The Billionaire's Mistake (Anya and Daniel)

Chapter 61: Behind the scenes

Anya shook her head, her fingers trembling as they danced across the keyboard. “I can’t,” she whispered, her voice barely audible above the whirring of the laptop’s fan. “I can’t just ignore what’s happening to me. That is my image going up in flames. This is what they wanted. Stanley and Autumn actually succeeded.”

Daniel sank down onto the edge of the bed, his eyes pleading with her to listen. “I know it’s hard,” he said gently, reaching out to touch her hand. “But you can’t let this consume you. You’re stronger than this, Anya. You can’t let them win.”

Anya’s breath caught in her throat, her eyes burning with unshed tears. She knew he was right, but no one knows how it feels to be bullied on the net until they have experienced it. She knew all these things, but it was so hard. It had suddenly become too overwhelming to face the world outside her room.

Daniel leaned in closer, his voice barely above a whisper. “Listen,” he said, his eyes shining with determination. “If you cannot calm down or have confidence in yourself, have confidence in me. Do you think that a little company can deal with me? Do you think I cannot even protect you? You are my wife. When they attack you, they are attacking me.”

A flicker of hope ignited within Anya’s chest. She looked up at Daniel, her eyes filled with fragility.

“You will make it go away?” she asked.

“I will make it all go away,” he assured her.

“Really?”

Daniel smiled, squeezing her hand gently. “Really,” he said, his voice unwavering in its certainty. “Stanley and Autumn, I will make them all pay.”

ChapterHe watched her eat for a bit and tucked her into bed. Only after making sure she had gone to sleep did he leave the room.

Daniel descended the staircase, a grim look frozen on his face. Anyone who knew him would be able to spot that this Daniel was ready to kill someone at this moment. His footsteps echoed through the silent house, each one a reminder of Anya’s pain. As he reached the bottom, he found himself face to face with his mother, father, and maternal grandfather, their concerned expressions mirroring his own inner thoughts.

“How is she? She still won’t eat?” his mother asked, her voice filled with worry. “I have sent food up several times, but she would not even look at it.”

“She ate,” Daniel answered, showing her the empty tray of food before handing it to a passing man. They all made their way into the living room and took seats.

“Why won’t she come down then?” Rodney asked, “I have not seen her since she returned.”

“That man, Stanley, he has spread lies about Anya on the net. She is being bombarded with hate comments,” Daniel explained.

“He did what?” His father asked, “Why haven’t you taken it down?”

Daniel forced a smile, trying to hide the chill in his eyes that radiated off him like a smoke near a flame. “Someone is blocking us from taking it down,” he replied, his voice mirroring the chill in his eyes. “It is as though someone is intending to handle Anya in one move.”

“Someone that can stop you from taking down a trending topic?” his father asked with a deep frown.

“Yes, it seems to me that this is not as simple as trying to take her art.” Daniel said.

His father placed a hand on his shoulder, his gaze steady and unwavering. “Let me look into

Chimpler (1 Behind the sonk

this. You are right, this smells too fishy. It is as though someone is trying to sound us out,” he said, his voice cold. “I don’t believe they did all this for her art.”

Daniel nodded, feeling that his father had a point. He took notice of something wrong. It was as though someone wanted to find out what he would do. “I know,” he said softly, his voice lowering dangerously. “It almost feels as though someone is messing with me.”

Rodney, a stoic figure seated in his favorite armchair by the fireplace, spoke up next. “Time is of the essence, Daniel,” he said, his voice grave with urgency. “The longer this drags on, the harder it will be for Anya to lift her head again. You need to deal with this swiftly, decisively.”

Daniel’s stomach churned with guilt as he recalled Anya’s state. “The people hiding may take some time, but I can definitely destroy a small CEO and author. It is fine if they want to mess with me. Bringing Anya into this is a step too far.”

“What will you do if you can’t remove the trending search?” Rodney asked.

“It’s fine, Grandpa,” he said, his voice laced with venom. “Since they want to be famous, I will make them famous.”

11

Rodney fixed him with a steely gaze, his eyes piercing through Daniel’s defenses to the heart of the matter. “The video, you want to use the video,” he said, his voice sinking coldly. “Why

did

you not use it in the first place? You should have released it the moment they started talking about her.”

“When they were talking about her? The moment the event ended. You should not have given them a chance to do anything. You should have stuck first,” his mother chimed in.

Daniel swallowed hard; this is where he was wrong. He had thought of many ways to deal with them without considering what waiting this long would do to Anya.

His mother stepped forward, her eyes brimming with suspicion and disintment. “Daniel, it can’t be that you were considering letting the matter ferment that way. When you release it, they would have no way to defend themselves, right?” she asked softly, her voice filled with danger as her eyes narrowed at him. “It can’t be that, right? It can’t be that how you destroy

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them is more important than what this is doing Anya, right?”

Daniel drew in a deep breath, ready to defend himself. “I really did not put that over Anya. She has always been nonchalant, and I did not realize she would take it this hard,” he said, his voice filled with desperation.

“You really don’t know how to take care of people,” his mother commented with a shake of her head. It was clear she was disappointed.

“I feel as though I just looked away for a second, and Anya crumbled. I looked away for a second, and they destroyed her,” he could not help but let out. He did not understand. It has only been a day since he returned home with Anya. He had only stepped out yesterday to handle matters and returned deep into the night while she was asleep. How did they manage to make her like that in only a few hours?

His father placed his hand on his shoulder, a firm look in his eyes as he said to Daniel, “You can’t look away. Even though there is a way better way to deal with things in her path–an easier way, an even more thorough way. The only answer is the fastest way. You destroy first and ask questions later.”

These words were seared into his brain as though branded with a hot iron. He had made tool many mistakes with Anya; this one took place under his watch. His eyes darkened with determination. He would not be making this mistake again.

Daniel strode into his expansive corner office, the polished floors gleaming beneath his feet as sunlight streamed through the floor–to–ceiling windows. Settling into his leather chair behind the sleek mahogany desk, he greeted the day with a mix of irritation and grim; his mind already buzzed with thoughts of Anya cooped up in her room at home.