Chapter 68
Then, someone else brought up what had happened at the Mercer family’s welcome banquet.
That incident had already died down, but now that it was being rehashed, comments flooded in almost instantly.
“They can just swap the rankings? Is this competition even fair p>
“Sigh, they have power and connections. No matter how fair things are supposed to be, there’s always room for manipulation behind the scenes p>
“The Mercer family is unbelievably biased p>
“So they treat the newly found daughter like a treasure and the one they raised like dirt p>
“Fine, they found her, but they can’t just prop one up by tearing the other down. Parents and brothers are supposed to be fair p>
“I heard the new one started causing trouble for Mira not long after they met p>
“We all watched that Mira girl grow up. It’s obvious the newcomer is the one stirring up drama p>
Adrian had originally planned to use Mara’s ranking to salvage the Mercer family’s reputation, which had taken a hit recently. He never expected that Mira’s participation would not only fail to restore their image but actually make it worse.
Damon’s reputation also took a significant blow due to the ranking swap between his two sisters.
A dark cloud now hung over the Mercer family. Ethan, who was busy in his office, learned about the trending topic the moment it blew up. He couldn’t help but blame Damon.
As the president of the Mercer Group, Ethan had countless matters to deal with every day. He had handed the entertainment company over to his third brother, Damon, thinking he wouldn’t have to worry about that sector anymore. Who would have thought his brother couldn’t even handle something so simple?
He immediately put his work aside and ordered his PR team to respond, issuing an official statement at once:
“We are deeply
honored that both of our daughters, Miss Mercer and Miss Mercer, participated in the arts festival and achieved the excellent rankings of first and sixth place. This is an honor for the entire Mercer Group. As for the mix-up with the rankings during the competition, it was purely accidental and not intentional Both are our daughters, and there is no need to favor one over the other. Damon was unaware of this matter, and it is entirely unrelated to the Mercer family p>
The statement was accompanied by photos and names of Mara and Mira.
It claimed that the two sisters were twins who looked very similar, had similar names, and had performed one after the other in the third round. It was therefore, an understandable roistake for the staff to mix up the rankings. The organizers had already apologized publicly and offered compensation.
“We urge the public not to jump to conclusions or spread misinformation. The Mercer Group will prosecute any intentionally defamatory or slanderous statements p>
That was Ethan for you-shrewd and far more cunning than Damon. He not only used Mira and Mara’s good results to promote the Mercer Group but also skillfully attributed the ranking incident to an accident, absolving the Mercer family and Darmon of blamentle also brandished a legal threat to
intimidate troublemakers.
After his intervention, the tide of online opinion indeed began to turn. With the help
of some paid commentators to steer the conversation, a large number of netizens
started defending Damon and the Mercer Group.
“They’re twins and look alike. It’s normal for people to get them confused p>
“Nobody’s perfect. The host is only human, it’s normal to make a mistake once in a while p>
A large number of Damon’s fans also came to his defense.
“We know what kind of person Damon is. He would never do something like that p>
“Exactly! My Damon would never! It was all the host’s mistake p>
“Damon was a judge in the audience. He was just responsible for scoring. What does this have to do with him p>