Chapter 378: Public Opinion Ferments, Completely Out of Control

[Heartbreaking! Rhodes Group President Adrian Lancaster Shields Wife with His Own Body in Car Crash, Left Critically Injured and in a Coma While Wife Walks Away Unscathed?!]

The post included several photos from the scene, all taken from insidious angles.

The mangled, bloody steering wheel, the shattered car windows, the corner of Adrian Lancaster’s blood-stained clothes, and Wren Sutton’s minor scrapes.

The two sets of photos created a stark, jarring contrast.

The accompanying text was even more malicious, with every word designed to be a dagger to the heart.

"It’s so brutal! A large truck rammed straight into them, and President Lancaster shielded his wife under his body, taking the full force of the impact himself. He’s still in a coma in the ICU, but Mrs. Lancaster looks like she’s completely fine? The contrast really gives you mixed feelings. President Lancaster literally traded his life for his wife’s safety!"

To ensure public opinion reached a boiling point, the hired trolls had a clear division of labor.

First, they would seize control of the narrative, spread malicious rumors, and force the topic onto the trending charts.

The first wave of fabricated posts and long-form smear articles simultaneously blitzed Weibo, TikTok, financial forums, and celebrity gossip sections.

#AdrianLancasterCarCrashWrenSuttonColdBlooded#

#WealthyWifeViciousSchemerTriesToSeizeFortune#

They were instantly pushed to the top of the trending charts, with the bright red "Explosive" tag being particularly jarring.

Aside from the content mentioned earlier, the rest of the posts were filled with distortions of the truth.

They took photos of Wren Sutton at the hospital—where she was silently holding back her grief—and Photoshopped out the heavy bloodshot veins in her eyes and her haggard expression. They deliberately altered the images to make her look emotionless, like a cold bystander.

They fabricated chat logs from supposed hospital orderlies and anonymous Lancaster family servants, inventing complete falsehoods.

"Wren Sutton has been unhappy in her marriage for a long time. She privately curses her husband."

"Right before the accident, Wren Sutton was seen secretly approaching Adrian Lancaster’s car."

The most vicious rumor they started was that "Wren Sutton deliberately tampered with the car’s brakes to cause the accident, all so she could take control of the Lancaster family and the Rhodes Group sooner."

Then, a second wave of trolls flooded every comment section. Posing as ordinary netizens, they maliciously fabricated baseless gossip, spamming the threads with the most caustic and inflammatory language imaginable.

Every comment was designed to provoke outrage and completely silence any rational voices.

"I saw Mrs. Lancaster with my own two eyes, playing on her phone in the hospital hallway. She didn’t look sad at all. Her husband is on death’s door, and she’s that calm? She’s heartless."

"This is solid proof! She’s definitely the one who did it. Why else would she be so calm? It’s obvious she’s just waiting for President Lancaster to die so she can inherit his billion-dollar fortune."

"She’s a venomous, gold-digging shrew. She only married into the Lancaster family for the money and has no real feelings for her husband. Now she’s finally showing her true colors."

"Tampering with a car is basically murder! Someone needs to arrest this Wren Sutton and investigate the crash properly. Get justice for President Lancaster!"

"She looks all pure and innocent, but deep down, she has the heart of a viper. How does a woman like that even deserve to be alive!"

"If she had even an ounce of love for him as his wife, she wouldn’t be so cold while he’s critically ill. It’s disgusting."

If any netizen dared to question the narrative with comments like, "Don’t just attack her without proof," they were immediately swarmed and berated by hordes of trolls, who accused them of "whitewashing for Wren Sutton" or being "paid shills."

Their language was so foul that it forced all rational commentators to delete their posts and fall silent.

The comment sections were now completely controlled by the trolls, with the narrative entirely skewed toward slandering Wren Sutton.

The topic continued to explode online. Massive numbers of uninformed people were drawn in, and under the trolls’ frantic manipulation of the narrative, they were completely brainwashed by the one-sided, false information.

They voluntarily joined in on the abuse, their comments growing increasingly extreme. They completely disregarded the facts, relying solely on subjective, malicious speculation and even stooping to baseless personal attacks.

"You don’t even have to think about it, it’s obviously Wren Sutton’s fault. Are any of those rich, high-society women not gold diggers? The second President Lancaster is down, she shows her true colors!"

"Just look at her face, you can tell she’s a schemer. She’s clearly not a good person. The accident definitely has something to do with her!"

"I hope Wren Sutton dies a horrible death! We need to get justice for President Lancaster! A cold-blooded woman like her should be canceled by the entire internet!"

"Kick her out of the Lancaster family! The Rhodes Group can’t be destroyed by this woman! She’s a total jinx!"

