Ch. 1111..1120
Chapter 1111 Teach Amber a Lesson
The hospital staff noticed that Tessa was in a foul mood, so they comforted her, “Miss Reinhart, take a deep breath. You’re pregnant, so you should take care of yourself and not mind the patient.”
Tessa pursed her lips in response without saying a word. However, judging by her trembling body, they could tell that she was currently very emotional since she was affected by Amber’s words. After all, her unborn child was an innocent party in all this, so she could not comprehend why the old hag had to be so vicious.
The hospital staff saw Tessa’s reaction and no longer spoke another word. If the staff in particular found those words vicious, it would naturally have a deeper impact on the involved party. Essentially, there was no point in convincing one to ignore things if one was not the person going through them.
After some time, Tessa trailed after the hospital staff and walked out of the ward with a thunderous expression. As soon as Edward saw that, he instantly rushed over and expressed concern, “Mistress, are you alright?”
Although he had been waiting outside, he heard everything that happened in the room, so he was fairly worried.
A grimaced Tessa refused to talk about it, so she calmly replied, “Let’s go.”
Sensing her downcast mood, Edward did not pursue the topic any further and escorted her out of the hospital. Even after she arrived home, she remained reasonably upset.
He watched her disappearing figure worriedly, so he took out his phone and gave Nicholas a call. “President Sawyer, I’ve sent Mistress back home, but she’s in a bad mood. It might be better if you come home.”
“What happened at the hospital?” Nicholas’ cold voice rang out from the other end, but it was filled with concern.
Edward did not hide anything and recounted the words he had heard while standing outside. “Old Mrs. Reinhart was extremely despicable as she even cursed Mistress’ unborn child.”
On the other end of the line, Nicholas’ countenance turned thunderous upon hearing the incident. However, his main concern was Tessa. After hanging up the phone, he swiftly sorted out the work he was doing and rushed back home without having lunch.
Tessa was in the living room when he returned home, and she was surprised to see him. “Why are you back at this hour?”
He smiled without replying and presented her with a bouquet of lovely roses from his back. “I missed you loads, so I rushed home to see you.”
At that moment, she was surprised yet utterly touched to see the roses in front of her. “So, you’ve found out.” She knew that Edward must have told Nicholas about the incident at the hospital; that was why he came back at this hour.
Nicholas came clean and nodded in response. “Edward told me about it. Don’t take those words to heart and just treat all that as foolish words spoken by a demented person.” He comforted her while steering her to take a seat on his lap.
She snuggled in his arms and spoke dejectedly, “I get your point, but I still can’t shake away the uncomfortable feeling. I don’t understand this. I’ve forgiven her for the things she did in the past, but why did she curse our child so cruelly? Earlier on at the hospital, I thought of just leaving her on her own device and not caring about her anymore.”
“Since that’s the case, we should just leave her alone from now on. We’ve arranged for someone to care for her, so you don’t need to go to the hospital anymore.” Nicholas coaxed her.
Tessa nodded in response. After today’s incident, she no longer wanted to deal with Amber. At the sight of his low-spirited wife, Nicholas decided to stay home.
At noon, Gregory came downstairs after his lesson and heard from Nicholas that Tessa was unhappy. “Daddy, who made Mommy upset?”
He wanted to find out the culprit behind her unhappiness and teach the person a lesson on her behalf.
Nicholas saw through Gregory’s intentions instantly and he tried to hide the truth through his gaze. “Your main task right now is to lift Mommy’s mood during lunch later on. Leave the rest to me.”
Though Gregory was disappointed to hear that, he realized that he was too young and not as powerful as his daddy, so he had no choice but to nod and agree. “Daddy, you must teach the nasty person who bullied Mommy a lesson!”
“That’s for sure,” Nicholas replied.
Meanwhile, Tessa was oblivious to everything as she called out for the two for lunch upon seeing the kitchen staff lay out their meal.
Chapter 1112 Wrath of the Netizens
During lunch, Gregory was his usual comical self and persisted in cheering Tessa up with his sweet words. She burst into laughter upon hearing his childish words, and the gloom within her dissipated too. Eventually, she forgot about the revolting incident from the morning.
At that moment, she was unaware that there was another sinister plot unfolding by her side. During that afternoon itself, the video footage of Tessa slapping Amber was uploaded by the press on the Internet.
‘Oh my gosh! This younger generation is too vicious! This well-off granddaughter refused to pay the hospital bills for her grandma, who was diagnosed with cancer, and even slapped the old lady at the hospital!’
As soon as the news was published, it instantly attracted the attention of the netizens. Moments after that, the comments below the article were full of abusive words toward Tessa.
“What the heck? How can this woman be so vicious? Indeed, the wealthier one is, the more heartless they are!”
