Chapter 43

The car ride back was quiet as Lucy White rested with her eyes closed. The scenery outside the window blurred past, and the sunlight filtering through the glass cast dappled shadows across her face.

"Lucy!" Sophia Taylor suddenly grabbed her arm, her voice trembling with barely contained fury. "They actually did it!"

Lucy slowly opened her eyes, a knowing smile curling at the corners of her lips. "No need to rush. Let them have their fun for now."

Sophia shoved her phone in front of Lucy. "Look at these comments! Richard Brown has no shame!"

On the screen, hired trolls were frantically steering the narrative. Lucy skimmed through them and let out a derisive chuckle.

"The harder they push now, the harder they'll fall later." Her slender fingers tapped lightly against the armrest. "Let them enjoy their moment."

Sophia stomped her foot in frustration. "But they're calling you ungrateful! They're saying you have a sugar daddy! Even that web series your mom recommended—they're crediting it all to Richard!"

Lucy reached out and pinched Sophia's puffed-up cheek. "Relax, sweetheart. Soon enough, they won’t even have tears left to cry."

Her phone buzzed suddenly. Nathan King was calling.

"Nathan," Lucy answered, her voice eerily calm.

"Have you seen what's happening online?" Nathan's voice was laced with concern. "What do you need me to do?"

Lucy chuckled. "Get two things ready for me: a PR team and a legal squad."

As she hung up, Sophia had already pulled up Richard's latest tweet. Beneath the thinly veiled insinuation, fans were viciously attacking Lucy in the comments.

"Hmph." Lucy smirked coldly and opened her own account. "It's time."

Her fingers flew across the screen as she drafted her counterattack. Sophia leaned in, her eyes widening with each passing second.

"Lucy, this is..." She gasped. "Brutal!"

Lucy hit send, then turned to Sophia with a sweet smile. "Now this is what you call a clapback."

Outside the window, the setting sun cast its final golden rays across her delicate profile, painting her skin in a crimson glow.