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Winona felt completely drained. The moment she got home, she collapsed onto the couch, lacking the energy to move a single muscle.

But the fallout from last night had finally caught up to her. Grace Montgomery's social media post had festered overnight, and her rabid followers were tearing Winona apart online. To make matters worse, some self-proclaimed "industry insiders" had dropped explosive claims, insisting that Winona was a fraud who had stolen Sienna's rightful place as an elite heiress.

The internet exploded into a full-blown witch hunt. All the crosshairs were locked onto Winona, and hordes of users flooded Sienna's comments, begging for confirmation.

But Sienna played the saint, remaining completely silent.

Her fans practically wept over her perceived martyrdom.

"Our goddess is just too classy. She has the perfect chance to kick that fraud while she's down, but she's just too kindhearted."

"Sienna has Zachary Shaw backing her, yet she's never once used his name for clout. That's true elegance."

"That Winona girl stole someone's promotion the second she walked into the station! She's spent her whole life stealing from others. What a psycho."

Fuelled by rage, Sienna and Grace's fanbases organized a mob outside the television network, camping by the exits. They had dug up photos of Winona's face; the second that bitch showed up, they were going to tear her apart.

The massive scandal hadn't gone unnoticed by the network executives. With leadership elections right around the corner, Winona's drama was a massive liability.

Watching the angry mob swarm the station gates from her office window, Grace smirked. She went straight to one of the leading candidates for Network Director.

Deputy Director Harvey Shelton was allied with a candidate named Xavier Ward.

But Grace didn't go to Xavier. Instead, she took her leverage straight to his biggest rival: Silas Chandler.

She hand-delivered the ammunition Silas needed to permanently crush Xavier. Once Xavier was out of the picture, Harvey would lose his protection. And once that happened, Winona would be completely defenseless.

She slid a photo of Winona across Silas's desk. "This woman is undeniably gorgeous. We deal with celebrities all the time, but even you have to admit her face is prime anchor material. Once she loses her backing, you can do whatever you want with her."

Silas hadn't become a top contender for the director position by playing nice. He was ruthless, and he was currently the favorite to win the election.