“This woman looks so pretty, but her behavior is atrocious!”
“A woman like that isn’t fit to be a mother!”
“Damn it! Call the cops on her! She should be imprisoned to undergo reformation!”
“This is considered as abuse against the elderly, right?”
“She’s a b*tch! We must investigate her identity!”
“She’s heartless! I reckon that the child she’s carrying must be abnormal!”
The netizens attacked Tessa relentlessly. Some keyboard warriors even cursed her unborn child with extremely nasty words.
To be fair, it was natural for the netizens to react so. Within that article, there was a video attached of Tessa slapping her grandmother. Although the video merely showed Tessa’s side profile, one could sense her arrogance from the words she spoke and the way she carried herself.
On the other hand, Amber appeared malnourished and weakened, so she became a stark contrast to Tessa, who looked well-dressed. One would easily sympathize with the poor woman in comparison.
Initially, no one recognized Tessa and they merely thought that she was a devil with an angelic face. However, as the matter brewed and became more serious, there were plenty of renowned figures that started to pay attention to the matter, other than the netizens.
“Hey, isn’t this Tessa Reinhart?” Someone within the music industry identified her.
Since he was a fairly popular musician in the country with a fan base of three to four million people, his fans noticed his comment immediately and started to pursue the matter.
“Sir, do you know this vicious woman?”
“Sir, quickly reveal this b*tch’s identity! I can’t help myself and wanna yell at her.”
Before the musician could point out Tessa’s identity, someone else within the music industry revealed her identity on the Internet.
“I know this woman too. Her name’s Tessa Reinhart, and she’s been a popular musician in Vienna recently.”
“I heard that this woman used to be Miss Sofia’s student, who was also said to be the next Sofia.”
Based on the details provided by them, the netizens then dug for Tessa’s information on the Internet. That afternoon, her personal information was publicly revealed on the Internet. Soon, the self-proclaimed righteous netizens flooded her social media account and attacked her with insulting words as they professed their boycott.
“What exceptionally gifted musician? She’s just a b*tch with a pretty face and nasty personality!”
“You’re such a heartless woman. You’re not fit to play the violin! Don’t bring shame to it!”
“B*tch! Why are you even alive?!”
“You’re about to give birth soon, so you should watch your behavior for your child’s sake. Karma could hit and affect your child!”
“There will be retribution for your actions, and I can’t wait to see your dismal outcome.”
Meanwhile, Tessa’s fans also noticed her social media account being swamped with tons of hate comments. Although most of her fans were from abroad, some of them were familiar with Xerthanian, so they found out what had happened to Tessa.
Her fans knew for sure that Tessa would never behave that way, so they argued with the netizens from Xerthania.
“Our idol isn’t someone like that, so she must’ve been framed!”
“The video there is concrete evidence. Plus, who would make that effort to frame her anyway?!”
The netizens rebuked Tessa’s international fans by sending them the article link. “Take a proper look at how your idol behaves. You should stop idolizing her.”
Chapter 1113 What Right Do They Have?
After seeing the news, a significant number of fans decided to stop their support, but several fans persisted and continued debating with the local netizens.
It was also because of their debate that blew the incident out of proportion as it even made the ranks of trending hashtags. As for Tessa, she had no idea what was going on online.
Kieran, however, was the first to notice, so he immediately gave his brother a call. “Nicholas, bad news! Something has happened to Tessa.” “Tessa is right at home; how can something happen to her?”
Nicholas didn’t believe him one bit.
Kieran didn’t say anything else as he sent Nicholas the link to the online article. “I don’t know what exactly happened between Tessa and this old lady, but I think the truth is far from what’s being portrayed in the video. Just take a look first, Nicholas, then think of a way to clear Tessa’s name. Right now, the Internet is filled with insults toward Tessa.”
Nicholas fell silent as he tapped the link and navigated to the article. However, the more he read, the worse his expression looked.
Putting aside how the netizens defamed Tessa by taking things out of context, the most infuriating thing was the video.
The video had obviously been edited with malicious intent. The entire context had not been revealed and it only featured scenes of Tessa growing mad and violent. Someone was clearly trying to stir things up.
After reading the article, Nicholas had a terrible look on his face.
“I see.” With that, he hung up on Kieran straight away. As he was about to call Edward over the intercom, he didn’t expect Edward to knock on the door and enter on his own.
“President Sawyer, something has happened to Miss Tessa.”
“I already know about the incident online. Tell me, who else was there when you were keeping Tessa company this morning? Didn’t you realize that someone was taking photos?” Nicholas questioned Edward in an annoyed tone.
Edward also knew that this happened due to his negligence, so he lowered his head and confessed, “There was a crowd of spectators, and I was worried for Miss Tessa’s safety, so I didn’t take note of what was happening around us.”
