Chapter 41
“Alright then, get some rest!”
Clara was completely wiped out; her eyelids were like lead weights. She leaned back in her seat and quickly fell asleep.
That was when Addison noticed the bloody stains on Clara’s knees, looking pretty alarming. But with the camera rolling, she couldn’t say anything, and just silently admired Clara’s grit.
Clara slept for a solid four hours, and when she woke up, she overheard Addison chatting with the driver.
Addison’s voice was tinged with urgency. “Let her catch a few more winks. It’s disgusting how they’re spreading rumors about us!”
The driver was a seasoned middle–aged man who’d been driving for Ferguson Corporation for ages, “Addison, maybe we should wake Ms. Clara. If we keep waiting, we might lose all the clients.”
“But she was up all night. Let’s give her one more hour.”
Their voices were hushed, but Clara was already awake. She rubbed her temples, her throat still a bit raw. “What’s going on?”
Addison’s eyes lit up, “Clara, you’re awake! It’s Quinn. She’s somehow involved in the event, and also selling apples. She even mentioned you in her live stream. Now everyone’s convinced you’re here just to chase after some guy! We’ve had so many cancellations that the system’s about to crash, and the platform’s putting pressure on us. If this keeps up, they might report us, and we’ll all be in deep trouble. What should we do?”
Addison was genuinely worried. Despite racking up a ton of orders last night, by afternoon, not only had sales dried up, but many customers had canceled their orders. She was nearly in tears.
Clara took a sip of water to ease her scratchy throat. This was classic Quinn. “Addison, pull up Quinn’s live
stream for me.”
Addison quickly brought up Quinn’s stream.
Compared to Clara’s simple, no–frills setup, Quinn’s stream looked like it had been professionally decorated, making her come off as a polished businessgirl. Despite her manipulative character, Quinn had some skills, and her stream looked the part.
Most importantly, she had slashed her prices: five cents a pound, fifty cents for ten pounds of apples. Clara’s apples were going for ninety–nine cents for ten pounds, making Quinn’s deal look way better.
On top of that, Quinn had casually brought up her sister, hinting that she’d run away from home, trying to achieve something to win back her fiancé. This led viewers to think Clara was using the charity event as a cover to chase a guy and accused her of jacking up prices for kickbacks.
These accusations were no joke.
Addison rubbed her eyes, clearly having shed some tears already. “The chat at noon was brutal, so I just ended the stream. It was too much. Now Quinn’s stream is buzzing, with over two hundred thousand viewers. I’ve heard she’s sold over fifty thousand orders.”
Clara took a deep breath and patted Addison’s shoulder. “It’s okay. Let’s restart our stream again.”
Addison shook her head. “No way, you don’t know how vicious those insults were.”
But Clara was already on it, opening the live stream herself, her voice calm. “It’s fine. If Quinn’s using me to drum up attention, I can turn that right back on her.”
Her stream had been buzzing last night, and Quinn’s deliberate mention of her was a card she wasn’t about to let go unplayed.
Addison glanced at Clara’s knees, full of concern. “Clara, maybe you should deal with your knees first. They
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look infected. If it turns septic, we’ll have a problem.”
Clara was already flashing a smile at the camera. As expected, the chat was a sea of insults.
[How dare you exploit farmers‘ hard work like this! You should be ashamed. We placed so many orders last night.]
[Looks like what that other streamer said is true. She’s really here to flirt and sell apples.]
[Bet she’s thrilled with all the compliments about her looks. Let’s report this stream, and everyone who ordered last night should cancel. I heard if enough people cancel, the platform will shut down the stream.]
[Disgusting, you’re such a manipulative snake. Just looking at you makes me sick.]
Clara brushed off the negativity and opened Quinn’s live stream, challenging her to a live face–off.
The chat fell silent for a moment, then erupted with even more intensity.
[What was this girl thinking? Was she about to confront Quinn head–on?]
Quinn hadn’t expected Clara to challenge her. She hesitated, but the chat goaded her, asking if she was scared. No way she’d back down to Clara. After accepting the challenge, the two streams merged instantly.
The contrast was sharp, Quinn’s heavy makeup couldn’t compete with Clara’s natural allure.
Jealousy flickered in Quinn’s eyes as she sweetly called out, “Clara, I didn’t expect to see you in South Ashford. We are really concerned about you.”
Chapter 42
Chapter 42
