33. Trouble Brewing
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At the conclusion of the party, Sena received another rare phone call from her father. She thought she would accommodate him since she already guessed the intention behind. 

Sure enough, she was right.

“Can’t you at least rein in your temper for once? It hasn’t been long since you flared up with your cousin and now you broadcasted your terrible behaviour dragging Maya down?” he barked on the other line.  

Sena laughed dryly, “Mr Luz, I don’t seem to remember doing any of what you are accusing me about.” 

“The Horizon Group party! Maya lost her endorsement.”

“You wouldn’t even ask the details why?”

This kind of father, I can pretend to be a good girl if you don't trouble me. 

Mr Luz was taken aback. He hadn’t really thought deeply about it and just called her out of habit. He had done so several times whenever Maya felt aggrieved. 

“It was your daughter who first approached when I had no intention of interacting with her whatsoever and whatever decision Horizon or her agency took had nothing to do with me. Which part of it was my fault?”

“Even so, you could at least save her some face in front of so many people considering she’s a public figure.”

He had been breaking his head on how to make connections with Horizon and when finally he was given a window it would end up in failure.  

“What about me? Have you ever considered who I am?” 

Mr Luz was stifled by her question. “You? Everyone knows what kind of--”

“Ah, I see,” she spoke unemotionally. “In your eyes, I’m nothing compared to your precious daughter. Just because she shed a tear I should just choke on my grievances and don’t complain.”

“Sena, don’t take it too far. Don’t you forget about what you did at Mrs Muller’s birthday? I still haven’t talked to you about that one.” 

Sena closed her eyes tightly fighting for self-control that is about to run away. “Every time I seem to be the perpetrator. Maya tells you a lot of things from childhood to this day I think she can no longer tell the truth from lies. You’re a businessman and you’ve met a lot of people. I trust you could more or less tell when you are being manipulated.”

Oh, Sena knew he can. He also hated being deceived. 

She could hear an impatient breath from the other side and before he could add in a lengthy discussion about the horrid behaviour she cut in. 

“Unless of course you could never be bothered to care at least. You have always been so biased, daddy.” 

Her quiet bitter voice stunned the man beyond the line.

It had been so long since he heard her call ‘daddy’. It came like a whisper then quickly dissolved into nothingness before it could settle. Fleeting as it may seem, that one word stoked a lot of unknown emotions deep inside him. 

“I have never asked you for anything and I never will.” Sena breathed in shakily. “You made your choice and we accepted that but why is it that you have to keep on squeezing me just for the sake of your family’s convenience? Why is it that I always have to give way?”

Why is it that every time the shameless mother and daughter pair complain she had to be dragged down as well? In this new life, she just wanted to live as carefree as she liked. Wasting her breath for some nonexistent affection will only hurt her. But they just won’t leave her alone. Then it's completely reasonable if she gives them a few jabs, right?

Mr Luz felt like he had swallowed a fist. He wanted to say something but in the end, nothing came.

“Sometimes I wonder if you even see me as your own flesh and blood or just some random alley cat you can kick.” pain made her voice gruff. “Don’t call me again just to soothe your daughter’s damaged pride. I’m tired, keep me out of your family’s affairs or else...” 

Beyond the line, Sena wore an emotionless mask. On the other hand, Mr Luz’s hand shook.

When the line went dead, he was still immersed at the shock he felt when he heard the loneliness in her voice. That child had always been headstrong and lively, Paula raised her that way. She has everything right at her fingertips and has never experienced hardships but perhaps life was an excellent teacher, the paradise she had collapsed. 

He found a new family when she was still too young then her mother died recently. Never once did she ask to be coaxed. 

A stab of guilt hit him in the chest. Mr Luz lowered the phone and kneaded his forehead, suddenly tired. 

When he heard Maya’s sobbing upstairs, he chose to walk out to the garden, irritated.  

 

Work had been good to Diamond Realtor, but not everything will go as smoothly as Sena thought. The incident at the party made it to the online forums overnight.

The picture of the glamorous Maya gave a reason for her growing fans to rejoice and revel at the beauty of their idol. 

There have been talks about the new model for the jewellery brand Amore, however, Horizon Group kept it hushed. Plenty auditioned but there was still no announcement then suddenly Maya Luz appeared in the party.

The fans boiled over, squealing in delight for their queen. It will be a great leap to have her face in the billboards and pages of fashion magazines.

Plus in Maya’s online profile page, there had been pictures of her wearing Amore’s jewellery in a low key manner. Everyone took it as a kind of indirect advertising. With her appearance at the party, it was assumed that the job was already in the bag. 

But the rhythm abruptly changed come morning when an anonymous poster who claimed to be an insider said that things are nothing like they expected.  

At the same time, Maya took down the photos she posted prior. What did that mean? 