Hearing that, Nicholas gradually calmed down as well. He knew that he should not blame Edward for this incident. After all, it was indeed quite chaotic back then. Edward had to protect Tessa, so he couldn’t look out for anything else.
“Get someone to investigate the source of this video right now. That person should still have the original video in their possession.”
“Understood.” Not daring to delay any further, Edward immediately went to the hospital to check the surveillance cameras after nodding and accepting Nicholas’ order.
After Edward was gone, Nicholas left the company as well. He was worried that Tessa would see the articles online and get upset, so he wanted to go home as early as possible to accompany her.
In reality, Tessa had seen the news online as well. ‘A cruel woman like this is even worse than animals.’ ‘She’s so rude; it’s obvious that she’s not a decent person at all. Her child is also hopeless.’
‘She’s so evil. How can this sort of person avoid retribution until now?’
‘If she doesn’t get retribution for this, it’ll probably fall on her son.’ ‘Curse her! I hope she chokes to death while drinking water and be run over by a car when she’s outside. I also hope she dies with her child while she’s giving birth.’
Seeing these unsightly comments, Tessa had a sullen expression on her face, and her heart was hurting even more.
What right did these people have to curse her child?
They didn’t know what was going on at all, so what right did they have to treat her like that just because of a video taken out of context?
When Nicholas hurried back, he saw Tessa wiping her tears as she sat all alone on the bed.
His heart aching, he strode forward and gathered her into his arms.
“Don’t cry,” he comforted Tessa as he kissed her forehead.
At the same time, out of the corner of his eyes, he caught a glimpse of the phone Tessa had set aside.
The phone screen was still on, and it was displaying the comment which cursed Tessa and her child.
It was just one glance, but Nicholas was already gathering a storm in the depths of his eyes. How dare they!
However, his utmost priority right now was to comfort Tessa.
“Ignore those people. They’re not worth your tears.”
Nicholas cupped Tessa’s face in his hands, then lovingly kissed away the tears on her cheeks.
Tessa choked and answered, “I can’t help it. They know nothing of the truth, so what right do they have to curse my child so viciously?”
Chapter 1114 Is There Anything I Can Do for You?
“You’re right. We have no obligation to punish ourselves because of others’ mistakes. There, there. Don’t cry. My heart aches when I see you like this.”
Nicholas continued comforting Tessa patiently. Tessa also thought he had a point. She shouldn’t punish herself because of another person’s mistake. Instead, she should live her life well and stay unaffected by this incident.
When Nicholas noticed that Tessa was gradually calming down, he sighed in relief and continued, “I’ve already asked Edward to investigate this matter. I believe we’ll get an update soon, and when that time comes, let me deal with it.”
Tessa nodded. However, for some reason, she felt that things weren’t so simple. In reality, it was exactly the way Tessa had imagined it.
That afternoon, more information was exposed in the online articles.
‘Breaking news! The violent, arrogant woman is the biological sister of the general manager at the entrepreneurial dark horse known as Reinhart Enterprise. Not to mention, she’s also the future daughter-in-law of the richest family in Southend—the Sawyer Family! She’s filthy rich!’
As soon as this news was published, the netizens were in an uproar.
‘Holy sh*t, this wretch is so rich, but she refused to give the old lady some money for treatment. Is she even human?’
‘No wonder she’s so arrogant; she’s the future daughter-in-law of the Sawyer Family.’
‘Just as expected; the richer someone is, the stingier they are.’
‘Isn’t anyone curious how this morally corrupted woman managed to become the future daughter-in-law of the Sawyer Family?’
‘That’s because she gave birth to an heir, duh.’
‘I can’t believe the Sawyer Family accepted such a beast of a woman. I’m disappointed in them.’
‘You know what they say—birds of a feather flock together. The Sawyer Family is so successful, but they chose this woman instead. They’re probably bad eggs themselves.’
Instantly, the netizens were disgusted with even the Sawyer Group.
Timothy’s company wasn’t any better, and both companies suffered negative effects.
Thanks to the netizens, Tessa’s reputation was also slandered beyond redemption.
Several aggressive netizens even requested police interception online.
‘Does she think she’s somebody simply because she’s rich? How can she act with such disregard for the law just because she has money? I think this woman has a long-term record of abusing old people.’
‘I strongly insist that the police arrest this woman. A terrible person like her should be thrown into a labor camp to suffer and rethink her life.’
The incident was blown up even further, so much so that even the international music scene knew of it.
As for the fans whom Tessa gained some time ago, most of them were gone, and only the steadfast fans stayed behind to support her with great effort as they debated with the local netizens.
Sofia and the other seniors also heard of this incident.
On the very same day, Sofia called up Tessa in concern, representing the others as well.
