Chapter 121: Staged Sorrow
’The perpetrator behind Iris Valcourt’s accident revealed. Click to find out...’
Numerous articles following similar headlines surfaced on the internet, covering the same incident that occurred the following morning.
They revealed that the criminal who rammed the truck into Iris’s car had surrendered to the police, accepting his crime. He also revealed that he didn’t do it of his own volition and instead was requested by someone.
The person he named was Lisa’s father, and he called himself his friend. Supposedly, Lisa’s father was furious after what Iris did to his daughter, and thus, he requested his friend to help him kill Iris in an accident.
As for proof, he revealed multiple photos with Lisa’s father, as he was a coworker of his and they were close to one another at work.
However, those photos only proved that he was an acquaintance of Lisa’s father and nothing else. There were no recordings or chats that proved that Lisa’s father had requested him to kill Iris.
Still, it was enough to sow doubt in people’s minds. After all, the story made sense to them. A father, in rage, could take extreme measures to protect his daughter.
Maybe seeing the Titan Crest Entertainment suffer wasn’t enough to calm his anger. Maybe he wanted to take revenge himself.
Anything was possible... because... reality is stranger than fiction.
[The police have confirmed that he really is an acquaintance of Lisa’s father’s. Keeping that in mind, it doesn’t look like he is lying. After all, why would he try to kill Iris otherwise? Only Lisa’s father had a grudge against her.]
[I know what Lisa suffered was horrifying, and Lisa’s father has every right to be furious. However, he shouldn’t have tried to kill Iris. There are other ways to seek justice.]
[What’s going on? Lisa’s father seemed such an intelligent man when he spoke in the press conference that day. I never would’ve taken him for such a violent person.]
[No matter the reason. You don’t have the right to kill someone else’s daughter just because your daughter suffered a little because of them.]
[Iris is in such a poor condition. She is suffering so much. At least Lisa didn’t suffer any physical injury or harm. Iris, on the other hand, is lying there with a broken body.]
[I don’t think I will be boycotting Titan Crest Entertainment anymore. Since the victims are taking actions themselves, I don’t think they need our support. Let them just kill each other, hmph!]
The public had already started to divide into three groups.
The first group was intelligent—they saw through some loopholes and understood that it was too early to believe anything. They stood against Titan Crest Entertainment, keeping in mind their past shenanigans.
However, this group was the smallest in number.
The second group was conflicted—they didn’t know who to support anymore. They didn’t know if they should continue boycotting Titan Crest Entertainment or not. They couldn’t discern who was speaking the truth and who was lying.
This group was the largest in number.
The third group was fickle and easy to fool. They believed anything they saw and heard. After Iris’s accident, they were now on the side of Titan Crest Entertainment, sympathizing with them.
"Hehehe,"
Neil, sitting in the ICU beside Iris, giggled lightly with a sly smile upon seeing the reaction his plan yielded from the public. The public’s outrage had suddenly lost direction, and even his share prices began to increase little by little.
"What is it, Father?" Iris, wrapped in bandages, asked with difficulty.
Even though the accident was staged, they had to pretend it really happened. Iris had to stay in this hospital, wrapped in bandages, to play her part.
Reporters were already gathered outside, and if they found out that Iris wasn’t even inside, wouldn’t their plan go down the drain?
Neil was also playing the part of a despaired father, weeping beside his daughter and praying for her survival. He had to stay here to convince everyone that the accident was real.
After the scandal died down, both Iris and Neil could take it easy.
They could just say that Iris was recovering in their mansion with the help of private doctors and nurses.
Even now, they were in this hospital only for show. They had to appear pitiful and as relatable as possible to the common people.
"I’m happy." Neil, smiling at his daughter, answered. "Our plan worked. Our reputation, which was previously evil, is now improving. People are standing on our side. We’ll be able to make a comeback after this."
Reputation... Reputation was the most important asset that he lost due to this scandal.
Everything else could be earned back; however, without reputation, he wouldn’t be able to survive.
With a bad reputation, who would join his agency?
With a bad reputation, which platform would associate with them or their stars?
With a bad reputation, which brand would want to hire their celebrities for brand endorsements?
The answer was—
None!
Without reputation, they couldn’t survive.
If celebrities left, they could sign new celebrities. If money was lost, they could earn it again.
However, without reputation, none of that was possible.
They didn’t need a good reputation; they just didn’t want an evil one.
A neutral reputation was enough for them.
And this plan was achieving that for them.
Since they were now considered pitiful, people’s perception of them was changing.
The good and bad thing about people was that they forgot things really fast.
At some moment, they would curse someone, and at the other, they would praise them. They didn’t care to remember their past deeds.
Neil only needed to take advantage of that trait.
"That’s great, Father," Iris said with some difficulty. "But how did you come up with such a great plan? I almost thought we were finished when you seemed unable to solve this problem."
She has been wondering about this for a long time. When she heard this plan, she was excited because their predicament could be over with this.
After all, she was the reason they had ended up like this. It was her husband who caused the scandal in the first place. And it was her video, which branded them evil and hateful.
But the question was, was her father really the one who came up with that plan?
"No," Neil shook his head. "I didn’t come up with that plan. It was your mother, Amelia."
As soon as Iris heard that, her brows furrowed with disapproval.
"Please don’t address her as my mother, Father," Iris said in a serious tone. "For me, she is just Aunt Amelia."
Neil gave her a reproachful look for a brief moment, and then, with a calm face, continued, "Whatever. You should just be thankful to her that she shared this plan with us. Otherwise, we might still be losing a lot of money."
Iris nodded in agreement.
At this moment, Neil’s secretary came rushing in.
"Sir, see this!"
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(A/N -Thanks for reading. ^..^)