Chapter 143 You've probably heard of Mr. Smoke, right?
Since Charles left yesterday, Grace had been thinking for a long time, deciding to accept Charles's terms even if it meant becoming a lover.
It was better than being labeled a homewrecker and scorned by everyone like a pariah.
As long as Charles could keep his promise, she was willing to pay any price.
Once you had reached the peak, you knew the feeling of being abandoned by everyone when you fell into the valley!
Since Grace had already made up her mind, she would no longer worry about spending Charles's money.
Grace was a smart person and knew that given her current situation, if she wanted to make a comeback, she had to manage her reputation.
There were many ways to manage reputation, but the most effective one was to bring down Mr. Tiger by exposing his casting couch practices with actresses and make a comeback as a victim, completely overturning her image as a diva on set and a homewrecker for the rich.
But it was very difficult to achieve this.
A single Twitter exposé would be far from enough.
She would also need to buy trending topics, hire astroturfers, and get influencers to stir up the issue, to make it go viral.
It wasn't actually hard to do all that!
If you had money, you could hire a professional team to improve your image.
But Mr. Tiger had been in the entertainment industry for many years, and had his own PR team. If she could hire astroturfers, so could he.
A back-and-forth argument would only result in chaos, so she needed a wave of ironclad evidence to completely defeat Mr. Tiger.
Actually, getting evidence was simple. It would just depend on whether she was willing to spend the money.
Over the years, many actresses had been exploited or targeted for exploitation by Mr. Tiger, not just Grace. According to Grace herself, there were at least five or six others.
Some actresses even willingly offered themselves up just for more lines and screen time, discussing the script with the director in a room late at night!
Plenty of actresses in this industry wanted to climb the ladder.
They would use their bodies as leverage, actively seducing directors, producers, investors, and even screenwriters, lighting technicians, and cameramen.
To make it in this industry, they had to maintain good relationships on all fronts.
If Grace could find actresses who had been exploited by Mr. Tiger and pay them a high price to willingly come forward with ironclad evidence, Mr. Tiger would be severely damaged if not completely ruined.
Actresses who were already famous would protect their reputation and wouldn't expose their own scandals.
But fourth or fifth-tier, or even D-list actresses were different!
As long as she offered a high enough price, they would be willing to expose their own scandals!
Many actresses had worked with Mr. Tiger.
Finding a few with real experiences wouldn't be hard.
$800,000 would be enough for them to expose him. If that wasn't enough, she would offer $1.5 million! $3 million! $4.5 million!
There would always be a price that satisfied them.
Money could solve any problem. She just had to offer enough of it.
Grace could take this opportunity to successfully manage her reputation, putting Mr. Tiger in a situation where the entire internet would condemn him.
Her plan was very clear, but the key was whether Charles would come through!
Actually, the $15 million Charles had transferred to her wasn't enough.
After paying the $4.6 million penalty, Grace only had $10 million left.
This $10 million had to be used to buy astroturfers, trending topics, and the endorsement of well-known figures, and to hire a professional PR team to manage her reputation.
She had to be generous, especially when she was negotiating with other actresses to expose the scandal. If she offered too little, they wouldn't even bother with her, and might even betray her on the spot.
And she couldn't handle this personally, she had to hire professionals to do it.
It showed that $10 million could be spent in just a few days.
Grace wasn't sure whether she could bring down Mr. Tiger with just $10 million.
[Your bank account has received $15 million!]
Just as Grace was frantically thinking about how to cut expenses, a notification suddenly popped up on her phone.
She was stunned, thinking, 'Another $15 million? Mr. Smoke, what kind of person are you? Your generosity is astonishing'
While Grace was still in shock, she received a message from Mr. Smoke on her Facebook.
[I know about your situation on Twitter. Here's some pocket money for you. I'll support you!]
When Grace saw that message, her eyes suddenly reddened, tears shimmering faintly.
The online abuse she had endured over the past year had been unbearable, and she had no outlet for her grievances.
Every day, she had been scorned by the public.
Grace's name had been synonymous with a homewrecker.
Her parents no longer cared for her as they used to, and even blamed her.
Matthew was even more of a jerk. He was always wanting to introduce her to some rich second-generation heir to live a life of luxury.
She felt helpless and fragile!
But after seeing Charles's message and the $15 million transfer, Grace suddenly felt she had found a pillar of support, someone she could rely on, which made her inexplicably feel a sense of security.
'But why does this guy have to be such a jerk? He is exactly the kind of scumbag I used to hate, he uses his money to keep lovers and is a total playboy. I hate scumbags like him. How could I possibly like him? It's impossible; I will never like such a douchebag!' Grace vehemently denied it in her heart, feeling that her current behavior had made her the kind of person she used to despise.
Yet she was infatuated with the feeling of having someone to rely on.
After thinking for a moment, Grace replied to Charles with a message, [Thank you!]
[Grace: Favorability +5
Grace: Favorability +5
Grace: Favorability +5
Current Favorability: 10 points.]
Sure enough, after transferring $15 million, her favorability finally turned from negative to positive.
The power of money was extraordinary.
Charles wasn't in a hurry to transfer $100 million to her all at once.
He could satisfy her, but not too much, or if she no longer felt the need for him, her favorability might never increase!
Meanwhile, Snow had been feeling very awkward after watching the video Jessica sent her yesterday.
She might feel a bit guilty toward Charles, but she didn't plan to apologize because just thinking about her wishful thinking made her cheeks flush with embarrassment.
It would be mortifying to run into Charles again.
It was best not to see him again; after all, she had graduated and left school, never to meet again.
Today was her first official day as the assistant to the president of Koi Tech, and she had received a high-level task.
The president of Koi Tech, a woman in her thirties, greatly admired Snow and entrusted her with important responsibilities right after graduation.
"Snow, as you know, our website has been established for less than two years. We are a new tech company with a young and vibrant team. The Koi App developed by our tech team has received excellent market feedback. However, we face fierce competition from similar apps like Instagram, which has spent an enormous amount on advertising to promote its market. Now is the era of traffic. For an app to rise and go public, it must incur significant upfront costs.
"I've been out seeking funding, but it's been challenging. We can't afford to develop slowly anymore; we must accelerate and capture market share!"
"Boss, I've done my homework on this. What task do you have for me?" Snow said with great enthusiasm.
"I've recently noticed someone who might have the capability to fund our company, and he's right here in Syeattel. I want you to reach out to him. You've probably heard of the ultra-rich patron Mr. Smoke online, right?"
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