“Tessa, are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
When Tessa heard her teacher’s concerned voice, a warm sensation flowed through her heart.
Sofia let out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad to hear that. Your seniors and I are very worried about you. What exactly is going on with that incident online?”
“It’s all history.”
Tessa pursed her lips, then briefly explained her past experiences.
Even though it wasn’t appropriate to air one’s dirty laundry in public, Sofia wasn’t an outsider. Also, Sofia would know of these things sooner or later.
When Sofia heard all that, she was furious beyond measure. “How can such a vicious person exist?!”
At the same time, her heart ached for Tessa even more.
As Tessa listened to her teacher’s furious tone, she felt warm inside.
“You don’t have to get so worked up, Miss Sofia. All this is history to me.”
She tried to appease Sofia.
Even so, Sofia pitied her greatly. “Now that this incident has spread internationally, is there anything I can do for you? Should I make an announcement, perhaps?”
“It’s alright. You don’t have to do anything, Miss Sofia. I’ll deal with it over here.”
Tessa declined her teacher’s kindness.
This was her private matter, after all, so she didn’t want to involve Sofia.
Seeing her determined refusal, Sofia didn’t press further as she said, “If there’s anything your seniors and I can do, just tell us.”
Tessa was grateful, and she hung up after thanking Sofia.
After putting down her phone, she checked the online articles again. Surprisingly, she found that the negative news about Sawyer Group had multiplied, and her heart was severely affected in an instant.
Chapter 1115 What Have You Discovered?
The last person she would want to involve was Nicholas, but in the end, it still happened regardless.
On the other hand, Nicholas didn’t mind it that much.
He just felt that this entire incident seemed too intentional as if someone was manipulating everything on purpose behind the scenes.
If not, they couldn’t have exposed Tessa’s identity in such great detail.
At the thought of that, Nicholas immediately called up his brother. “Get the company’s PR Department to write a post right now.”
Within half an hour, Sawyer Group published an announcement.
The gist of the announcement went like this—before seeing the entirety of the incident, netizens should not rush to conclusions just because everyone was doing the same thing. This incident had been induced by someone with malicious intent, so netizens should think twice before voicing their thoughts.
However, many netizens didn’t buy into that.
‘Since you claim that we haven’t seen the entirety of the situation, show us the whole incident, then!’
‘Hah, just produce your evidence if you can. Without any evidence, we have a right to say whatever we want.’
‘Induced by someone with malicious intent? The Sawyer Family is just trying to distract us.’
When Nicholas saw the netizens’ scornful comments, his expression darkened.
He was only guessing at first, but now he was quite certain that someone was manipulating this incident behind the scenes.
At night, Edward’s investigation at the hospital finally saw some progress.
After getting verified information from his subordinate, he immediately headed toward Dynasty Gardens where Tessa, Nicholas, and Gregory had already finished their meal.
Then, Nicholas brought Tessa and Gregory out into the garden to play.
Of course, he mainly wanted Tessa to relax.
Even though Gregory didn’t know about the incident online, he could sense that his mommy’s mood had been sullen all day.
At that moment, he did everything he could to make his mommy happy.
“Mommy, was my joke funny?”
“Yes, it was.”
Tessa rubbed Gregory’s nose tenderly, smiling brilliantly.
She knew that Nicholas and Gregory meant well, and their concern touched her greatly.
As the family was enjoying their cheerful time together, Andrew walked over to them. “Master Nicholas, Mr. Jackson is here.”
Nicholas nodded, then turned to Tessa and said, “I’m going to the study. Have fun with Greg, then go back inside to rest.”
“Got it. Go ahead, and don’t worry about me.”
Tessa guessed that Edward had come here on account of today’s incident.
If possible, she wanted to go with Nicholas.
However, she couldn’t leave Gregory alone, so she decided to ask about the situation after Gregory went to bed.
When Nicholas entered the study, Edward was already waiting inside.
Seeing that, Nicholas questioned in a cold voice straight away, “What have you discovered?”
“From all the surveillance footage in the hospital, I noticed that despite the huge crowd of spectators in the morning, only a small number of them were recording videos.”
Edward presented the findings of his investigation. “Among those people, one person looked very suspicious. According to the hospital surveillance, I noticed that this person was already hanging out near the ward before the incident happened, and it seemed like they were waiting to take photos.”
Hearing that, Nicholas narrowed his eyes dangerously.
Edward observed Nicholas’ expression for a bit. Seeing that the latter had no intention of speaking, he continued his report.
“That person only stuck around for a bit before Miss Tessa and the old lady got into a conflict, then he recorded it on his phone.”
“If so, have you found out anything about this person?”
Nicholas looked at Edward with a cold glare.
Edward felt a chill spreading from the soles of his feet as he hastily replied, “Yes, I have. This person is a reporter, but he resigned after the incident.”