"Doxx her! Let everyone see this venomous woman’s true face! Make her a social pariah!"

Other netizens jumped on the bandwagon, fabricating and spreading even more false stories, such as "Wren Sutton was having an affair," "she was seen at a repair shop on the day of the crash," and "she was transferring the Rhodes Group’s assets."

Some people dug up Wren Sutton’s everyday photos and maliciously altered them to make her look ugly.

Others took her past statements out of context and twisted their meaning.

Even her haggard appearance as she kept vigil at the hospital was maliciously interpreted as "just putting on an act for everyone to see."

There were even people who went to financial forums, linking the Rhodes Group’s stock price fluctuations to Wren Sutton and implying that her malicious nature was dragging down the entire company.

In just half an hour, related topics had garnered over 100 million views and more than a million comments.

The online narrative had spun completely out of control as a tidal wave of malice swept toward Wren Sutton.

Every online platform was filled with insults, curses, slander, and false rumors targeting Wren Sutton.

Filth and profanity were everywhere as everyone got caught up in the online frenzy of "judging the venomous wife."

They had nailed Wren Sutton to a pillar of shame, branding her as "cold-blooded, venomous, and a murderer for money," and not a single person was willing to seek even a shred of the truth.

...

This firestorm of public opinion quickly reached the Lancaster family, and the atmosphere in the family estate grew suffocatingly tense.

In the living room, the family matriarch sat in the seat of honor, her cane striking the polished marble floor with a heavy, dull THUD.

Her usually kind and gentle eyes were now filled with fury. As she stared at the overwhelming flood of vicious comments, malicious photoshops, and slanderous rumors about Wren Sutton on her phone screen, the old woman trembled with rage.

"Utter nonsense! These rumor-mongers are completely shameless! Damn them! Damn them all!" The matriarch slammed her phone down on the table in a fit of rage.

Claire Sterling, looking at the vile curses, was equally furious and threw her phone aside.

"This is outrageous! They don’t know anything, they’re just spouting nonsense! What right do they have to slander my daughter-in-law like this?!"

"We’ve all seen how much Wren loves Adrian. These posts are clearly a deliberate attempt to manipulate public opinion and frame her! When I find out who’s behind this, I won’t let them get away with it!"

Theodore Lancaster’s expression was grim. The online rumors had already caused the Rhodes Group’s stock price to plummet, and the shareholder group chat was in an uproar.

His brow was deeply furrowed. His heart ached for his daughter-in-law, who was suffering this undeserved disaster, but he also had to respond quickly to the crisis facing the company.

Theodore Lancaster immediately called the head of the public relations department and commanded in a sharp tone,

"Take down all the malicious posts and smear campaigns. Remove the negative trending topics. Sue every single account that published false statements, posted malicious photoshops, or engaged in personal attacks. I especially want you to go after the troll accounts that started this. Don’t let a single one get away."

"At the same time, release an official statement from the Lancaster family. Take a hardline stance, clarify all the rumors, and make it clear that we will pursue legal action against every single person who spread them. We will show no mercy."

"The daughter-in-law of the Lancaster family will not be subjected to this kind of injustice. Adrian protected her with his life, and our entire family will do everything in our power to protect her as well."

Following his orders, every member of the Lancaster family spoke out in unison, using their personal social media accounts and official channels to voice their staunch support for Wren Sutton.

However, a few of the Lancaster family’s more distant relatives had already been swayed by the online furor. Having lost all reason, they began to murmur amongst themselves.

"The entire internet is attacking Wren Sutton right now. This has blown up into something huge, and the impact on our family and the company is terrible."

"There’s no smoke without fire. What if there’s a grain of truth to all this? The Lancaster family could be doomed."

"If you ask me, we should stop Wren Sutton from going to the hospital. She needs to lie low for a while and give the public some kind of explanation. Otherwise, she’s going to drag us all down with her."

"This is no time to be sentimental. The company’s stock price is still falling. If this goes on, the consequences will be unthinkable."

These voices of doubt, complaint, and pressure echoed the endless abuse online, forming a vast, inescapable net that closed tightly around Wren Sutton.

In the darkness, Claire Bennett scrolled endlessly through the torrent of condemnation aimed at Wren Sutton. The corners of her lips curled into a bone-chilling smile, her eyes filled with the vicious satisfaction of a plan coming together.

’What I want isn’t just to tarnish her name,’ she thought. ’I want her to be condemned by all, abandoned by everyone she loves. I want her to break down completely, surrounded by endless hatred and despair.’

’Wren Sutton, this is what you owe me.’

Claire Bennett paused, her gaze turning even more sinister.

’And on top of that, you owe me a leg.’