Thug and Idol: 10X Rewards Second Identity System Chapter 84: Winning a blackmail war

"Are you going to do sothing about it?"

Nel didn't reply imdiately.

It took him a few long monts to finally nod.

"I want to talk with her, at least—I want to find out what her problem is!"

Tristan bead.

"That's right, we are going to have a really, really nice talk with her. I already invited her, and I feel like she won't refuse a eting."

Nel huffed.

"You were going to talk with her with or without , then? Damn, Tris, you are…" He opened and closed his mouth a few tis, then sighed and ruffled his hair in frustration. "It's all gotta go your way or no way!"

"Yes. Were you complaining?"

"…I don't know. Give a week to process this. Hell, I knew showbiz can be stressful, but I didn't expect drama like that."

Tristan laughed.

"Co on. There's a new controversy every day. You gotta either grow a thicker skin, or a superiority complex to be in here."

Nel grinned.

"And you, an overachiever, have both."

***

Like Tristan predicted, Jane replied quickly, eagerly agreeing to a eting. She invited him to an expensive restaurant, agreed to be alone, and probably imagined that it was a date.

The restaurant was a very fancy one.

Tristan had been in places like these as a child and then a teenager, and it felt a bit nostalgic to return. Unlike him, Nel actively fidgeted with a hem of his suit, and was poorly hiding unease at the sight of n and won in expensive clothing, or an actual maitre d.

Both Tristan and Nel wore suits for the occasion, so despite Nel's nervousness, they didn't stand out from the crowd with anything except being young and particularly handso, especially Tristan.

"We were invited by Ms. Greenpawl," Tristan said to the maitre d.

"Yes, of course. I will bring you to her table."

Jane chose a table for two in a corner, where waist-high walls were giving so extra privacy. She wore a flowing pink dress today, and her long blond hair was styled in a way that looked casual, but actually deliberately accentuated her chest and frad her face.

At the sight of Tristan, her blue eyes lit up—only to widen in shock when she saw Nelson walking next to him.

Ignoring Jane's reaction, Tristan casually sat down opposite of her. In a mont, the maitre d brought an extra chair to the table, and Nel sat down too.

"Hello, Jane. It looks like you are doing well despite everything. Too well, it seems," Tristan said.

To give her credit, Jane was a superb actress—she was smiling charmingly again, with barely a hint of her true tension beneath.

"Mr. Gello! I thought you wanted to talk with in private! Why did you bring your… friend here?"

The way Jane said this, and the glance she threw at Nelson, said that she clearly ant "lapdog" instead of "friend".

Unlike Jane, Nelson didn't hide his anger.

"Oh, like you would've talked with otherwise, Ms. High-and-Mighty! Like, you know, normal people do instead of just trying to spread lies about them!"

Jane's smile changed to a very convincing confusion, but her fair skin beca a shade whiter.

"What are you talking about? Mr. Gello, what is he talking about?"

A waiter approached their table to ask for orders, forcing the entire group to quieten. Jane asked for tea. Tristan blindly ordered whatever his finger pointed at at the nu, and Nel, after a montary pause, repeated after him.

When the waiter left, Tristan closed the nu with a loud snap.

"Don't pretend to be innocent, Jane. This ti, it was all entirely your doing."

Nel nodded. Before this, Tristan showed him the proof, eliminating all doubt—not that there was any.

"We've seen the proof, Ms. Greenpawl. What do you have against ? Why did you do this?"

Jane's mask cracked as she openly glared at him.

"Well, what did Mr. Gello find in you, hm? You are just so village pumpkin who barely knows how to hold an instrunt." She flipped her hair dramatically with a hand. "Soone like you shouldn't stand next to Tristan! Really… Mr. Gello, why do you keep him?"

"Huh? Wait, is this all because Tristan refused your co-promotion offer?" Nel pointed a finger at Jane, but she ignored him, instead turning to the stone-faced Tristan.

"Really… I can give you so much more than him! Mr. Gello… I know we might have had a misunderstanding in the past, but I was trying to apologize! My offer was only a benefit to you—how could you refuse it to stay around with this clown instead?"

Tristan still didn't move, and his face still stayed expressionless.

The reason for this was…

He felt like if he moved even a muscle, he won't be able to stop himself from slapping this bitch hard enough to give her a concussion!

And he didn't want to create a scene here. He was a public person!

At Tristan's silence, Jane fell silent, too. Her eyes flickered between him and Nelson.

She gasped.

"Don't tell Mr. and Mrs. Mayar WERE right! Is this it? Do you just keep him around because you have an affair?" Jane cringed in disgust.

"No!" Nelson snapped. "Enough of this. Ms. Greenpawl, I'm going to sue the hell out of you! Just wait for a court invitation from —just you wait!"

Jane snorted.

"The only one sued will be you. You won't win a court case against the Greenpawl family in a million years."

"Ms. Greenpawl," Tristan finally spoke with a cruel grin. "Did you forget which of us has actual blackmail material? Stand on your knees and apologize profusely to Nelson, or the court case against your family will be not about slander, but about conspiracy to commit assault just to win a round of a contest."

Nel gasped in shock.

"This was you, too?!"

Jane stared at the both of them, white as a sheet, with a look of utter helplessness in her eyes.