Chapter 52

“Yes, Boss.” Felton nodded and turned to leave, but Shanley’s voice stopped him. “Wait.”
Felton paused, looking back at him in confusion.
Shanley pulled out his phone and opened his chat with Juniper on WhatsApp.
[Juniper, do you need my help looking into this online mess?]
Their relationship wasn’t that close yet, and he worried that interfering without her permission might upset her.
Juniper’s reply came almost instantly: [No need, I’ll handle it myself.]
Even through the screen, he could almost feel her confident aura.
Shanley: [If you need anything at all, just ask.]
Juniper glanced at his message. She was about to type “Thanks” but remembered him telling her not to be so formal. Instead, she just sent back, “Okay.”
Seeing that one word, a slight, unconscious smile touched the corners of his lips. So obedient.
“Never mind the investigation,” Shanley said, standing by the floor-to-ceiling window. He stared into the distance, a chill surrounding him.
The girl said she could handle it, so he would let her. She wasn’t the type to let herself be pushed around.
…
After replying to Shanley, Juniper opened Twitter and created a new account. Username: Lunar.
Once the account was active, she posted her first tweet-just three short sentences.
1. I am Lunar.
2. The gown Queenie wore was a gift from me.
3. Slanderers will be held accountable.
After hitting ‘post,’ she put her phone down and went back to eating with her fork and knife.
Soon, the tweet from “Lunar” shot to the top of the trending list.
“Juniper, look at Twitter! Master Lunar showed up!” Qadir, who had been glued to his phone, exclaimed in excitement.
“Mm,” Juniper responded with a glance, her expression unchanged as she continued eating.
“Juniper, you—” Qadir stopped, puzzled by her calm demeanor. Just then, a commotion erupted in the cafeteria.
Someone shouted, “Trouble! Queenie’s been cornered by reporters outside!”
“There are a ton of them! Queenie’s so scared she’s crying!”
“What?” Qadir dropped his fork. Before he could even stand up, the girl across from him was already on her feet. She furiously kicked her chair back, a frosty aura emanating from her as she strode towards the exit with a thunderous expression.
“Juniper!” Qadir, startled, scrambled to follow her. Seeing her like that, he worried she was about to get into a fight.
…
At the school gate, a dozen reporters had Queenie surrounded, shoving cameras in her face and firing questions at her from all directions.
“Queenie, was the music player malfunction an accident or intentional?”
“Did you know the gown was a fake?”
“Could a person with a history like Juniper’s be using you to get famous?”
“No, that’s not true! Juniper isn’t like that!” Queenie cried, her voice cracking. The reporters’ microphones were practically touching her face, and her small frame was trapped with nowhere to hide. Her eyes welled up with tears.
Just then, one of the reporters said, “Master Lunar just posted on Twitter.”
“What?”
At the mention of the name, all eyes shifted away from Queenie as everyone scrambled to check their phones.
Lunar was notoriously mysterious in the dance world; for years, her fans hadn’t even gotten a clear look at her face. Despite this, she had a massive, loyal following. The idea that she would suddenly create a Twitter account to defend a student from some no-name school seemed completely unbelievable.