IamMaya: [Thank you, everyone, for your love and support. In the future, I will continue to work hard to be worthy of your trust. The road is long and challenging. Mistakes are inevitable along the way. I can only blame myself for failing to recognize my place. I hope people will have a broader perspective as we move on.]    

The post was flawless to the point it sounded very generous and inspiring. While it looked harmless on the surface it also hinted another meaning that something happened in between resulting in the withdrawal of her contract. 

Frufru: [There is no one else higher than you. Who dares claim to!?]

Meowmeow: [When baby Maya is sad a lot of people will be worried. Don’t feel bad there will be more in the future!] 

Fans were at a loss why everything was dropped all of a sudden. Some grieved while others sharpened their pitchforks and knives to lynch the culprit. As a rising new face in the entertainment industry, Maya’s popularity is currently hot. Coupled with her background people are naturally easily taken with her and they will do everything to defend their idol. 

Her posts were dissected to the last fibre to get to the reason behind it. 

Just as they were crazy looking for someone to blame, another insider exposed that Maya offended one of the executives during the party that resulted in the loss of her endorsement. The article vaguely skimmed over the topic and did not even put the names of the certain figures involved leaving it to the vast imaginations of the readers to digest. 

Unfortunately, fans can be overprotective when it comes to the people they behold. Their sharpened weapons found something to attack, the fiercest among them haven’t rested all night just to gather all the tidbits and finally made a mishmash to fuel their anger. 

Applesauce: [I finally know what shameless looks like!] 

An attachment was posted right under the long rant text. 

It was a picture of a leggy beauty and a fat middle-aged man walking side by side. 

[I’m so distressed. A real-life drama unfolded! This was the reason for the loss of endorsement. According to a close friend of mine, the man is an executive of a large overseas firm cooperating with Horizon Group. How could Maya offend such a man when they have no connection or anything? Please look closer and you will find the answer.] 

Although their faces were deliberately blurred, they can see that beauty appears to be young, she had her head angled to the side whispering something to the fatty making him laugh.

Frisky: [Do you guys remember the issue last year?]

When Maya is concerned, her loyal fans know everything and that includes her half-sister from her father’s first wife. At Paula’s funeral, Mr Luz and his family came to visit but they were driven out by the enraged Sena. Her pictures yelling at them and throwing the funeral wreaths as they entered the church became a headline.  

Several months passed and that incident was already forgotten but because of the popularity of the present issue, her negative behaviour will be highlighted once again. 

That display of outrage was where Sena got her indelible reputation of being rude. It became a scourge that kept following her, paparazzi would come and steal pictures of her until they got fed up with the lack of material. 

One particular paparazzi who might have a grudge with her dedicated his everyday life to stalking Sena. He would chastise, ridicule and cite all kinds of examples as to why people must not learn from her. The foulest thing he did was to make a comparison between half-sisters. 

And surprisingly, it also started Maya’s career. 

Frufru: [That’s the evil half-sister. Could it be because of her? Why is she with the old fatty?]

Meowmeow: [It’s her again!? I thought she would never come up. Gosh, go back to the black hole you came from and don’t affect others' lives!] 

Fan578: [She hates Maya a lot. Did she endure clinging to such an old man to trouble her sister? Despicable. Getting justice for our queen!!!] 

Cuckoo: [You are all a bunch of fools. Who told you she used an old man to bully others? Do you have proof?]

Fan108: [Wait, wait, I don’t understand. Who’s the woman in the photo? What’s her involvement with Maya?]

Frisky: [You’re probably new here. That, my dear, is Sena Erde, Maya’s half-sister. If you don’t know you should probably ask around to find out more about the story.]

Applesauce: [She hooked up with a rich old man to bully our Maya. That's plain enough to see.  What a disgusting woman!]  

The fan attached two photos of Sena a few days after her mother’s funeral. One was when she was sitting on a park bench looking thin and pale. The other was a close-up photo, the dark circles under her eyes were prominent and she looked like she aged overnight. 

Fan578: [Who is this old woman? Street beggars look better than this. Are you saying this is her?]   

Frufru: [So disgusting! Attracting sugar daddy with just her face? How thick is her skin?]

Cuckoo: [You’re the one with a thick skin. You probably have no brain either.] 

Frisky: [Get out of here hater!]

Cuckoo: [Why, you gonna cry? You don’t own the internet.]

Frisky: [Maybe you’re a fan of that evil sister. Well, tell her she better hold on tight to that old pork and be worth the money he spends on her!]

Applesauce: [It’s humiliating to have someone like her as a relative. She’s a bad influence on Maya and an embarrassment to their family.]

BakedPotato: [I’m truly amazed at the internet nowadays. Put in a vague picture and people can write a whole novel out of it.]

Cuckoo: [Agree. There seems to be a lot of professional detectives too. They know the person’s whole profile despite having none.] 

