Chapter 2 A Mistake That Broke the Internet

• Backed by the motivation of money and fully immersed in the character’s perspective, I was flooded with inspiration all night, churning out tens of thousands of words and writing furiously until dawn.
• Have you ever seen the sun at eight in the morning? I have. When I sent the draft to the client for approval, I was so exhausted I could barely keep my head straight. Thankfully, the client responded quickly, saying she loved it and even posted it on Twitter. Even though I was already half-asleep after brushing my teeth and heading to bed, I stuck to my professional principles, grabbed my phone, searched for the post, and gave it a like before drifting off into a peaceful slumber.
• A few hours later, I was rudely awakened by someone pounding on my door like their life depended on it. Accompanied by the threatening yell of "If you don’t open this door, I’m coming in with an axe!" my brain was still groggy, but my body instinctively rolled out of bed in a panic.
• The moment I opened the door, my agent, Paige Cooper, went ballistic. Her expression was even more ferocious than when she went after a homewrecker years ago. "Lilith! If you don’t want to work anymore, just say so! I brought you into showbiz, not to destroy it. Are you trying to take the whole company down with you?"
• Standing by the doorway, utterly bewildered, I timidly raised my hand and asked, "What did I do?"
• A phone was thrown straight at my beautiful face. When I glanced at the screen, I was nearly scared out of my wits. Someone like me, who’s practically invisible in the entertainment world, had somehow made it onto five trending topics, and all of them packed with hate! And to make matters worse, Ashton’s name was linked to mine in the tags!
• I stood there stunned for a few seconds, then suddenly realized something. Rushing back to the bedside, I grabbed my two phones and checked them. Sure enough, I had used the wrong account to like the post...
• The client, thrilled by what she believed was acknowledgement from the real deal, was overjoyed. Even though Ashton’s fans, known as Ashtonites, were tearing up Twitter in rage, she was still shamelessly encouraging everyone to ship the pair. To make things even worse, many people suspected that I, Lilith, was personally behind all of it.
• I wanted to cry but had no tears. I was completely forced and didn't mean to!
• Once Paige got the full picture, she unleashed a storm of furious reprimands on me, then confiscated both of my Twitter accounts and headed back to the company for urgent damage control. Over the next few weeks, my already limited work dried up completely, and the few projects I had been in talks for were systematically sabotaged by the Ashtonites’ immense clout.
• Just as I was penning an 800-word emotional essay to convince my parents to let me return home and take over the family business, Ashton posted something on Twitter.
• He retweeted the article and added, "Five hours in one night? That could kill you, you know."
• Those few words caused an uproar, racking up over ten thousand comments and thousands of shares in less than thirty seconds, most of them filled with laughter. His casual remark worked like a chain, reining in the Ashtonites’ rabid attacks.
• I survived by sheer luck. As for the client who had commissioned the story, she ended up being the biggest winner of this whole mess. Later, she eagerly sent a private message to my alias account, applauding me for pulling it off beautifully.
• I quietly reminded myself, stay low, be calm. One more stunt like this, and I’ll be done for.