The good news about Melissa’s and Derek’s engagement—which she had expected to make her reputation skyrocket—never came. She had even prepared an article for someone to upload about her engagement with the Lancaster family, expecting people to talk about her.
But alas...
"Who released these articles?!" Manager Kang fumed, slamming his hand against the armrest of the van’s seat. His eyes shook as he skimmed through the headlines talking about the "dramatic" turn of events at Melissa and Derek’s engagement party.
Her name was trending—just as she’d wanted—but not for the right reasons.
"It’s a blind item, but they didn’t even try to hide it," Simon muttered casually as he scrolled through one of the articles.
Both men were on their way to the set of Angel’s Revenge, yet they were too distracted by what they’d witnessed last night. If not for Simon, Manager Kang would’ve probably stayed behind just to eavesdrop. But Simon was smart enough to leave the chaos.
In the articles, people weren’t only talking about the engagement, but about Melissa herself. The haters had started bombarding every thread, calling her a gold digger and worse. Her fans tried to defend her, but they were being drowned out by the wave of backlash.
[Melissa isn’t even good. All her roles are so basic, and she can’t play them properly!]
[I remember quitting a movie halfway just because she was in it. It’s not even her character that annoyed me—it was her.]
[Just a pretty face? Hah. She’s not even that pretty.]
[Why does her agency keep promoting her when they have better, prettier, and more talented actresses?]
[I don’t know what’s going on, but something about Melissa just feels off.]
Simon scrolled down lazily, barely able to keep up with how fast the comments were moving. Even when he switched platforms, Melissa’s face appeared again and again—attached to more criticism, edited clips, and memes mocking her.
And just like how the internet works, the stories kept multiplying, each one adding new "details." Not all were true, but that didn’t matter. The more people talked about it, the further the narrative strayed from reality.
"Oh, god..." Manager Kang breathed heavily, making Simon glance over at him.
"What now, Manager Kang?"
Slowly, the manager turned to his artist, his face pale. He gulped, trying to form words, but nothing came out. Simon sighed and reached over to take his phone, curious what could’ve made him look like that.
On the screen was a headline from the business news—a screenshot of the stock market with one stock circled in red.
NL Group.
"Wow," was all Simon could say as he processed the image. "NL Group’s stock dipped this much overnight?"
To confirm, he opened his own app. Sure enough, the numbers were even lower now than in the article.
"And it’s not even because Summit Partners has made a move yet," he murmured.
According to the reports, NL Group’s stocks were plummeting because investors had begun pulling out en masse. Many were selling shares before the market opened too low to recover.
"They’ve lost billions in just a few hours," Simon said, torn between awe and pity. "This might be the biggest crisis the NL Group has ever faced."
Even though market fluctuations were normal, NL Group’s stock had always been one of the most stable. This was the first time it had fallen so drastically. If it continued, the company would either go bankrupt or fall out of the Fortune 500 entirely.

[NL Group Headquarters]
[Summit Partners Headquarters]
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