Applesauce: [Maya’s haters are here. Get out. You don’t belong here.]

Meowmeow: [If I were her parent I should have strangled her in the crib so she wouldn’t grow up to be a bitch. Her hate for her father’s family is abominable, she would even attack her poor sister. What did Maya do to deserve this?]

Fan108: [Smelly trash. Don’t infect Maya with your filth. Stay away!!!]  

Frisky: [You’re right! Because of her, Maya's image is damaged and she lost an important contract. Everyone, we shall make this trash pay!]

The hate and vulgar comments kept pouring to a deluge, and if Sena was standing closely she could have been slapped and drowned fiercely by the rabid fans. By midday, the topic already climbed at the top ten in hot search and is still continuing to rise. 

Many people experienced this kind of harassment and bullying, however, there are only a few options to fight off the abuse and mostly asking for justice, calling out the culprits does not have satisfactory outcomes. The process is long and finding the perpetrators could be tricky. It was also because of the weak countermeasure that trolls behind the keyboard grew rampant and became even bolder in spraying their poison. 

Fortunately for Sena, she wasn’t an avid consumer of media. She rarely paid attention to web gossip and news. Her own account hadn’t been active for almost a year already, and no matter how much people curse at her it was wasted into thin air because there was no response on her side. 

They couldn’t post and disturb her either because she locked the account securely putting it to private. Sena remained carefree until Linda and Leo returned from their honeymoon. 

Right after they settled in, she drove into the couple’s new home near the east suburbs for a visit.

“Big sis, I’m here!” she called up from the foyer then ran up the stairs. 

Linda was unpacking their luggage, putting them back to hangers when she rushed like a whirlwind to the master’s suite. It wasn’t the first time she barged right in like a mischievous kid, the thrill of raiding their room had always remained. 

“I finally made it to your love nest.” she said from the doorway. “You did well hiding it from me for years, hm.” 

Linda laughed welcoming her with a hug. “Naughty brat, even if you knew your mother would not let you come.” 

This house is different from the ones they have in the city or their parents. This was bought by Leo several years ago where he and Linda spent most of their quiet intimate moments. Finally, this became their nest after marrying. 

Last life, this house was sold and Sena no longer knew who owned it next.

When she stepped in, the scent of relaxing bergamot and lemongrass wafted in the air. A couple’s room is truly different, she thought.  

The dark and purple colour scheme with gold accents worked really well with neoclassical modern design. Which are in line with both their taste. Aside from his and her closet that held most of their personal things, their intimate touches entwine from the two sets of pillows on top of the tufted bed base, the art pieces scattered around to the books over the coffee table.

The little details seamlessly merge in a sensual combination of two people deeply in love. 

Sena looked around foolishly smiling from time to time. They are finally together.  

The ladies catch up for a while before discussing the problem at hand.  

“Aren’t you worried? It’s been raging online for several days now.” Linda eyed her while folding a shirt. 

Truth to be told, experiencing this the second time, Sena is already so sick she could vomit. She slumped on the ottoman at the foot of the bed, 

“Let them say whatever they want, if I pay them any mind I will only get myself unnecessarily mad. It won’t last long anyway.” 

“Won’t last long? Do you think those people behind that publicity will give up a nice piece of material?” Linda’s nose flared as she plunked her hands to her waist. “I’m so mad! Using you to compare with a shoddy fake product to boost attention for themselves. Isn’t this repeating the tactic of that paparazzi what-the-hell-was-his-name?”

“Ivo something-- I forgot.” 

Without comparison, would they even have an article to feast on? Will that Maya even ride the current wave?

Sena played with the pillow. “You’re right, they’re just repeating the same thing. I’m not bothered because I trust people will eventually notice this. Look, if they want to prolong the issue to promote Maya, then they will have to face the consequences themselves. Her agents and the ones guiding the online heat cannot control what her fans say or do.”

Last life she fought and fought, explaining herself to the point of resembling a broken record but did anyone listen? Her angry sometimes weeping face would only make the other side happy. This time silence will be her answer. Can people accuse a silent person of being vulgar?   

Maya’s fans are beyond unreasonable, mainly composed of online virgins with elementary level logic. Once their object for worship is slightly hurt they wouldn’t hesitate to viciously bite. In a sense, it was a good show of loyalty, but it is also a fatal flaw. 

A celebrity relies on the public persona they built. If the fans’ practice is crass and crude it could harshly reflect on their image. Showing them in an uncultured and unfavourable light.  

She suffered from them last lifetime. She doesn’t intend to fight fiercely, it’s better to make those people realize that they were nothing but fodder just like her. Besides, she estimated that it’s about time for a delectable surprise to arrive. 

“Maya’s side has taken a passive stance for now until the desired result is achieved, if they successfully harvested more fame, only then they would take measures to control the fans. For now, they would rather have them grow wilder. The poor things had no idea they were being used.” 

