After Divorce I Married a Tycoon-Chapter 73: The Water Army Begins to Steer the Narrative
Mrs. Sinclair happened to see Claire Mercer’s interview on a servant’s phone.
When she learned that Claire had exposed everything the Sinclair family had done, posting it all online and causing such a huge uproar and discussion...
Mrs. Sinclair was so furious she nearly coughed up blood.
Rose Gable really didn’t understand.
"How could such a trivial thing start trending and become the center of national attention?"
Claire Mercer and their family weren’t celebrities. It made no sense for so many people to be paying attention.
Besides, it wasn’t some particularly heinous social incident, so how could it attract so much discussion?
The Sinclairs just couldn’t figure it out.
Cynthia Sinclair said, "For all we know, Claire Mercer paid to get this trending."
"If she can pay to get it trending, we can pay to take it down."
Rose Gable said resentfully, "That little bitch is such a curse. Now we have to waste money because of her."
"Is the Sinclair family short on money?" Mrs. Sinclair shot her a sideways glance.
She immediately contacted her son to deal with the matter urgently.
"Don’t you dare let what that bitch exposed continue to brew online and affect the corporation’s reputation."
"I know, Mom. Don’t worry. Be careful you don’t ruin your health over this."
"That bitch Claire Mercer is acting all high and mighty with the Rowan family backing her. Sooner or later, I’ll make her pay."
"Alright, alright, calm down. She can’t make any big waves."
After hanging up, Felix Sinclair immediately contacted the platform, wanting to remove the trending topics that were unfavorable to the Sinclair family.
But to his surprise, the platform flatly refused.
Even when he offered an eight-figure sum, they wouldn’t budge.
They just let the several trending topics about the Sinclair family hang there on the platform, right in a very prominent spot.
"They’re turning down good money? Has the management of this platform gone insane?" Felix Sinclair was so angry he almost smashed his phone to pieces.
As his anger subsided, he gradually came to his senses.
This wasn’t the time to obsess over not being able to remove the trending topics.
It was about how to stop the negative public opinion from continuing to spread online.
They couldn’t take down the trending topics, but they couldn’t let public opinion continue to develop in a direction unfavorable to the Sinclairs either.
So, Felix Sinclair had no choice but to hire paid trolls to muddle the waters online and try to twist the truth.
As a result, voices questioning Claire Mercer began to appear.
"Is the original poster just making things up?"
"The Sinclair family wouldn’t need to hire someone to ruin her reputation, would they?"
"I think it’s a bit ridiculous too. If they want a divorce, just get a divorce. He’s the richest man in Rhonia; plenty of women would be flocking to him."
"OP, spreading rumors is illegal. I’d advise you to watch what you say."
It was obvious these were the Sinclair family’s paid trolls, desperately trying to whitewash the situation and speak up for the family.
The onlookers, bursting with a sense of justice, couldn’t sit still and passionately jumped into the fray.
"The Sinclair family’s trolls can screw off."
"What about them deceiving her with a fake marriage certificate? What about Sinclair having an affair and a child out of wedlock during the marriage?"
"Even if the story about Mrs. Sinclair setting her up is fake, there’s no way to whitewash the fake marriage certificate and Sinclair’s affair."
"You can whitewash an affair? You’re even trying to blindly defend them for tricking her with a fake marriage certificate? Not even toilet bowl cleaner is as good at scrubbing as you guys."
"How much did the Sinclair family pay you? Share the wealth, let’s all get rich together."
"..."
The paid trolls entered the fray again to steer the narrative.
"Even if the fake marriage certificate and Sinclair’s affair are true, there’s no proof that Mrs. Sinclair hired someone to ruin her reputation. Making accusations without proof is just slander."
"Right now, this whole story is coming from Miss Mercer alone. We don’t know the actual facts, so it’s hard to comment."
"Why didn’t the Sinclair family use a fake marriage certificate to trick someone else? To put it bluntly, she was just greedy for the Sinclair family’s wealth. Why else would she be so eager to marry a cripple? In the end, she brought this on herself. She doesn’t deserve any sympathy."
"I’ve followed too much drama and been fooled too many times. All the plot twists have made me scared to pick a side."p>"I agree. Everyone should stay rational while following this. Neither the Mercer nor the Sinclair family has made a statement yet. We shouldn’t just believe one side of the story."
"Are we about to see a plot twist?"
"There’s an old saying: the wicked are the first to file a complaint. Could there be another side to this story?"
"Could it be that this Miss Mercer wanted to seize the advantage in public opinion, so she came out early to play the victim?"
"It’s not impossible."
"Just waiting for the plot twist."
After the paid trolls aggressively waded in to muddle the waters, some of the less-informed and less-rational onlookers were swayed by the narrative.
They joined the Sinclair family’s trolls and started slinging mud at Claire Mercer.
They accused her of intentionally playing the victim to manipulate public opinion.
On the other hand, some of the more rational onlookers sided with Claire Mercer, believing she had been cruelly wronged by both the Sinclair and Mercer families.
And so, the two camps began to argue incessantly online.
Seeing the public discourse thrown into chaos by the Sinclair family’s paid trolls,
Roxanne Peyton and Stella Thorne were about to die of anger as they watched.
’Their best friend was schemed against, victimized, and deceived, and these people were actually cursing her out.’
Some people were even saying, ’Why didn’t the Sinclair family deceive someone else? Why her?’
The sheer victim-blaming made both of their blood pressures skyrocket.
The two of them were glued to their phones, constantly arguing back and forth with the irrational netizens. The more they argued, the more fired up and angrier they became.
"The Sinclair family is truly despicable, hiring paid trolls to twist the truth like this."
"They’re only acting like this because they think you can’t produce any evidence! And now they’re accusing you of playing the victim and starting rumors..."
Claire Mercer watched the online debate unfold, calmly eating fruit.
Even as some netizens were swayed by the narrative and started insulting her, she wasn’t anxious at all.
"How are you not angry at all?" Stella Thorne asked.
"What’s there to be angry about?" Claire Mercer smiled. "Let them have their moment."
Roxanne Peyton asked indignantly.
"Haven’t you seen that some netizens are starting to accuse you of creating hype, saying you’re intentionally playing the victim to manipulate everyone?"
Claire Mercer popped another grape into her mouth. "It’s fine. Let them curse me out for a bit."
"The more viciously they attack me, the happier the Sinclair and Mercer families will be."
Stella Thorne was also dying of anxiety.
"No, Claire... what on earth are you planning? Why don’t you just release the evidence all at once and crush them?"
Claire Mercer laughed. "If I crush them in one go, where’s the fun in that?"
"Besides, if I buried them right from the start, how would I maintain the current level of attention?"
"I want them to stay on the trending topics list. The longer they’re up there, the more people will know, and the greater the impact will be on them."
"As long as this has a major negative impact on both of their companies, they’ll just keep spending money to hire trolls to whitewash everything."
"And when they think things are starting to go their way, that’s when I’ll slowly release the evidence."
"The recordings I have are enough to deliver a fatal blow and bury them completely."
"By then, they’ll have spent all that money, only to be crushed anyway. Wouldn’t that be so much more satisfying?"
