Chapter 161: Brooke York Does Something Bad

Chapter 161: Chapter 161: Brooke York Does Something Bad

"Why don’t we all go together?" Adrian Kane suggested. He didn’t really want Evan Shaw to tag along, but he figured Chloe York might agree if Evan went too.

Evan knew what Adrian was thinking, too. He could tell Adrian also had his eyes on Chloe. This was the perfect chance to size up his competition—know your enemy, and you can win every battle.

"Sure, let’s all go. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a movie in ages," Evan agreed, then turned to Chloe. "Chloe, want to go together?"

Since Evan was asking, she felt she couldn’t just refuse him.

"Alright, then," Chloe agreed. ’It’s just a movie, nothing will happen. Besides, Evan will be there, and I’m really doing this for Nora anyway.’

Hearing Chloe agree, Adrian knew his guess had been correct. As long as Evan went, Chloe would agree to go.

’I may not like Evan,’ he thought, ’but that doesn’t mean I can’t use him.’

"Yay! We’re going to the movies together!" The innocent Nora didn’t sense the unusual atmosphere. All she knew was that she was going to see a movie with Chloe, and that made her very happy.

The odd combination of three adults and one child appeared at the movie theater. Adrian took the initiative to buy the tickets, paying for everyone.

Neither Evan nor Chloe objected.

Adrian chose a recently popular movie, bought the tickets, and the group went into the theater to watch.

After the movie, they planned to go their separate ways.

"Chloe, I have to go back tomorrow. We’ll definitely see each other again, right?" Nora didn’t want to part with Chloe; she really, really liked her.

"Yes!" ’Since he’s one of the main characters, the plot will ensure we meet again.’

’To be honest, I never expected to meet Nora, let alone for her to like me so much.’

"Then next time, I want to play with you for a long, long time, Chloe! And have a sleepover! Can we?"

"Nora, you’re pushing your luck a bit," Adrian warned her.

’He was afraid Chloe wouldn’t like Nora’s lack of boundaries. If Chloe started to dislike even Nora, then he’d truly have no chance of getting close to her at all.’

Scolded by Adrian, Nora lowered her head, looking wronged. ’All I want is to spend more time with Chloe. Can’t even this small wish come true?’

"Nora, don’t listen to your uncle," Chloe said. "If you miss me, you can come find me. The two of us can hang out together."

Chloe’s meaning was obvious: she only wanted to hang out with Nora. Certain irrelevant people were not invited.

Adrian knew she was talking about him and rubbed his nose in embarrassment.

In truth, he hadn’t absolutely needed to come here for a business trip. He only came because he knew Chloe was attending university here, so he had deliberately brought Nora along.

After finishing his business dealings, he had intentionally wandered around the neighborhood with Nora, hoping to run into Chloe.

But they had wandered around for so long that Nora got hungry, and they still hadn’t seen Chloe. So, he took Nora to get something good to eat.

He never expected that just as they were leaving the restaurant, he would see Chloe and Evan emerging from the one across the street.

"Okay, Chloe! Wait for me, I’ll come find you to play!"

’Next time, I’ll ask my mom to bring me,’ Nora thought.

The scene of the group parting ways was witnessed by Brooke York. She hadn’t expected that on top of seducing Ethan Prescott, Chloe also had connections with Evan Shaw and even this man with a child.

She had just taken out her phone and snapped several pictures of them walking out together.

She then sent one of Adrian’s photos to an AI to see if it could identify the man.

She could tell from the man’s aura that he was either rich or powerful.

From the AI’s results, Brooke learned that this was none other than Adrian Kane, the CEO of the Kane Group!

’The CEO of the Kane Group... you’re truly blind to fall for someone like Chloe York.’

But despite her words, her tone was filled with jealousy.

"Chloe York... oh, Chloe York, this time, I’ll make sure you’re utterly ruined."

Brooke hid in the shade of a corner near the theater entrance, her fingertips gripping her phone so tightly that her knuckles turned white. The screen was still displaying the photos she had secretly taken moments before.

She had captured the moment they parted ways with perfect clarity. The angle was deliberately malicious, managing to twist a normal departure into what looked like an ambiguous, tangled affair.

She stared at Chloe’s nonchalant profile in the photo, her own eyes churning with jealousy and malice.

Only one thought consumed her: she had to ruin Chloe’s reputation and make everyone see her "true colors."

Unable to wait, she began manipulating her phone. First, she sorted through the photos she’d taken, deleting any that clearly showed the group keeping their distance or acting platonically. She kept only the most misleading shots, then opened a photo-editing app and began to fabricate evidence.

She dug up a photo she had secretly saved from before—a profile shot of Chloe and Ethan Prescott passing each other on campus—and photoshopped the faint image of them holding hands. Then, she took a picture of Chloe talking to Evan and edited it to create the intimate atmosphere of them leaning in to whisper.

Even in the picture of Adrian holding Nora’s hand, she deliberately cropped out most of Nora’s figure. This framed Adrian as a mature man with a child, and she maliciously added the caption "Sugar Daddy."

After all that, she still felt it wasn’t enough. She found a fake chat log generator online and fabricated explicit conversations between Chloe and Ethan Prescott, Evan Shaw, and Adrian Kane. She deliberately made the tone ambiguous and intimate, creating the false impression that Chloe was juggling several men at once.

She stitched the photoshopped pictures and fake chat logs together, adding highly inflammatory text. Every line was designed to smear Chloe, implying her personal life was a mess—that she was seducing Ethan Prescott while simultaneously stringing along her pursuer, Evan Shaw, and even clinging to a rich man with a child, Adrian Kane.

She was painting Chloe as a vain, gold-digging woman with loose morals.

With everything prepared, Brooke hesitated. In the past, she would have sent this kind of "evidence" to Clara Bell and let her do the dirty work. But now, she had to do it herself.

But if she did it herself, anyone who investigated the source would easily trace it back to her.

But then she had a second thought. The image of all these exceptional men—Adrian Kane, Evan Shaw, Ethan Prescott—revolving around Chloe filled her with a rage and jealousy that outweighed her fear.

She decided to do it herself. First, she registered a brand-new anonymous account. Then she posted the fabricated content, first to the school’s private forum, and then simultaneously to local university social media groups, Weibo Super Topics, and other similar platforms.

She was well-versed in how to make scandals go viral. Afraid the posts wouldn’t get enough traction, she grit her teeth and spent her own allowance to hire a few online trolls to help share the posts and steer the narrative.