And Maya wouldn’t dare to contact those people to push the issue further in fear of breaking her pure and sweet image either. It’s an old practice she learned from years of working outside. 

Linda was so distressed she couldn’t finish the chore of unpacking two small suitcases. “Despicable marketing strategy.”

“It’s all about the gains.. The company sees Maya as their next cash machine while Maya views the company as a tool to help her career rise. They would continue to help each other out because of this mutual benefit.”  

Why is the little brat so relaxed? Linda frowned. People are butchering her online for goodness sake! 

Her distress grew to a full-blown fury when later she went to the forums and saw a lot of fan-made satirical posts comparing the two. And with photos attached! It’s growing more and more popular that it's making her teeth itch. 

For one instance they cropped out a picture of Sena from the old news magazine when her eyes were red and swollen with tears. She wore a baggy sweatshirt walking around the community like a zombie. 

Because of the clothes she was like a moving skeleton, added by her dry skin and sallow complexion the haters relished insulting her face calling her all kinds of insults like bedraggled old hen and a haggard waif. Well, they couldn’t exactly call her ugly which is comical because even when she looked tired and unkempt she was nonetheless pretty.

Another was when she was crying angrily in front of the reporters armed with cameras and sharp tongues. They animated her face into a dinosaur roaring at people. 

None understood her situation that she just lost her closest relative and in the state of grief, everyone focused on her behaviour and eruption.  

Half of the fanmade video showed Maya from a different angle. She accompanied her father to his various business transactions, her outstanding work at school and her overall amicable attitude. 

“Quit looking at it or you’ll burst a vein and get a stroke.” Sena took the tablet away from her before she could poke a hole to the innocent device. 

Glancing at the post, she nearly popped a vein herself.  

“It’s terrible. Who made this?” she grimaced skimming through the information of the poster.

“Your enemies.” 

“I think it’s a kid that hasn't gotten out of elementary.” 

The poorly edited video is filled with praises and hearts for Maya lifting her so high until she could ascend to heaven and become an immortal. It was cringy to the point that it violated her eyes. 

“Come on, you just returned from a trip. This is not worth wasting your breath.” 

Linda gave her an eyeful before reluctantly dropping the topic. Now that they are back from vacation, Sena gave Linda a brief update of the company’s progress while Leo went back to the Tang Group to clean up a few people under investigation. 

“Ugh, I’m still mad.” Linda chucked all her anger on a box of sugar-glazed doughnuts. 

“You’ll gain weight eating these.”

“I don’t care, I’m mad.”

After she’s getting mad she will surely regret eating too much. 

Later that afternoon, Leo came home bringing in the good news about completely removing the parasites and spies from the Tang Group.

He raged like a volcano all day today. As soon as CEO Tang returned from his honeymoon, he spared no one who was involved with corruption within the company. Several department heads were immediately dismissed, all were proven involved in embezzlement, bribery and coercion. Others have many heavy offences such as espionage and sabotage. 

Fortunately, they were discovered early before the Tang Group embarked in a large new project. If sensitive information is leaked, it wouldn’t only cost millions of loss but the livelihood of many employees as well.

Among those who were removed were Asha and Zhang Min’s fathers.

Sena had a good laugh hearing that. Those old prunes should own up to their sins. How dare they often use the Tang name to coerce and pressure people? And there was that illegal casino as well, they would even go as far as using the Tangs as backing to operate that dirty place. 

Parasites like them should be eliminated before they could harm others!    

“How are you lately?” Leo asked with a stern look at her. 

“Yes, yes, you talk to her.” Linda added, apparently still not over with the online debacle she saw.  

She suddenly wants to go home, “I’m... fine."

Big bro frowned. She gulped. 

"Hehehe… Everyone is roasting me online. I'm about to be cooked.”

“You can still laugh? What about later?”

Later? Well, later there will be a nice piece to chew on. Sena scratched her cheek. Why, this feels worse than facing her high school principal.  

“Brother, trust me on this one okay? It’s just a little online squabble with trolls, why do I have to join them?”

It’s not that he doesn’t trust her, it was because he is worried she couldn’t handle it. Who knows what the internet can do. People on the web have no brain to mouth filter, they will say whatever they want for all the reasons they think was right.   

“Have you forgotten what happened last year?” 

He was referring to that nasty paparazzi again. If his domestic violence issue wasn't discovered, Sena could have drowned in criticism. 

“I haven’t forgotten. I’ve learned from my mistake. That is why I am taking this stance.”

Leo had to give in for now despite his wife shooting him dagger looks. The brat said it was fine so he would have to wait and respect her opinion lest she begins to throw a tantrum again. Seeing how determined and calm she is, his worry lessened a fraction.

If worse comes to worst. She has them as fallbacks.  

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