’He looks so honest and kind. Who would have thought that this man, whom everyone agrees is a stand-up guy, is secretly a chauvinistic, wife-beating, alcoholic gambler? He really has every vice in the book.’
Seth Holt, unaware that his mask had already been torn away, still greeted Zane Lynch with a broad smile. "Chairman, I heard you hired a master to check the company’s feng shui. Is it our departnt’s turn?"
"You’re well-inford." Zane Lynch was fairly familiar with Seth Holt. He turned to introduce him to Arabella Donovan. "This is the man I just ntioned—the Director of the Public Relations Departnt, Seth Holt. He’s the one who was almost seriously hurt when he was robbed while working late."
Hearing Zane Lynch bring up the incident again, the smile on Seth Holt’s face stiffened for a mont, but he quickly recovered and warmly shook Arabella Donovan’s hand.
’The deputy director from the finance departnt should really co have a look. This is why that guy’s a director and the other is just a deputy. Look at this man’s emotional intelligence, his acting skills. Even if he thinks you’re a fraud and is suspicious of you, he’d never let it show on his face. In fact, he’s probably hoping you’re just so incompetent charlatan.’
A glint appeared in Caspian Rhodes’s eyes; he seed to have arrived at the sa conclusion as Arabella Donovan.
Although she knew there was sothing wrong with Seth Holt, Arabella Donovan didn’t confront him right away, instead following Zane Lynch on a tour of the public relations departnt’s main office area.
She had only intended to point out a few minor issues with the decor, but she changed her mind when she saw a young woman in her early twenties sitting in a corner.
’Huh, this girl...’
Eloise Donovan and Caspian Rhodes both stopped at Arabella’s sudden pause, instinctively following her gaze.
Zane Lynch also noticed their strange behavior, and his heart gave a little jump. "Is there another problem?"
Arabella Donovan glanced at the plant on the young woman’s desk. "Is this... a June Snow?"
Chloe Thorne was already anxious and nervous, having been suddenly surrounded by her direct supervisor and the company’s big boss.
Hearing Arabella Donovan’s question, she only managed to stamr, "Y-yes, it is."
"What made you decide to keep this one? I notice most people in your departnt prefer to keep pothos or succulents, but you’re the only one with a June Snow."
"I just thought the flowers were pretty, and the person who sold it said this type of plant is easy to care for. That it doesn’t need much attention to thrive, so... so I just bought one to see." After explaining, Chloe Thorne couldn’t help but ask, "Is there sothing wrong with this flower?"
Arabella Donovan was about to explain, but as her gaze fell upon the space above the other woman’s head, her expression suddenly changed.
’Ahhh, what’s happening? A mont ago it was just dark clouds over her head, but now it’s turned red! Could this be the legendary... on of a bloody demise?’
Eloise Donovan and Caspian Rhodes were also startled by this sudden on, and their gazes toward Chloe Thorne imdiately grew more cautious.
"Forgive my presumption, but may I ask your surna, miss?"
"Huh?" Chloe Thorne was stunned for a mont. "M-my surna is Thorne."
"Thorne?" Arabella Donovan mulled over the surna. Her expression remained placid, but her mind was already racing, trying to recall anything related to this person as quickly as possible.
’Wait, her surna is Thorne, and she’s an employee here? Don’t tell she’s that unfortunate Miss Thorne who was silenced after stumbling upon a cri scene?’
A cri scene?!!
Eloise Donovan nearly cried out in shock, while Caspian Rhodes subconsciously clenched his fists.
In Arabella Donovan’s mory, this Miss Thorne was ntioned in a news report. It said that a woman, identified as a Miss Thorne, was walking ho late from work when she passed by a small alley. There, she happened upon a suspect murdering his ex-girlfriend in a cri of passion. In her panic, she made a noise and was discovered.
The man was already in a killing frenzy. Panicked after murdering his ex-girlfriend in a fit of rage, he then discovered there was a witness nearby.
In the heat of the mont, he silenced Miss Thorne as well.
It was a horrifying murder case. However, for a social news item like this to be suddenly inserted into a story about a wealthy CEO with showbiz elents, there had to be a reason.
Sure enough, later in the story, when Zane Lynch’s company was on the verge of collapse under the combined assault of Ian Jennings and a few of Cassandra Lynch’s sycophants, soone suddenly exposed this old incident.
By that ti, Chloe Thorne’s parents, overco with grief at the death of their only daughter, had passed away one after the other. The person who ca forward was her maternal uncle, who had never been close to her.
At the direction of Cassandra Lynch and her cohorts, this man tearfully recounted the fates of Chloe Thorne and her parents to the dia, all while intentionally or unintentionally blaming the Thorne family’s tragedy on Chloe having to work late that night.
This was remarkably similar to Seth Holt’s excuse about getting beaten up by debt collectors. After all, the public relations departnt was usually one of the more low-profile departnts in the company.
Their main purpose was to manage public opinion for the company and its celebrities. As long as the celebrities weren’t causing any trouble, the entire departnt was relatively quiet.
But when a crisis like the one with Edward Pierce a few days ago occurred, overti beca the norm. If things got serious enough, it was possible to not go ho for days.
Every employee was aware of this before they were hired, and the company always paid overti in accordance with the law. In fact, after Chloe Thorne’s tragic death, the company, out of humanitarian concern, even paid a large sum of compensation to ensure her parents would be financially secure for the rest of their lives.
On top of that, the company allocated another sum of money so that Chloe Thorne’s parents could pursue a lawsuit against the murderer without any financial worries, to make him pay for their daughter’s life.
But the masses, intent on seeing justice served and identifying themselves as fellow victims of capitalist exploitation just like Chloe Thorne, didn’t care about any of that.
Furthermore, Chloe Thorne’s uncle, in his greed for more compensation, intentionally concealed the help and money the company had provided to her parents.
And just like that, a massive crusade against the "heartless capitalists" began.
When Arabella Donovan had read this part of the story, she’d found it laughable. Instead of hating the deranged murderer who killed without remorse, people blad the company that had sought justice for the young woman and taken care of the aftermath.
It seed that from Cassandra Lynch’s perspective, anyone who opposed her was reduced to a re tool. No matter what they did, it was deed an unforgivable sin, all to better highlight her own truth, goodness, and beauty as she dragged these people from their pedestals.
But Arabella Donovan couldn’t see it that way, especially not when looking at Chloe Thorne, who was now standing alive and well right in front of her.
To think that even after dying full of resentnt, she would still be dragged out by her own relative to be bled dry, used as a pawn to take others down, and subjected to comnts like:
"It takes two to tango. Why would the guy kill her and not soone else? Maybe all three of them had so conflict beforehand. The man is a monster, but that doesn’t an the two won were pure, innocent saints."
"She was wandering around alone late at night. Who knows what shady business she was up to? Serves her right for getting killed."
"Dying on the street is now a way to extort a company. People will use any death to make a buck. With relatives like that, the dead girl probably wasn’t a saint herself. It’s all just karma." It was truly infuriating and disheartening to hear such slander.
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