Chapter 244 Fragile Reality and New Scandals

After putting the finishing touches on his new melody, Eric leaned back in his chair and glanced over at Ruby. She was sawing logs with a mighty snore, completely unbothered, her long coat thrown open in a messy heap because one of her legs was propped right up on the armrest. A massive, drool-streaked grin stretched across her face.

Eric let out an amused shake of his head, entirely used to seeing his sister crash out like that since they were kids. Turning his gaze back to the laptop screen, his expression hardened once again. He remembered how terrified she had been before dozing off, reminding him of his own past when he was kicked out, abandoned all alone in a strange city, feeling every single night like he wanted to run away despite inheriting a fortune.

Reaching out, he quickly tapped out the lyrics to his fresh melody, spilling every word racing through his mind straight onto the screen. The only sounds filling the office now were his quiet humming and the rapid clatter of keys beneath his fingers. Moments after finishing the lyrics, he paused briefly over the title field, his brow furrowing deep in thought before his fingers started flying across the keyboard once more.

"Fragile Reality."

Feeling a wave of satisfaction, Eric leaned back, relaxing his shoulders as he looked back at Ruby, whose body had now slid halfway off the sofa. Eric stood up, walked over, picked his little sister up to adjust her position, and straightened out her clothes, accidentally finding a bit of comfort in her booming snores and the ridiculous drool smeared across her cheek.

Ding.

A notification popped up on his smartphone. Turning back to his desk, he picked it up to find an automated banking alert announcing that $2,000,000.00 had just been deposited into his account. At the same time, a glowing holographic interface materialized out of nowhere beside his head:

[Quest: Compose three songs for Nobelia and two songs for The Empress (5/5) completed.]

[Reward received: $2,000,000.00, skill distribution card x2.]

Eric opened his system inventory. Sure enough, two skill distribution cards sat waiting in his list. Falling into deep thought, he glanced over at Ruby, who was still fast asleep and rattling the walls with her snoring. Then, a memory hit him: ever since she was a little kid, Ruby had loved dancing, loved singing, and desperately wanted to follow in Jade’s footsteps by playing the organ, piano, or keyboard, yet despite taking years of expensive private lessons that drained their dad’s wallet, she always completely failed at every attempt.

Opening up his system status screen to inspect his available traits,

"Hmm... she used to love playing the organ and dancing back in the day... let’s give this a shot," Eric thought to himself.

Pinching one of the skill distribution cards, he grabbed a pen and scrawled piano skill across the surface. Crouching down beside the sofa, he pressed the card directly against Ruby’s forehead. A soft flash of light erupted, absorbing straight into her mind. Standing back up, Eric stared down at her with a smug sense of accomplishment.

"There. Now you can play the organ to your heart’s content. Every single member of Nobelia is officially a musician now," Eric muttered in his head.

Turning around, he walked back to his desk, sank into his chair, and leaned back, casting his gaze out the window at the bustling city below. Suddenly, slam! The office door flew wide open. Eric spun his chair around to see Emma, Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, Laura, and Tania storming into the room. Every single one of them looked thoroughly wrecked.

"What’s going on?" Eric asked, sitting up straight.

Laura stepped up to the front, dropped her smartphone onto Eric’s desk, and shoved it across the wood right in front of him. Eric snatched it up, his eyes widening in shock. The screen displayed a hit piece hosted on a shady personal blog featuring a series of photos showing the entire lineup of The Empress hanging out at a dimly lit bar, draped across the laps of various high-rolling entertainment executives, corporate bosses, and VIPs. The headline screamed: "Dark After-Hours Activities Unmasked: The True Face of The Empress."

Eric looked at Monica, Heidi, Priya, and Laura, whose faces were pale and exhausted as if they had just been dragged over hot coals, while Emma, Chloe, and Tania radiated pure fury.

"Don’t tell me... you guys found out about this from your moms," Eric guessed.

"Yeah... I just got into a massive screaming match with my mom. I swore up and down I’ve never done anything like that, I’m always cooped up at home, and the only time I ever go out is down to the street to run basic errands," Monica ranted, her voice shaking.

"Same here... I just spent twenty minutes explaining the whole thing to my parents over the phone. They aren’t angry, but their phones are blowing up with calls from business partners and investors chewing them out," Priya chimed in.

"Mom and Dad said this is going to wreck their business if we don’t handle it right away. They believe me, but they’re still terrified, and I hate seeing them like that," Heidi added.

"Uncle Joe is going to murder me... if any of this were actually real," Laura groaned.

