Crushing a competitor's product quality through smear campaigns was Barton Grover's signature move in corporate warfare.
Over the years, countless rivals had been destroyed by this exact tactic.
His success largely stemmed from his willingness to dump massive amounts of money into hiring online troll armies to control the narrative.
As long as the momentum was right, he could obliterate a brand in three days flat.
Even against the formidable White family, he felt absolutely no fear.
Barton firmly believed that if he let the scandal brew just a little longer, the massive hype from Maeve's two product launches would collapse right alongside her brand's reputation.
He never expected The Vivacious Auntie's sudden betrayal to completely flip the script.
Not only did she change her tune, but several other actors bought out by Grover Group simultaneously released statements, confessing they had been paid to spread malicious rumors about the Vance Apothecary Face Cream.
None of them explicitly named the entity signing their checks.
But anyone with a working brain could guess that the mastermind behind the scenes was Grover Group, whose own reputation had recently taken a massive nosedive.
Facing their boss's explosive rage, the senior executives in charge of the operation stood in terrified silence, too afraid to speak up.
From the very beginning, they had opposed this baseless smear campaign.
Not only was it a waste of money and resources, but it risked a massive backlash.
And now, their worst fears had come true.
While Barton threw a massive tantrum in his boardroom, Andres White was enjoying drinks and dinner with a few close friends.
"If you already knew Grover Group was going to pull this cheap stunt, why didn't you nip it in the bud?" Leonardo Salazar asked.
Corbin Shaw was equally baffled as to why his friend had allowed the public outcry to escalate when he saw it coming a mile away.
"Andres, I have to agree. You didn't handle this right. Even though the paid actors cleared the air, the cream's reputation definitely took a hit."
Benjamin Bright, however, saw things differently.

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