After hearing Edward’s report, Nicholas was considerably furious.
How dare someone try to pull tricks on me?! Who do they think they are?!
Also, that reporter was obviously following someone’s instructions. Does he think he’d be safe after quitting?
How naive!
“I don’t care how you do it, find this person as soon as possible. Then, corner him until he’s forced to come out and explain the entire incident. He’d better expose the instigator behind the scenes too.”
Chapter 1116 Clarification
Although he could ask Edward to force the reporter to tell the truth, he needed to be careful since he still had no idea who the mastermind was behind this.
Edward also knew the reason behind Nicholas doing this, so he asked worriedly after a nod, “We’ll need some time to complete this. Should we ask people to control the media first?”
After a moment of silence, Nicholas instructed him, “Go to the hospital and look for the medical staff at the scene today and people from the crowd. See if they’re willing to testify.”
Hearing that, Edward left right after he nodded.
The hospital staff members were willing to help since they didn’t like seeing things turned upside down on the Internet.
‘I’m Old Mrs. Reinhart’s nurse. Things are not like what they said on the Internet. Old Mrs. Reinhart was the one who insulted Miss Reinhart and even cursed her children first.’
‘I was also at the scene today. I think the pathetic always act insufferably somehow. Miss Reinhart has already done her best to honor her mother. Had it been me, I might not have been as magnanimous as her.’
‘Although I was just one of the people in the crowd, I still want to say that the old lady’s temper was terrible. She even smashed a cup on someone’s head last night.’
With these medical staff and onlookers at the scene coming out to clarify, the public opinion on the Internet was finally not one-sided anymore.
Some of the netizens believed them, but some of them still didn’t. Either way, the argument was still heated.
‘I think they’re right. Perhaps we were blinded and couldn’t see the whole picture.’
‘You guys believe them? Well, I don’t. They claim to be telling the truth, but I think they have all been paid by the Sawyers and the Reinharts to help Tessa Reinhart prove her innocence.’
‘Sigh. Both sides have made their claims. I don’t know whose side I should stand on now.’
‘I’m staying neutral. Let me get my couch and snacks ready to watch this drama. I’ll be waiting for a plot twist.’
When the reporters saw that this issue was still going strong and probably had some hidden facts, they all rushed to the hospital in hopes of interviewing Amber, who was one of the main characters in the issue.
Fortunately, the hospital personnel had already prepared for this and blocked all the reporters from coming inside.
“We’re just doing a normal interview. You don’t have the right to stop us!” the frustrated reporters bellowed at the entrance after they were blocked.
Yet, the security guards were not afraid of them at all. They shouted, “Our boss said that your appearance will disturb the patients’ rest, so we can’t let you in!”
…
At the same time, in Vienna, Timothy only knew about this issue from the Internet when he left the office after working overtime.
Of course, he believed his sister, but he was about to explode in anger when he saw those hideous comments on the Internet.
After taking out his phone, he made a video call to Tessa and started blaming himself. “I shouldn’t have allowed you to return to deal with this. I should’ve gone back myself instead… That’s right; I’ll get people to book me a flight back now.”
When Tessa saw her little brother striding out, she quickly stopped him. “You don’t need to come back. Together with Nicholas, I can deal with everything here.”
She felt that Timothy didn’t need to come back just for this.
However, he was still worried. “I still want to go back. The Reinharts will always do anything to get what they want. I’m worried that the old lady has more tricks up her sleeve.”
In his eyes, this probably happened because Amber was unhappy with him and Tessa, so she deliberately instructed people to ruin their reputations on the Internet.
“It doesn’t matter if she still has other tricks or not. We are already starting to clarify things, so the matter will end soon. You don’t need to come back, okay? Just focus on building your company division in Vienna.”
Then, she pretended to be at ease and convinced him, “Also, even if you don’t trust me, you should trust Nicholas.”
“Alright. I won’t go back, but you must take good care of yourself.” He was convinced in the end.
After Tessa hung up the phone, the smile on her face faded at once.
In reality, this matter was not as simple as what she told him—it was the total opposite. Things were unfolding in ways she couldn’t imagine.
Chapter 1117 A Public Disclaimer
That matter has already taken a toll on the Sawyer Group’s share price. Despite knowing Nicholas would not blame her for that, Tessa still couldn’t help but beat herself up over it.
Furthermore, her insecurities only added to her worry, for she was afraid that the elders of the Sawyer Family would blame it all on her. Just as her wild imagination was gnawing at her, she suddenly heard Nicholas’ tender voice. “What’s on your mind?” “Oh, hey. You’re back.” Tessa looked up.
The next second, Nicholas sat right next to her and showed her his concern. “You seemed so absorbed in your thoughts that you didn’t even notice me coming in. Is there something bothering you?”
