Chapter 129

Merry was at a loss, her mind a whirlwind. How on earth could she calm the situation? She hadalready made it clear, geeks rule the school, and those who couldn’t match up simply refused tobelieve anyone could. What was she supposed to do, wave a magic wand and force them tobelieve?

Frustrated, she didn’t want to bother Cordelia with this mess, so she responded with firm resolve,“Then just disqualify me She knew when she entered the competition that she lacked the popularity of her rival and the oddswere stacked against her.

Upon sending her message, the manager promptly replied, “Fine, but you need to issue an apologyto your fans admitting you deceived them.”

Merry’s jaw clenched at the absurdity. She retorted, “I haven’t lied to my fans. Why should Iapologize?”

The manager shot back, “If you continue with this attitude and remain uncooperative, we’ll have nochoice but to shut down your stream.”

That hit a nerve. After leaving the Jordan family, Merry had been relying on her streaming income.

Latham had encouraged her to apply to the Onitoky City Film and Animation Academy, whichmeant shelling out for expensive lessons in performance and presence, each costing more than agrand.

Streaming was crucial for her; she was determined to make a name for herself.

But the manager was being downright bullying.

She typed back, each letter heavy with defiance, “On what grounds can you shut down mystream?”

The reply was swift, “Your channel has received multiple reports. We need to verify if you’vedeceived your fans and during this investigation, you cannot continue streaming.”

–

In the grand scheme of things, a streamer with a few thousand fans even if that number hadrecently jumped to several tens of thousands – was insignificant to the platform.

Enraged, Merry asked, “How long will your “investigation‘ take?”

The manager was vague, “We can’t give you an exact timeframe. Wait for our decision.”

After that, the manager went offline, ignoring all further messages from Merry.

Taking a deep breath, Merry tried to reassure herself that the ban would likely last only a day; that’show it usually went with other streamers on the app.

However, later that afternoon, as she logged in to the platform hoping to find her channel reinstated,she was greeted instead by an official statement on the homepage. “In light of the recent deceit byour streamer “WhiteLight, we’ve concluded our investigation and apologize to the fans. We havetaken action by permanently closing the ‘WhiteLight‘ channel.

Her heart skipped a beat. WhiteLight – the name her fans knew her by and the one she used forstreaming.

Hadn’t they said they would investigate? Had they actually done so?

She frantically messaged the manager, but it was like screaming into the void; there was noresponse. It was then that she truly felt the weight of her powerlessness.

Meanwhile, Cordelia was on her way to the art exhibit with Lorna.

At noon, Larry had picked up Lorna in his car, and after lunch, they headed to the exhibit.

On the way there, Lorna took Cordelia’s hand, offering words of comfort, “The internet is full ofscams, darling People even scam others out of love and money. So, if you’re conned, remember,it’s not the end of the world as long as you’re safe. And if it’s just money lost, it’s not the end either.”

Cordelia nodded, her phone vibrating with a message from Painter, “You there yet?”

“Five minutes out,” she replied.

“Great, just scan the e–ticket to get in,” Painter messaged back.

“Okle dokle,” Cordelia responded, just as she noticed Lorna’s skeptical gaze. Lorna asked in a tonelaced with incredulity. “This is B. Aster?”

Cordelia confirmed with a nod, and Lorna sighed. This ‘Painter‘ person had chosen such a name? Itwas clear to Lorna that her daughter had been duped.

As they a approached the entrance to the exhibit, they noticed a queue forming. Just as they were about tojoin the line, a familiar voice called out, “Hey, Lorna, Lia, you made it!”

It was Rachel.

Lorna frowned at the sight of her, “Why are you here?”

Rachel grinned, “I was worried about you holding a fake ticket, so I came to give you a real one.”

She flaunted the ticket in front of Lorna, then added, “I just saw Fanny, you know her, right?President of the Greenmeadow Art Association. She said not to sell you a ticket. It took some doing,but I managed to get this one. Don’t you want to see the exhibit? I heard it’s filled with masterpiecesand selected works, and many international guests are attending!”

Lorna’s frown deepened, ‘Don’t trouble yourself on my account.”

Rachel’s smile wavered, “Lorna, Lia, you always take things too seriously. Sometimes it’s easier toplay along a little.”

Ignoring Rachel, Lorna and Cordelia joined the queue.

Those who attended international art exhibits were either renowned figures in the art world orwealthy patrons looking to bask in cultural elegance.

Seeing they weren’t paying her any mind, Rachel scoffed, then called out, “Mrs. Brown!”

Mrs. Brown, a society lady from the prestigious Lewis family, turned at the sound of her name.Rachel greeted her warmly before pointing at Lorna, “Mrs. Brown, have you met Lorna? Let meintroduce you.”

Mrs. Brown smiled, ‘So this is Mr. Delaney’s wife. He keeps you quite hidden, we’ve never had thepleasure.”

Lorna’s lips twitched in annoyance as she glared at Rachel. She had brought Cordelia to try theticket, wanting to give her daughter a life lesson and some experience.

Since she rarely socialized with Sanderson, she didn’t know many people. Even if the ticket wasdeclared fake at the door and they were turned away, it wouldn’t be a public embarrassment.

Now, Rachel had made such a scene with her introduction that if her ticket turned out to be a dud, itwould be the Sandersons‘ reputation on the line!

Imagine the scandal spreading through Greenmeadow like wildfire, Mrs. Sanderson, turned away atthe door of the art exhibit with a counterfeit ticket–what a hoot that would be!

Rachel was clearly pushing Lorna into a corner, strong–arming her into begging for a ticket. It was alow blow, no doubt about it.

Mrs. Brown had already gotten in, her ticket validated, and was now queuing up inside. She pausedpolitely at the entrance, giving Lorna a chance to catch up.

Rachel sidled up to Lorna, her voice a conspiratorial whisper, ‘Lorna, you know Mrs. Brown’s gotthe biggest mouth in town. If you get busted with a fake ticket, by tomorrow, it’ll be the talk ofGreenmeadow. Are you sure you don’t want to take the ticket?”

Lorna’s jaw was set tight as she moved with the crowd, and now, it was their turn.

The security guard spoke up, “Ticket, please. Thank you.”

Rachel held her ticket out, a smug look on her face, waiting for Lorna to swallow her pride. But justat that moment-[beep!]