Without needing to be told, I knew the internet was on fire.
The top headline read in bold red.
"AUREA Mysterious Designer Exposed. Is Jiang Rui the Real Genius Behind Jiang Ning's Fame?"
Underneath the heading, stood pictures of the confrontation we just had.
They had flooded every feed. Me standing calm and sharp and beautiful in pink silk, while Wei Han and Jiang Ning looked like wilted flowers left out in the rain.
'The Internet is calling you the queen who has returned with receipts.'
"Receipts?" I muttered, scrolling through comments, my heart feeling happy with all I was seeing.
'Screenshots. Proof, the lack of counterattack from your enemies, your talent, easy digital justice baby.'
"Oh," I replied, smirking. "That kind of receipts."
My phone wouldn't stop vibrating with calls from various unknown numbers, interview requests from even the smallest companies, and brand collaborations.
"What an irony. These were the same people who once ghosted me and now? Look at them pretending as if they had always believed in my potential."
'Host humanity is 30% tea and 70% hypocrisy. They just know when to use what.'
I snorted. " You are right."
Meanwhile, across town, chaos reigned inside the 'mighty' Jiang villa.
Jiang Ning's shriek could probably be heard all the way in Hong Kong.
"She really planned this! She humiliated me in front of everyone again!"
She threw a magazine across the room as it smacked into the wall, narrowly missing her father's precious antique vase.
"Xiao Ning!" Mrs. Jiang's voice cracked with panic. "Calm down before the neighbors hear!"
"How can I calm down mother? Everyone online thinks I stole from her damn ass! Our sponsors are pulling out! It's like a rope undone."
Father Jiang sat stiffly in his chair, his glasses perched low on his nose.
" But you know you did steal from her."
Jiang Ning froze mid tantrum. "Dad..."
"You think I didn't know Jiang Ning?" he said, voice low. "You think I didn't notice how her sketches would always disappear? How you would raid her room right? That too right before your shows?"
Silence.
Mrs. Jiang rushed to intervene, panic evident in her eyes.
" Husband, let us not point any fingers right now. We should put all our focus on controlling the damage made..."
"Damage?" Mr. Jiang slammed the table, his anger bubbling fresh. "Do you know what the Wei family said this morning? They are reconsidering the engagement with your daughter!"
Jiang Ning's healthy face drained of color.
"What?!"
"They don't want their son attached to a...stinky scandal," he snapped. "Apparently, Wei Han's father is really furious. You highly embarrassed their family and your own."
'Ouch! Imagine being disowned twice...Oof.'
Back in the Jiang living room, Mrs. Jiang rushed to link her hands with her husband's.
"Husband we can fix this. We can still fix this. Please issue a statement. Just say that Rui and Ning were collaborating, that everything was all a misunderstanding."
Jiang Ning's eyes burned with tears, unwillingness and hatred.
"She won't agree to that mom. She is no longer the same person."
"Then make her," Her mother hissed back at her. "You are aware of her weakness."
"Her weakness? Please mother!" Jiang Ning scoffed. " Do you mean compassion mother? The one thing you milked out of her?"
Her mother froze, retaliating back. "Don't you dare blame me for your mess Ning!"
Mr. Jiang rubbed his temples in frustration, already tired of the pair of mother and daughter.
"Enough already! Just stay off social media Jiang Ning. Don't alert the press or even talk to them. I will see if our PR firm can spin this."
My stepmother shot him a glare. "And what about Jiang Rui? She's destroying us! Are you just going to stand there and watch?"
"Liang Xue." He called her by her name, surprising everyone in the room.
"In business terms, she is just defending herself," he said, once again surprising both of them. "And she's doing it better than you. All you can do is sit down and hurl curses."
"Teach your daughter better Liang Xue. While others are busy strategizing, your precious little one is busy wrecking my house."
With that, he left the two, not bothering to look at their reaction. He was tired of them.
Meanwhile, in the Wei family mansion, the mood wasn't much better.
Mrs. Wei paced back and forth, clearly agitated.
"Xiao Han. That girl...she is dangerous. We should have made sure she died when we had the chance."
"Mother," Wei Han replied softly.
"she didn't do anything wrong."
"She exposed you Han," she snapped back. "That too, in public. Do you have any idea about what that does to our reputation? The company? Before the upperclass society?"
Mr. Wei was a bit better compared to his wife. He scrolled grimly through his tablet, finally speaking.
"The investors are nervous. They think that Jiang fashion house mishandled her designs. If AUREA sues, then..."
"I don't care about their damn lawsuits!" Mrs. Wei snapped. "I care that she humiliated my family. Couldn't she be a bit submissive and save face?"
