Chapter 56: Waves of Uncertainty
There was still a lot of interest in Ariana's speech from her gala. In reality, this stronger reaction was happening more frequently. People were still talking about her address online even at the end of the week. Her quotes were shared by many influencers, who admired her, business outlets highlighted her success and government officials supported her efforts to reform the company. This was the first time that Ariana was recognized as having her own role in business and public life and not only as Camelo's heiress or Antony's fiancée.
Even as Ariana began shining brighter, the darkness started moving.
Sitting in her dimly lighted penthouse, Rachel Lawrence swiped angrily on her tablet with her well-manicured fingers. She replayed Ariana's speech, but this time it made her clench her jaws together. The praise, the clapping and the high public rating were just too much for him. She again did not understand how strong Ariana was. People were now starting to see her as an example of both change and integrity.
Rachel did not want that to be her fate.
Rachel slammed the tablet on the counter and said in a hissy tone, "She thinks she's so smart. One error, one weakness, one spot on the golden girl's record and she loses her spot in the spotlight."
Her mother sat in another part of the room with a teacup and smiled at her. She said, "You can just put an end to her, not bring her true destruction. Try to cast doubt about her in the minds of the others."
A thoughtful look crossed Rachel's face and she started forming her plan. "If the people feel that she is not what she says, her backing will weaken."
Later that night, she contacted one of her most trusted people, an expert who could edit digital posts and scrub online comments for the right payment. She issued a single command "start an anonymous campaign to slander Ariana Camelo."
In just one day, the campaign went live.
At first, an unknown blogger accused Ariana of deceit, saying that her change in behavior was just a way to hide her lavish spending and insider advantages. According to the blog, "sources" told them Ariana had been attending elite social events and the images they attached of her actually came from an older event just days before the charity gala.
Shortly, numerous fake accounts were created that started sharing false information about Ariana on Weibo and several business forums. They pretended to be former employees at Camelo, saying that because of Ariana, many were laid off, mistreated and the company became corrupt. Some posts carefully referred to them as entitled, manipulative and two-faced. Rather than confronting her, the campaign introduced ideas to make her look bad in other ways.
They began to grow in my mind.
She learned about the news right in the middle of a board meeting. Lincoln bent close to her and spoke quietly in her ear. Her eyelids creased as he gave her the tablet. Many new articles appeared online in a short period.
"Claiming that Ariana Camelo's Clean-Up was just a show."
"A Camelo Employee from the Past Talks About Ariana and What He Believes."
"A person inside the company says the Gala was organized to distract people from a coming corporate controversy."
While silent, she looked through the news on her phone and the room was filled with a calm but tense atmosphere. Several board members glanced at her, but it was impossible to see what they were thinking.
"Most of the articles we have looked at seem suspicious," Lincoln said in a quiet voice. "After being featured by smaller sites, these posts are supported for momentum by bots. It's coordinated."
Ariana shut the tablet with a worried look on her face.
She put it simply: "They are trying to test out what can be done." "Finding out if I can handle it."
Despite the tension, she steered the board meeting and showed her new ideas for Camelo Corporation's restructuring. But she noticed how Antony's allies started looking at her sideways after her slides and one member stopped paying attention by tapping his pen. It was working well.
When the meeting ended, she went back to her office and locked it behind her.
Lincoln followed. Should you answer the false claims openly?
"No, I won't," Ariana answered. "Not yet. I would like to identify the people running it before doing anything else. I have some ideas."
He smiled and his lips spread in amusement. "I'm going to guess you are there for Rachel?"
"She's not really surprising," Ariana said. "She is also very clever. It looks like considerable planning went into this. She is manipulating things from the background this time."
While studying the data, Lincoln's team managed to follow several IP addresses that had been related to the first blog post. Even though they tested many VPNs, they had enough evidence to prove it the source was from an apartment complex owned by Rachel's family company. It didn't prove everything, but it was very close to the truth.
"What can we do?" Lincoln asked.
Ariana stared intently at the screen, her thoughts going very fast.
"We make them think they are improving," she told him in a slow voice. "If she believes she's doing well, she'll work even harder which could end in a mistake. And as soon as she tells me about it, I'll make everything better."
She saw a frame on the wall with a picture of her and her father in front of Camelo Corporation when she was younger and more hopeful. The picture shows a woman who had never experienced betrayal. That woman was ready to stop playing the role of a victim and she did what was needed.
The attackers used social media to increase their smear campaign against the candidate. Because of the controversy, influencers talked about what the "real Ariana" is like, media outlets tried to get statements from former Camelo managers and hashtags comparing her actions became popular.
Ariana did not answer him.
These thoughts didn't stop her from planning her next step which would change Rachel's plans and reestablish who Ariana Camelo was.
This time, the attack was out in the open.