"President Johnson, I want to know why you gave us this information. After all, our newspaper’s influence in Sileria City isn’t that great."
"Because scandals always spread the fastest."
With the power she now possessed, publishing information about Sabrina Johnson through major newspapers in Sileria City wouldn’t be impossible, but it would be too conspicuous. She couldn’t make a move against the Stewarts yet; they couldn’t afford a fallout at this moment.
She couldn’t let the Stewarts think she was the one who spread the news.
A newspaper famous for publishing all kinds of secrets, "Weekly Headlines," came into Sienna Johnson’s view.
Reporter Kyle weighed the importance of the evidence in his hand and said, "This explosive news about the Young Mistress of the Stewart Family will probably only run in our paper for a few days."
"Why?" She had wanted to buy a whole month’s coverage.
"We once published a story about William Stewart keeping a mistress. It ran for only one day before we were sued. As far as I know, William Stewart has close ties with certain influential people in Sileria City."
"Oh?" Sienna Johnson said, her interest piqued.
"Can I smoke a cigarette?"
Reporter Kyle took out a cigarette but sought Sienna Johnson’s permission. Sienna gestured for him to proceed, and he lit up.
"However, a few days will be enough for these rumors to become the talk of the town. Afterward, we can disseminate it online; netizens’ emotions are easily swayed," Reporter Kyle remarked.
Sienna Johnson replied, "As long as it achieves that effect, it’s enough."
"There’s one more thing. I plan to publish the story about you and Sabrina Johnson... The headline would be ’The Real and Fake Princesses of a Wealthy Family.’ Readers will be more interested in this."
"That’s not really news," Sienna Johnson said with a bitter smile. She wasn’t planning to make herself "famous" just yet.
"It’s only known within certain circles, and it was so long ago that most people aren’t clear on the details. This is an era obsessed with entertainment. Once the news about the real and fake princesses of the wealthy family breaks, the story of Sabrina Johnson stealing the formula will continue to circulate..."
Sienna Johnson shook her head. "No, that’s my privacy. I don’t intend to expose myself."
There was no ashtray in Sienna Johnson’s office, so Reporter Kyle tapped his cigarette ash onto the saucer of his coffee cup. Sienna noticed his slightly yellowed hand, a mark left by years of smoking.
"Some things are hard to keep hidden, you know..." Reporter Kyle insisted on reporting the ’Real and Fake Princesses of a Wealthy Family’ story; he was more interested in it than in Sabrina Johnson stealing the formula. "Besides, every effect has a cause. Once the public knows the cause, they’ll be much more interested in the effect."
An idea struck Sienna Johnson. "I agree," she said. "However, regarding Sabrina Johnson, I have another piece of news for you."
Reporter Kyle’s eyes lit up. He looked expectantly at Sienna Johnson. "What news?"
"It’s about Sabrina Johnson’s birth mother."
This was another explosive piece of news. Once reported, Sileria City would be in an uproar.
「The next day,」 when the "Weekly Headlines" story was published, it wasn’t just Sabrina Johnson and the Stewart Family who were reeling; the Harris Family of Southgate Department Store also found themselves with a massive headache.
The real and fake princesses of a wealthy family—and the fake princess was reportedly the daughter of a prostitute.
The boss of Southgate Department Store had abandoned his devoted first wife to marry a piece of trash. Rumor had it that his son might not even be his, and Southgate’s stock price plummeted that very day.
"Tell me, is Angelo my son or not?" Oscar Harris, the boss of Southgate Department Store, slapped Yvette Harris across the face, his eyes blazing with fury.
Five distinct red marks immediately appeared on Yvette Harris’s fair cheek, but she vehemently denied it. "Oscar, everything written in those gossip magazines is fake! How can you believe them? Angelo looks so much like you. If he isn’t yours, whose could he be? If you don’t trust me, I’ll take Angelo and leave..."
Oscar Harris wasn’t fooled by Yvette this time. He pointed at her angrily and said, "...I’ve already arranged for a paternity test, Yvette! Let me tell you, if Angelo isn’t my child, I’m not done with you!"
"What? A paternity test?" Yvette Harris hadn’t expected Oscar to act so quickly.
Yvette Harris sobbed. "Oscar, go ahead with the paternity test. Angelo is your child!" she insisted, her mind racing as she tried to figure out how to use money to alter the test results.
Having weathered so many storms to get to where she was today, having finally achieved everything she had, Yvette couldn’t bear to be pushed down from the clouds by others.
"He damn well better be! If not, you slut, I won’t let you off!"
Oscar Harris had divorced his first wife because she had only borne him a daughter and couldn’t conceive again. As a man who prioritized sons over daughters, Oscar naturally wanted a son. He agreed to marry Yvette after an ultrasound confirmed she was pregnant with a boy.
If Angelo wasn’t his biological son, Oscar Harris had truly shot himself in the foot.
Watching her husband storm off, Yvette composed herself, shedding her vulnerable facade. She rose and walked to her dressing table, where her skincare products lay smashed on the floor. Picking up a compact of foundation, she carefully concealed the red marks on her face.
She absolutely could not lose her composure now!
"Sabrina Johnson, you incompetent, meddling fool!"
Yvette had acknowledged Sabrina Johnson only because she believed Sabrina’s status could be beneficial. She never expected the girl to lack any of her own shrewdness, completely ruined by that idiot Pauline Briggs. Official source is novel-fire.ɴet
Yvette immediately set about finding someone who could locate the hospital where her husband was having the paternity test done, intending to alter the results.
Angelo wasn’t Oscar’s biological child. Oscar, apart from his daughter with his ex-wife, had no other children. It wasn’t that his ex-wife was infertile; he was.
Fortune favors the bold.
It was with this knowledge that Yvette had decided to take such a drastic risk, employing a ruthless strategy to oust Oscar’s original wife and become Madam Harris herself.
「Stewart Family Residence」
When the news broke, the Stewart Family was also thrown into turmoil.
They had known Sabrina Johnson wasn’t a true daughter of the Johnson family, but they never imagined her background was so disgraceful. The Stewart family felt deceived.
However, the Johnson family had initially intended for Sienna Johnson to marry into their family. It was their own son who, as if his head had been caught in a door, insisted on marrying Sabrina Johnson. Even if they wanted to find fault with the Johnson family, they had no grounds.
William Stewart grabbed an ashtray and hurled it at his son. "You little bastard! Look at what you painstakingly schemed to bring into this family!"
"William, what are you doing? Why are you taking it out on our son? Who could have known Sabrina Johnson came from such a background? Don’t blame him. Weren’t you also mistaken about her at first?" Viola Harris shielded her son, preventing her husband from venting his anger on him.