Chapter 58
Only then did Lester nod like he was starting to get it.
Arthur, sitting next to them, stayed silent the whole time.
Time crawled by.
As online discussions exploded, shit was happening everywhere.
The data expert Harper had asked Caspian to find earlier still hadn’t gotten back to them.
Meanwhile, the netizen Se7ven had managed to score some live footage from various sources.
But since it was secretly recorded, the person hadn’t held up their phone–they’d hidden it under their seat. No performers were captured on stage. and surrounding chatter got picked up too, making it too messy to use.
Frustrated as hell, he went to his brother.
After handing over the material, he said: “Bro, can you help me out?”
A guy with black–rimmed glasses turned to look at his basement–dweller brother.
“What’s up?”
“Bro, can you strip out all the other audio from this clip and just leave the singer’s part?” Se7ven played the recording.
The glasses guy looked at the video, adjusted his frames, and told his shut–in brother: “I’m just a programmer.”
Se7ven grinned: “Bro, don’t be modest. You’re one of the top data experts in the country.”
The guy sighed: “That’s for data work. Leave this here, I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks, bro!”
Se7ven decided he needed three backup plans.
This audio still didn’t capture any people–no matter how good his brother was, he couldn’t make humans appear out of thin air.
So he needed to hit the second live broadcast and hide equipment properly to secretly record.
Meanwhile, wait for his brother’s results.
And keep hunting online for related videos or audio, since the best proof would still be live footage from the first broadcast.
Elsewhere, in a cramped room, several guys watched the overwhelming online PR for Vivian’s gala appearance.
They’d carefully analyzed the secretly recorded audio from various “Voice of Heaven” channels they’d obtained, reaching these conclusions:
1.Elena just had a miscarriage (major scoop)
- Vivian and Elena have a common enemy–unclear who, but the second segment mentioned someone named Amelia. Was that her? What’s the beef between Amelia and Elena?
- Vivian was threatening Elena (why?)
The group huddled-
Chapter 58
“Boss, what’s the play?” one said. “This stuff alone could make us bank,”
Another smacked his head: “Think bigger, dumbass!”
“Don’t you see Vivian’s public image versus her private shit is totally different
“We don’t know her angle yet, but she definitely doesn’t want this exposed. The more dirt we have, the stronger our position.”
The boss tapped the table: “Plus, this Elena chick is sketchy as hell and talks real careful. I smell a nuclear–level scandal.”
The boss made the call: “We sit tight. Didn’t you see how they shut down that guy who tried questioning Vivian during the livestream? Stay low, work in shadows, hit once and hit hard, or we’re fucked.”
“Oh, and keep tabs on this Amelia too–sounds like she’s Nathan’s wife. Good for intel gathering.”
“Copy that, boss!”
Meanwhile, the silenced guy they’d mentioned stormed out of the room where he’d been held.
“You did this on purpose!” he yelled. “You’re totally bought off by Vivian’s enemies!”
He was a hardcore Vivian stan.
He felt deep pity for Vivian and constantly preached about her awesomeness to everyone around him.
When he’d seen Vivian might not have addressed the demo issue due to recording problems, and knowing he had the connections, he’d wanted to ask about it during the livestream.
There’d been plenty of broadcast time left then.
The demo drama was already brewing online, and “Yesterday Once More” was gaining steam, going head–to–head with “Slight Love.”
He believed Vivian was the absolute best–he had to make “Slight Love” the night’s champion. So if he could just question Vivian during the livestream and she confirmed it, the hype would explode instantly and crushing “Yesterday Once More” would be child’s play.
But his plan got discovered and he was “invited” to a room, unable to do shit.
“You just fucking wait!”
After his threat, he bailed.
He was ride–or–die for Vivian and would never quit. He’d definitely find a chance to grill her about the demo!
At the police station, Detective Cindy Lewis was leading her team in hardcore investigation of the hit–and–run case.
A colleague walked in.
“Cindy, just got fresh intel. Check this out.” They handed her files.
About the charity gala.
Cindy’s brow furrowed.
The colleague watched her read: “These two are sketchy as hell. Even though Nathan’s processing divorce with Amelia, they’re not done yet. Why aren’t they scared of pushing Amelia too far? What if she kills the divorce?”
That was the million–dollar question.
Chapter 58
During the cooling off period, either party could bail if they changed their mind.
Weren’t they terrified Amelia might dig in her heels out of spite?
Or had they already lined up bulletproof backup plans?
Cindy mulled this over, then looked at several action plans in her notebook.
Finally, she pointed to one and told her colleague: “This one.”
The colleague nodded.
Time dragged on.
Nathan, having dropped off Vivian, was back at his company apartment…
Walking in, he spotted Eddie.
Eyebrow raised, he momentarily couldn’t figure out why Eddie was there.
Seeing him, Eddie immediately approached, grinning: “Mr. Harrison, I had people replace all the stuff you were missing.”
Right.
Eddie ran the secretarial department, which had two divisions: one handling only company business, another managing his personal life–the personal assistants.
Amelia had always handled the personal side while also dealing with major company stuff. Since Amelia was giving him the silent treatment lately, Eddie was covering everything temporarily.
Nathan nodded, scanning the apartment.
Clothes, ties, watches, shoes, socks, and tons of daily essentials had all been rebought and restocked.
Housekeepers were systematically organizing everything.
All exactly how he liked it.
“Right,” Nathan acknowledged, then headed to shower.
When he came out, Eddie and the housekeepers were gone.
Standing in the living room, he suddenly felt how fucking empty it was, how creepily quiet.
No one turning to look at him, smiling and calling “Nathan.” No one bustling around, no sound of her flipping book pages as she read on the couch.
Dead silent.
Completely empty.
He grabbed his phone and pulled up Amelia’s chat again.
Still zero new messages.
So empty that he wondered if his phone was broken.
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