Chapter 79

Charles entered the room with a composed expression. "I thought you should know," he began,"we're in control now. We can remove Oakley whenever we want."

Millie's lips curved into a pleased smile. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

She had already started laying out her plan the moment she sent Alexia to Tia for the footage. But with this latest update, things were falling into place better than she had hoped.

Charles had managed to settle the internal conflicts at Evans Entertainment, and the recent charity gala seemed to have tilted public opinion in their favor.

Adjusting her strategy slightly, Millie turned to those gathered. "Charles, you mentioned before that Vivian's PR team is sharp. That means we have to be even sharper. There is no room for error."

Charles gave a firm nod in agreement.

Seville, seated quietly nearby, took it all in. There had been a time when he admired Vivian. But now,after everything he had seen, he realized just how wrong he'd been.

He recalled an article from not too long ago that had praised Vivian as a noble figure, all while subtly dragging Millie down. It had made him doubt Millie back then.

Millie's voice broke the silence."The next Heavenly Melody broadcast is in two days. I've got a plan in mind-let me lay it out, and you can tell me what you think. We'll move in steps. Step one..."

···

The day before the broadcast, things took an unexpected turn.

An old topic started resurfacing online-the live sound quality of Yesterday, a performance that had barely gotten attention before. But suddenly, people were talking.

A video had appeared, uploaded by Seville. He claimed it wasa live recording from that live show.

The clip, however, was grainy and poorly recorded from within the crowd. The sound was unclear, and no faces could be seen. It was footage Seville had picked up from a contact in the scalper group chat-

one that had previously been dismissed as useless since the sound quality was just as bad.

Still, curiosity drove people to click. The video spread quickly.

Vivian's team saw it too. But Johnny waved off the concern. "Relax," he said. "If that's all they've managed to dig up after all this time, we've got nothing to worry about."

Vivian let out a cold sneer. "Show them who's in charge."

"On it," Johnny replied, immediately mobilizing an online crowd to flood the Internet with criticism aimed at Seville.

But Seville watched their every move calmly, a faint smile playing on his lips.

This was exactly what Millie had planned.

It was the first step-one that served two purposes: first, to settle old scores and give Vivian's team the illusion that everything was under control; and second, to quietly gather proof of their digital smear campaign for a counterattack later.

Meanwhile,Vivian instructed Oakley to slip a few of her people into the live audience.

"Why? What do you want them to do?" Oakley raised an eyebrow. "Honestly, Charles is a nobody. Even without my grandfather pulling strings, he's not going to shake things up. I've got this under control."

Vivian crossed her arms, irritation flaring in her eyes. "Just follow my instructions. I have my reasons."

Oakley shook his head. "Look,the external voting stats are clear. Serena doesn't stand a chance of making it to the finals. So what exactly are you worried about?"

"Just do what I told you," Vivian snapped, her tone leaving no room for argument.

Her mind, however, was restless. The bite mark she had noticed on Brandon's lips had unsettled her.

Though she believed she had himn fully wrapped around her finger, Millie still posed a dangerous,personal threat-one that had to be dealt with swiftly.

To do that, she needed Serena on her side.

Her previous attempts had failed. No amount of persuasion or incentives had worked on Serena.So now, coercion was the only option.

Vivian had a card up her sleeve. She knew Serena's secret: the miscarriage. With that knowledge as leverage, Serena wouldn't dare defy her.

Still, Serena's continued indifference, her calm refusal to bow to Vivian's authority, was infuriating.

Vivian gritted her teeth. She wasn't the type to back down. She would make Serena surrender-no matter what it took.

The following day, Jayceon was preparing to go out when a message pinged on his phone-it was from his brother Myron.

He blinked at the screen. He was being asked to accompany Myron to the third live broadcast of Heavenly Melody.

"Huh?" Jayceon muttered, confused.

He remembered suggesting to attend the last broadcast, but that was only because Serena had caught his eye after the charity auction. Since then, his interest had cooled

Why was Myron suddenly asking him to go again?

Raising a brow, he messaged back, "Wait... do you have a thing for her, Myron? | thought she was with Charles."

Myron replied with a simnple message. "No, nothing like that. She just seems interesting...and possibly useful for our current plans."

Jayceon read the message and straightened up, his expression shifting to something more serious. If Myron thought Serena had potential, it was worth paying attention.

At the same time, high above the city in the Watson Group's executive office, Brandon stood silently by the wvindow. He stared out at the sky, watching clouds drift past with calm detachment, his thoughts far away.

Time moved quickly. Spring was settling in, and the air was warming.

Twenty days had passed since Brandon and Millie filed for divorce and it would soon become official.And it was also the day of the third live broadcast of Heavenly Melody.

The competition had become fierce. Originally, there had been twelve contestants. Three had been eliminated during the last round, but one had returned through a revival vote, leaving ten still in the game.

Now, five more were about to face elimination, with only one chance for a comeback.

As always, Millie wore her mask to keep her identity hidden. After checking her appearance one last time in the car, she stepped out and made her way backstage.

Alexia and Seville were already in position, everything prepared. Even Sheridan, who usually ignored entertainment shows, glanced at the television as he walked past the living room.

Backstage, someone hurried over to Vivian. "Vivian, that person showed up again. This is the third time. What do you want us to do?"

Vivian didn't need to ask who they meant. The same man had been trying to ask uncomfortable questions about the demo-too persistent for her liking.

"Same as before," she said coolly. "Keep him busy for now. We'll deal with him later."

"Understood," the person replied, and then quickly left to follow her orders.

Just then, Millie arrived backstage and happened to catch a glimpse of Vivian dismissing someone with a flick of her hand.

Vivian looked up and spotted Millie. A familiar smile curved on her lips as she walked over.

"Ready for round three?" Vivian asked lightly, her voice smooth as silk. "You seem much healthier these days.I heard you've been training with Alex's team. That's impressive."

Millie offered a polite smile but didn't respond with words.

She had already instructed Charles to wait until she was on stage before making any moves against Oakley's planted people. That meant Oakley still had no idea what was coming.

Milie wasn't sure whether Oakley was secretly working with Vivian, but either way, she saw no reason to share anything with her now.

"Let's have a quick chat," Vivian suddenly said, gesturing toward the staff corridor. "No cameras over there."

Millie didn't budge. She had no interest in small talk, especially not with Vivian.

"It's about the broadcast's influence," Vivian added smoothly. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Millie paused. Was Vivian aware that Charles had alreadytaken control behind the scenes? If so, this conversation might be worth hearing. She gave a small nod and followed.

The two women walked off toward the side corridor.

Just a few doors down, in a small, dimly lit room, the atmosphere was electric.

"Boss! Boss!" someone called out, eyes glued to a grainy monitor. "Vivian and Serena are heading to the staff corridor again!"

His voice stirred the others into motion. Two people rushed over, eyes locked on the screen. "Ooh, I bet they're about to drop something juicy again,"one of them said, practically bouncing with excitement.

The one they called "Boss" leaned in, rubbing his hands together eagerly."Let's see what secrets they're sharing today... maybe we'll land another headline-worthy scoop."