Chapter 391
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Chapter 391:
He walked straight past the desk and pulled Jocelyn out of her chair. His massive hands cupped her face, his thumbs gently tracing her cheekbones as his dark eyes scanned every inch of her, making absolutely certain she had not been physically harmed.
Jocelyn leaned into his solid chest and pulled her phone from her pocket, handing it to him. He stared at the security footage and the Instagram screenshot in silence.
The murderous rage in his eyes solidified into pure, black ice.
He did not yell. He pulled his encrypted satellite phone from his suit jacket and dialed his Director of Public Relations.
“I want the Stein family destroyed in the press,” Gaston ordered, his voice a low, terrifying rumble. “I want that woman to be the biggest joke in America. You have thirty minutes p>
𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗣𝗗𝗙𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗼𝗻
He hung up and immediately dialed the Editor-in-Chief of Page Six. He did not ask for a favor. He dictated a headline.
While Gaston orchestrated the media execution, two detectives from the NYPD Major Case Squad arrived at the office. They flashed their badges and began taking Jocelyn’s official statement, bagging the security footage drive as evidence.
Fifteen minutes later, the internet exploded.
A massive exclusive article dropped on the front page of Page Six. The headline read: FAKE OLD MONEY: Stein Socialite Caught Stealing $30 Million Historic Necklace.
The piece was a brutal, surgical dismantling of Victoria’s life. It featured high-definition screenshots of her sneaking out of the office, placed side by side with her arrogant Instagram post. But Gaston had not stopped there. The article exposed the Stein family’s catastrophic liquidity crisis in full detail — how they had defaulted on their Manhattan club memberships and were secretly mortgaging their properties just to keep the lights on.
The link hit X and instantly shot to the number one trending topic.
Cancel culture descended like a pack of starving wolves. Millions of users flooded Victoria’s social media accounts. Internet sleuths began analyzing her old photos and quickly established that several of her supposedly designer bags were high-quality counterfeits.
Inside the Stein townhouse, Victoria sat on her bedroom floor staring at her phone screen. The notifications were moving so fast they blurred. The comments were vicious, mocking her fabricated wealth and calling her a criminal.
She frantically tried to delete the Instagram Story, but it was already too late. The screenshot had been reposted by thousands of gossip accounts.
Her phone buzzed. An email from the PR firm of a designer brand she was supposed to sign with the following week appeared on the screen.
Subject: Contract Termination. Effective immediately.
Victoria let out a guttural scream and hurled her phone against the wall. It shattered into pieces.
Downstairs in the grand parlor, Edward Stein stared at his iPad. The Stein family trust fund values were plummeting in real time as investors panicked over the scandal.
Edward’s face turned a violent shade of purple. He grabbed a priceless antique vase from the mantle and hurled it against the fireplace, shattering it to dust.
He stormed up the grand staircase and kicked Victoria’s bedroom door open.
Victoria was kneeling on the carpet, sobbing hysterically, her arms wrapped tightly around her purse.