Chapter 4Hard Launch, Hard Fall: Canceling My A-List Client

A few days later, the relationship announcement on Cole's official Twitter was deleted.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of his fans, his timeline and subreddits were once again a picture of peace and harmony.

Any dissenting voices were immediately swarmed and attacked.

You could only find the genuine outrage and mass-unfollowing if you searched his specific anti-fan nicknames.

But I had protected him too well in the past. He didn't even know what his own anti-names were. He genuinely believed his fans still supported him unconditionally.

Normally, if this issue wasn't brought up again, it would just fade away. The internet has a seven-second memory.

Once the heat died down, they would make up some excuse to cover it up, and it would be history.

As for the fans who unstanned him, after his arena tour finished, many would eventually come crawling back.

But right when the company issued a statement claiming Cole's account had been hacked and the relationship post was fake...

At midnight, screenshots of Cole's private Snapchat story suddenly leaked online.

It was the exact photo grid of him and his girlfriend on vacation.

The person who leaked the screenshot even thoughtfully blurred out the "S" tattoo on his arm.

This was the first time I actually smiled seeing Cole hit the top of the negative trending charts.

After years of frantically cleaning up his messes, I was thoroughly sick of it.

As the public backlash rapidly escalated, the company's "hacked" statement became a laughingstock.

Those devoted fans who swore they believed he was single became an even bigger joke.

Cole was getting ripped to shreds online. Even the paid bot farms couldn't drown out the hate.

The company tried to divert attention by dragging other male celebrities down, fabricating dating rumors about them.

Cole, convinced I was the one who leaked the screenshot, called to scream at me.

He called me toxic, jealous, and morally bankrupt, and threatened to have his fans cyberbully me.

I told him I didn't do it, but he refused to believe me.

"I blocked everyone else from seeing that story except you! And you're telling me you didn't do it?!"

I laughed. "You shot the arrow yourself. Whoever leaked it, you're the one who has to take responsibility for your actions. As for who did it... take a wild guess."

He raged: "You just wait!"

I ignored him, hung up, and blocked his number.

Over the next few days, my personal phone number suddenly received a flood of unknown calls.

Thinking they were friends, I instinctively answered.

The moment I picked up, someone started demanding I issue a clarification for Cole's relationship.

I was stunned.

Besides my close friends and family outside the industry, only Cole knew this number.

He must have leaked it.

The fan on the other end aggressively interrogated me.

"Have you seen Cole's negative trending topics? Why hasn't the PR team suppressed the heat yet? Are you even his manager?!"

I sighed and explained that I had already resigned.

The fan got even more agitated: "He's in the middle of a massive crisis, and you have the nerve to quit?!"

If there were an Olympic eye-rolling competition, I would definitely win gold.

Just as I was about to hang up, the voice on the other end demanded furiously:

"Why can other people clarify their rumors, but you guys can't?"

"Clarify what?"

"The relationship! Tons of male stars had dating rumors the past two days and they all clarified it."

I was speechless. "Because they aren't actually dating."

"What kind of attitude is that? You don't care at all, do you?! He's about to kick off his fourth arena concert!"

Me: "Is caring going to magically fix it?"

"You just wait! I've recorded everything you said, and I'm going to report you to the agency!"