Chapter 331
The blond-haired man’s words stunned the onlookers and livestream viewers. Fans of Sienna and those who disliked Phoebe quickly jumped into the conversation.
“I knew it! Phoebe and the production team must be involved in this scam!”
“Anyone who asked Phoebe for a fortune-telling was part of the setup, someone they had prearranged.”
“Features can be powerful, but Phoebe’s predictions are too unbelievable.”
“Sure, horoscopes and… I don’t believe it. There’s no way she’s that good.”
They started stirring the livestream, rallying behind the blond-haired man to expose the fraud. However, Phoebe’s supporters quickly met their comments with strong rebuttals. Some viewers, who had previously had their fortunes told by Phoebe, stepped forward, explaining that the things she had predicted for them were real, not staged or made up for the show. The majority of viewers still believed in Phoebe.
In Oriar, Phoebe looked at the blond-haired man and smiled. “So, you’re saying I’m acting with the people I’ve done fortune-telling for before?”
The blond-haired man tilted his head arrogantly, raising his chin. “Of course, isn’t it obvious?”
Jamar and Reece exchanged a look, recognizing that the blond-haired man was just here to stir up trouble. They were about to step forward and ask him to leave.
Phoebe spoke again, “Spreading rumors is easy with just a mouth. If you want to expose something, show some evidence,” she said calmly.
Jamar and Reece stopped in their tracks, nodding in agreement. “Yeah, show us the evidence,” they added. “Stop talking nonsense!”
The blond-haired man scoffed. “Anyone with their eyes open can see you’re just staging this with actors.”
His words didn’t sit well with the crowd.
“You must be the one blind. We trust Pheebs,” one person snapped.
“Exactly. You don’t speak for everyone,” another chimed in.
Others who had previously had their fortunes read by Phoebe were equally furious.
“We all came to Phoebe on a whim for a fortune-telling. There’s no way we’re part of some act!”
“If you keep spreading these lies, we’ll sue you for defamation,” someone warned.
The blond-haired man sneered dismissively. “I’m not scared of threats. Go ahead, sue me!”
He then turned to Phoebe. “You want proof? Fine, I’ll be the proof.”
“Look at my facial features and tell me what…”
He wasn’t just here to stir up trouble for his friend—he didn’t believe in fortune-telling either. He thought, I’m convinced Phoebe’s just using actors for this show. I’ll use my own experience to prove she’s a fraud. There’s no way Phoebe can know anything about me. After all, she couldn’t have known we’d come looking for trouble or done any research on me beforehand.
Phoebe raised an eyebrow at the blond-haired man. “If you want a fortune-telling, you’ll need to pay first.”
“Don’t think you can take advantage of this!”
The blond-haired man hesitated, pulling out his phone. “It’s just 100 dollars, I’m not short on cash.”
Phoebe replied calmly, “I don’t accept digital payments, cash only.”
The blond-haired man paused, clearly irritated. He thought, “She’s just trying to make things difficult because she can’t figure me out. Well, I’m not falling for…”
He turned to his companion. “You’ve got cash, right?”
His friend shook his head. “No, I don’t.”
“I go grab some from someone. Just give me a minute.” He then told the person behind him that he was at the front of the line, ensuring no one cut in front of him, and dashed off to the coffee house across the street.
Phoebe’s gaze shifted to the second floor of the coffee house, where a private room was directly facing them. The window was open, clearly showing someone was watching the scene outside. Her sharp eyes caught sight of the person inside, and she was momentarily surprised. Sitting in the private room was Jake.
Phoebe’s mind raced. She thought, I’ve seen him before in my past life. He even came to find me. He asked me to break up with Reece and offered to take care of me. He had been constantly harassing her until she finally put an end to it with a firm hand. Behind the scenes, he hadn’t stopped causing trouble. Phoebe had already figured out that someone was directing the blond-haired man and his companion, and she had a strong suspicion about who was behind it. She had noticed they didn’t have any cash, so she purposely insisted on cash payments, hoping they’d fetch it from whoever was pulling the strings.
