Tiffin sat on her couch, watching the live broadcast of the Global Competition. Her job was to monitor the show for her boss, who was keeping a close eye on one of the contestants.

It had been a long, stressful day at work. She worked as an assistant at the biggest record label in the country, the one everyone called "the Godfather label," because her boss practically controlled everything that happened in the music industry.

She stretched her legs and finally allowed herself to relax as the show went on. But when it was time for Dayo to perform, she found herself sitting up straight without even realizing it. He was the real reason she watched the show.

Halfway through his performance, Tiffin froze. The drink in her hand stopped halfway to her lips. What she saw and heard on that stage could only mean one thing: chaos.

By the time Dayo's performance ended, she felt a strange heaviness in her chest. She knew Dayo wasn't guilty of what he was accused of. She also knew her company had played a big part in spreading the lies. That thought made her feel sick.

She sighed, grabbed her phone, and whispered a small prayer before opening social media. "Please, let the internet not go crazy," she said softly. But deep down, she knew it was already too late.

Even she felt emotional watching that performance; what about regular people online?

The moment she opened Dayo's page, her eyes widened. Videos, screenshots, and clips of the evidence he posted were everywhere. The comment section was exploding.

"Damn," she muttered under her breath.

She scrolled through the posts quietly, her heart pounding faster with each passing second. She could already see how this would end: with a storm.

Leaning back, she sighed again and whispered, "Tomorrow's going to be a rough day, ugh...."

She could already imagine Michael's reaction when he saw the news. And thinking about it made her pity herself even more.

***

Philip was out partying with Vivian late at night. The music was loud, lights flashing everywhere, and people were dancing without care. Vivian had a drink in her hand, laughing as she and Philip moved to the beat.

Her phone buzzed on the table beside her. Then again. Then again.

At first, she ignored it. The notifications were coming in fast, but she told herself she'd check them later. "Probably just fans or some random gossip," she said, brushing it off.

A few minutes later, her phone started ringing. She glanced at the screen; it was Paul.

"Ugh, not now," she muttered. She pressed ignore and kept dancing. The phone rang again. And again.

Philip noticed and laughed. "What's with all the calls? Someone's desperate."

"Paul," she said with a small roll of her eyes. "Probably about work. I'll call him after."

But even as she tried to ignore it, her phone wouldn't stop ringing. At the same time, Philip's phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out, frowned, and saw his father's name flashing on the screen.

"Not now, old man," he said quietly, slipping it back into his pocket and muting it.

Vivian gave him a look. "Your dad too?"

"Yeah. Weird timing."

They tried to continue the party, but something felt off. Then Vivian's phone rang again; Paul was calling once more. She sighed deeply, excused herself, and walked outside where it was quieter.

When she finally picked up, Paul's panicked voice came through immediately.

"Vivian! Where are you? You and Philip need to come to the office right now."

"What? Why? What's going on?" she asked, confused.

"Just get here," he said sharply. "Now." The line went dead before she could say anything else.

Vivian stood there for a few seconds, frozen. Her face had gone pale. She didn't even fully understand what had happened, but from Paul's tone, it was bad. Really bad.

She walked back inside quickly. Philip saw her expression and frowned. "What's wrong?"

She grabbed his hand. "We need to go. Now."

"Go where?" he asked.

"To the office," she said quickly. "Paul said we have to be there right away."

"Why? What happened?"

She shook her head. "I don't know, but it's serious."

Without wasting time, they both left the club. The drive was silent. Vivian kept checking her phone, seeing hundreds of notifications flooding in: messages, tags, mentions. Her stomach tightened, but she didn't open them.

When they arrived at the label, the atmosphere was tense. The building was unusually quiet for that hour. The moment they walked into the office, they saw Paul, Eric, and Chris already there.

Paul's face was pale, eyes fixed on the large TV in the corner of the room. Chris sat still, looking stunned, while Eric stood with his hands on his head, pacing slowly.

Vivian and Philip exchanged glances.

"What's going on?" Philip asked carefully.

Paul didn't answer right away. He just looked up at them, his face blank.

That silence alone told them one thing: something had gone terribly wrong.

The room was heavy with silence. Nobody said a word at first.

Urich finally spoke. His voice was cold. "This is it," he said slowly. "I told you all to fix this mess before it got out of hand that he had evidence. Now look at it. Hard evidence. Videos. Voice recordings. Everything is out."

He pointed at the screen where Vivian's voice could be heard clearly, begging Dayo. Even though some parts of the video were muted and blurred, everyone in the room knew what was going on.

Paul tried to talk. "Sir, I didn't know he was recording. I swear—"

Urich turned to him sharply. "You didn't know? You're an agent. How could you not know you were being recorded while trying to negotiate a cover-up?"

Paul's mouth opened, but no words came out.

Vivian stuttered, "I-I didn't know he kept anything. I thought he—"

"You thought wrong," Urich snapped. He rubbed his forehead and sat down heavily. "Do you even realize what you've done? He didn't just expose the scandal. He exposed us. The public now knows everything: the fake accusations, the bribe talks, even your voices. The boy was ten steps ahead of all of you."

Chris, who had been quiet since they arrived, finally spoke. "So what's the plan now? We can't just sit here."

Urich gave him a long look. "Plan? The video is everywhere already. Do you know how many news outlets have picked it up? How many people are streaming it? There's no plan left, Chris. The damage is done."

Paul looked desperate. "We can release a statement, maybe say the clips were edited?"

Urich laughed, but there was no humor in his voice. "Edited? Paul, he posted the NDA you all signed. Do you really think anyone will believe us now?"

The whole room went quiet again.

Vivian held her head in her hands. "This can't be happening," she whispered. "It can't."

Philip stood near the window, looking out. "It is," he said softly. "It's everywhere."

He showed his phone screen to them. The trending page was filled with Dayo's name. Headlines from every major outlet were flashing:

"Dayo Clears His Name with Proof."

"UC Label Scandal Shakes the Industry."

"Vivian and Paul Caught in Secret Recording."

The comments under the post were even worse. People were furious.

@SoundQueen: OMG I feel so bad for Dayo. We all believed the lies 😭

@TruthFinder: Can you imagine framing someone like that?!

@MichealFan: He warned us! He literally said the truth will come out!

@VivianStan: No, there has to be another side. Maybe this was planned?

@User88: You're still defending her? Are you dumb?! 😂

Urich's phone started ringing again, journalists, board members, investors. He ignored them all and just sat there quietly, staring at the screen.

After a long silence, he said, "There's nothing we can do tonight. Damage control starts tomorrow. For now, go home and prepare yourselves, the press will tear us apart in the morning."

Paul swallowed hard. "Sir, what about Vivian?"

Urich gave her a tired look. "She's finished for now. Pull her from every event, cancel all appearances. And you," he turned to Paul, "don't show your face until I say so."

Nobody argued. They all knew he was right.

He looked at Chris " it's time we call a board meeting to discuss this"

He nodded.

As they left the room, the sound of Dayo's voice from the performance echoed again from the TV: "The truth will come out someday."

Urich sighed, rubbing his temple. "It already did," he muttered under his breath.

Outside, the hallway was quiet. Vivian walked slowly, her legs weak. She didn't even look at Philip when he tried to speak.

For the first time since the scandal began, she realized she had lost everything: her image, her fans, her label's trust.

And far away, Dayo's name kept climbing higher online.

He had won.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.