Free Web NovelChapter 527: There Must Be Other Ways
It was already noon.
When Zess called Wendy to have lunch, she then noticed that she had been on her phone for the past two to three hours.
Wendy rubbed her stomach and realized that she was indeed hungry.
She walked before the dining table and said with a wide smile, "Thank you for your hard work, Zess."
Zess smiled, saying, "Don’t mention it." She saw Wendy’s expression and she asked curiously, "Why do you look so happy?"
Wendy took a seat and Zess set up the cutlery for Wendy.
She picked up the chopsticks and took some vegetables while she asked, "Is it that obvious?"
Looking at how happy Wendy was, Zess felt equally happy too. She said, "You are wearing such a big smile. It has been a while since I have seen you smiling so happily."
Wendy lifted her hand and touched her face, saying, "I am happy indeed. Christian’s image is completely ruined and it is impossible for him to clear his name. Although it wouldn’t cause him any substantial harm, it will definitely affect DR’s market value.
Plus, it would be difficult if he intended to find other people to work together with."
"That’s such great news," Zess said. She sat down then she took some of Wendy’s favorite dishes and put them in her bowl.
"This is only the beginning. He will lose miserably soon," Wendy said happily while she took some dishes for Zess as well.
"I don’t know Christian, but he has been yours and Mr. Lucas’s enemy. So, he must be a bad person. I hope that he loses soon so you and Mr. Lucas can be at ease," Zess said.
"He will," Wendy replied and smiled.
After lunch, Wendy continued to wander around various news applications and forums randomly.
In merely two hours, the account that Wendy created to reply to the comments got onto the trending topics list.
Christian had another topic about him on the popular searches list, "Christian Lucas involved in illegal activities."
Christian was collaborating with the government then. The moment his guilt is proven, it would affect the entire project directly.
Looking at how effective her comment was, she decided to launch another attack.
In actual fact, she didn’t need to do that personally as Christian’s reputation was already bad enough.
Plus, she could easily spend some money and make his reputation worse.
However, Wendy enjoyed having an account herself to leave comments. So, she wanted to do it herself.
Christian was seated in front of the computer then. Looking at the comments about him on the internet, he was shivering in anger.
He already guessed that the media would publicize it widely that day. He had already foreseen that the comments on the internet would be negative.
However, seeing almost every comment on the internet was reprimanding him, he couldn’t control his emotions.
His hand on the mouse was quivering.
The office was terrifyingly quiet.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.
Christian took a glance and saw his assistant. He didn’t speak.
The assistant assumed that Christian agreed for him to enter the room. He walked before Christian cautiously in fear. He handed Christian a handphone, saying in a shivering voice, "Mr... Mr. Lucas, Mr. Zavier is on the line... He said that he couldn’t reach your phone so he called me instead..."
Christian’s phone was shattered into pieces, lying in the corner of the room.
Well, he smashed it.
Mr. Zavier?
Christian knew who he was.
He didn’t respond. He suppressed his emotions and took the phone.
He took a deep breath and placed the phone on his ear. He tried to speak as gently as possible, "Hello, Mr. Zavier. I am Christian Lucas."
Mr. Zavier was the person in charge of the new project he had gotten.
He had no choice but to behave politely.
...
"Have you seen the news on the internet?" Although they spoke through the phone, Christian could tell from Mr. Zavier’s tone that he didn’t sound happy.
The project was not an ordinary project. It was a collaboration with the country.
Needless to say, the image of the partners was important.
Christian wanted to say that he didn’t see the news but it was too fake.
Almost all the headlines were about him on that day. How could he not know?
Christian chuckled ingratiatingly and said, "I saw. I’m sorry, Mr. Zavier. The media is making false reports. You know how it is. The media likes to spread rumors. Don’t worry. I will take care of it. I never thought that you’d see them. I’m sorry about that."
"Rumors? From what I see, it doesn’t look like false reports. The videos are spreading like wildfire on the internet. Unless the videos are false, even if one of the videos were evilly edited, there are so many different videos and all of them are against you. It’s impossible that all of them are false, right?" Mr. Zavier said on the other end of the phone call.
Christian knew that he couldn’t just brush it off so easily.
As Christian couldn’t end it with a perfunctory reply, he had no choice but to apologize, "I’m really sorry. However, these are my personal matters but the media magnified it. Don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t affect the progress of the project."
"Christian Lucas, this is not a personal matter. If it is, I wouldn’t call you personally."
Mr. Zavier got even more upset by Christian’s tonality. He complained, "The public outcry about you being involved in illegal activities is spreading like wildfire all across various media. You should be well aware that our project is not an ordinary project. We definitely can’t use any person who is involved in illegal activities.
