Prominent bloggers began to weigh in. One of them—Daxue—reviewed and analysed all the published articles that had featured Jessica over the last three months. It was true. Not once had the woman claimed that she was sexually assaulted. She simply stated that she did not wish to talk about it and by her quiescence allowed the rumour to flourish. This was a shrewd strategist at work. The woman had turned a non-event into a publicity stunt that propelled her to Internet fame and won her a national fan base in record time! Daxue professed that she would gladly pay to receive private coaching from the guru.

After the first wave of disbelief crashed against the breakwater and dissipated, waves of infuriation and grievance rolled in. The Crescent Girls for J Bruise were heartbroken to realise they had been inspired by a fake idol. Teachers who had extolled Jessica’s courage in class were embarrassed when a video clip leaked to reveal that the misplaced role model was in the habit of filming herself having rough sex. Online shoppers who had made purchases on the J Bruise website demanded refunds and compensations. When the website shut itself down abruptly, the shoppers bayed for Jessica’s blood.

That was how Sharon came to the conclusion that it was a blessing in disguise that she had failed to rope Jessica into her campaign in the aftermath of the Little India riot. The young woman was pure poison!

Sharon wondered what she could do to exploit the turn of events. The public was shocked, confused and enraged. It was the perfect opening for a politician to step in and stake a claim. Elvis had taught her that much.

But Sharon was too slow. It was another MP who jumped in and made a calculated splash. Dr Gimme Lao, MP for Zheng Hua constituency, fired the first volley.

“I am sure all of you have read about the shocking development in the papers. The migrant worker who was in a coma for the last three months has awoken. And guess what? We found out that he was not guilty of the crime everyone had judged him for. We were all mistaken. Which begs the question—who has intentionally or otherwise misled us?”

Dr Gimme Lao was the guest-of-honour in an opening ceremony at the newly-completed Zheng Hua Recreation Park. Both the event attendees and the invited media team sat up straight when he broached the topic.

“Some people have accused the young lady, Miss Jessica Tan, of spreading the rumour so that she could gain instant fame. But I, for one, doubt it. If you had followed the developments closely, you would have noticed that Miss Jessica Tan was very unwilling to talk to the media after the riot. Even when she eventually did, she stayed clear of the incident and did not at any time claim to be a victim of a sexual assault. So my question is, who pushed her to the forefront and into the limelight against her will?”