"I told you guys from the start, this is completely fake! Just look at it, there’s no way my body looks like that in those proportions. These are professionally done deepfakes or heavy Photoshop jobs. We need to launch an immediate investigation, babe, this has officially crossed the line. Bryan even called me up to ask about it, though he knows it’s BS and already reassured the board that the story’s garbage," Chloe seethed, crossing her arms.

"First Tania yesterday, then Ruby’s car gets boosted last night, and now a hit piece like this drops out of nowhere... we can’t just keep taking this lying down, babe," Emma snapped.

"Seriously... I’m still a wreck from my own scandal... thankfully my parents know me inside and out and didn’t believe a word of the garbage printed in that article, but it’s still driving me crazy. Even Greg’s parents posted a public defense on Facebook showing the hotel room receipts registered under their names," Tania added, her voice trembling.

Eric fell silent, lost in thought as a turbulent wave of emotions pounded against his chest like an endless, rolling tsunami. But just as he tried to steady himself, ring! His smartphone rang. Seeing that Mike was calling, he answered immediately.

"Bro, have you seen the article yet?" Mike asked.

"Yeah... just now," Eric replied, keeping his voice steady.

"Good. Right before I called you, I got a call from a guy named Arthur. He emailed me a batch of heavily doctored photos targeting The Empress, Nobelia, and their members. I’ve already handed everything over to Detective Norman, who’s handling the case. On top of that, I issued a formal cease-and-desist letter to the owner of the blog that published the hit piece, he’s just a freelance gossip blogger who lives for cheap controversy. Oh, and I just forwarded Arthur’s email to you," Mike explained.

"Oh... Arthur?" Eric echoed in surprise.

"Yeah... you know him?" Mike asked.

Eric glanced up at Emma, who was still standing right in front of him with her arms crossed, looking thoroughly confused by his reaction.

"Yeah... I’ll explain who he is later. So, how much time did you give them to take the article down?" Eric asked.

"Twenty-four hours. If the post isn’t pulled, we march straight to court and slap them with a massive defamation and fraud lawsuit, backed up by all the proof we have showing the images were digitally altered," Mike stated firmly.

"Awesome... thanks, bro," Eric acknowledged.

"Don’t mention it... just doing the job I’m being paid for," Mike replied.

The line clicked dead. Eric’s frayed nerves settled down as the adrenaline faded. He looked up at the seven girls standing before him and relayed everything Mike had just told them, bringing a wave of visible relief and returning smiles to their faces, though Tania still looked slightly anxious despite the explanation. Ding. A new notification chimed on Eric’s phone, signaling the incoming email from Mike.

Eric opened the file and reviewed the contents, then turned his screen around to show the side-by-side comparisons to Emma, Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, Laura, and Tania. After seeing the obviously doctored photos placed right next to the unedited originals, a wave of profound relief washed over all the girls, leaving their legs so weak that they collapsed straight onto the floor.

"Hey... what are you guys doing down there?" Eric asked, standing up from behind his desk.

"Nothing... just totally wiped out, hahaha," Monica answered, letting out a breathy laugh.

"Yeah... but I need to clear this up with my mom and dad. Can I go ahead and share these comparison photos with them?" Priya asked.

"Not yet. Until we get the green light from the police, don’t circulate these files anywhere. Just tell your parents that law enforcement is already on the case and the blog post will be pulled down within twenty-four hours," Eric instructed.

"Thank God... I guess Uncle Joe isn’t going to murder me after all," Laura muttered weakly.

"I need to call my mom and dad right this second. I’m heading back upstairs," Heidi announced, scrambling to her feet.

"Me too," Monica chimed in, standing up.

"Same here... I’ve got to let them know immediately," Priya added, rising as well.

"I need to call Uncle Joe right now," Laura groaned, pushing herself up.

With that, the four of them bolted out the door to race upstairs and call their respective parents or guardians. Chloe, Emma, and Tania remained seated on the floor in front of Eric’s desk.

"I told you guys from the absolute beginning those pictures were total fake edits... but nobody believed me and everyone just lost their minds," Chloe muttered, crossing her legs.

"Oh, please. I totally get why they panicked, I’d lose my mind too if my face popped up in trash like that, and my mom would’ve dragged me straight in here by my ear. Have a little empathy, will you? Geez," Emma snapped back.

"Yeah, yeah... my bad," Chloe replied with an indifferent shrug.

Eric glanced over at Tania, who sat quietly with her head bowed, keeping to herself as a heavy thought gnawed at the back of his mind.

"Don’t tell me Emma’s dad, Arthur... is mixed up in this mess all over again," he murmured silently to himself.