Free Web NovelChapter 40: Chapter 40: A Bold Idea
"That’s right, Apex Design," Lynn Preston affirmed.
Sonia Quincy’s brow furrowed, fragments of a plot from the original novel surfacing in her mind.
The novel’s author had only glossed over this part of the story in a few sentences. Sonia, racking her brain, struggled to piece together the details, finally managing to recall the general gist of it—
In the novel, Felix Preston’s company was embroiled in a plagiarism scandal right before its bankruptcy. The accuser was an influencer studio with over a million followers across all platforms.
At the time, Felix Preston’s company was already facing issues, and its senior management was in utter chaos. So when the video making the accusation was released, no one in the entire Preston Group could step up to handle it.
The studio was full of savvy online operators. To maximize the spread of public opinion, they not only had their employees share the accusation video from their personal accounts but also hired a hoard of paid commenters and marketing accounts to join the crusade against the Preston Group.
The group’s internal affairs were already a complete mess. By the time Felix Preston got the news, the accusation video had been online for two days.
Plagiarism had always been the Preston Group’s greatest taboo, so Felix Preston couldn’t believe it when he first saw the video. It wasn’t until Evan Yates laid the allegedly plagiarized product and the internal review report before him that he was stunned to realize his company had actually done it.
He couldn’t tolerate it. He immediately convened a board meeting and ordered a thorough investigation into the matter. He never imagined, however, that just as the order reached the relevant department, his company would unceremoniously go bankrupt.
And with his company’s bankruptcy, the plagiarism scandal was simply swept under the rug.
’Azure...’ Sonia Quincy vaguely remembered that was the influencer studio’s name. She switched her call to speakerphone, opened a popular video app, and searched for the studio’s account. Just as she expected, she saw the accusatory video.
More than two months had passed, yet Azure Studio still had the accusatory video pinned to its homepage. Sonia clicked on the video and scanned the comments. Unsurprisingly, they were all filled with curses directed at the Preston Group and Felix Preston.
"Heh..." A smirk touched Sonia Quincy’s lips, her gaze turning cold.
’If I remember correctly, the largest shareholder of Azure Studio is a man named Liam Joyce. And Liam Joyce is the general manager of Apex Design.’
’Apex Design once received an investment from Ethan Lockwood’s company, which is why Liam Joyce is rather close to him.’
’What’s more, in the novel, only Ethan Lockwood knew about the connection between Liam Joyce and Azure Studio. Ethan brought down Felix’s company, and Liam orchestrated the plagiarism scandal right before the bankruptcy to distract Felix.’
’To say that the timing of these two events was a mere coincidence... no one in their right mind would believe it.’
’When the author wrote this part of the plot, they never explicitly stated who was behind Azure Studio’s plagiarism exposé. But any reader could easily guess.’
Sonia Quincy vaguely recalled a war of the century breaking out in the Chapter’s comment section between Ethan Lockwood’s fans and Felix Preston’s fans.
Ethan Lockwood’s fans praised him as a worthy male lead, marveling at his genius for distracting Felix Preston. Meanwhile, Felix’s fans sarcastically retorted that Ethan was indeed the most disgusting fictional character of the twenty-first century, driving an innocent supporting character to a humiliating bankruptcy just for his own ’perfect’ love story.
Sonia had wholeheartedly agreed with the latter group. She’d fearlessly joined the fray, only to be flamed by Ethan Lockwood’s fans until she deleted her comments and ran for the hills.
The bitter memory resurfaced, and Sonia Quincy instantly clenched her fists in anger.
"...Sister-in-law, why’d you go quiet?"
Sonia’s silence had stretched on for so long that Lynn Preston couldn’t help but break it.
"...Huh? Oh, I was just replying to a client’s message." Sonia’s focus snapped back, and she quickly came up with an excuse.
"Oh..." Lynn Preston didn’t seem to suspect anything and continued with what she was saying. "Sister-in-law, I already got the offer for a trial period from Apex Design. I can start tomorrow!"
"That’s great," Sonia Quincy said with a smile, then asked tactfully, "Lynn, how many interview rounds did Apex Design have in total?"
Lynn Preston: "Just two. Their last financial assistant quit and left immediately, giving them no time to find a replacement. They were in a real hurry to hire someone, so the interviews were pretty simple."
Sonia asked, "So, who interviewed you?"
Lynn Preston thought for a moment before replying slowly, "There was a supervisor, a director, the finance team lead, and someone from HR. Just the four of them."
Sonia: "The manager wasn’t there?"
Lynn Preston: "Why would he be? They’re just hiring a financial assistant, not some key executive. The manager couldn’t be bothered."
"Oh, right. That makes sense," Sonia said, as a bold idea began to form in her mind.
"Sister-in-law, why the sudden questions?" Lynn Preston asked, finding it a little odd.
Sonia didn’t explain. Instead, she asked, "Lynn, are you busy this afternoon?"
Lynn Preston: "No. Why? What’s up?"
Sonia still wouldn’t explain. "Come over to my place this afternoon. We need to go to your brother’s studio and discuss something."
"Huh?" Lynn Preston was completely bewildered but agreed immediately. "Okay, I’ll come over this afternoon. Bye, Sister-in-law."
"Bye."
After hanging up, Sonia ordered herself lunch on a food delivery app and went back to editing her designs.
At three in the afternoon, Lynn Preston arrived at Sonia’s apartment as requested.
Sonia hailed a car on her phone. She and Lynn Preston then headed to Felix Preston’s studio, bringing along some fruit Sonia had prepared earlier.
They hadn’t messaged Felix Preston to let him know they were coming, so they certainly didn’t expect to see Renee Sinclair at the studio.
And a large group of police officers.
"What’s... going on here?"
Sonia stood at the entrance, holding the fruit, and stared blankly at the scene before her.
"Sonia!"
Hearing her voice, Felix Preston quickly squeezed his way out of the crowd. "What are you doing here?"
Lynn Preston held up the fruit. "My sister-in-law and I came to bring you a snack. What’s... going on? Did you get busted for an illegal party?"
"Not exactly." Renee Sinclair approached, arms crossed, her stilettos clicking as she walked past Evan Yates.
Sonia stared at her, expressionless.
As always, she was exquisitely dressed, a triumphant smile gracing her perfectly made-up face. "I heard that Felix was nearly hit by an unlicensed car a couple of days ago, and that there are still no leads on the driver. I was worried sick, so I filed another police report and had them come over to investigate more thoroughly."
"’Heard?’" That was an interesting choice of words. Sonia asked directly, "Miss Sinclair, who exactly did you hear this from?"
"It wasn’t me," Felix Preston immediately clarified. "Other than Evan Yates, I haven’t mentioned this to anyone."
Evan Yates hurried over from the side, emphatically adding, "It wasn’t me, either! I’m always tight-lipped! I never talk about Preston’s business with anyone!"
Lynn Preston: "And it certainly wasn’t me, because I had no idea this even happened!"
Sonia fixed Renee Sinclair with a scrutinizing gaze. "So, Miss Sinclair, who was it that told you about this?"
