Chapter 4 - The Social Media Retaliation
Three days after Julian was fired, the quiet war escalated into a public circus.
I was sitting in my office reviewing audit files when my phone began ringing off the hook. It was my public relations manager, Sarah.
“Elena, you need to look at Facebook and TikTok right now,” Sarah said, her voice tight with urgency. “It’s trending locally, and it’s spreading fast.”
I opened my laptop and searched my name.
A video posted by Eleanor Hayes had gone viral, accumulating over two million views in under twelve hours.
In the video, Eleanor sat on a plush sofa, holding a handkerchief, tears streaming down her face. She looked fragile, heartbroken, and deeply wronged.
“My name is Eleanor Hayes,” she wept into the camera. “I am a widowed mother who worked two jobs to raise my son, Julian. Last weekend was supposed to be the happiest day of his life. But he married a woman from an immensely powerful, wealthy family—Elena Vance, daughter of billionaire Alexander Vance.”
She paused, wiping her eyes dramatically.
“During the wedding reception, Elena and her family humiliated us,” Eleanor claimed, her voice trembling with manufactured pain. “Because we are middle class, because we don't own private jets, Elena’s father publicly insulted my family. When my son stood up to defend my honor, Elena threw her wedding ring in his face! And then, using their massive corporate power, the Vance family had my son fired from his job on Monday morning!”
The comment section was an absolute toxic wasteland: - ‘Rich people think they can buy human dignity! Disgusting!’ - ‘Boycott Vance Group! Justice for Julian!’ - ‘This poor mother… gold-digger reversed! The girl played poor just to humiliate them!’ - ‘#CancelElenaVance is trending!’
I closed my eyes, feeling a headache coming on. Eleanor was a master of emotional manipulation. She had painted herself as the humble, working-class mother crushed by the arrogant billionaire hierarchy.
Five minutes later, my phone rang again. It was Julian. I answered it this time, placing it on speaker.
“Elena!” Julian’s voice was frantic, background noise suggesting he was in a noisy coffee shop. “Did you see what my mother did? I told her to take it down, but she won cut it! She thinks she’s defending me!”
“Did she, Julian?” I asked coldly. “Or is she using you as a shield because her own pride was wounded?”
“Elena, please, listen to me!” Julian cried. “The media is calling my phone! Reporters are outside my apartment building! People online are destroying my reputation, but they’re attacking you too! If you just talk to me… if we go on camera together and say it was all a big misunderstanding, we can fix this! We can still be together!”
I gave a cold laugh. Even now, facing a public relations nightmare, Julian’s first instinct was to use the crisis to force me back into his life.
“You still don’t understand, Julian,” I said. “You think this video is a weapon against me. But in reality, your mother just signed the warrant for both of your complete social and financial destruction.”
“What do you mean?” Julian gasped.
“You forgot one small detail, Julian,” I replied softly. “Our wedding venue had full audio and video surveillance. Every single word your mother said at that table was recorded.”
I hung up the phone before he could reply.
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I immediately called Sarah, my PR head. “Sarah, release the raw, unedited CCTV footage from the hotel ballroom. Include the audio feeds from the microphone installed in the floral arrangement at table four.”
“With pleasure, Controller Vance,” Sarah grinned over the line. “This is going to be magnificent.”