Chapter 307

Lydia's message popped up on Vivian's phone with urgent insistence. "Check Twitter now."

Vivian's fingers froze mid-air as a cold dread settled in her stomach.

Just seeing the word "Twitter" made her temples throb.

She didn't need to open the app to know what awaited her. Where Natasha was involved, disaster always followed.

The aftermath of Natasha's latest livestream spread like wildfire across social media.

Though Natasha had cleverly avoided direct names, the internet sleuths had pieced together their twisted narrative with frightening speed.

Vivian's face plastered every trending thread, accompanied by vicious accusations that cut deeper than before.

They branded her heartless sister. Uncaring daughter. And now - the most damaging label yet - gold-digging mistress.

The speculation ran wild, with countless voices questioning how an unknown like Vivian landed a role opposite Sebastian Hartwell.

The consensus? She must be sleeping with someone powerful.

#VivianSugarBaby climbed the charts at alarming speed.

And one name kept surfacing in every conversation: Damien Vaughn of Ivory Phoenix Productions.

"People are so easily fooled," Adrian muttered darkly, his jaw tightening as he scrolled through the fawning comments about Damien's wealth. Without hesitation, he screenshotted the worst offenders and forwarded them to Ethan.

Within seconds, Ethan responded. "On it, sir. I'll have the trending tags removed and offending accounts suspended." A pause, then: "Perhaps this would be an opportune moment to make your marriage public? Mrs. Blackwood has expressed concerns about her official status before."

Adrian's fingers stilled over the keyboard. He replied with a single icy punctuation mark: "?"

Ethan's backpedaling was immediate. "My apologies, sir. That was out of line."

"Ethan's handling it," Adrian said, setting his phone aside to study Vivian's reaction.

Vivian didn't look reassured. She massaged her temples with a weary sigh. "We can't silence everyone forever. Being in the public eye means accepting some criticism."

Adrian recalled Ethan's suggestion. Casually, he offered, "There is one way to end these rumors permanently."

As predicted, Vivian's attention snapped to him. She lowered her phone, curiosity flickering in her guarded eyes.

Meeting her gaze, Adrian delivered the solution like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Announce you're married. That you're Mrs. Blackwood. No one would dare accuse you of chasing sponsors then."

Vivian's eyes narrowed as she took in his smug expression. Wordlessly, she twisted the cap off her water bottle and took a deliberate sip.

Her lack of enthusiasm grated on Adrian's nerves. "You claim to care about acting, not being some idol. So what's the problem? Unless..." His voice turned razor-sharp. "You prefer people thinking you're involved with someone like Damien to maintain your 'available' image?"