“I-I saw the news earlier tonight. I’m pretty sure the Sawyer Group’s share price has been affected by this matter.” Her guilt overwhelmed her as she explained to the man.
Looking at his guilt-ridden wife, he chuckled in amusement. He then cupped her face and locked eyes with her before he spoke in a loving voice, “Seriously? Are you letting your imagination run wild again? Come on, we’ve been through worse, so don’t worry about the company. I’m sure everything is going to be just fine.” As soon as he finished his words, he planted a kiss on the lady’s forehead.
When Tessa saw how Nicholas dismissed the concern so casually, she heaved a sigh of relief. Then, she thought about Edward, who had visited earlier, and asked, “Did Edward find anything useful?”
“Well, he found the leaked footage online and realized a reporter in the ward had secretly captured the scene. However, that reporter resigned from his job shortly after that.” Nicholas didn’t hold back as he told her everything he knew.
Tessa seemed concerned as her brows furrowed. “Can we still find him, though? As you said, he’s already quit his job.”
“We most certainly can, and we’re going to do that with some help,” Nicholas responded with his lips curled upward confidently as though everything was under his control.
Although it didn’t take long for Tessa to be convinced, she was also curious about the man’s plan. “What’s your next move, then?”
“We’re going to sue the company the reporter was working at.” Nicholas went on to tell Tessa his plan so that he could put her mind at ease.
…
The next morning, the Sawyer Group issued a legal letter to the reporter’s former company and sued them for defamation. At the same time, netizens who had been following the news closely started to change their stance toward Tessa the moment they discovered the Sawyer Group’s lawsuit.
‘Was the truth twisted and turned?’
‘I’m just going to grab my popcorn and watch the show.’
‘The media companies mustn’t be scared. Show us all the evidence you have.’
While some of the netizens even instigated the media company to oppose the Sawyer Group, the management was too scared to press on, fearing that it would bring serious consequences to the organization. Therefore, it didn’t take them long to publish a disclaimer that the company would not be responsible for the reporter’s action.
As soon as the netizens read the post, they were speechless by what they saw, but many of them quickly cast doubts on the motive behind that.
‘Seriously? Isn’t it too late to say that now?’
‘Oh, come on. Are they frightened by the Sawyer Group?’
‘No way. If they were really frightened, why would the reporter go through so much trouble just to expose this matter at the cost of his career? What was in it for him?’
‘That means there is more to it than meets the eye.’
‘Am I the only one who thinks that the reporter seemed like he was escaping when he resigned?’
As the discussion continued in the forum, other media parties began to further investigate the matter after having sensed something amiss with it. Much to their delight, they quickly managed to discover some old news about Tessa’s past.
‘Breaking news! More drama unfolds in the Reinhart Family!’
‘My words to you after reading the news—you’re a woman with a kind heart, Miss Reinhart.’
As soon as the netizens saw the news titles, they immediately clicked on them out of curiosity. However, they instantly realized they were in the wrong the entire time upon reading the articles.
They found out that Tessa was from the has-been Reinhart Family that went bankrupt a year ago and she had been cast out of the family with her brother. Moreover, they also discovered a news article revealing how Amber was responsible for Tessa and her brother’s subsequent miserable fate.
‘That’s what I’ve been saying. There is a fine line between being sympathetic and pathetic. In this case, that lady is the latter!’
Chapter 1118 Internet Disputes
‘Oh, dear. This old lady is the most wicked grandma I’ve ever seen.’ ‘You pointed your finger at Tessa and her brother and called them ingrates, but why don’t you take a look at yourself and reflect on your own mistakes?’
‘No wonder people say stepmothers can’t be trusted, and it doesn’t just stop there. Just look at this case. The stepmom gave Tessa a stepdad and a step-grandma not long after that. When they didn’t need her, she was tossed aside like trash. However, when they did, they’d go to great lengths just to make her do their bidding.’
‘If what the Internet says is true, then I think Tessa did nothing wrong.’
‘Who did this old lady think she was? Did she think she could do whatever she wanted just because of her old age?’
‘If you ask me, had it not been for Tessa, that old lady wouldn’t even have had the chance to be treated in a hospital.’
‘You’re absolutely right. I just watched the video that was posted earlier and found out that the ward in which the old lady stayed cost a few grand per day.’
Although many of the netizens began to side with Tessa and attacked Amber, some of them continued to remain skeptical about Tessa’s past.
‘Wait a second. Could this be Tessa’s way of restoring her innocence?’
‘That old lady might have done something terrible, but that was no way to treat an elder.’
The netizens, who defended Amber, were quickly met with objections and disagreements from many others.
‘Well, you shouldn’t preach if you are not in their shoes.’
