Chapter 3
Almost the moment I walked out of the anniversary party, videos and photos from every angle were already blowing up online.
[Rowe Group CEO Gets Dumped in Front of Everyone]
[Intern's Declaration of True Love]
[Charlotte Langley Quits]
These hashtags shot up the trending charts with explosive speed, each one marked with a blazing "Hot" tag.
The financial columns were actively analyzing the potential fallout of this broken alliance on Rowe Group's stock valuation and the broader commercial partnership between the Langley and Rowe dynasties.
Entertainment tabloids swarmed in like sharks smelling blood in the water, dissecting every single detail of this high-society love triangle from every conceivable angle.
Sophie's video of snatching the mic, set to all kinds of dramatic background music, was going viral on short-video platforms.
The comment section was a full-blown war zone.
[Holy shit! This intern is bold as hell, going straight after the main fiancée!]
[What main fiancée? Didn't you hear Ms. Langley broke it off? She's the victim here!]
[Who knows if it was just a loveless business arrangement? What's wrong with a girl chasing true love?]
[Exactly! Look at the way she looks at Mr. Rowe—her eyes are full of love and admiration. She's way more genuine than that stuck-up Ms. Langley!]
[Just a bystander here, but this girl is seriously gutsy. She's risking everything for love, like something out of a TV drama.]
[Am I the only one who saw the sparks flying when Mr. Rowe looked at the intern? The sexual tension was palpable!]
[Feel bad for Ms. Langley. She's got the looks and the background, and she still got her man stolen by someone like that?]
[Jealous much? True love conquers all!]
I scrolled through the comments on my phone, feeling absolutely nothing. Honestly, I almost wanted to laugh.
In my last life, it was these clueless keyboard warriors and Sophie's manufactured "true love" facade that kept pushing me back, step by step, until I finally fell into the abyss.
This time, I'm just here to see how long this "true love" circus can keep running.
Sophie moved even faster than I expected.
Within less than twenty-four hours of the drama blowing up, she'd already registered accounts on every major social platform, all under the handle: "Brave Little Pear Chasing Love."
Her profile picture was a side profile of her gazing at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle with tears in her eyes while forcing a smile, exuding a carefully curated aura of tragic romance.
Her first short video was filmed in the tiny dump she rented.
The background showed a wall with peeling paint, which fit right in with the faded, old T-shirt she had on.
Appearing bare-faced on camera with her hair casually draped over her shoulders, tears began streaming down her cheeks before she had even uttered a single word.
She choked up for a good ten seconds before finally speaking, her voice thick with emotion.
"I know a lot of people are calling me shameless, saying I'm the other woman..."
She sniffled hard, forcing a brave smile, but the tears rolled down right on cue.
"I don't blame anyone. Because... because Jonathan is simply so extraordinary. Ms. Langley is wonderful too—it's just that I'm not good enough for him..."
She paused, like she was summoning all her courage, then stared straight into the camera, her eyes full of stubborn defiance—like she was refusing to back down even with the whole world pointing fingers at her.
"But is it really wrong to love someone?"
"I love Jonathan for who he is, not for his money or his status. Even if he had nothing, I'd still love him."
"This feeling in my heart is pure and precious. I won't let anyone taint it, not even myself."
The video ended abruptly.
The screen lingered for three seconds, showing a close-up of her tear-streaked, defiant face.
The video was like a depth charge, instantly blowing up the internet.
[I'm tearing up! Poor girl, my heart aches for her!]
[She loves so humbly Why bash a girl who's brave enough to chase after love?]
[From today on, I'm Team Sophie! Go, brave Sophie—never afraid of anything!]
[She said she'd love Mr. Rowe even if he lost everything? No way, I'm just waiting for her to get proven wrong.]
[Haters, scram! Sophie is pure and sweet, a real innocent angel!]
[I was just a casual viewer, but now I'm officially a fan. Girls this genuine are so rare nowadays.]
The comments section was instantly flooded with sympathy, support, and encouragement. Any doubters were quickly shut down and buried under the wave of positivity.
Her follower count shot up like a rocket, breaking a million in just a few hours.
But what really caught everyone's attention was that Jonathan Rowe gave the video a like.
He didn't leave a comment, but that like was the strongest show of support for Sophie—pretty much announcing to everyone online that there was something going on between them.
And it was a loud, public slap in the face to me, his former fiancée.
"Ms. Langley, look at this! It's outrageous!"
Butler Philip was holding a tablet, his hands shaking with anger.
On the screen was Sophie's newly started livestream.
The background looked like one of Jonathan's rarely used apartments, decorated in a cold, modern style. But in the corner, there was a cheap stuffed toy that totally clashed with her image, obviously staged to make it seem like the aloof CEO had softened for her.
She was flaunting a limited-edition crocodile leather handbag, her cheeks flushed with happiness.
"This bag actually has a little story behind it" she said softly, her voice tinged with shyness. "Jonathan ordered it before, but now he says the person he originally got it for just doesn't have the class to match what this bag represents..."
She paused with obvious intent, and the comments section instantly blew up: [Ex doesn't deserve it!] [Sophie totally rocks this bag!] [Mr. Rowe is totally spoiling her!]
She smiled with satisfaction, hugging the bag to her chest like it was some priceless treasure. "Jonathan said that now, it's finally with the person it truly belongs to."
I stared at her fake, exaggerated expression on the screen, and at that bag I recognized instantly—the one Jonathan had originally planned to give me as a birthday present. I couldn't help but sneer inwardly.
The real owner?
Did someone who stole it even deserve to call herself that?
The livestream camera panned over, and Sophie "accidentally" let it linger on the display shelf in the living room.
That shelf used to display a photo of Jonathan and me from a charity gala.
Now, that photo frame was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, she'd replaced it with one of her own handmade pottery pieces—so hideous it was almost a talent.
She pretended to fix her hair, and her arm "accidentally" knocked into a small, unnoticeable trinket on the edge of the shelf.
It was a custom perfume bottle I'd left there.