Farewell to Love: The CEO's Desperate Chase novel Chapter 167

"They keep insisting that Vivienne is only going after Serena because she has Tyler backing her. But has anyone actually stopped to think about it? Tyler and Donovan Entertainment... If Vivienne really wanted to use Tyler's influence, Serena wouldn't even stand a chance—she could be eliminated from the competition instantly, without leaving a single trace."

"It's probably someone else trying to frame Vivienne for all this."

This line of reasoning was a direct attack on the logic behind the accusations.

Since most commenters weren't privy to the real inside story, for a brief moment, this explanation actually sounded pretty convincing.

Seven and Joyce jumped in, responding to the online chatter by listing out all sorts of points.

They'd planned for this in advance, and soon enough, public opinion was swinging back in their favor.

After all, no one besides Vivienne had any real reason to target Serena from the very start.

That was a fact set in stone.

Now, several music industry bloggers were analyzing Serena's performance from a professional standpoint.

Every single review was glowing.

As the buzz online kept building, Vivienne was so furious she could've shattered her own teeth from clenching them.

Ever since Jack's team had started working for her, Vivienne had never suffered such a humiliating setback.

Even back when she went up against Emilia, she'd handled things with ease.

But this Serena—a nobody, really—had somehow become her biggest headache yet.

Of course, she couldn't let any of this show in front of the cameras. All she could do was give a subtle nod to the crew not to film her, then duck her head and quickly text Wyatt and Jack.

Wyatt, however, was knee-deep in his own problems and couldn't be bothered to reply.

Jack's advice was to leak dirt on Serena—maybe expose her relationship with Christian, or the fact that she'd had an abortion for him.

Vivienne immediately shot that down.

"Jensen, I need a favor," Vivienne said in a deliberately meek tone. "I don't know if you've seen what's been happening online..."

Jensen said he had.

"I honestly have no idea who's behind this," Vivienne lied smoothly, "but somehow, I'm getting all the blame."

"I remember The Erickson Group has some reach in the entertainment industry, right? Do you think you could pull a few strings and help me out?"

Up until now, Vivienne had only used Tyler's name for intimidation, relying on Jack's team to do the real work. This was her first time actually asking The Erickson Group for help.

She knew that getting them involved could poke holes in her carefully crafted image, and there was always the risk that things might spiral out of control—her secrets could come spilling out.

But this time, she had no choice.

And it was all Serena's fault.

Serena was the one who had pushed her to the edge.