Chapter 11: Chapter 11: The Lethality of a Photograph

The caption read: Vincent Reed and I broke up at the beginning of this month. There’s not much to say about the reason, but that doesn’t negate the many wonderful memories we made in our eight years together.

Yvonne Sutton’s response quickly started trending, and although it was low on the list, its view count was skyrocketing.

Mina Adler frantically posted comments for her, clucking her tongue in amazement.

"So you and Mr. Reed were actually a couple."

Yvonne Sutton rolled her eyes. "What else would you think?"

"I honestly thought you were his creditor."

Yvonne Sutton smiled and leaned over, watching Mina Adler type furiously, posting one comment after another, only to see them quickly buried by negative replies.

"Tsk, tsk. Her fans are ’controlling the comments’."

"What does ’controlling the comments’ mean?"

"You’re not in the fan circles, so you wouldn’t get it. Basically, it means they seize control of the battlefield of public opinion, deciding what’s black and what’s white."

Mina Adler’s fingers grew tired, so she took a break. "But this whole thing with Wendy Winters is a huge deal. Her rivals will jump into the fray, too. The fact that your response is trending means someone is pushing it from behind. Just wait. It’s bound to get even more heated."

Mina Adler scrolled back up to look at the picture again. It was a graduation photo.

There were eight or nine people in the photo. In the center of the front row stood Vincent Reed, dressed in a graduation gown, with Yvonne Sutton right beside him.

Yvonne Sutton hadn’t graduated yet, so she was wearing a white dress. The two of them were holding hands, turned toward each other and smiling, looking every bit the couple.

On Vincent Reed’s other side stood Wendy Winters, who was making a heart shape with the girl next to her.

Freshly graduated that year, they were full of vigor, untouched by the harsh realities of life or the taste of failure. Every pair of eyes was clear, every face radiated youthful energy.

"Yvonne, your beauty is a weapon! You’re completely crushing Wendy Winters." Mina Adler tsked twice. "Besides, anyone with eyes can look at this photo and understand your relationship with Vincent Reed. It’s crystal clear who the other woman is and who’s been wrongly accused."

Mina Adler kept scrolling through the comments, getting angrier and angrier. "Seriously, is there something wrong with their brains? They’re actually claiming this photo is photoshopped!"

Yvonne Sutton hadn’t actually intended to stir up a huge media storm. All she wanted was to force Wendy Winters to clear her name.

"Hey, someone from the photo commented!" Mina Adler quickly showed Yvonne Sutton. "She said you and Vincent Reed were the campus golden couple back then, and everyone knew you were together."

Yvonne Sutton glanced at the commenter’s name. It was Claire Lawrence.

She was actually one of Wendy Winters’ classmates and Joshua Hale’s girlfriend at the time, but she and Yvonne had always gotten along the best.

"Hey, someone replied to her comment."

It wasn’t much of a comment, just three ’like’ emojis.

She clicked on their profile pictures and immediately recognized Joshua Hale and Leo Flynn.

Mina Adler backed out and saw the trending topic had climbed two more spots.

"Heh heh, the clickbait accounts have started reposting it. It’s about to blow up."

Her happiness was short-lived. When she backed out again, she discovered the trending topic was gone.

"Hey, where’d it go?"

She scrolled from top to bottom but couldn’t find it. "Well, Wendy Winters’ team works fast."

Yvonne Sutton was silent for a moment, then opened her own profile, planning to post another photo.

But this time, her account had been silenced.

"Looks like they used their money-power to shut you up." Mina Adler said, scrolling a bit more. "The clickbait accounts deleted their posts, too."

Yvonne Sutton didn’t understand all the complex maneuvering. All she wanted was to fight for her innocence. ’Was that so hard?’

"What else can I do?"

Mina Adler patted her shoulder. "Just let it go. Us little guys can’t win against a big celebrity and a rich heir."

Just then, the Dean’s office called and asked her to come over.

It was almost the end of the workday. When Yvonne Sutton arrived, the Dean was just leaving his office.

"Let’s talk in the elevator," the Dean said.

