Chapter 130
If things kept spiraling like this, there’d be no way to contain the fallout.
Shirley never doubted Effie-not for a second.
She simply wasn’t the type to get between a couple, and even though they hadn’t known each other long, Shirley trusted her instincts about Effie’s character.
What she couldn’t understand was why someone was so determined to drag Effie through the mud.
“Don’t worry. The truth will come out,” Effie said calmly, her voice steady.
With nothing else to do, Shirley could only return awkwardly to her seat, worry still etched on her face.
But the scandal wasn’t dying down-in fact, it was only growing.
In just an hour, the story had shot into the top five trending topics online, and it showed no signs of slowing down.
With Effie staying quiet, whoever was behind the rumors grew bolder, paying off influencers and gossip accounts to fan the flames and spread more fabricated dirt.
Soon, the internet was flooded with nasty comments, calling Effie every degrading name imaginable and branding her a homewrecker. The tide of public opinion turned sharply against her.
Suzan, on the other hand, was positively glowing that day.
She’d started this whole thing on a whim, never expecting it would blow up so spectacularly.
Sipping her tea with an air of satisfaction, she scrolled through the comments.
Effie, serves you right! That’s what you get for flirting with Mitchell! Hmph!
Isabel, too, was in high spirits. She hadn’t expected there were others who despised Effie as much as she did.
So, she quietly instructed Carole to stoke the fire even more, determined to keep the scandal burning hot.
Let Lyman see Effie’s true colors, she thought. Effie was always fickle-two- timing, never loyal.
Meanwhile, Effie was gearing up to fight back, but Lyman was already a step ahead.
Early that morning, as soon as Luther arrived at the office, he rushed to update Lyman on the situation.
“This is a mess,” Luther said, concern etched across his face.
He trusted Effie-he was sure she’d never cheat on Mr. Etheridge. There had to be some mistake.
Lyman stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, his phone buzzing nonstop with trending alerts about Effie. He dismissed them without a word, but when he caught sight of a particular comment “Heard this woman’s playing both sides”— his expression turned icy cold.
Luther approached cautiously. “Sir, should we have PR step in?”
“Get them on it now. Wipe this off the trending list,” Lyman replied, voice like steel. “And have someone pull the security footage. I want to know exactly who thinks they can mess with my people.”
Deep down, Lyman trusted Effie. She wasn’t like that.
The first time he’d seen those doctored photos, anger had flashed through him.
But he’d quickly regained his composure.
It was obvious-someone was orchestrating this smear campaign.
Luther hurried off to handle the crisis.
Within minutes, the trending topic vanished.
Shortly after, a well-known blogger posted a video exposing the so-called
“intimate photos” as fakes-crude Photoshop jobs.
The footage clearly showed Effie trying to push the other person away, visibly uncomfortable and repeatedly shaking them off.
The video proved beyond doubt that Effie had been harassed, not the other way around.
There was no affair, no betrayal—just a baseless accusation.
The blogger even emphasized that the video was the original, and anyone with doubts was welcome to have it authenticated.
Then, several reputable news outlets released statements condemning the malicious rumors.
The narrative flipped so fast, the online spectators could hardly keep up.
But the real shocker came when Etheridge Group’s official account tagged the original gossip source with a single, chilling message:
“See you in court.”
Three words, and the internet exploded.
What on earth was happening?
Suddenly, everyone was scrambling to connect the dots.
What was Etheridge Group’s involvement in all this?
It seemed the scandal was only getting juicier by the minute.