This was indeed something Vanessa would do.

Rising from the ashes and playing the victim had always been her final life-saving straw.

"She wishes." My voice was cold.

"So, are you going to crash the party?" Qin Yue asked excitedly. "Take me with you! I love watching this kind of 'tearing down the white lotus' drama!"

"No need." I looked out the window, my gaze deep and dark. "I won't be going."

"Huh? Why?" Qin Yue was deeply disappointed. "Such a great opportunity—how satisfying it would be to expose her in person!"

"Exposing her in person would let her off too easily." I said, enunciating each word clearly. "I want her to fall from the peak of hope once more, right when she is most triumphant and thinks she has turned the tables."

This time, I want her to fall so hard she can never get up again.

"...Aiden, I’m finding you more and more interesting these days." On the other end of the line, Qin Yue was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed.

"Right back at you."

After hanging up, I immediately called my assistant.

"Help me check which platform is streaming Vanessa’s press conference."

"Understood, Young Master Su."

At 3:00 PM, Vanessa’s apology conference began on time.

I sat in my office, watching the live stream on my computer screen.

Vanessa was wearing a plain black dress, her face devoid of makeup, her hair simply tied back.

She looked haggard and fragile, a different person from the Vanessa I had seen at the "Guanlan" Club a few days ago.

Her acting was, indeed, top-tier.

As soon as the conference started, she stood up and bowed deeply to the camera.

"First of all, I want to say I’m sorry to everyone who cares about me."

Her voice was hoarse, thick with nasal congestion, and her eyes reddened instantly.

"During this time, because of my personal relationship issues, I have occupied a large amount of public resources and brought trouble and harm to many people. I am deeply sorry."

She began to tell our "love story."

In her description, she was a female star who had to be cautious to protect her love, even using the wrong methods to hide her true feelings.

And I was a devoted rich kid who loved her deeply, but was unintentionally hurt by her.

She confessed with tears in her eyes that she shouldn't have hidden our relationship for the sake of her career, and shouldn't have said those hypocritical things in interviews.

She attributed everything to her "insecurity" and being "unable to control her own fate."

"As for the videos circulating on the internet..." she choked, barely able to continue. "That is the greatest nightmare of my life. I admit that I took a shortcut to get the Su Corporation endorsement, but I was forced! Vice President Wang threatened me with the future of Aiden and me. I was confused for a moment and committed an unforgivable mistake!"

She successfully molded herself from an active climber into a coerced victim.

In the live comments, the sentiment began to shift quietly.

[Although, she does look really pitiful...]

[It's not easy for a girl to make it in the entertainment industry; being threatened by an old man is quite helpless.]

[So, she still loves Young Master Su, right? Just used the wrong method?]

Seeing these comments, the sneer on my lips deepened.

Vanessa, your performance is truly spectacular.

Unfortunately, it’s my turn to take the stage.

Vanessa continued her performance, beginning to "tear apart" Julian.

"What I never expected was that the friend I trusted most would choose to betray me for profit and even kick me while I was down at my most difficult time..."

She sobbed uncontrollably, as if she had suffered a monumental injustice.

"Julian, I always treated you as my best younger brother, my best friend. I introduced you to the best resources and stood up for you when the whole internet was trashing you. But is this how you repay me?"

The atmosphere in the live stream reached a climax because of her.

Everyone began to sympathize with her and curse Julian as an "ingrate" and a "treacherous villain."

Julian’s Weibo was instantly overrun by angry netizens.

Seeing all this, a hint of hard-to-detect triumph flickered deep in Vanessa’s eyes.

She knew she had won this gamble.

She had successfully diverted the focus, painting herself as a tragic heroine betrayed by both friendship and love.

As long as the conference ended and her team bought another wave of bots to drive the narrative, she might still have a chance at a comeback.

Just as she was about to end this perfect "one-woman show," the big screen at the venue, which had been displaying her beautiful promotional photos, suddenly went black.

Everyone was stunned.

Vanessa was stunned, too; she looked toward the backstage in shock.

The next second, the screen lit up again.

But what appeared was not her photo.

It was a surveillance video.

The scene in the video was a hospital room.

Lying on the bed was an unconscious young man—that person was me, two years ago.

A girl wearing a patient gown was clumsily wiping my forehead with a towel, over and over again.

She looked exhausted, with heavy dark circles under her eyes, but her movements were gentle.

That girl was Qin Yue.

The video continued to play.

Qin Yue stayed by my bedside, feeding me water, taking my temperature, and communicating with the doctor about my condition.

For two full days and nights.

Until the afternoon of the third day, when my high fever finally broke.

Qin Yue fell asleep, exhausted, by the bedside.

Just then, the hospital room door was pushed open.

A woman dressed in fashion with exquisite makeup walked in.

It was Vanessa.

She glanced at me on the hospital bed, then looked at Qin Yue sleeping by the bed, a flash of impatience and calculation in her eyes.

She walked over and nudged Qin Yue.

"Hey, wake up."

Qin Yue woke up groggily.

"Vanessa? Why are you here?"

"How is Aiden?" Vanessa asked blandly.

"The fever has broken; the doctor said he’s out of danger."

"Alright, you can go now; leave this to me." Vanessa’s tone was like she was dismissing a servant.

Qin Yue was stunned. "But..."

"No 'buts'." Vanessa interrupted her. "When Aiden wakes up, the person he needs to see is me, not you. Do you understand?"

The video cut off right there.

The entire conference hall fell into a deathly silence.

Every reporter was stunned; they even forgot to press the shutters on their cameras.

After pausing for a few seconds, the live stream comments began to scroll frantically in an explosive manner.

[!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

[What the hell! What the hell! What the hell! What did I just see?!]

[So, the person who took care of Young Master Su wasn't Vanessa at all, but another girl? Vanessa came to steal the credit?]

[My God, this woman is so disgusting! Not only did she steal the credit, she turned around and played the victim?]

[I feel like an idiot for pitying her just now!]

Vanessa froze on stage, the blood draining from her face, inch by inch, visible to the naked eye.

Looking at that face on the big screen—the face she knew so well, which now looked so foreign—her whole body shook like a leaf in the wind.

She couldn't imagine how I could possibly still have something like this.

"No... that’s not..." She shook her head like a madwoman, screaming hysterically at the reporters and cameras below the stage.

"This is fake! It’s edited! Aiden and Qin Yue teamed up to frame me! They want to destroy me!"

Her defense now seemed so pale and feeble, like a joke.

Just then, a new video appeared on the big screen.

It was an audio recording of the conversation between Vanessa and her assistant, Lily, in the van, complete with subtitles.

Lily: [Vanessa, doing this doesn't seem right, does it? What if Young Master Su finds out later...]

Vanessa: [What if he finds out? He loves me so much; he’ll believe anything I say. Besides, Qin Yue never got along with him anyway; there’s even less chance he’ll believe her.]

Lily: [But...]

Vanessa: [Stop with the 'buts.' One life-saving grace that will make him remember for a lifetime, traded for a top luxury brand endorsement—this is a very profitable deal.]

The recording ended.

The room fell into a deathly silence.

If the previous video only made people shocked, this recording completely nailed Vanessa to the pillar of shame, leaving her no possibility of turning things around.

Vicious, selfish, calculating.

She had confessed to all her own sordid deeds with her own mouth.

Vanessa stared at the screen, her whole world collapsing.

She collapsed onto the floor, letting out a wail of despair.

"Ah—!"

The camera flashes went off frantically at this moment.

Forever capturing her most wretched, most ugly appearance.