sonia comprehend the situation—someone took a picture of her with a man going to a hotel and the netizens were presuming that she was cheating with another man.
F*ck! What kind of nonsense is this?
Words failed her as her eyes hurt from all the eye-rolls. “Who did I go to the hotel with? Why didn’t I know anything?”
Looking at her with mixed feelings, Daphne replied, “President Reed, have you forgotten that you and President Lane went to meet Mr. Smith in the hotel?”
Sonia’s face darkened at that. “So, you mean someone took a picture of me and Charles going into a hotel, and they spread rumors about us? Is Charles the man involved?”
“Yes.” Daphne lowered her gaze onto the ground.
Sonia smiled in vexed. “These people must be really free. Let me see their comments.”
Then, she threw away the pen in her hand and held the mouse. Turning on her computer, she saw her so-called scandal the moment she logged into the website.
Due to the big banner on top of the website, she could not unsee it even if she wanted to. A striking topic was written on it with bold fonts.
‘Shocking News! President Fuller’s Girlfriend Went to a Hotel With Mystery Man! Is There a Good Reason for It? Or Is It a Moral Decadence?’
Looking at the title, Sonia was utterly at a loss for words.
Lunatic freak!
One could easily tell that it was Squirrel Media’s style.
She did not click on the banner advertising immediately. Instead, her eyes narrowed before she raised her head to look at Daphne. “Do you know which media outlet spread the rumor first?”
The other main character of the scandal was Charles. Although Daphne mentioned that she was going to give up on him many times, it was not that easy to do so.
She still loved him. Now that he was involved in a scandal, she would not turn a blind eye, let alone shrugging the matter off without looking into it.
As Sonia had expected, Daphne gave a quick response to her answer. “It’s the Squirrel Media.”
“It is them.” Sonia smirked. She could guess that it was their style from the title, but it was now verified that the first one to release the article was them as well.
These squirrels are seriously getting on my nerves.
“Besides them, other websites and media outlets shared the article soon after. The articles were scandalous and the news is sending everyone wild right now,” Daphne added.
Sonia nodded to acknowledge her as her cold eyes remained fixated on the exaggerated banner. Etching the word ‘Squirrel Media’ into her head, she pursed her lips with a dark expression. Next, she grabbed the mouse to click onto the inflated title on the banner.
The Squirrel Media was considerably big as a media company, but they were an ant in comparison to the Fuller Group. Thus, they would not have the audacity to release such articles to offend Toby.
Even if there was something going on between Sonia and Charles, and they managed to take some pictures of them as evidence, the normal procedure should be meeting Toby personally in light of his identity. In doing so, showing him the content might earn them some hush money. They would never decide to release an article like this.
Releasing the article like this meant trampling Toby’s dignity, which would lose themselves his favor. After all, everyone would find out that the president of Fuller Group, a man of such high status, was cheated on. No man would have the tolerance to put up with it; the media’s demise was inevitable.
Sonia believed that the Squirrel Media understood that simple rule. However, they were willing to take the risk of offending Toby by dropping the bomb.
Hence, this meant that they had a backer to shore them up, someone who might have the power to keep them safe. Thus, the daring media passed Toby and released the article on the Internet just like that.
As an afterthought, her grip on the mouse tightened. She wondered what kind of content they wrote beneath the striking title after taking the risk of offending Toby. Sonia’s small face was so cold that even the air around her was chilly.
Staring at her, Daphne could not help the surprised expression on her countenance.
Since when has President Reed looked so intimidating before?
It was as though she was looking at Toby. Although it was not as formidable as his, it was close.
Seems like she has learned a lot from President Fuller.
Oblivious of Daphne’s thoughts, Sonia was staring at the monitor. The displayed content almost had her laughing.
Squirrel Media’s article wrote, ‘On 20th of January, a witness saw Miss Reed, the president of Paradigm, entering Atlas Hotel with an anonymous man in the afternoon. A couple of hours later, both of them were having fun while talking intimately at the entrance. Once the car arrived, they looked at each other and smiled before leaving. The witness could not help but wonder about their relationship.’
Following the paragraph were a few pictures.
One of them showed Sonia and Charles going into the hotel. Since they were talking, the close proximity made it seem like they were holding hands.
The next one was them waiting for the cab at the hotel entrance upon bidding Brian goodbye. In the photo, her head hung low as she warmed her hands while Charles stood next to her to put his coat on her shoulders.
In the third photo, she was wearing his coat while looking at him in shock. However, her cheeks were red. In addition to her surprised gaze, she appeared shy and it lent more reasons for one to misinterpret the situation.
In actuality, her cheeks were red because of the cold weather. It was not the kind of bashful reaction as shown in the picture.
As for her gaze, it was more ridiculous. She could easily tell that someone had brightened the picture to make her surprised expression seem to be that of a shy girl in love.
Obviously, the Squirrel Media edited the photos on purpose to mislead the netizens. In doing so, the netizens would assume that something was going on between Sonia and Charles.
These wicked people.
For the final picture, he was opening the car door for her whereas she smiled at him as a thank you.
Even so, the content was misunderstood due to the camera angle. It became the intimate and affectionate smile as mentioned in the paragraph.
In short, with those narrations and ambiguous photos, she would have mistaken that she had something going on with Charles if she was the third party. How would the netizens respond when Sonia herself conceived such thoughts after reading it?
The busybody netizens had always possessed a cognitive distortion of fanning the flames while watching the commotion. Plus, putting Toby and her identities together was merely adding fuel to the flame.
Not that she was looking down upon them though. It was just the truth.