Yvonne Sutton followed the Dean into the elevator. It was just the two of them inside.

The Dean was a man in his sixties, bald on top with the remaining fringe of hair gone white.

He adjusted his glasses and pondered for a moment before speaking. "Starting tomorrow, you don’t need to come to work."

Yvonne Sutton frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It’s just a temporary suspension. Once this storm blows over, we can discuss it again. I hope you understand. The hospital has its procedures and its reputation to uphold. We can’t let it suffer because of an individual’s problems."

"Those are just rumors online!"

"Whether they’re rumors or not is your business, but it can’t be allowed to affect the hospital."

"I don’t accept this!"

"I’m not asking for your opinion. I’m informing you."

Yvonne Sutton clenched her fists. ’It wasn’t like incidents hadn’t happened before; the hospital usually protected its doctors.’

This was a personal matter to begin with. Before the facts were even clear, the hospital had reacted so swiftly. ’It’s not right.’

"Was this Vincent Reed’s idea?"

The Dean sighed. "I’ve warned you before. Don’t go head-to-head with people of their status. It won’t do you any good."

Yvonne Sutton took a deep breath. "The hospital has no sufficient grounds to suspend me. And if I accept the suspension, it would be admitting the rumors are true. So, I will be coming to work tomorrow as usual."

"You... you’d better go and apologize to Mr. Reed!"

"You’re right. I really should go find him!"

After leaving the hospital, Yvonne Sutton went straight to Joshua Hale’s little pub.

When the waiter saw her, he assumed they had a reservation together and led her to Vincent Reed’s private room.

"Vincent, you’ve gone too far this time!" That was Leo Flynn’s voice.

"Get out, this has nothing to do with you!" Vincent Reed said irritably.

"Yvonne was with you for eight years! Eight years! And in the end, she’s labeled the other woman and is getting trashed all over the internet. You... this is just inhuman!"

"Shut up!"

"Hmph. Anyway, I’m on Yvonne’s side this time."

Yvonne Sutton let out a breath and pushed the door open.

The private room was dim. Only Vincent Reed and Leo Flynn were there. The coffee table in front of them was covered with unopened bottles of wine, both red and white. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Yvonne, you... what are you doing here?"

"I came to find him." Yvonne Sutton looked at Vincent Reed.

Vincent Reed looked up at her, too, but perhaps out of guilt, he dropped his gaze after a single glance.

"Did you tell the Dean to suspend me?" she asked.

Vincent Reed was silent for a while before saying, "Once the storm blows over, you can go back to work."

"What do you mean, ’when the storm blows over’?" Yvonne Sutton scoffed. "You mean when I’m thoroughly pilloried and can never recover? When Wendy Winters’ image as the victim instead of the homewrecker is firmly established in everyone’s minds? Or when the two of you get married and I become a laughingstock?"

"Think whatever you want."

"I want you to come forward, clarify things, and give me back my good name."

"Impossible."

Yvonne Sutton took two steps forward, grabbed a bottle of wine, and violently smashed it against the corner of the coffee table.

SMASH!

Shards of glass flew everywhere, and the clear liquor splashed all over the floor.

Leo Flynn jumped back in shock, while Vincent Reed’s pupils contracted sharply.

Yvonne Sutton, holding the broken bottle, threw it to the ground under Vincent Reed’s gaze.

"Do you think I’m that easy to bully?"

Vincent Reed took a deep breath. "If I clarify things now, Wendy’s public image will be ruined, and her career might be over. So, I can only let you be wronged."

Yvonne Sutton found this laughable. "Let me be wronged? What gives you the right to wrong me? In what capacity do you get to decide that I should be wronged?"

"Yvonne Sutton, that’s enough. Stop making a scene."

Yvonne Sutton nodded. ’She had wanted to leave them some dignity, but they refused to leave her any.’

She took out her phone, found a video, and Wendy Winters’ smiling face appeared on the screen.

"To me, Vincent is like a car. I don’t need to love him, but I can drive him whenever I want. East, west, south, north—as long as I’m holding the steering wheel, he’ll always do what I say. Even though you’re his girlfriend, he will always be mine to use."