Chapter 244 - 243
Sean Grant gasped, then shouted, "Dammit!"
"Joanna! How can you be so heartless, so cruel, so unreasonable!"
Every word was laced with anguish, his voice so sorrowful it could have reached the heavens. It was enough to startle the dozing kitten awake.
Joanna: "..."
The corner of Joanna’s mouth twitched, but her expression remained unchanged. "Boss Grant, your acting is terrible. You don’t deserve any sympathy."
Sean Grant: "..."
"How could you be like this..."
Seeing that Sean Grant was about to start his act again, Joanna couldn’t take it anymore. "Seriously, Boss Grant, what on earth do you want?"
’Sean Grant had shown up first thing in the morning with a bag of apples, and he’d been rambling on about nothing ever since. He’d been sitting here all morning, and whenever she asked why he came, he wouldn’t say a word, just kept beating around the bush.’
Joanna’s face hardened. "If you don’t tell me what you want, you’d better believe I’m going to text Simon and tell on you."
That was a deadly threat. Sean Grant immediately caved. "Don’t, don’t, don’t! I’ll talk, okay...?"
Joanna lifted her chin, gesturing for him to speak.
Sean Grant’s eyes darted around. He opened his mouth and asked out of the blue, "Who are you knitting that hat for?"
"...It’s a scarf."
"Oh, oh, oh, a scarf! Right. That’s nice, very nice..."
Joanna: "..."
Joanna desperately suppressed the urge to jab her knitting needles into Sean Grant’s head. ’No point arguing with a blind psycho.’
She chanted a silent mantra to calm herself down, then swiftly pulled out her phone. The threat was obvious.
Sean Grant squeezed his eyes shut and blurted out, "Joanna, do you want to go to Oakhaven?"
*
Sitting in Sean Grant’s car, watching the scenery fly past the window, Joanna finally snapped back to reality. She pursed her lips, then looked up and asked, "When will we get there?"
"In about three hours." Sean Grant was in an excellent mood now, humming a little tune. Then, a thought occurred to him. "Hey, don’t tell Simon in advance..."
Joanna’s fingers, just about to send a text, froze. "Why not?"
"To give him a surprise, of course!" Sean Grant said earnestly. "You have no idea. Men love surprises."
Meeting Joanna’s obviously skeptical gaze, he rubbed his nose. "Alright, fine. The truth is, I got into a fight with Jack Warren. If he knew I was coming, he’d definitely avoid me."
Joanna rolled her eyes. ’No wonder,’ she thought. ’So that’s why he came to find me out of the blue. I’m just a pawn in his little game.’
"Hey, hey, hey, don’t look at me like that," Sean Grant said, trying to justify himself. "Aren’t you missing your dear President Lockwood? You’re already knitting a hat for him, don’t try to hide it."
"It’s a scarf!" Joanna was exasperated.
Sean Grant: "..."
The car fell silent. After a long moment, Joanna spoke up. "Boss Grant... thanks."
’To be honest, she’d been feeling on edge for the past few days. Whenever she had a free moment, she’d find herself video-calling or texting Simon.’
’On the calls, his features were as handsome as ever, but he looked much more tired. Sometimes, she could even hear a commotion in the background, but before she could make anything out, Simon would find an excuse and hastily end the call.’
’She wanted to go see him, but she was worried about interrupting his work and didn’t want him to think she was clingy. Sean Grant’s little stunt had given her the perfect excuse.’
Her phone chimed with a notification. Joanna opened it to see a message from Walter Young, telling her to get online.
Joanna had a sinking feeling she knew what this was about. She opened Weibo, and when she saw that several of the top trending topics were smear campaigns against her, she let out a bitter laugh.
A video from the private premiere screening had been released. It was an edited clip. In it, a beaming Ivy Nash handed out candy to the other celebrities. When she got to Joanna, Joanna briefly turned her head away and then back again. The camera only managed to capture the moment Ivy Nash withdrew the candy box.
It was framed to look as if Joanna had refused the offer.
The trending hashtags were vague, but they all pushed the same narrative.
Joanna didn’t need to click on the comments to know what Ivy Nash’s fans were writing. It would be the usual accusations: that she was a diva, disrespectful, had low emotional intelligence, and the like.
Her private messages were maxed out at 99+. Joanna opened them and only needed a single glance. Her screen filled with vile insults. Among them, several messages mentioned Leah Shaw.
Joanna frowned and clicked on one to see what it was about.
It turned out the variety show she had appeared on to promote the movie had aired. The broadcast version had edited Leah Shaw’s speech on the "wishing stage," but someone had found the original, unedited footage and posted it online, where it immediately went viral.
["You can always count on a veteran like Ms. Shaw. She can tear someone down without using a single dirty word. So satisfying to watch. I won’t say who she was talking about, but... @JoannaKennedy"]
["Wasn’t she always bragging about her great acting skills? Hahahaha, now look at this spectacular failure. Even a veteran actress couldn’t stand her, saying it’s ’not easy’ to do a scene with her~"]
["Now I don’t just hate Joanna Kennedy, I hate Owen Jennings too. Damn it, he’s just her simp, isn’t he? Going on about her being the ’best actress’—where does that leave everyone else? Our Serena took such good care of him when they worked together. What a scumbag!"]
As soon as this sentiment appeared, many others chimed in with their agreement. This, in turn, enraged Owen Jennings’s fans, who had previously tried to stay out of the drama.
They were already jealous about their favorite star defending another female celebrity, and after finally talking themselves down, the issue was now being shoved in their faces. Of course they were furious.
["Seriously, hate on Joanna Kennedy all you want, but why are you dragging our Owen into this?"]
["Exactly. Can you not drag innocent people into this? Our Owen didn’t do anything. And one more thing, all you shippers need to shut up. Anyone who pops up now will just be labeled as a die-hard Joanna stan."]
Thanks to their blunt language and impressive ability to shut down arguments, mentions of Owen Jennings quickly died down.
A few of Joanna’s Fans were also in the mix, desperately trying to argue back. They didn’t give up, continuing their defense even as insults were hurled at them.
["Several other veteran actors have praised Joanna, and Leah Shaw is the only one being passive-aggressive. Why are you only listening to her?"]
["Leaving aside whether the video was edited, even if it’s real, does our Joanna have to accept candy just because Ivy Nash offered it? Can’t she just not want any? Doesn’t she have the right to say no?"]
Their arguments were logical and well-reasoned, but unfortunately, the enraged mob was in no mood to listen.
This was the nature of the internet. Few people had actually watched the video, and even fewer truly knew Joanna Kennedy. They were simply echoing the crowd.
The crowd was swept up in a frenzy, an unprecedented festival of hate. They didn’t care about right or wrong; they were just venting their own frustrations. Anyone who dared to disagree was immediately swarmed and attacked.
The person pulling strings from the shadows was an expert at using the internet to manipulate public opinion. One "scandal" after another appeared. None of them were major on their own, but piled one on top of the other, they were enough to make Joanna a target for widespread ridicule.
The light in Joanna’s eyes grew cold. She closed Weibo, opened WeChat, and, without another moment’s hesitation, typed out a few words and sent them to Walter Young.
’BANG. I wonder who this bullet, which has been flying for so long, is going to hit,’ she thought. ’I can’t wait to find out.’