Rachel kept her demeanor calm, despite looking like a fish out of water. It took years of working with the old man to maintain her composure. She wasn’t threatened by the press. “No comment.”The microphone was shoved in her face instantly. “A controversy has been going around concerning this. Ethan Anderson is trying to cover up his crimes by initiating some office fire…”Anger flared in Rachel’s heart. “No comment.”The man was about to continue when he felt someone large behind him. Before he could say another word, Paul grabbed his collar from behind.“The lady says no comment,” Paul boomed, dropping the man.The man managed to land on his feet. He straightened his shirt indignantly. “I will ignore this assault.”Rachel scoffed. “Aren’t you from DN Media? You are the lowest and don’t work for any of the houses. Why are you here?”“My name is Bruce! And I will have you know that someone will…” He trailed off, realizing how stupid he sounded. Rachel had purposely changed the situat
Denera sighed heavily. It had been three days with no news from Gerald. She was restless from her wild imaginations of how things should be. But just as she was about to call him, her phone rang loudly. It was Jason. A false smile formed on her face, even though she knew Jason couldn’t see it. “Hey, dear brother. What's the occasion?” Her voice was quirky and kind, opposite to her stiff face. But her smile quickly faded as Jason spoke, telling her of the latest news.“A fire? What's your source?”Jason’s voice crackled with excitement. “Turn on the television.”With the same excitement that bubbled through Jason, Denera grabbed the television remote, switching it on. The television shimmered, showing a picture of Ethan, his multi-dollar company, and a picture of it burning.It gave off a charred vibe that confused Denera a bit. How could this happen? She continued on the phone, gushing. “How magnificent!” This had certainly lifted her mood.Jason continued on the other line. “One of
“A coincidence?” Denera hissed. Her voice was quiet, but filled with evil. “Those documents were crucial! Do you have any idea what you’ve done? You’ve jeopardized everything!”“You think this is my fault? I didn’t start the fire Besides, those documents were supposed to be secure. Maybe you should have planned better.” Jason snapped back.As soon as those words left his mouth, Denera's rage boiled over the reserve. Her face turned red, and her ears elongated furiously as she gripped the phone tightly. “You incompetent fool! This was supposed to be simple. You have resources to get the project documents, cover our tracks, and move forward. Now we’re left scrambling! How will you ever be perfect, Jason, if you fail this one job?” She knew her brother's tendency to be perfect and used it against him.“Enough, Denera,” Jason growled. “Blaming each other won’t fix this. We need to salvage what we can and move forward.”Denera took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. “Fine. But t
Meanwhile, as soon as Gerald hung up the phone with Denera, a wicked smile spread across his face. He stopped drumming his fingers, leaning back in his chair to cackle softly. Denera didn't seem to carry the trait of her ancestors, as she was damn easy to manipulate. Or so he thought.Gerald’s thoughts were interrupted by a knock at his door. His assistant, a sharp-eyed man, stepped in nervously. “Sir, we’ve received some interesting intel from our source at the company.”Who knew Ethan's company would be filled with many spies from the other houses? This news had Gerald’s eyes gleaming with interest. “Go on.”The message was simple and short. “It seems there’s more to this fire than meets the eye. Ethan’s grip on his company is slipping.”Gerald’s smile dropped. “That's it?” Then he leaned forward with a much larger smile. “It would be hard for the project to continue. A lot of scandals are beginning to come in his name. “Excellent. Keep feeding me information. The more chaos there
###Jason seethed with anger after hanging up with Denera. He slammed his phone down, burning with sheer bitterness and hatred.They were all directed toward one thing: failure. It wasn’t just the phone call that had enraged him; it was the constant feeling of being belittled and used. Denera was his younger sister, and despite being the head of their House, she had always been the best. To the extent that at some point, she was seen by the rest of the family as a candidate for the next heir.Unlikely, but not impossible. She had always schemed an opportunity to treat him like a pawn, a mere errand boy in her grand schemes. Every time something went wrong, it was Jason who had to clean up the mess, while Denera got all the glory.Jason was the perfect heir in every sense, but no one wanted to see it except him. “Always me,” he muttered under his breath, pacing his cluttered office. He glared at the counterfeit documents his sister wanted with malice. “Always the one to blame. Doe
Yesterday, away from the eyes of others, Ethan called Rachel and Paul for a quick strategy meeting. They gathered in a small conference room, away from everyone else. Ethan leaned forward, his eyes intense."Listen carefully," he said. "I need you both to act like you were careless. Make it seem like you left the office in a mess and that an important document is missing. This will distract everyone and make the main suspect think everything is normal."Rachel and Paul looked at each other nervously but nodded."What’s happened is serious," Ethan continued. "We need to make sure everyone focuses on our mistakes, not on anyone else. We can't afford any errors."As they left the room, the tension was thick. Rachel felt uneasy, knowing she had to play her part in this plan. Paul, usually calm, looked visibly anxious.Meanwhile, at the press conference, Ethan spoke to the media smoothly. The crowd reacted with sympathy and support, strengthening Ethan's position. But behind the scenes,
Ethan's eyes widened. "Sean? Our Sean? Wow, that's... unexpected." Sean, the bully… Ethan would never have seen that coming. Rebecca nodded. "Yes, but things haven't been smooth. Sean's had a rough time. He lost a lot after the stocks crashed, and he's been struggling to find something stable. It’s been hard on both of us."Ethan's brow furrowed, but he didn't care. "I'm sorry to hear that. What about Shen? How's she doing?"Rebecca sighed. "Shen’s been through a lot too. She's battling some personal demons, and it’s been tough. The stocks crashed, and… she's in and out of therapy, trying to get her life back on track."Ethan felt a pang of guilt. Here he was, surrounded by success and fame, while his old classmates were struggling. They brought it upon themselves anyway. If only they were kind to him then… “Is there anything I can do to help?" he offered half-heartedly.Rebecca raised her hands, shaking her head vigorously. It was as if Ethan had offered leprosy to her. "No, but th
“You were seen with a minor named…”Ethan finally grabbed the mic. “Hold on.”The reporter refused to listen and was about to continue when Ethan gave the nod again, and Rachel signaled the media team to unplug the microphone from the reporter. The reporter continued shouting until he was surrounded by five bodyguards who were unforgiving.His mouth clamped shut then, and murmurs filled the hall as to what the hell was going on. Ethan's heart already went into an overdrive, beating furiously and wondering why this reporter would be paid to say this.How had they gotten this information? He thought the old man was on it. Ethan got up, walking towards the reporter, who had nowhere to escape. He yanked his ID card off his neck to check if he was really a reporter. “DN…” Ethan read immediately. “You are determined to be my enemy, isn't that so?” With that, he raised the ID card. “This man is an imposter! He is not affiliated with any TV station and is here to defame me!”The murmurings