She Outshines Them All (Athena and Matthew) novel Chapter 278

Chapter 278
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In the morning, Andrew was having a sweet dream of becoming a top celebrity, securing luxury endorsements, and getting flooded with top-tier web drama offers when the urgent ringtone of his phone woke him up.
Without opening his eyes, he lazily extended his hand from under the blanket, grabbed the phone, and said impatiently, “Who is it, making such a racket so early in the morning…”
His boss’s booming voice came through the phone. “Andrew, why didn’t you tell the company that you’re in a relationship? Also, the company has warned you repeatedly not to be in a relationship. Why didn’t you take the company’s request seriously?”
Andrew instantly became fully awake. He opened his eyes, sat up straight, and stammered, “Mr. Gilbert, what happened? I- I’m not in a relationship…”
“It has gone viral on Twitter!” Aaron Gilbert scolded. “Go and take a look yourself, and then explain to me what’s going on! Until our company figures out how to handle this, keep your mouth shut, don’t say anything, and don’t go out, lest you add fuel to the fire and ruin your future.”
With that said, he hung up.
Andrew stared at the phone for a few more seconds before finally recovering from his shock and opening Twitter.
Right after that, a series of trending topics with the hashtags [explosive], [sensational], and [popular] grabbed his attention with an intense impact, thoroughly scaring him.
The top trending topic was [Andrew’s relationship exposed, kissing a mysterious beauty late at night outside the airport].
Another trending topic was [Andrew’s girlfriend is a 19-year-old rich beauty from Kitmore City. A student at Kitmore University].
[Exposing the background of Andrew’s rich girlfriend. Her family’s medical aesthetic clinic was once involved in a fake lawsuit.]
[Andrew claimed to only be in a relationship with work, but secretly traveled to Serbane for a week with his girlfriend.] Andrew’s fingers trembled as he tapped on the tweet with the word ‘explosive’.
There was a surveillance video attached to the tweet, and its view count had already surpassed ten million.
He watched the video as if he was watching a horror movie. He widened his eyes, his mind went blank, and his entire body trembled.
Although the surveillance video was taken at midnight, the airport’s interior and exit were all brightly lit, allowing netizens to clearly see him and Zoe embracing as they walked out of the airport, even kissing from time to time.
The video even zoomed in on his face…
He thought, ‘It’s over! Really over! For rising stars, having their relationships exposed is a disaster. What should I do? How can I keep all my millions of female fans?’
Below these trending topics, fans were angrily criticizing..
I just started appreciating Andrew’s looks and acting skills. How come he messed up so badly?]
[While I was watching his drama last night, I cried my heart out seeing how devoted he was to the female lead. Unexpectedly, I found out he has a girlfriend after I woke up. I can’t watch this drama anymore…]
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Chapter 278
[In an interview last month, he said he had never kissed a girl in real life. But in the video, he’s kissing like there’s no tomorrow…]
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[His flight details with his girlfriend have been posted. The two even stayed in the presidential suite in Serbane. They’ve done everything, so stop playing innocent…]
His phone suddenly rang, startling him into another shiver.
Fortunately, it was Zoe calling…
He swiped the answer button.
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Zoe sounded considerate as she said, “You’ve seen the trending topics, right? How does your company intend to deal with it
Before she finished talking, Andrew shouted nervously, “We absolutely can’t admit it! We absolutely cannot admit that we are lovers! Otherwise, my fans will leave, and my opportunities will be downgraded.”
Zoe did not make a fuss. She just said calmly, “I’ll do as you say. How do you want to handle it?”
Andrew bit his nails. “The management of the company is discussing it, and they told me not to say anything. Zoe, don’t go out for the next few days, and don’t bring up our relationship to anyone. I’ll let you know if the company has any demands…”
Zoe said calmly, “Alright. I won’t say anything.”
Then, she hung up the phone and looked at the trending topics with a grim expression.
Someone had leaked her personal information.
[This woman’s name is Zoe. She’s the well-known perennial second-place finisher at Kitmore City School, always losing to the same person in every exam and competition, from middle school to high school.]
[The eternal first-place finisher she could never surpass is Athena, the younger sister of the tough guy Zayn who became famous this summer.]