Comparatively, the others aren’t as important. But if you were to fail to put down the public outcry, we would seriously form a special team to reinvestigate your background seriously."
"Being involved in illegal activities is merely a rumor. I will take care of it. Even if it doesn’t subside, I am willing to accept the investigation," Christian had to pretend to be calm even though he felt guilty.
Regarding him being involved in illegal activities, it wouldn’t be that easy to find evidence about it.
Otherwise, Christian wouldn’t be able to take the project.
After all, he was involved in illegal activities in Rheinsville.
It will be hard to investigate him across the nation.
Plus, Christian had always been cautious.
Mr. Zavier heard that Christian was willing to accept the investigation and his tone grew gentle. He said, "I believe you can take care of it. Otherwise, this is not something that I can settle for you."
"I know. Thank you, Mr. Zavier. I won’t disappoint you," Christian said.
"And please prepare the funds for the second term soon. Don’t delay the progress," Mr. Zavier exhorted.
Christian took a deep breath and replied, remaining as composed as possible, "Don’t worry, Sir. I definitely wouldn’t delay the progress."
"That’s great. That’s it for now."
Mr. Zavier hung up after that.
Christian gripped the phone tightly, listening to the beeping tone from the other end of the call.
He raised his hand and another phone was broken into pieces again.
The assistant looked at his phone and was heartbroken. But then, he didn’t even dare to breathe.
Whoever offended Christian then definitely had a death wish.
Christian shut his eyes and slouched on his seat as his limbs grew weak.
Although he had promised determinedly earlier, he had nowhere to get the funds for the second term.
HG collapsed and the image that he built with so much effort was ruined.
Where else could he get the money?
Did he really have to gamble it all?
Christian was unwilling but he didn’t seem to have a choice.
...
No, there must be other ways.
At least he had to try.
Christian moved his gaze at the computer again.
The comments lashing at him on the internet were increasing at lightning speed.
He didn’t care who reprimanded him nor did he care how many people criticized him.
He only cared about the final victory.
But then, the effect of the public outcry obviously surpassed his initial expectations.
Even the person in charge of the project called him personally. freewёbnoνel.com
Christian closed his eyes, clenching his fists. He tried to force himself to calm down.
He told his assistant, "Look for the PR team. Get them to suppress the public comments regardless of the price to pay."
The assistant nodded in agreement.
However, he took two steps and couldn’t help but say, "C... CEO, I’m afraid it is difficult to control the public outcry. Michael found the media and intentionally exaggerated the news spread. On top of that, the media got their hands on many videos. Even if we were to send the PR team, it would be too late."
Christian knew that it was too late.
But what other better ways did he have then?
His tightly clenched fists were shivering out of control.
"CEO, why don’t you give Michael a call? See if he is willing to retract the news," the assistant knew it wasn’t an appropriate solution as Michael and Christians were sworn enemies.
It was such a great opportunity. Michael wouldn’t give it up so easily.
However, it was the only solution when he had no other way.
"You want me to lower myself before Michael?" Christian gritted through his teeth.
The assistant hung his head low, replying, "I will go and talk to the person in charge of the PR team right now."
The assistant left the office immediately after.
He was worried that he might suffer if he were to leave any later.
However, what the assistant suggested gave Christian a reminder.
Didn’t Wendy give him a call the day before and offered to exchange Alice for Zen?
Could he use Zen as his token to strike a deal with Wendy then?
Regardless if he succeeded or not, he wanted to give it a try after giving it some thought.
Christian then looked for his phone, wanting to give Wendy a call.
But when he looked to the ground, only then he realized that he smashed his phone into pieces.
He picked up the landline phone on the table and called Wendy’s number, recalling his memory.
Wendy was skimming through the comments criticizing Christian on the internet happily. Then, she heard her phone ringing. She saw that it was Christian’s office number and her smile grew even wider.
She didn’t hesitate and answered the call.
"Congratulations, Mr. Lucas. You made it to almost every news headline in Lake City.
You must know that your popularity is hard to achieve, even for a top celebrity," Wendy mocked.
Listening to what Wendy said, Christian clenched his fists tightly, forcing himself to calm down.
But even so, his voice was still quivering from the other end of the call, "Wendy Stewart, let’s make a deal."
"Excuse me, I don’t like to negotiate for deals with other people. Plus, I don’t think we could strike any deal between us," Wendy refused him right from the start.
Christian was furious but he could only suppress his anger.
"Didn’t you want Zen Tanner? I can give her to you and I will never restrain her freedom anymore," Christian said.
"The condition for me is to get Michael to take down all the news on the internet and work together with you for public relations. Am I right?" Wendy already guessed Christian’s plan.
As expected, Christian replied, "That’s right. As long as you are willing to get the media to take down the news, I will release Zen Tanner. What do you think?"
