CHAPTER 20: CHAPTER 20: BAR FIGHT VIDEO POSTED ONLINE

The news of Natalie Vaughn’s arranged marriage to Zane Thorne quickly spread within the circle. Many, both familiar and unfamiliar with Natalie, began to inquire. Some directly asked Natalie herself, while others sought out Phoebe Quinn or Aaron Channing for information.

As for Zane’s side, several of his close friends had already met Natalie at a bar and knew Zane’s stance. Those who were not close had no way to inquire about Zane’s business.

Their matchmaking meeting went surprisingly smoothly. Mrs. Vaughn and Mrs. Thorne had even begun discussing the wedding plans, intending to find a time for the two families to meet and then proceed further.

Natalie had no intention of worrying about this matter and did not feel any wedding jitters. She was indeed curious about Zane and interested in getting to know this somewhat mysterious man. However, she was not about to change her life path for a man.

That day, Natalie returned to school as usual to discuss her thesis progress with her advisor, but a small incident occurred.

The incident of her taking down five men in a bar that evening was caught on video and posted online.

Initially, she did not pay attention, and the person who uploaded it only posted the footage of her fighting. Gradually, the video started gaining a lot of traffic. Everyone was drawn to Natalie’s clean and crisp moves, prompting people to dig up her account.

When Natalie saw the increase in followers and comments, she did not address it immediately, nor did she plan to acknowledge that the person in the video was her.

However, the striking actions and her beautiful face, along with her similar silhouette, made it unnecessary for her to admit anything—everyone already believed the girl in the video was her.

Fans exclaimed under the video.

"Sis, you’re amazing."

"Sis is so cool and fierce. I’m in love."

"Wifey! When are you coming to marry me!"

"Ahhhh, wifey, I want to have your babies!"

"Boo hoo, although it’s kind of crazy, I really want Sis to kick me!"

...

Natalie frowned as she read the comments.

She didn’t like this kind of attention and didn’t think this sudden popularity was a good thing.

Just as Natalie expected.

As the video gained more traffic, it naturally aroused jealousy. Particularly since Natalie hadn’t joined any guilds, nor did she have any backing from a company. The initial praise started to change slowly. Malicious guidance led to many comments criticizing her fighting as wrong and suggesting it should be handled by the police.

Someone even posted a follow-up video.

In the video, Natalie’s eyes were fierce, holding a cracked bottle against a man’s chin. It also showed her viciously stabbing the glass into the man’s arm, but conveniently omitted the part where the man aimed to strike her head with a bottle as she turned to leave.

The comments section drastically changed.

"Is there no law in this world? She actually stabbed glass in front of everyone!"

"Even if the man did something, it’s too harsh to react this way!"

"Why not leave it to the security?"

"Wasn’t it reported to the police?"

"As a blogger, to fight publicly, what a disgrace to morals!"

"Police, please come asap! There’s a brawl in the bar with bloodshed!"

"She looks so kind and gentle, who would think her heart is so dark!"

...

The comments under each video on Natalie’s account had exploded, yet upon hearing about it, Natalie simply uninstalled the app and went back to discussing her thesis with her advisor.

Her running that account was merely out of interest, partially for the sake of her loyal fans. She had never bothered to gain anything from it. Now caught in such an uproar, there was no need to painstakingly resolve it.

Her indifferent attitude naturally made her immune to online harassment.

But while Natalie thought this way, others did not.

The young college crowd was always very sensitive to online trends. They hadn’t initially linked it to Natalie. After all, Natalie was always a loner. People knew she had a distinguished family, a flower on a high peak they dared not approach.

But as more people started discussing it, someone remarked,

"Isn’t this girl a senior from the Business School?"

With that single sentence, everyone unconsciously began inquiring about Natalie.

No matter how low-profile, Natalie was still on campus. After leaving her advisor’s office, Natalie noticed she was surrounded by people always watching and gossiping about her.

Finding these people irritating, Natalie stopped in her tracks, standing in the middle of the path, looking at no one with a frosty gaze.

Without uttering a word, she stood there, indifferent, her cold aura silencing the drifting whispers around her.

The crowd usually believes what they see, wandering the web, turning words into daggers without a blink, embedding those daggers into someone. Yet they act righteous, believing themselves to stand on the side of light.

Just because the person they’re attacking is thousands of miles away, and just because that person is whom they presume to be ordinary.

But Natalie was not, and everyone knew she was not ordinary. So when she stopped in the path, silent, everyone held back their curiosity and sealed their lips.

The world is like this, bullying the weak and fearing the strong. The true story doesn’t matter; they care about not giving Natalie any leverage against them. They know Natalie is someone they cannot afford to provoke.

Natalie’s phone rang, and she glanced around casually before moving forward and answering.

It was Phoebe Quinn calling.

"Nina, where are you now?"

With urgency in her voice, Natalie immediately knew her intent.

"At school, I’m getting ready to head back."

Originally, she planned to stay at school for two days to work on her thesis, but seeing how things were, staying on campus wouldn’t provide her peace.

Hearing Natalie’s calm voice, Phoebe sighed in relief.

Right, how could the Vaughn family’s daughter be troubled by such matters?

"Wait for me at the school gate; I’m coming to pick you up. I’ll handle the video situation."

Natalie responded with a simple acknowledgment.

In just a matter of minutes, Phoebe arrived. As soon as Natalie got in the car, before she said anything, Phoebe’s phone rang.

Whatever was said on the other end made Phoebe’s expression go from surprised to peculiar.

After hanging up, she squinted at Natalie.

"Be honest, since when have you become so close with Felix Langdon?"

Natalie raised an eyebrow, signaling Phoebe to continue.

"The second video is completely taken down now, and the video of that man throwing the bottle at you was put up. Comments took a 180-degree turn. My secretary says it’s the doing of an entertainment company under Felix Langdon’s name. So, Nina, when did you know Felix Langdon, and I didn’t know about it, hmm?"

Natalie was silent for a moment, thoughtful.

There could be no connection between her and Felix Langdon other than meeting that day at the bar when he called her sister-in-law.

It seems being the future wife of Zane Thorne really has its perks.

"He’s Zane Thorne’s brother."

Phoebe suddenly realized.

"Ah, God Thorne’s friend, no wonder. Tsk tsk, his tactics are really something. I heard he left Langdon Enterprises to start from scratch, reaching this level in just a few years—truly terrifying."

Natalie gave a lazy acknowledgment, closing her eyes slightly to rest against the seat; writing her thesis these days had her hands aching.

Phoebe had rushed over, fearing online events might affect Natalie. Seeing her like this now was amusing. Those netizens would never guess that the protagonist didn’t even blink at these events, let alone have their mood disturbed.

"Where to now?"

Natalie thought for a moment.

"Do you know where Zane Thorne is? Let’s go to him."

Phoebe: ...

How would she know where Zane Thorne is?