[She often brags that her boyfriend is handsome, rich, and loves her very much, but Andrew publicly claims to be single and has never admitted to being with her…]
She looked at these revelations and mockeries, clenching her teeth so hard that they might almost break.
Girls like her had many rivals.
As soon as they got the chance, they mocked her for being the perennial second-place finisher.
She had grown up under the taunts of being the “perennial second-place finisher”. As a result, she developed psychological flaws.
This time, her relationship with Andrew was exposed. It would be fine if Andrew admitted that she was his girlfriend, but if he denied it, she would become a laughingstock again.
As she lay in bed, she tossed and turned, feeling extremely annoyed.
An hour later, Andrew called and told her, “The company’s solution is that I’ll make a statement first, saying that you’re a good friend of my sister. I fell sick a week ago, and you took good care of me. Only then did we start our romantic relationship.”
Zoe said indifferently, “Is that it? There’s more, right?”
Andrew said sincerely, “Zoe, you’re so smart. The company’s idea is that I’ll first use my Twitter account to post a statement,
11:08
Thu, Oct 24
Chapter 278
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admitting the relationship and creating an image of someone who is brave enough to admit the relationship and take responsibility for his girlfriend. Then, you’ll post a statement on your Twitter account, saying that you’re just an ordinary person, and after the relationship was exposed, you faced enormous pressure, so you decided to go from being lovers back to being friends…”
He spoke endlessly, but Zoe’s facial features were distorted, nearly wanting to yell at the phone by calling him a jerk, an idiot, a wimp, and a useless thing.
She thought, ‘But what good would it do if I cursed at him? I knew from the start that Andrew looks good on the outside but lacks substance. Apart from his looks, he has no other strengths
She then smiled indifferently. “Alright. I’ll go along with this act.”
“Thank you, Zoe,” Andrew said happily. “I knew you would understand me-”
Zoe interrupted him. “My dad is here to see me. I’ll hang up now.”
She hung up, threw herself onto the bed, and pounded the bed angrily with her fists, saying, “This idiot! I’m about to have enough of him! Gia is reopening her studio, and the Kennedy family is preparing to develop that land in the eastern part of the city. Let’s see if they can succeed. If they can’t, the Kennedy family will be finished, and I’ll dump him.”
In the afternoon of the same day, Andrew posted a statement on his Twitter account, which was just as he had told Zoe. His words revealed a boldness to take responsibility, admit to the relationship, and protect his girlfriend.
A significant number of fans reacted in the comment section dramatically. [Andrew is so awesome. He’s so responsible. I love such a man!]
[Although it hurts me that he has a girlfriend, at least he is responsible and owns up to it, which is better than those scumbags who dump their girlfriends after becoming famous.]
[I can accept that his girlfriend is a rich beauty and a study champ…]
Although the comment section was full of these kinds of comments, Andrew’s follower count still dropped by over one hundred thousand.
Although losing over one hundred thousand followers from a total of over twenty million followers did not sound like much, the ones lost were all real followers who were actively involved in engaging with his posts.
With so many active followers gone, the number of his true fans was now in question.
The number of paid shills and bot followers among those who commented dramatically that they would continue supporting him also came into question.
The next day, “Charming Beauty”, which was a Twitter account suspected to belong to Andrew’s girlfriend, reposted Andrew’s tweet, saying that she was just an ordinary person and could not withstand so much pressure, so she decided to break up with Andrew.
She also stated that this short relationship was her first love with Andrew and that Andrew was a good guy. The breakup saddened both of them, and she wished Andrew happiness.
She was a top student with impressive writing skills. The short essay she posted was sincere and touching, and it moved many netizens and fans.
Andrew also reposted her tweet, stating that it was all his fault. He mentioned that he had entered into a relationship before his career was stable and hadn’t been able to protect her properly. He mentioned that he would focus on his work moving forward and would no longer be distracted by romance.
Many fans were touched and expressed or understanding and support for him.
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Chapter 278
From a public opinion perspective, it seemed like he had weathered the crisis.
But in reality, his opportunities were downgraded again, and he couldn’t rise up anymore.
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His agent told him, “Because your relationship was exposed, your lead role in the A-list drama is gone. Now, you can either act as a villain in a top-tier drama, the second male lead in an A-list drama, or the male lead in a B-list drama. Pick one.”
Andrew cried and said, “I don’t want any of it…”