Once they returned with the money, she could trace the source by the energy of the cash itself. But she didn’t need to do any calculations now. Seeing Jake made it clear. It’s most likely Ophelia behind this.
Phoebe thought, Ophelia’s mind is truly twisted, sending Jake to cause trouble for me. Phoebe frowned and wondered, ‘Reece and I have nothing to do with each other anymore, so why is she doing this? Is it because of Sienna?’
“Well, if Ophelia wants to play the villain, I’ll gladly play the hero.”
Soon enough, the blond-haired man’s companion returned, slamming 200 dollars onto the table.
“We’ve got the cash, now you can give us a reading,” he said, smirking. “And if you can’t get it right, don’t say we didn’t warn you. We’ll make sure to smash your stall!”
Earlier, Ollie had told them to finish exposing the fraud and then take the chance to destroy Phoebe’s booth.
Phoebe turned to Reece. “Take the money.”
Phoebe decided to have some fun and give Reece an order. Knowing Ophelia was likely watching the livestream, Phoebe thought, “Ophelia’s possessiveness will make her especially annoyed by this. And when she’s upset, I’ll feel better.”
Reece was surprised when Phoebe spoke to him directly and gave him instructions. A gentle smile spread across his face. “Alright,” he replied. He took the 200 dollars and placed it in the cash box, then turned to Phoebe with a questioning look. “Is there anything else you need?”
Phoebe deliberately said, “The pastries you bought earlier were too sweet.”
“How about you grab some less sweet to have with the coffee?”
Reece’s smile grew even warmer. “Alright!” Without hesitation, he eagerly rushed off to buy more pastries.
As Phoebe had expected, Ophelia, who was watching the livestream, was furious. Ophelia thought, Reece is such a love-struck fool. How embarrassing! I can’t help but feel jealous—He has never done anything like that for me. If it were the old days, he would have done whatever I asked without hesitation. Ophelia thought, Now their relationship is strained because of Phoebe. Not only would he not run errands for her now, but he often wouldn’t pick up even when she called. If he did, the conversation would be brief before he hung up, sometimes even snapping at her. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Ophelia thought, I just hope the two guys Jake sent can handle this.
Chapter 331
Seeing Phoebe’s behavior, the blond-haired men assumed she was stalling for time. They slammed their hands on the table. “Stop making excuses and help us with the reading,” one of them demanded.
“Don’t think we won’t expose your scam just because you keep distracting us.”
Phoebe finally looked at them, her expression calm. She leaned forward slightly. “Alright, I’ll tell you both what I see. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
The blond-haired man scoffed. “We won’t regret it.”
“I’m curious to see how you’ll spin this. Go ahead, tell me.”
Phoebe looked at him, then took a moment to analyze his facial features, making a few quick calculations.
“Let’s start with you,” she said, calm but piercing.
“Your family was impoverished when you were born. Your father and grandmother used to beat your mother.”
“Your mother couldn’t take it anymore, so she divorced your father and left the village.”
By some twist of fate, she remarried a wealthy businessman.
“Still thinking of you, she took the initiative to bring you to live with her new wealthy husband.”
“Hence, your biological father took advantage of the situation, threatening your mother and extorting quite a sum of money.”
“Your stepfather had no children of his own for a long time because of health issues, so he treated you well.”
Phoebe’s eyes turned cold as she looked at the blond-haired man. “But your mother probably has no idea she brought home a ruthless snake.”
“Several years ago, your mother became pregnant with your stepfather’s child.”
“Since that was their only child, you feared it might threaten your position, so you secretly took matters into your own hands and caused your mother to miscarry.”
“She probably still doesn’t know that it was your doing.”
“Instead, she’s carried guilt over it, especially toward your stepfather, because that was his only child.”
The blond-haired man’s face shifted, and his pupils visibly contracted as a look of shock and panic flashed across his face. He thought, “How is this possible? How does she know? I was so careful, no one else was involved, and I never told anyone. Can she be that good at fortune-telling?”