Filed to story: Billionaire Bride’s Revenge (Vera & Howard)
Tricia, just waking up and still groggy, struggled to make sense of her father’s furious scolding.
“Dad, I’m not following you. What’s going on?”
Clutching the phone tightly, Delmar Guerrero ground his teeth in anger. “Tell me, who have you managed to piss off? Are you completely clueless? Don’t you realize that our family’s stock is plummeting today?”
Delmar had been meticulous in his business dealings for years, and such a crisis was unprecedented. There had to be a reason why the Guerrera family was suddenly under attack.
Tricia’s foggy mind finally cleared. She quickly opened the stock app, revealing a sea of red. Guerrero family stocks were plummeting, and numerous shareholders were voicing their complaints. The drop in stock value indicated that the Guerrera family had likely lost fifty million overnight.
If the stock price continued to decline daily, the Guerrero family could lose everything and face complete bankruptcy. There were numerous comments speculating that Tricia had offended someone, leading to these massive losses. Tricia felt a wave of dread wash over her.
Delmar warned, “If you can’t sort this out, don’t be surprised if I take severe action!”
He then slammed the phone down in frustration. Tricia collapsed onto her bed, bewildered. What had happened? When had she offended anyone?
Then, her mind flashed back to what Vera had said the previous day.
Could it really be Vera behind this?
No, it seemed impossible-how could she be so powerful? The news about the Guerrero family’s stock plunge quickly spread, and Lily, of course, heard about it. The Guerrero family’s stock had always been stable. The sudden, severe drop indicated that the opposing party had far greater financial power, possibly becoming the largest shareholder in the Guerrero family, which caused the stock price to crash.
Lily couldn’t help but feel anxious, and Vera immediately came to mind. However, Vera had no assets after leaving the Montgomery family. It seemed more plausible that the Guerrera family had offended someone else.
Tricia, sharing Lily’s concern, clung to a slim hope that the stock price might stabilize by the next day. But her optimism was quickly shattered.
Every project the Guerrero family was involved in, whether still under negotiation or already in progress, encountered issues. Partners chose to pay liquidated damages and withdraw from deals rather than continue. It seemed as though the Guerrero family had become a magnet for misfortune, with anyone associated with them caught in the fallout.
Then, Tricia realized the truth. It was really Vera behind all of this.
Vera had orchestrated the revelation that any partner working with the Guerrero family would face stock crashes, causing their partners to flee in droves. Tricia’s heart sank. She reached out to Lily for help.
As soon as Lily answered, Tricia said, “Lily, it’s really Vera’s doing. What should I do? If she doesn’t stop, our family will end up bankrupt!”
Lily quickly shook off her initial shock and assured Tricia in a soothing tone, “Tricia, stay calm. Panicking will only make things worse. I’ll help you find a solution.”
Tricia, on the verge of tears from anxiety, still found the energy to berate Vera angrily. “Damn it! How is this bitch still so powerful after leaving the Montgomery family?”
Meanwhile, the Guerrero family remained on the brink of bankruptcy.
As time passed, the Guerrero family’s situation grew increasingly precarious, as if they were teetering on the edge of a cliff. Delmar did some digging and eventually discovered what had transpired at Tricia’s birthday party.
When he returned home and saw Tricia engrossed in her phone, his anger boiled over. He slapped her hard. “How could you be so stupid as to offend Vera? Call her and apologize right now!”
The force of the slap sent Tricia crashing to the floor. Her cheek was already swelling, and her eyes were filled with disbelief.
“Dad, how could you slap me?”
“I won’t just stop at slapping you,” Delmar growled. “If our family actually goes bankrupt, I will break your legs!”
Delmor, seething with fury, was infuriated by his daughter’s incompetence. How could someone so foolish be his daughter? He even questioned whether Tricia was truly his.
Seeing Tricia still in a daze, Delmor stepped forward and delivered a sharp kick to her leg. “Call her and apologize right now!”
Tricia, overwhelmed by the pain, could barely speak. Despite her reluctance, she had no choice but to call Vera; her father’s anger could not be taken lightly.
“Vera, I am apologizing now. Please, show some mercy and spare my family.”
Vera, with a chilling tone, replied nonchalantly, “I expect you to broadcast a livestream where you get on your knees and beg for forgiveness.”
Tricia’s face reddened with fury. “No way! What are you even thinking?”
“Then let the storm intensify,” Vera sneered, immediately ending the call.
Tricia’s expression hardened. As soon as she looked up, she was met with Delmor’s murderous glare.
“Who do you think you are, talking to her that way? Are you out of your mind?”
Before Tricia could respond, Delmar’s fury boiled over. He yanked her by the hair, his hatred radiating through clenched teeth. “Listen to me carefully! The Guerrero family is teetering on the edge of collapse. If Vera doesn’t call this off by tomorrow, everything we’ve built will be gone!”
Tricia let out a terrified scream. She had never been struck in her life and could not believe Delmar would be so merciless. Tears streamed down her swollen cheeks as she struggled to find her voice. “Dad, I’m sorry. I really am. I’ll do whatever it takes to make Vera forgive me.”
Delmar’s eyes blazed with fury. Still seething, he lashed out again, kicking Tricia in the chest just as she managed to stand up. She let out a scream of agony, crumpling to the floor once more. This time, she was too weakened to attempt to get up.
“Fix this mess, or the consequences will be severe!”
Bruised and battered, Tricia whimpered in pain. Lying on the floor, she seethed inwardly, placing all the blame squarely on Vera. But this time, she was not about to repeat her mistake.
That night, she reluctantly started a livestream. In the livestream, Tricia gazed tearfully into the camera, her voice trembling as she spoke.
“Vera, I admit my wrongdoing. I am here to apologize. Please, spare the Guerrero family.”
Mid-sentence, she suddenly dropped to her knees in front of the camera, breaking down into tears.
“You told me to apologize and broadcast it, and here I am. I’ve done what you asked. Please, let the Guerrero family go.”
As Tricia knelt, the livestream room quickly filled with hundreds of thousands of viewers.
Tricia had a moderate level of fame online, known as an internet celebrity with hundreds of thousands of followers. Her status as the daughter of a wealthy family only added to her notoriety, making the clip from her livestream go viral. Soon, countless people began editing and reposting the video, with each version racking up millions of views.
In the video, Tricia, her face swollen and tear-streaked, sobbed and pleaded for forgiveness.
Outrage quickly spread among netizens.
“Forcing a girl to kneel and apologize live? That’s just too much. How heartless can people be?”
“Isn’t Vera the one who dumped Howard Shaw after walking away from the Montgomery family? She is such a drama queen.”
“What could have possibly happened between them? It’s hard to believe she would go to such lengths.”
“Wait a minute. Something feels off about this. There’s got to be more to it. Don’t you think?”
The comment section quickly filled with remarks, most users siding with Tricia. Any neutral or questioning comments were immediately drowned out by a flood of harsh responses.
For a brief moment, the entire comment section was awash with sympathy for Tricia and condemnation for Vera. Some users even tracked down accounts she no longer used. Within minutes, the feed was flooded with tens of thousands of hateful comments.
Seeing the comments flood in, Tricia felt a wave of satisfaction. If she could continue playing the victim, she might just ruin Vera’s reputation entirely.