I blinked a little dazedly as I opened Facebook. In the next instant, everything on Facebook surged toward my eyes like a tidal wave, #Captian & Rosy# and #Rosy being kept#. These two hot searches ranked first and second, pushing even explosive news like "Actor crosses the line" and "Actress secretly supports rookie idol" far down the list. The two tags stood arrogantly at the very top, showing no signs of dropping.
When I saw those two hot searches, I nearly smashed my phone. "It went on hot search this fast? Looks like I underestimated the influence of President Anderson." I had assumed it would take a day or two, but it hadn't even been an hour.
"Right? I didn't expect it either. It's terrifying," Hezze said as she squeezed her phone, her hands trembling. "Now that it's on hot search, doesn't that mean everyone knows about you and President Anderson? What are you going to do now?"
I pressed my fingers against my forehead, feeling a throbbing ache. I knew Captian drew attention in Alchimie City, but I hadn't expected he'd attract the same level of obsession everywhere else. Then again, he was the richest man around; attention flocked to him naturally. And with his face… even the top actors in the industry couldn't compete. In a world obsessed with beauty, a man that handsome, wealthy, and dangerously unique? Of course people would lose their minds.
Feeling exhausted, I tapped into the hot search tag. After reading for a while, all I wanted to do was curse.
"#Captian & Rosy# President Anderson, I saw a post on our school forum saying Rosy from our university is being financially kept by you. Is this true? @Captian Our school is about to explode!"
Below it were countless comments—some cursing me, some envying me, and many netizens gleefully fanning the flames.
"I can't believe I lived long enough to see someone dare tag President Anderson directly is this person insane?"
"Waiting for OP to be punished by President Anderson."
"Waiting +1."
"Incredible. The person President Anderson is keeping this time is a college freshman. But she looks gentle and beautiful, I guess that's why he picked her."
"Beauty is useless. Isn't she just a lazy gold-digger being kept? Once President Anderson gets bored, she'll be dumped in some alleyway."
"Agree. She looks seductive obviously a fox spirit type. Women like her never last long. Once he's done playing, she'll be tossed."
On Facebook, venomous comments were spreading endlessly. As I read through them one by one, my face drained of all color. My fingers clutched tightly at Hezze's sleeve, if I didn't hold on to something, I felt like I might collapse.
"Rosy, don't mind those Facebook comments. There will definitely be a way to fix this," Hezze said, trying to comfort me.
I stared blankly toward the corner of the classroom, unable to say a word. My silence seemed to terrify her. "Rosy, don't scare me like this. Shouldn't you ask President Anderson for help?"
Captian?
My gaze darkened. "Has Captian responded yet?"
The tag @Captian was still there, views skyrocketing, but Captian hadn't said a word—no clarification, no response, nothing. As if he tacitly agreed with everything being said.
I frowned. If he hadn't responded, it meant either he didn't use Facebook at all and hadn't seen anything, or… he'd seen it and simply didn't care. Letting people assume whatever they wanted, letting the rumors spread until even strangers knew none of it mattered to him. To him, these things were never important. He was Captian Anderson. Having a few women he financially supported wasn't even noteworthy. Why would he bother explaining?
When I walked into the classroom, students immediately started whispering.
"Just days ago they said Rosy must be kept by some middle-aged old man, and now slap in the face, it turns out the one keeping her is President Anderson."
"Since President Anderson hasn't responded, I think the students were just exaggerating."
"You didn't see the comparison photos? It's obviously him. But… the fact that he still hasn't replied… feels like maybe he's tired of Rosy and wants to throw her away."
"Men are like that. Once they're bored, they toss you. I thought Rosy had actual ability or something."
Hearing those words, Hezze completely exploded. "Shut up, all of you! Is the chaos still not enough? Do you all enjoy yapping so much?"
The students fell silent immediately. They turned and realized it was Hezze shouting while I stood beside her with a pale, lifeless face.
"Hezze, you should stay away from Rosy. She's a woman discarded by the Ninth Master of the Anderson family. If you stick with her, you'll get unlucky too."
"Right. Everyone in Alchimie knows what kind of person President Anderson is. Hezze, don't do anything stupid."
"A woman like Rosy isn't even worthy of being your friend."
Hezze's chest rose and fell violently in anger. "ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!"
Her shout snapped me out of my daze. If I kept collapsing like this, people would only gossip louder. I straightened my back. "People who make malicious assumptions always get slapped eventually. I'll wait quietly until you're the ones getting slapped."
The students hesitated, uncertainty flickering in their eyes. Could it be that President Anderson would speak up for me? Impossible. Kept women were temporary toys discarded the moment their novelty wore off.
They resumed whispering, though their tone was noticeably tamer than before. I let out a quiet sigh of relief and walked back to my seat.
Halley, who had been staring at his phone, suddenly lifted his gaze toward me. His expression was complicated, but only for a moment. Then he looked away, fingers swiftly typing across his screen.
[Bro, help me delete the two hot searches. The first two.]
After sending the message, Halley tucked his phone away and lay down to sleep again.
...
At the Captian's mansion,
Ronan was busy using his hacking tools to investigate Liona digging into everything, including the post she uploaded on the school forum. He clicked into the post, skimmed it, and instantly froze, his blood turning to ice.
Was Liona insane? How dare she post something like this and smear Rosy's innocence? Being kept? Anyone with functioning eyes could see how much President Anderson cared about Rosy. She was practically about to become his future sister-in-law. How could Liona compare someone of Rosy's position to a random mistress?
He scrolled further. When he reached the comments insulting Rosy, he nearly smashed his mouse in rage.