Chapter 300: GIVE HIM MORE EXPOSURE

Laughter erupted around him. Xue Peng’s hands curled into fists. His face burned with humiliation.

"I don’t want to talk about this anymore," he muttered.

"Why are you running?" the lead alpha said, stepping closer. "Thought you were the victim here. Victims usually want to clear their name."

"I already explained what happened."

"You explained your version. But you didn’t answer the question. Was it good?"

Xue Peng’s throat tightened. He couldn’t speak. He could barely breathe.

"I have training," he said weakly. "I need to go."

He shoved past the gap between two of them, shoulder-checking one alpha hard enough to earn a grunt of surprise. He didn’t look back. He hurried down the corridor, fumbled with his key, and threw himself inside his room.

The lock clicked shut behind him. He stood there, chest heaving, hands shaking against the doorframe. His phone screen was still lit with the Weibo post. The comments section was already flooded with thousands of new responses.

He didn’t dare to scroll. Outside, the alphas remained in the corridor.

One of them clicked his tongue. "Something about that guy feels wrong. He ran too fast."

"Maybe he’s telling the truth about being raped."

"Maybe."

The lead alpha pulled out his phone and opened an anonymous account. "If he’s innocent, people can decide that for themselves."

The lead alpha pulled out his phone, opened an anonymous account, and began typing. Minutes later, the post went live.

@GrapistHunter: So we ran into Xue Peng at Yang Entertainment dorms. Confronted him about the Xue family scandal. Here’s what happened.

First thing out of his mouth? Denial. Blamed everything on his cousin Guiying. Claimed he was raped, traumatized, the whole sob story—real tearful performance. But when we asked him details—like how it was, sleeping with his own blood—he clammed up. Couldn’t even look us in the eye. Started stammering about training and bolted like his ass was on fire.

Funny how fast victims run when you ask the hard questions. If he was really assaulted, wouldn’t he want people to know the truth? Instead, he shut down and fled. That’s not innocence. That’s guilt wearing a mask.

Make of that what you will. We’re just sharing what we saw.

The account was anonymous. The post wasn’t.

Within minutes, shares and comments exploded.

Xue Peng sat on the edge of his bed, phone discarded, staring at the wall. His hands shook.

He had thought the past was buried. He had thought Guiying would never speak. And he’d been right—Guiying hadn’t. But someone else had—someone who knew things they shouldn’t.

It didn’t matter who. What mattered was that now everyone knew. And they weren’t buying his story.

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The estate had returned to its usual calm, Guiying going about his day as though the scandal wasn’t causing a storm online.

He had not received a call from his uncle or aunt yet; he assumed they would have called him by now to threaten him, but they hadn’t.

They made him even more curious; he wanted to see who the mastermind was. He wanted to know just how they got the information that Xue Peng was his rapist.

He was lounging on the bed, a bag of popcorn next to him, strolling through the comment section as though he was watching a movie.

Whatever comment or tag he didn’t like, he screenshotted it and sent it to Fu Pei.

"These new channels really are having fun with this; their retention rates must be off the charts."

He popped another popcorn into his hand when his phone began vibrating.

Liu Moying??

They had not spoken since his dinner with the Lius; remember, he was also signed to Yang Entertainment. Was he calling because of Xue Peng?

Guiying answered. "What’s up?"

"I just heard from Limo. Xue Peng has been suspended."

Guiying’s brows lifted. "Suspended?"

"Limo doesn’t want him damaging Yang Entertainment’s image, so he pulled him from his schedules."

"Tell him not to."

There was a brief silence on the other end.

"Not to suspend him?"

"Not only should he keep him, but he should also promote him even more."

Moying chuckled. "You’re serious?"

"Completely. If Yang Entertainment wants to protect its image, hiding Xue Peng now is the worst thing they could do. Put him back in front of the cameras and give him more exposure."

Moying understood immediately.

Guiying’s lips curved. "I want that pedestal under Xue Peng as high as possible. The higher they put him, the harder he’ll fall when he finally comes off it."

Moying laughed softly. "I’ll be sure to tell my boyfriend."

Guiying paused. "Wait. Your boyfriend?"

"Yes."

"Ah, I see you both are dating now, and that bastard didn’t think to tell me. I’ll be sure to tell him my mind when this is over."

Moying’s laughter came through the phone. "I thought he did. Well, he’s been busy these days."

Guiying smiled. "I didn’t know. I’m happy for you both, though. I can’t wait for the wedding invitation."

"We’re still waiting for yours."

Guiying raised a brow. "Waiting for mine?"

"What else would I be talking about? You and big brother Liuxian haven’t had one yet."

Guiying went quiet for a moment.

"Oh."

He genuinely hadn’t thought about it in a while.

They were already married, and with everything that had happened since their marriage, an actual wedding ceremony had somehow kept getting pushed aside.

The realization brought a smile to his face.

"You’re right. We really haven’t had our wedding yet."

Moying laughed. "Exactly."

Guiying leaned back, already imagining it.

"Alright, I’ll tell Liuxian when he comes back. I want a big national wedding."

There was a brief silence. Moying burst out laughing. "A national wedding?"

"Why not?" Guiying sounded completely serious. "If we’re doing it, we’re doing it properly. I don’t want some quiet ceremony that nobody remembers. I want it all over the news."

"I’ll be sure to remind my brother that he married someone who likes making grand entrances."

Guiying smiled. "And I’ll remind him that his younger brother is the one who encouraged me."

Moying laughed again. "Fine. I’ll take responsibility."

Guiying smiled; talking about Liuxian made him miss him even more.

"You take care of yourself. Limo and I are here if you need anything."

A dark smile appeared on Guiying’s face, his fingers curling around the bedsheets. "I already told you what I need; you be sure to take care of Xue Peng for me. I’ll send the details to Limo. Goodbye."