Chapter 20
Charles sounded unusually urgent, reporting, “Lynette just posted on Twitter, accusing you of doing backdoor dealings and blacklisting artists without reason during your tenure. She’s also fabricated chat records as evidence.”
Jasmine walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows, watching Jenvil’s city lights shimmer below. “What’s the trending rank?”
“It’s in the top three.” He paused before asking, “Should we proceed with the original plan to strike back?”
She lightly tapped the window glass with her fingertip, a cold smile playing at her lips. Her voice was gentle but icy as she replied, “Do it now. I want her to understand what it means to dig her own grave.”
After hanging up, Jasmine headed to her study. The computer screen’s light illuminated her face as her fingers tapped the keyboard a few times, opening an encrypted folder.
Inside lay all of Lynette’s crimes from the past few years, including bank transfer records of embezzled funds, videos of secret meetings with competitors, and even photos of her messy relationship with Timothy and Matthew.
She whispered, “Lynette, I gave you a chance.”
She hit send and watched the progress bar creep forward.
At the same time, Jenvil’s top PR firm was already in motion.
Sebastian entered with a cup of warm milk. He noticed her tense profile and asked, “Do you need my
help?”
Jasmine shook her head. When she took the cup, their fingertips touched, the warmth passing between
them.
Her heart was warmed as she looked into his eyes, saying, “I’m going to fight this battle myself.”
Just as Sebastian sat beside Jasmine, his phone lit up with a message from his assistant, Connor Langley.
“Mr. Campbell, we’ve contacted all three major platforms. We can remove the trending topics anytime.”
Jasmine caught a glimpse of the message and smiled. “No need for that. We’ll let her have her fun a little
longer.”
Suddenly, a commotion erupted downstairs. The housekeeper’s urgent knocking followed as he shouted, Ms. Lane, Ms. Gardner has barged in with reporters!”
Jasmine and Sebastian exchanged glances and stood up at the same time. As they reached the staircase, they saw Lynette leading over a dozen media outlets into the living room, camera flashes flooding the space with blinding light.
“There she is!” Lynette pointed up at Jasmine, her voice tearful. “She’s the one who forced me to entertain clients and threatened to blacklist me!”
She had deliberately done her makeup to look pale and frail, wearing a simple dress to complete her damsel-in-distress act. The reporters immediately turned their cameras toward Jasmine.
“Ms. Lane, are Ms. Gardner’s accusations true?”
“How do you explain the video footage of forcing celebrities to entertain clients?”
Jasmine stood in the middle of the staircase, looking down at this farce. Sebastian moved to step forward, but she gently stopped him.
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it silenced the entire room. “Lynette, are you sure you want to continue with
this?”
Lynette’s eyes flashed with panic, but she quickly straightened her back. “I have evidence!”
She pulled out a flash drive from her bag. “This contains all the recordings of Jasmine threatening me!”
Jasmine watched Lynette with calm composure. Just then, the front door burst open again as Matthew
and Timothy rushed in one after the other, both looking grim.
Matthew grabbed Lynette’s wrist. “Lynette! What’s with all that stuff you posted? Those chat records were
clearly…”
Lynette yanked her hand away. “Matt, what are you doing? We agreed to expose her together!”
Timothy stepped forward, his voice hoarse. “Enough! The police just notified me that there are problems with the company accounts. Lynette, stop fighting. The finance department’s surveillance caught
everything.”
The scene erupted in chaos.
Sensing a plot twist, the reporters immediately turned their cameras toward Lynette.
Lynette went pale and suddenly let out a hysterical scream. She pointed at Jasmine and shrieked, “You’ve
all been bought off by her! This bitch set it all up!”
She lunged toward Jasmine but was blocked by Sebastian.
In the struggle, Lynette’s bag fell to the ground, spilling out a stack of photos. They were intimate shots of her with Joseph at the hotel, the same ones she had planned to use to taunt Jasmine.
“What is this?” Matthew picked up the photos, his hands trembling. “Lynette, you told me yesterday that you and Joseph were just business partners!”
Lynette panicked and turned to run. However, she was stopped by police officers who suddenly appeared at the door.
The lead officer showed his badge and said, “Ms. Lynette Gardner, you’re suspected of embezzlement
Chapter 20
and defamation. Please come with us.”
Lynette thrashed wildly. “You can’t arrest me! Joseph? Joseph, help me!”
From the back of the crowd, Joseph’s cold voice cut through. “I don’t know her.”
