My phone buzzed non-stop with notifications.

On TikTok’s trending page, I saw that Miss Paris had gone viral.

The headline read: "Famous Influencer Exposed as a Homewrecker!"

Curious, I opened the comments:

"Isn’t her boyfriend the captain of our university’s sports club? His girlfriend is also a grad student here!"

"I’ve seen them eating together at the second dining hall. Miss Paris, you better double-check your facts."

"Wow, they hooked up before he even broke up? Cheating, much?"

"Absolutely true! The guy’s from our school, and he still had a girlfriend!"

Some nosy people had turned this into a full-blown scandal.

Before I could finish scrolling through the comments, my phone rang.

It was Lucas.

“Sophia, are you behind all these nasty rumors online?”

I rolled my eyes so hard it hurt.

“You cheated on me, and you have the audacity to accuse me? Everything online is the truth. Don’t flatter yourself—I don’t have the power to make this go viral.”

“We’ve already broken up! Paris has no idea about any of this. Could you clear things up for her?”

“This is reality, Lucas. There’s nothing to ‘clear up.’”

Angrily, he hung up and blocked my number.

Back in the dorm, I took a long shower, hoping to wash away the frustration.

But the peace didn’t last.

Miss Paris updated her account with a new video—Lucas’s so-called “clarification.”

In it, Lucas explained that he was already single when he met Miss Paris. He claimed I was too focused on experiments and spent all my time cooped up in my dorm, which made him lose interest. According to him, he couldn’t reach me for days and didn’t want to disrupt my research, so he hadn’t told me about the breakup.

At the end of the video, Miss Paris showed screenshots of their chats, where she explicitly asked if he was single.

His reply: "Currently single."

Watching that, I couldn’t hold back my rage.

“What a scumbag!” I shouted at the screen.

Soon after, a new headline trended: "Influencer Confirms Boyfriend Was Single During Courtship."

The comments were divided, with some praising their “courage to follow love.” Meanwhile, Lucas gained a million new followers overnight.

Seven months. Seven months wasted on that jerk.

Just as I was about to turn off my phone and sleep, a video of me in the sheep pen popped up online.

The caption read: "This is Lucas’s ex. Honestly, I’d choose Miss Paris too."

The comment section was a dumpster fire:

"She’s not even that pretty. Lucas made the right call."

"I’d pick Miss Paris any day!"

"What if she’s trying to frame Paris out of jealousy?"

That video of me went viral, and I gained 50,000 followers instantly.

Then, pictures of me working in the watermelon fields and herding sheep started circulating.

The comments were even more vicious:

"Is she a farmer? Is that even a real major?"

"What kind of grad student works in a field all day?!"

Unbelievable.

Do these people have nothing better to do?

I’m a plant breeding researcher—a noble profession! Without research, how do we get high-quality crops?

Do they think feeding the world happens by magic?

No way was I letting this slide.

I recorded a video to set the record straight:

1. I showed the chat history where Lucas only broke up with me yesterday.

2. I explained my work in seed breeding—definitely not just “farming.”

3. I revealed that Lucas’s graduation project, the sheep, had been entirely cared for by me—and that I’d already sold them off.

The video didn’t gain much traction at first. I even considered buying some views.

But an hour later, comments started pouring in.

The top comment caught my eye:

"I know Sophia. She’s incredibly hardworking and dedicated. If society mocks someone for taking their work seriously, we’ve truly lost our way. Remember who invented hybrid rice? Stop wasting time attacking others."

Other comments chimed in:

"Exactly! Let’s stop judging people for being passionate about their careers."

"Focus on your own life instead of tearing others down."

When I checked who left the top comment, my jaw dropped.

It was Sean, a senior from my department.