Please Take Me Home, Daddy - Chapter 358: Chapter 358

Evan stomped over to Laura, squatting in front of her with clenched teeth. "Listen here, we're a team now. What I say goes, and you better not backtalk me!"
Laura furrowed her thick brows, clearly troubled. "But why? You're not right."
Evan's eyes were practically burning with fury. "Because I'm the strongest!" His shout made Laura flinch.
Getting up disgruntled, Evan mumbled under his breath, "This is so annoying. It's bad enough to come to a place like this, but to waste my time with a kid!" He glanced over at Laura, who had changed into her outfit, and a plan seemed to strike him. "Take off your clothes."
Laura blinked in confusion.
Evan puffed himself up, full of indignation. "I don't want to wear this outfit, so you take yours off. I'll use you as an excuse to tell them we should wear our cool clothes on camera, not these rags!"
He was very particular about his style. He aimed for a look that was effortlessly cool with just the right touch of chic. How could he be cool in these clothes? No way he was going to wear them!
Laura felt the situation was absurd but seeing Evan's serious demeanor, she got a bad feeling. Evan must have a screw loose. If she stuck with him, she would probably get scolded.
She nodded. "Okay, Evan, I'll change. But could you turn around, please?"
Evan glanced at her irritably and turned his back. "You're a real piece of work for a kid." Was he supposed to watch her change clothes?
Laura tiptoed around and opened the door a crack, quietly slipping out.
With his back still turned, Evan spoke up, "Aren't you done yet?" There was no reply. Suddenly, he felt something was off. He whipped around to find that behind him, there was no one at all!
Laura bolted out the door as if her feet were greased, making a beeline for Bert's place. Checking the clock, Bert saw it had been exactly ten minutes. He was just about to get annoyed when Laura zipped to him, standing tall and proud, "Elementary student Laura, reporting for duty!"
Bert raised an eyebrow in surprise, looking over Laura's shoulder, "And where's your dad? Why hasn't he come out yet?"
Laura stood even straighter, "Dad doesn't like what he's wearing and didn't want to change! So I came out first!!"
Evan emerged from the room. This kid jumped the gun!
He walked out, keeping his cool while chastising her, "Laura, how could you say that?! After I spent so much time helping you dress, and you frame me like this?!"
Laura's eyes went wide as saucers, "I'm not framing you! You're the one trying to frame me! You said you didn't like your clothes, and told me to take mine off too so you could say I didn't like mine either! That way, you wouldn't have to change!"
She turned to Bert pleadingly, "Please believe me, Mr. Yale! Everything I said is the absolute truth!"
The live comments exploded!
[What? What the hell just happened?]
[Did Laura just throw Evan under the bus?! Could see why someone called her out earlier. What's with her attitude?]
[What? Laura is malicious? Did you guys even hear what she just said? She said it was Evan who forced her actions! No wonder my girl looked so sullen earlier, not even enjoying her meal. Guess it wasn't her choice but something someone else wanted and then pushed the blame onto Laura?]
[What? Evan is not that kind of person, okay? Besides, I still can't figure out why Laura's fans just can't admit that their idol wanted something to eat and now they're late because of it. Is it that hard to admit? Was it that hard to admit it? Did they have to make herself look so squeaky clean?]
[From what I know of our Laura, she would never want to be late. Plus, there are always meals on airplanes. Maybe she was already full when she got here.]
[Ah, the fans of Laura are hilarious.]
[Girls, don't waste your time arguing. Laura's fans are always like this, so stubborn as if admitting fault is some kind of death sentence. Evan could never do anything wrong. He's the one who's being framed by some nefarious plot. Can't you see it?]
[Laura and her fans are as low as they come. We've been nice from the start, not wanting to draw negative attention to Evan. And then this girl goes after Evan like that!]
Before long, the hashtag "Laura Frames Evan" went viral and detonated trending.
Elsie was fuming when she got the news, "Has Evan lost his mind? What's the big deal about holding back a little? And now he's gone and encouraged Laura to throw his weight around?!"
Her assistant was frantic, "The fans in the live-streaming channel chat are already at each other's throats, Ms. Elsie. What do we do now?"
A lightbulb went off in Elsie's head, "Easy. We ride the wave of attention. People are hating on us no matter what, so let's amp up Laura's little microexpressions. Then we'll paint Evan as the innocent one."
The assistant got right on it.
A big influencer tweeted out with proof. [Laura's always played the victim but let's face it, her talent agency is top-notch. A girl who's supposedly wronged so often, cute as a button, and with talent to boot, but never takes a hit herself? Her popularity only goes up. It's got to be staged. The haters are part of the script.] The post was paired with a photo of Laura looking disdainful toward Evan on Twitter.
Evan's fans were disciplined and took over the comment section. [Evan never wronged Laura. From the beginning to the end, it's all her drama. She's the one who said she was hungry, and her fans are covering it up, not admitting anything. I don't get it, but Evan's hands are clean!]
[I finally get why Laura's always trending. She sets traps to make herself look like the victim. She may be young, but she's craftier than a beehive. With that attitude and her young age, how could she not be famous?]
[What! Evan's fans, don't be ridiculous. Laura would never. I knew something was off with Laura from the get-go today cause she's always been super rule-abiding and obedient, never the diva. Why play the diva with Evan unless it's a setup?]
[Look at Evan, panicked and about to ruin his eyeliner.]
[Hahahaha! Evan's fans, Evan's so mad his eyeliner's about to run. Better go touch it up for him. Or what, should Laura's fans crowdfund a semi-permanent eyeliner so Evan doesn't have to smear it in his tantrums?]
[No need to mock Evan here. The public's got sharp eyes. They'll see that something's up with Laura, for sure.]
But to everyone's surprise, the comments started to skew in Laura's favor!