‘This old lady didn’t treat others with respect, so what made her think she deserves any respect? Times have changed, and people have become smarter these days.’
‘Think about it. Do you seriously think the Sawyer Group would create fake news about something that happened a year ago?’
While neither of the netizens in the dispute chose to give in, Tessa’s supporters from abroad joined in shortly after and showed their sympathy for her. It turned out that the viral news had caught the attention of the media abroad as they broadcast the story locally. ‘Oh, gosh! I’m sorry for my idol, Tessa. How could someone ever treat her family member so badly?’
‘See? I knew the whole world was wrong about my idol. That old lady must have done something so wrong that my idol eventually lost her patience and went physical with her.’
‘Technically, this old lady already had nothing to do with my idol, Tessa, but for old times’ sake, she made sure to have her sent to a hospital for treatment when she fell ill. If that wasn’t kindness, then I don’t know what was.’
‘That’s right. That old lady owes a great debt to our idol!’
While it appeared that more and more netizens stood on Tessa’s side, there were still some skeptics who remained distrustful of her. ‘No matter what you said, I will not change my stance until I hear from the reporter himself.’
‘You’re totally entitled to your opinion, but I believe in Tessa. After all, a mother-to-be like her would have never committed any bad deed.’
‘Guess what? Maybe someone was trying to ruin Tessa’s reputation because she was jealous of her.’
‘That’s not entirely impossible.’
‘As if that person had nothing better to do with her time. Who would risk rubbing the Sawyer Family the wrong way just to defame Tessa Reinhart?’
‘Well, there are all kinds of people in this world, including the kind who gets jealous easily without anything else better to do.’
As the netizens went on to argue and debate about Tessa’s innocence on the Internet, the situation seemed to work perfectly in her favor. At the same time, Wanda was secretly following the development of events, feeling dissatisfied when she could tell that Tessa was gaining more favors from the netizens.
However, she knew the Sawyer Group was responsible for the change of events by creating distractions over the Internet. Besides that, she also believed Nicholas had been pressuring the media company into handing the reporter over to him. Therefore, it naturally occurred to her that the reporter was the key, which could tip the scales of the situation in either Nicholas’ favor or hers.
The evidence that Nicholas is looking for is now exactly with the reporter. Squinting in a preoccupied manner, Wanda believed she needed to prevent Nicholas from luring out the reporter as she feared that the truth would dampen the impact of the false rumors she had been disseminating. Nevertheless, there was one thing that she feared even more, which was the risk of being exposed. Thus, she quickly decided that it was for the best to send the reporter away after contemplating it for a few moments.
Without hesitation, she instantly grabbed her phone and started dialing a phone number.
“Hey, where are you now?”
“I did as you said and lay low in a hotel.”
Chapter 1119 Kidnapped
A man’s voice could be heard from the other side of the phone and he was the reporter whom Nicholas was searching for. Wanda was relieved upon hearing his voice and she was glad that he heeded her instruction to hide for the time being.
Not knowing what she had in mind, the reporter asked cautiously, “Miss Muller, what can I do for you?”
Wanda aired her thoughts by saying, “Nicholas’ attention is now on you, so hiding in this area wouldn’t do any good right now. I’ll suggest you hide somewhere else and return only when this incident has subsided.”
“Miss Muller, this is not what we agreed upon earlier. On top of that, what would happen to my family if I left?” He sounded reluctant.
“Things don’t always turn out as we have planned for. You wouldn’t want to be caught by Nicholas, would you?” Wanda tried to intimidate the reporter. “You should know how strong the influence of the Sawyer Group is in Southend. I’m sure that you could foresee the consequences if you were being caught without needing me to tell you.”
After hearing that, the reporter was silent.
“As for your family, I can send someone over to look after them. If you’re willing to do as told, I will pay you an additional 1 million on top of the payment amount that we have agreed on before this,” Wanda continued.
He was tempted by her offer since he would be dead meat if he was caught by Nicholas, so leaving would be his best option. Moreover, he could get an additional 1 million. With that money on hand, he could leave Southend with his family and live a comfortable life after things had quieted down.
Although the reporter didn’t say a word, Wanda knew that he was tempted by her offer and stopped persuading him. Before ending the call, she said, “Think about it. Leave or be jailed.”
After the call ended, the reporter had been following the online news closely. He found out that his previous company had not only severed ties with him, but they even revealed some of his information to the public to divert the pressure they received from the netizens and Sawyer Group.
That left him in a state of panic, so he agreed to Wanda’s offer without any hesitation and went straight to the train station that night after wearing a disguise. He had intended to leave right away, but a group of men came out of nowhere to approach him moments after he obtained the tickets.
“What are you trying to do? Let go of me!” The reporter was so startled that he struggled to break free but to no avail.
