Chapter 43

The car ride back was quiet as Aria Bennett rested with her eyes closed. The scenery outside the window blurred past, and the sunlight filtering through the glass cast dappled shadows across her face.

"Aria!" Tessa Morgan suddenly grabbed her arm, her voice trembling with barely contained fury. "They actually did it!"

Aria slowly opened her eyes, a knowing smile curling at the corners of her lips. "No need to rush. Let them have their fun for now."

Tessa shoved her phone in front of Aria. "Look at these comments! Grant Mercer has no shame!"

On the screen, hired trolls were frantically steering the narrative. Aria skimmed through them and let out a derisive chuckle.

"The harder they push now, the harder they'll fall later." Her slender fingers tapped lightly against the armrest. "Let them enjoy their moment."

Tessa stomped her foot in frustration. "But they're calling you ungrateful! They're saying you have a sugar daddy! Even that web series your mom recommended—they're crediting it all to Grant!"

Aria reached out and pinched Tessa's puffed-up cheek. "Relax, sweetheart. Soon enough, they won’t even have tears left to cry."

Her phone buzzed suddenly. Adrian Foster was calling.

"Adrian," Aria answered, her voice eerily calm.

"Have you seen what's happening online?" Adrian's voice was laced with concern. "What do you need me to do?"

Aria chuckled. "Get two things ready for me: a PR team and a legal squad."

As she hung up, Tessa had already pulled up Grant's latest tweet. Beneath the thinly veiled insinuation, fans were viciously attacking Aria in the comments.

"Hmph." Aria smirked coldly and opened her own account. "It's time."

Her fingers flew across the screen as she drafted her counterattack. Tessa leaned in, her eyes widening with each passing second.

"Aria, this is..." She gasped. "Brutal!"

Aria hit send, then turned to Tessa with a sweet smile. "Now this is what you call a clapback."

Outside the window, the setting sun cast its final golden rays across her delicate profile, painting her skin in a crimson glow.