Their Mistake, Her Rise - Chapter 24: Chapter 24

But Clara's sharp voice stopped her. "Zoe, stay put! Do you know how much embarrassment you've caused the Evans family by seducing Mr. Ludwig and doing all that behind our backs?"
Zoe blinked, raised an eyebrow, and didn't say anything. Clara was shaking with rage. Something was up that Zoe didn't know about.
"Get over here now!" Clara barked.
"No time." Zoe dodged Clara and headed upstairs. She wanted to find out what chaos was going on online.
Clara kept yelling as she chased after Zoe, not even putting down her LV bag. "You wild child! Why didn't you just stay outside? Did you come back to drive this family crazy?
"Let me tell you! Mr. Ludwig is for Eunice, so don't even think about it. Get downstairs and fix the mess you made, or leave the Evans family now. I'll pretend I never had you."
Zoe pressed her lips together, thinking, 'Is that really something a mom should say? Jeez, that is harsh.'
Faced with Clara's over-the-top attitude, Zoe just moved to the side. She parted her red lips and said to Clara, "Do what you want." Then she went to her room and slammed the door.
Clara was so mad her blood pressure almost shot through the roof. Feeling dizzy, she flopped onto the couch and took forever to recover.
Back in her room, Zoe fired up her computer. The top trending headline caught her eye as soon as the screen lit up. She clicked on it and skimmed it real quick.
The comments section of the original blog post was a total mess. It was flooded with nasty, hate-filled comments, each one worse than the last.
The worst accusations were in a post saying Zoe had tried to seduce Shawn. That really got to every woman in Jelonsburg. After all, Shawn was the city's women's idol.
But Zoe didn't bat an eye. After calmly scrolling through thousands of comments, she made a Twitter account.
Not bothered by all the online hate and insults, Zoe left a bold comment under the post.
[ZoeIsMe: I'm Zoe. Accuse me all you want, but back it up with proof. If you ain't got any, shut it. Got a problem? Bring it on—I'm ready! Oh, and yeah, I'm after Shawn. So what? He's single, I'm single. What's the big deal?]
Zoe's comment got buried in a bunch of replies right away. But soon, someone noticed it. In seconds, the comment section blew up again. Her words were super provocative and got a ton of netizens riled up, who rushed to comment.
[LovelyRabbit: Wow! Can't believe it! Zoe came out herself. She even admitted to trying to seduce Mr. Ludwig. Single or not, like Mr. Ludwig would even look at her. What's she thinking?]
[DogOrMe: Chasing Mr. Ludwig? That's a joke. Her? Mr. Ludwig wouldn't give her a second glance. Who gave her the guts to go after Mr. Ludwig? Some kind of confidence boost or what?]
Meanwhile, Zoe ignored the mess she'd caused, shut her laptop, and took a shower. When she got back, she saw several missed calls.
When she called back, a nervous, shaky voice answered. It was Donald, saying, "Boss, I saw everything. I'm so sorry. It's my fault you're getting more online criticism. Should I make a statement to clear things up now?"
No one would guess that Donald, one of the top ten on the Capital Peak List and a big shot at Eminence Nexus, would talk so humbly to Zoe.
Zoe had all the power. If she was a little upset, she could take away his status and kick him out of Eminence Nexus. But Zoe just tossed her phone aside, turned on the speakerphone, and said, "No need. Don't tip off the enemy."
Donald knew she was talking about how clarifying things could mess up the assassination plan. He let out a sigh of relief. Then, suddenly thinking of something else, he said, "There's one more thing."
"Spit it out!"
"The Intelligence Division has been secretly checking out your identity, where you're from, and your background. I think Shawn's behind it. I've had people stop the investigation, but if it goes on too long, I'm afraid Shawn will get even more suspicious."