The comment section under the Parker Family's latest post was swarmed... no, engulfed... with a singular phrase, posted over and over again like a broken record from hell:
"Bad Family."
It wasn't hard to deduce the obvious. Even a half-witted squirrel could tell these weren't genuine comments. It reeked of artificiality.
A bot attack. Or worse... Sophia had resorted to hiring an entire water army just to spit out two measly words.
What an absolute trainwreck.
[Host, the instructions you gave were vague… Not to mention, programming 50,000 unique hate comments would have cost you an additional 100 points... So I…]
"You skipped everything and just copy-pasted two damn words?!" Sophia seethed, her voice trembling with frustration.
Naive. Infuriating. Completely and utterly brainless.
[I'm sorry, host…] the system mumbled, its digital tone weighed down with guilt.
Sophia's eyes scanned the usernames. And for a moment... just a fleeting second... she contemplated flinging herself into the void. Virtually, of course.
The usernames were as uninspired as the comments themselves.
'CutieCecilia1', 'CutieCecilia2', 'CutieCecilia3', 'CutieCecilia4'… all the way up to 50,000.
Sophia: (╥﹏╥)
Suppressing the rising urge to scream into the abyss, she took a steadying breath, composed herself, and returned to the livestream.
The audience, true to form, didn't let her down. Like sharks scenting blood in the water, they leapt at the opportunity to mock her.
"How can someone this dumb even survive in society?"
"Seriously, Cecilia? If you're going to smear the Parker Family, at least put in the effort. Or are you lazy in sabotage too?"
"Tell me the agency that posted these comments. I want to blacklist them forever."
"Honestly, I respect the level of dumb commitment. 50,000 accounts… for this?"
"Yeah, I'm crying. Out of secondhand embarrassment."
"Maybe she's not evil, just misunderstood... and monumentally bad at this."
Sophia watched, her irritation ebbing into amusement as the tide began to shift. The audience wasn't siding with the Parkers... they were laughing, but the joke was slowly turning into sympathy.
Perfect.
Striking while the iron was scorching, Sophia gently clasped her chest, lowered her gaze, and let a soft sob escape her lips.
"I didn't want to speak… but the injustice I've endured… it's too much to bear."
Her voice, barely above a whisper, laced with tremors, instantly tugged at the hearts of the onlookers.
Beauty was a weapon... and in Sophia's hands, it was deadly.
ILovePotatoChips: "What happened? Tell us!"
HoneyInTheBag: "We've got your back!"
FuryTheGreat: "Beauty, your knight stands ready. Just say the word."
Wiping away nonexistent tears with a shaky hand, Sophia began her carefully rehearsed tale, her voice quivering just the right amount.
"I was the adopted daughter of the Parker Family. A year ago, their real daughter returned… and she made it her mission to turn everyone against me. I tried to endure it in silence… but it only got worse. One day, they just... threw me out. No explanation, no farewell. Just like that."
Her words settled over the audience like morning fog... quiet, heavy, and impossible to ignore.
ChocoChips: "That's tough. But legally, they do have the right to do that. You're 19."
BayBladeIsBest: "Yeah. I moved out at 18. They probably thought it was time."
NerdyBoy: "Cold, but within their rights."
Sophia smirked as she read the responses. So predictable. So delightfully rational.
But logic had no place in her narrative.
With a melancholic sigh, she gazed at the camera again, this time her expression clouded with grief... and a touch of fear.
"They didn't stop there. They're holding my documents hostage… and now they're trying to force me to marry a sleazy old man in his fifties. All for the sake of some contract."
It was a lie... half a lie, really. The truth was, Max had withheld her documents. But it wasn't for a business contract. He wanted her to marry into the underworld.
Of course, she couldn't tell them that. If word reached the wrong ears... especially the mafia's... that would be the end of her.
No, better to dress the truth in plain, dramatic fabric. A greedy old man was a believable villain. A mafia fiancé? Too far-fetched. Too risky.
And as she expected, the comment section erupted like fireworks on New Year's Eve.
It was beautiful.
"The Parker family is absolutely insufferable!"
"They've crossed the line... this is textbook bullying!"
"Sue them already!"
Sophia's eyes flicked over the comments as they flooded her phone screen, each more outraged than the last.
Her fingers hesitated over the third one, heart pounding with temptation.
Oh, how satisfying it would be to drag the Parker name through court, to watch them squirm under legal scrutiny.
But reality... cold, cruel, and unapologetic... settled heavily on her shoulders.
Filing a case against the Parkers? That was like a toddler trying to drown a lion with a squirt gun.
Sure, it might startle the beast... maybe even soak its mane a little... but give it a second, and it'll shake off the droplets, rip the toy apart, and leave the child whimpering in the dirt.
"Sophia!" A voice roared, jolting Sophia out of her train of thoughts and scaring Sophia due to the raw anger in the voice.