Chapter 5
956 Words
Down in the Satbury at Silvergate International Tower.
Up on the 38th floor, right in the General Manager's office.
Rosie cut straight to the chase. "How's Dad doing?"
"He's stuck in the ICU, and the doctor says it's pretty much a waiting game now," Alice scoffed. "The guy brought nothing but bad luck, killing off his first two wives one after the other, and he still couldn't keep it in his pants with all those mistresses and side chicks. Guess this is his karma."
The first two wives were just business setups, but since they only had girls, Mr. Wilson was never happy. His current wife, though, was just a side chick who climbed the social ladder, making her way into the family purely because she was carrying a boy.
Honestly, with the man on his deathbed, neither sister actually cared. To put it bluntly, even if he didn't kick the bucket right this second, it'd be perfect if he just stayed in the ICU. That way, they could lock down the company and take full control first.
Rosie spoke up again, "What's that woman up to right now?"
"She's been pulling all kinds of shady moves in the office, trying to grab power while things are messy." Alice paused, sounding totally disgusted. "The Wilson Group is worth hundreds of billions, so obviously, she's drooling over it. But if she thinks dropping a boy gives her a free pass to the empire, she's delusional."
Hearing that, Rosie looked down, her eyes clouding over.
Back when her own mom was dying, that exact woman had shown up at their house flaunting her baby bump to pick a fight. Rosie was studying abroad back then. By the time she got the news and flew home, she was already at the funeral, missing her chance to say a proper goodbye. And yet, despite Rosie's begging and screaming, her dad went ahead and married that home-wrecker anyway.
Heartbroken and fed up, she ran away from home, which was exactly when she ran into Dylan. He had held an umbrella over her in the pouring rain, sparking five years of her just blindly chasing after him.
Rosie took a quick breath and closed her eyes. "Dad gave that boy a 7% stake, while you and I hold 25% together. She can't really do crap with that.
"I'm coming back to the company. Just lie low and give me some random, do-nothing title for now so we don't spook her."
After all, the higher that homewrecker climbs, the harder she's gonna crash.
With the business talk sorted out quickly and cleanly, Alice finally took a breath to ask how Rosie was holding up.
"What's up with the internet?"
She was obviously talking about the whole mess with Rosie blowing up on the trending page.
Rosie felt a wave of bitterness hit her.
After a long pause, she looked down and gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Just look at it as some stupid mistake I made."
A completely hopeless, idiotic mistake.
Alice raised an eyebrow but didn't press further. "So should we drop Dylan and Julia's joint endorsement deal? Think of it as a way to get some payback for you."
Rosie was caught off guard, only just remembering that those two still had that couple's ring endorsement going on.
And as it happened, the brand they were backing was owned by the Wilson Group.
Thinking back to the handmade ring that Dylan had just thrown away, Rosie spoke up slowly. "No rush."
It suddenly hit her that in three days, Dylan and Julia would have a live-streamed fan meeting for the brand.
Rosie smiled faintly. "We'll deal with it in three days."
*****
Three days later, the fan meeting kicked off right on time.
Not only was the live chat totally taken over by Dylan and Julia's fans, but even most of the crowd at the venue were die-hard shippers of the couple.
Still, a few people managed to slip in looking to cause drama.
During the Q&A, someone stood up and yelled, "Dylan, when you got with Julia, you hadn't actually broken things off with Rosie yet, right? Is this a case of jumping ship or just straight-up cheating?"
Dylan's face dropped instantly, and he snapped, "Thanks for the concern, but don't disrespect Julia. I love her for real, and I've got nothing to hide."
As the vibe turned super awkward, the host quickly jumped in to save the day.
"Since you two are endorsing our limited-edition Valentine's Day rings as a couple, it must be fate!"
Julia flashed a sweet smile at the camera, playing up a pouty, complaining tone.
"Fate? No, it's just me doing all the heavy lifting, okay?
"When they were scouting spokespeople, I made it crystal clear—I'm only doing this endorsement if Dylan is in."
She was hinting that she scored the deal all by herself, and Dylan was just riding her coattails.
Dylan's smile slipped for a split second, but he recovered fast and said playfully, "Yeah, yeah, my girl had it so rough."
The crowd instantly erupted into a wave of laughs, and the live stream comments were flooded by Julia's fans.
A: [Is there anyone alive who doesn't know Julia is the actual wallet here? She literally calls all the shots on endorsements.]
B: [The rich Wilson heiress forces her love, and Dylan is here for it.]
Julia's grin stretched even wider.
Right then, a staff member wearing the brand's uniform suddenly walked right into the live shot.
Right in front of everyone, he looked straight at the camera and made a blunt announcement.
"Sorry, we're cutting the live stream.
"Julia, Dylan, your endorsement has just been canceled under an emergency order."
- Writer
