Chapter 4: The Secret Marriage

The media public was taken aback. Was Victor joking about signing Monica? Or was he serious?

Regardless of the speculation, the media and jewelry companies dared not cause trouble for Monica anymore, and instead turned their muzzles toward Sonora Entertainment.

This put Sonora Entertainment and Nathaniel Hanson in hot water. Arianne Chadwick's assistant went straight into criticizing Monica, "Can't even handle a small thing like this, what else can you do? I can't wait to see how President Hanson deals with you!"

Monica remained unruffled and calm as ever. Changing her outfit and leaving the showplace, she spotted Victor's sports car by the side gate.

"Get in."

Monica obediently climbed into the car, expressing gratitude for Victor's actions, "Thank you for today."

Victor glanced at her, the corner of his mouth curled into a light smile, "Did you think I could bear seeing my new wife being bullied in public?"

"Actually, I'm not worth your help because I deliberately let people recognize me," Monica said with a tinge of guilt.

Victor looked at her and then leveled his gaze, "I know."

"But if you can't find a way to deal with them, you can tell me. Isn't it a bit foolish to hurt the enemy at the cost of hurting yourself?"

Monica: "..."

"Where am I dropping you off?"

"Your home, we're married, right?" Monica asserted, for she had already made up her mind never to regret it.

"You do understand that not only are we married, but tonight... it's our wedding night!"

Monica blushed but remained steadfast, "I'm ready. Thank you for keeping our relationship secret, but I hope that you'll stay out of this. I want to win back everything I deserve with my own strength."

Victor didn't force her. He was intrigued to see what else Monica could do since it was rare to meet a woman who didn't want to use him to climb up.

They went on their way, and Monica quickly received a call from her agent, Meghan, "Monica, I have the evidence of Arianne's pregnancy. How do you want me to use it? Moreover, the news about the jewelry show is all over the internet. You are now an internet hot topic and the criticism is overwhelming. What are you planning to do?"

"Meghan, do you wish to stand with me?"

"Is that even a question?" Meghan huffed, "You want me to keep serving that couple?"

"Then release the statement I asked you to prepare earlier. But keep in mind, doing so will completely turn you against Sonora!"

"What's there to be afraid of!" Meghan was excited, "It's high time for a counterattack. I'm on it. The evidence is ready; I have to act before Nathaniel Hanson recovers from the shock."

After Monica hung up the call, tranquility returned to the car. She felt quite nervous, wondering how Victor would perceive her after this conversation.

"I..."

"Are you always this honest with everyone?" At a red light, Victor clasped Monica's chin, his gaze, like a hawk's, scrutinizing her.

"I am only honest in front of you, and I plan to continue being so in the future," Monica declared her loyalty, "because I fear you might have some other unsavory thoughts about me."

Victor was momentarily shocked, before he said, "If it were me, I would be harsher in my responses!"

It seemed like Victor had already guessed the relationships between her, Arianne Chadwick, and Nathaniel Hanson. From his words, Monica developed a sense of fondness for her newlywed husband. Regardless of what happened, she would forever remember all the promises he made to her today.

...

On the other hand, Nathaniel Hanson also received the news about Monica being recognized at the runway show. Furthermore, HF had called, blaming Sonora for breach of contract. For a while, Sonora faced not only a breach of contract claim but also exposure of various scandals online.

Arianne Chadwick viewed the video of Monica's runway show, and pulled Nathaniel in front of her to say, "Look, Monica intentionally let herself be recognized. She knew well that what differentiates her from me are those legs of hers. She did it on purpose!"

"Arianne, Monica isn't that kind of person; she isn't doing the runway show for you for the first time," Nathaniel unwittingly still had trust in Monica.

"So, you trust Monica more now? Nathaniel, don't be foolish. This incident is out and someone has to take responsibility. Are you prepared to breach the contract? Or are you going to tell everyone that it was you who ordered Monica to take Arianne's place at the show? If so, it's over for all of us!"

"What are you suggesting?"

"Since you and Monica are going to get married, and she isn't staying in the industry anyway, for Sonora's sake, you must issue a statement immediately that you knew nothing about it. We had no idea, and it was Monica seeking to create hype and swapped places without our knowledge," Arianne pointed all accusations directly at Monica.

"It seems we have no other choice," Nathaniel agreed, nodding his head. But just as he was about to contact the public relations department of their company, his assistant called.

"President Hanson, quickly look at the Entertainment Headline. Monica's agent is dropping bombs on the internet."

Nathaniel hastily searched for the headline news, only to find that Monica's agent had beaten him to it by revealing his repeated instructions to Monica to replace Arianne on the runway. There were even numerous comparison photos of the two, declaring that small workshop brands always bully people, and that Monica had been exploited by Sonora all these years.

Nathaniel was furious. He immediately contacted Monica's agent.

"Meghan, have you lost your mind?"

Meghan laughed at the other end, her voice steady and confident, "Your trashy little company? I've wanted to quit for quite some time."

"Nathaniel, this must be Monica's idea. You need to suppress the news immediately and release the news about Monica's publicity stunt."

Without a second thought, he immediately leveraged his connections to tamp down Monica's news, and to put up news about Monica's suspected publicity stunt.

For a while, both Monica and Sonora Entertainment were trending on the hot search list, with mixed receptions.

No one knew about Monica and Victor's relationship, so compared to Monica and Sonora, they were less willing to offend Nathaniel.

Monica was definitely at a disadvantage. Online, she was being berated en masse.

But just when everyone thought the situation was reversing, the phrase 'Monica's substitute' suddenly topped the hot search. But the content that was clicked on were all the stories published by Monica's agent Meghan. It turned out Monica was the victim...

Meghan was the first to announce, and the netizens were biased towards the first information they received. Coupled with the fact that Monica had walked in place of Arianne many times without creating any hype, she had always been used by Sonora. She quickly dominated the hot search, stirring the overwhelming belief among netizens that Monica was the true victim.

Nathaniel Hanson incredulously called his PR team to demand more money on suppressing Monica's news.

At the same time, Victor's assistant was calling all the mainstream media outlets, "If the news about Monica being a substitute is removed from the trending list, you might as well close down your business immediately."