Chapter 42 Man Behind the Curtain
Satisfied with the silence of the crowd, Arthur quietly squeezed Lucia’s hand and made his conclusion of the day.
“I have invited you here today to tell you personally that your company has received a lawyer’s letter from Davonnis Corp, and I will Sue you for making false reports and causing negative attacks on our company.”
Arthur’s warning was blunt and presumptuous, but none of the people here would dare to question his strength. None. The reporters in the left half of this morning’s report quietly buried their heads, and no one dared to look at Arthur onstage.
Arthur had said all the things he wanted to say. The person in charge who had been standing at the side of the stage came quickly to continue to host so that Arthur and Lucia could leave safely.
Arthur and Lucia seemed to have nothing to do with the noise behind them.Original from NôvelDrama.Org.
After walking into the elevator and out of people’s sight, Lucia embraced Arthur and apologized, “Arthur, I’m sorry you had to go public with our relationship because I know you don’t like the spotlight on your personal life.”
“You are wrong about that.” Replied Arthur, smiling as he hugged the slender creature in his arms.
“What?” Lucia looked up blankly. Had she guessed wrong what Arthur was thinking?
Her eyes were large and round, and her lips parted. Arthur kissed her forehead lovingly and passionately before answering her questions. “I want the world to know that you are my woman.”
“You really fascinate me…” Lucia, shy from the kiss on her forehead, bent her head slightly, hiding her uncontrollable smile.
The press conference was over, and the reporters left one after another. Especially the reporters in the left half. They didn’t look very good. They didn’t expect Arthur’s emergency measures to be so drastic. Not only did he dispel the rumors on the spot, he even sent a letter from his lawyer to the reporters’ company. One should know that many of them were paid to report this story.
They had barely left the venue when quite a few journalists’ mobile phones were being blown up. If you listened carefully, you would find that it was all apologies. It turned out to be scolding calls from their superiors at the company, asking them why they had messed with such a powerful character as Arthur.
Among them, there was a male reporter who had just hung up the phone with his superior before he picked up another call, and he said impatiently.
“What can I do? The lawyer’s letter from Arthur had been sent to the office. I did the best I could. The managing editor had just called to give me a piece of his mind, and I was the only one in the room who dared to question Arthur, and now I’m afraid he’ll call me later. I’m gonna have to go through another round at work later, so I can’t help you.”
The man on the other end of the phone seemed very dissatisfied with the male reporter’s answer and continued to say something. Finally, the male reporter lost his temper and shouted directly into the phone.
“Five years ago, I took the lead in helping you fight Lucia, and I also contacted other journalists. If they find out, I’ll be the first one Arthur’s ever taken revenge on! Poppy, Lucia isn’t what she used to be. She’s got Arthur and Eduard behind her now. How am I gonna hang out at Athegate if I continue to be the first one to hurt Lucia? Don’t think I have to do everything I can to help you just because you’re my homie. I’ve done what I can!”
With that, the male reporter hung up the phone. Yeah, and it was Poppy on the phone with him. He and Poppy came from the same place and he worked for a local entertainment magazine.
He was the one who helped Poppy and Jacob connect with other journalists five years ago and led the press to convict Lucia of having an affair. Before today, Poppy entrusted him to question Arthur’s every statement on the spot, but he was powerless to question it, and he became the target of public criticism. He still shuddered at the sight of Arthur staring at him.
The male reporter was not happy. Poppy, across town, was even more upset. She was in Jacob’s office when she slammed the phone into her hand and swore.
“Bastard! Talking about doing his best. He took so much money from me, but it was of no use in the end. Isn’t it just a letter from a lawyer? I don’t believe Arthur really has the guts to sue all those magazines! Isn’t he just bluffing?”
Jacob sat on the sofa and watched Poppy lose her temper. He was in a bad mood too.
Yesterday, when Poppy offered to use gossip magazines to tarnish Lucia’s reputation, he hesitated. After all, Lucia had Arthur and Eduard behind her. But he had used it to defeat Lucia five years earlier, so he agreed.
He did not expect that today the old play would be repeated, but there would be a different winner.
According to the brief notes sent back by the homie, Arthur not only cleared up the misunderstanding at the birthday party but also raised questions about Lucia’s infidelity five years ago. The loss outweighed the gain this time.
He heard that Arthur had hired other reporters who weren’t paid by them to cover the conference truthfully. Soon, the news from the press conference would become public and his reputation would be in doubt.
“Come on, don’t lose your temper. What can a little reporter do?” Jacob was angry himself, but seeing Poppy lose her temper made him even more upset. He growled impatiently at Poppy and said, “Don’t we know the editor-in-chief of a magazine? I’ll call him right away and ask him to contact other magazines to speak for us. As long as the public opinion is not one-sided, we are not completely destroyed.”
“So, call him.” Poppy replied.
Jacob looked at Poppy’s broken cell phone on the ground, hesitated for a moment, then picked up the phone and called the editor-in-chief of a magazine. However, the result was very disappointing to him.
“Sorry.” In response to Jacob’s offer to defend them against Lucia, the editor said, “It’s not that I don’t want to help you, it’s that I’m afraid to. Do you think Arthur was just kidding? My boss has received the lawyer’s letter right now, and there’s more than one.”
“More than one?” Jacob was confused.
“Yes, there is another letter from Jibillion Inc before the launch. The content is similar to Arthur’s. Eduard is probably also annoyed. These are two powerful men, and we can’t afford to mess with one of them. I really can’t help you this time.”
After hanging up the phone with the editor, Jacob’s face was as dark as a cloud on the horizon.
Eduard had a hand in it, too!
When Jibillion Inc announced Lucia had been suspended on its official website at noon, Jacob thought he had won. He had no idea that Eduard would do this behind the scene. How could anyone help him now?
Like the editor said, messing with Arthur or Eduard was not something a magazine could afford to do. They might struggle and even go out of business. Who dared to touch this bad luck?
Jacob learned how it felt to lift a stone and drop it on his own foot.
Poppy looked on, not knowing why. Seeing Jacob’s terrible expression, she asked him what happened and if they agreed to help them. Jacob could not contain his anger any longer.