The passengers were dumbfounded by what they saw, and they just stared at the men in black shirts. The reporter, on the other hand, wanted to seek help from the onlookers when he wasn’t able to escape from the men’s grip. Before he could do so, his mouth was covered, and he passed out after inhaling a pungent odor.
After some time, the reporter finally regained consciousness, but he was feeling heavy-headed. The scene before he passed out repeated itself in his mind. When he finally realized that he had been kidnapped, he could no longer keep his calm. He looked around frantically and noticed that he was in a dark basement.
“Is anyone here?” he asked in a shaky voice.
The atmosphere was so eerily quiet that all he could hear was his breathing. Being overwhelmed by fear, he fumbled as he tried to find his way out but soon realized that his foot was being tied to a metal chain. He then tried to free himself, but it was a futile effort.
In the end, he was so exasperated that he slumped onto the ground and yelled, “I know that you are here. Let me go! You are breaking the law by doing this!”
“Let me go…” No matter how he yelled, it was met with silence.
It didn’t help that his silent surrounding was driving him crazy.
At that moment, he thought that Nicholas was the one who abducted him and started to beg for mercy. “President Sawyer, this is all my fault. Please let me out. I swear that I’ll tell you everything if you let me out.”
Even so, the reporter didn’t get an answer. Little did he know that his every single move had been recorded via surveillance and was being uploaded online.
Chapter 1120 Tessa Was Framed
The video clip got a high viewership as the netizens thought it was a behind-the-scenes clip of a drama. ‘The set and the actor’s performance are on point, I must say. I wonder which drama this teaser is for.’
‘I’ve not seen this actor before.’ ‘Am I the only one who thinks that this actor looks like an average Joe?’ ‘Hey, isn’t that the reporter who was exposed by that media company?’
Some of the netizens who recognized the reporter posted the video in the comments section. ‘Have a look at this. Isn’t that man the reporter who exposed Tessa Reinhart?’
Once the comment was posted, netizens started flooding the comments section with comments. ‘He is the reporter who tendered his resignation. Is he kidnapped?’
‘Is the reason he had gone missing for the past two days because he was kidnapped?’
‘The kidnapper sure is arrogant for posting this video clip online after they had kidnapped the man. Are they concerned that the cops aren’t able to locate the man?’
‘Aren’t you all curious who the kidnapper is?’
‘Who else? Besides the Sawyer Group, who do you think had such ability to do this?’
‘I, too, suspect that the Sawyer Group is behind this.’
At once, most of the netizens suspected that the kidnapping had to do with the Sawyer Group. Edward, who had been monitoring the news online, immediately reported the incident to Nicholas when he saw that the reporter had been kidnapped.
‘President, something happened to the reporter, and most of the netizens suspected that we were behind the kidnapping.’
He then showed Nicholas the video clip of the reporter being kidnapped, and Nicholas’ expression turned grim. It was apparent that someone was trying to frame them for it and, at the same time, taint Tessa’s reputation.
Tessa had the same thought and got concerned when she noticed how most of the netizens suspected that the kidnapping was done by the Sawyer Group when she read the latest news online.
“Who the hell is trying to frame me?” She bit her lip, mumbling while holding onto her phone.
Tessa couldn’t get her head around it since she had just returned from overseas and hadn’t offended anyone. She had no idea why someone would do that to her and was persistently out to get her. Since the incident was trending online, it had gained the police’s attention, and they went over to Dynasty Gardens that night to investigate Tessa for the case since she was the party involved.
After learning about it, Nicholas immediately rushed home from work. As he sat next to Tessa, he responded to the police’s interrogation calmly, explaining, “To be frank, we are still trying to locate this reporter. I think that the whole incident is odd as I was just putting pressure on the media company earlier on, and the next thing we know, the reporter was kidnapped. It seemed as if someone was trying to slander us.”
The police officers left briefly after that as they found Nicholas’ analysis reasonable, and they didn’t get any lead regarding the case. Tessa felt anxious, although the police officers had left and grabbed onto Nicholas’ arm tightly as she asked, “Do you think that the person behind this will kill the reporter and put all the blame on us?”
“Trust me. I won’t let them pin such false charges on us.” Nicholas held onto her hand confidently to assure her.
“How can we stop that from happening when we don’t even know who is behind it?” Tessa was really worried about it.
“Who says so? I will make sure to find the culprit by tomorrow!” Nicholas promised Tessa as he could tell how worried she was.
…
The next day, Nicholas went to work early in the morning. After Tessa sent Gregory to school, she took her phone out and started scrolling the news as she recalled how Nicholas promised her that he would reveal the culprit today. Later in the afternoon, there was indeed some development on the incident.
‘An Unexpected Inside Story. Tessa Reinhart is Framed for the Assault Incident!’