Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

The words on the screen took Roseanne a while to process, her voice hoarse as she finally responded, "...I'm okay."

"Keyboard warriors never think before they type, always jumping to conclusions. Don't let it get to you, and don't overthink it. Nobody knows better than I do how hard you've worked to get where you are today. I won't stand by and let you be wronged, and my brother won't

either. Don't worry."

Leda's words greatly comforted Roseanne.

"Thank you, Leda."

Just as they ended their call, Owen was on the line.

"I've heard about the forum drama," he went straight to the point, "Someone deliberately took a secret video of you to stir up a media storm, probably because of your recent grad school test scores." Roseanne pressed her lips together, silent.

Feeling her silence, Owen paused before continuing, "The university has already received a complaint and has organized an investigative team to look into it. We believe it won't be long before there's a response. The school won't wrong a good student, nor will it let the guilty party off the hook."

After a moment, Roseanne asked, "Can we find out who's behind this?"

"It shouldn't be hard, just needs some time. Don't worry too much. The school is taking this very seriously, especially Ms. Payne..."

As soon as the issue started brewing, Madeleine Payne was in the know.

While the university's higher-ups were still deliberating, she stepped forward to vouch for Roseanne and demanded a thorough investigation.

Owen hadn't even had the chance to step in before the issue was resolved.

Imagining Ms. Payne's stern face advocating for her, Roseanne's mood, previously dampened by the overwhelming public opinion, began to brighten.

"Thank you."

Hearing the change in her voice, Owen smiled slightly, "Feeling better now?"

Roseanne replied, "Yeah, thank you."

Owen let out a relieved sigh.

Before hanging up, he said,

"Talented people often attract envy and trouble, but it's not the fault of the talent itself. Instead, it's the fault of those who resort to low measures."

"So, don't be afraid, the truth will always come out."

Roseanne felt a warmth in her ears, "Okay."

...

The next day, the trending topic had changed.

The post from yesterday was unsurprisingly pushed down, replaced by a video of Roseanne's grad school interview.

In the video, she spoke with clear logic, calmly addressing each question from the interviewers, neither rushing nor pausing.

She tackled the professional questions directly, every word out of her mouth serving a purpose, without a single stutter in sight.

[Holy cow! Was this pre-recorded or something? How can someone be this brilliant? Speaking the same English, but it sounds completely different coming from her]

[I can vouch, it wasn't pre-recorded. Our Kingswell University grad exams are superstrict. It's all recorded live I'm a second-year grad student myself. Took me three tries and two interviews to get in. It's all standard procedure, no room for favors.]

[Is it just me, or is my brain not keeping up? She explained everything so clearly in the video, but I'm lost because all I could focus on was her face! LOL!]

[Finally, someone noticed her beauty, my God, do smart girls always look this stunning?]

[Me too!! She's so gorgeous, a perfect match for Mr. Reynolds! Oops, hope no one notices me shipping them together?]