Wei Han ran a hand through his hair, clearly irritated. " Mother, you humiliated her first."
'Ooh host! Rebellion detected. I am going to record this for future blackmail. Hehe...'
"Excuse me?" Mrs. Wei's voice was ice, but her son wasn't afraid of her.
He met her gaze steadily. "We abandoned her when she was in that hospital bed. We saw all Jiang Ning did to her but turned a blind eye. When she came back, we still went to provoke her."
"Don't you dare defend that girl," she hissed. "She is a manipulating witch. Twisting the narrative all the time."
"Mom, even an innocent rabbit will bite back when provoked. Were you in her place, then...," he said, voice quiet but firm.
His mother froze.
Mr. Wei sighed. "Enough. The damage is done. We should just focus on the shareholders' meeting. If the Jiang goes down, you should know that our downfall won't be far. And for that, we will need a scapegoat."
'Hehe host... They will probably pick the one crying the loudest. Poor thing'
Back at AUREA, I sat at my worktable with tea and quiet satisfaction.
The sunlight was hitting the fabrics just right. From the pale lavender, to the rich gold, to the deep velvet blue fabrics... Everything looked so poetic and...profitable.
'You have earned half a million followers overnight. Also, four modeling agencies slid into your DMs. It's time to get busy!'
"Fantastic," I said dryly. "Exactly what I need...a bunch of people thinking I'm prettier when I'm furious."
I scrolled through the trending posts, sipping on my tea.
The earlier confrontation had been edited, a certain part of it standing out.
A clip of my confrontation was now a meme.
Probably a fan, had edited a crown onto my head with the caption;
"When They Call You a Ghost, but your favorite thing to haunt is their careers."
I instantly choked on my tea.
"Okay, okay that's actually hilarious."
'Host you are becoming an icon. Should I perhaps trademark your face?'
" Nova please don't," I said, laughing, knowing that if Nova wanted to do so, I wouldn't be able to stop him.
Just then, my assistant, Rumei, burst through the door, breathless.
"Boss! Ma'am you are on TV!"
I raised a brow, still sipping my tea.
"That's never a good sign."
She flipped open her tablet and a live broadcast filled the screen. Oh... didn't she just get warned?
Jiang Ning at a press conference, supported by her mother.
Her voice trembled as she spoke.
"This is all a big misunderstanding. Rui and I were close once and our designs were closer. They inspired each other..."
"Hold on. Pause," I suddenly spoke. Rumei froze the video.
I zoomed in on the jewelry around Jiang Ning's neck, one of my sketches that I had once drawn out of boredom. It was never meant to be released but...
'Theft 2.0.'
"Oh darling sister," I said softly. "You really never learn."
" Boss should we issue a counter statement?" Rumei asked.
"Not really," I said, smiling faintly. "I want them to dig deeper. The more they talk, the easier it will be to slap them with their own words."
'That's evil. I still approve.'
That evening, Jiang Ning's fake apology backfired spectacularly.
Comments were pouring in every second.
"Did her slow brain confess without realizing it?"
"So she admits her 'inspiration' came from stealing?"
"Damn! The Jiang family really is evil."
"Jiang Rui deserves better." #PhantomisQueen.
By midnight, the Jiang's family major sponsors had cut ties.
Their flagship boutique had quietly removed Jiang's Ning's collections from their display. No questions, no talks.
Mrs. Jiang was in tears as she watched everything unfold.
"We are going to lose everything! Our partnerships, our reputation, everything!"
Jiang Ning sat in silence with her mascara smudged, as she stared at her phone.
When she finally spoke, her voice was cold, devoid of any emotion.
"She planned this."
"Who?" her mother asked.
"Jiang Rui. She baited me into calling the press.. She knew exactly how I'd react. She wanted me to panic, and I did."
Her father exhaled slowly, showing visible signs of aging. "Then maybe you should stop giving her ammunition. I warned you."
But Jiang Ning was not listening anymore.
'Uh-oh host. I detect the villain's poisonous monologue.'
" Haha...she thinks she is untouchable now," Ning muttered, standing. "We will see how long that lasts."
By midnight, I was sitting alone on the rooftop of AUREA. I watched the city below glittering like a runway of lights.
For a moment, I had thought that victory would feel louder, but it was quiet. Almost too quiet that I couldn't put my finger on.
'Host, you seem to be contemplating too much. Are you perhaps malfunctioning?'
"I'm fine," I replied softly. "I just didn't expect to feel this empty."
'Sorry host. Revenge is always like caffeine. It has a great kick but the buzz isn't long.'
"You're not wrong."