Chapter 80 Applaud His Audacity

Chapter 80 Applaud His Audacity
DOMINIC POV:

Greg walked into my office with a grim look. I looked up, waiting for him to respond. 

“The PR team has convinced the podcast channel to take the episode down, for now. But they asked for compensation for lost revenue.”

I frowned. Greedy bastards. “Have the lawyers speak to them. Aiding someone in spreading rumors is also a crime. And even though they took it down, the millions of people who saw it and commented on it can’t disappear… neither can their memories.”

Greg hummed. “I will have them working on it along with the lawsuit against Arthur.” He sighed. “I am worried how this will affect Eileen.”

I knew she would be devastated. Though within our estimation, having people seek her out and bash her for something she didn’t do would be a lot. I could let her stay indoors, but that wouldn’t stop her from checking the comments online and feeling miserable whenever she saw someone say something bad. 

“Get the team to keep scrubbing all the negative comments and posts.”

Greg’s team was already doing it, but I knew the netizens had a keen nose and would find creative ways to talk about it soon.

“I fear deleting comments will bring you more backlash,” Greg admitted. “Now that her identity has been revealed, it will only be a matter of time before your name is dragged through the mud. The company’s reputation–”

I stopped him. “I’ve worked in vain if an unconfirmed rumor can bring my company down. Monitor the situation for now.”

Greg sighed. “I want to protect her, too. But you have to decide how to respond to this quickly.”

I tapped my finger on the table, thinking. “I will discuss the options with Eileen. But for now, it’s best to inform the media that we will be pursuing legal action against anyone who spreads the rumor. Including the media houses.”

Greg hummed. “My team is preparing the press release already. I will need some comments from Eileen and you to pull everything together.” I understood where he was coming from. “We need to show the world what kind of person he is from the mother’s perspective.”

I nodded. “Let’s do that,” I said. After a moment of thought, I added, “Do you happen to have Stenton’s number?” 

Stenton owned the fintech company from which Arthur had received an offer. He had not yet passed the training period, so his employment wasn’t confirmed. Didn’t he want to know how powerful people retaliated? 

I would show him that the rock bottom in his opinion was nothing. There were far worse things to come, now that he had touched my family.

“I do,” Greg replied suspiciously. “What do you plan on doing?”

“Send his number to me. I have to speak to him.”

Greg didn’t question further. “I will send you his info and the draft for the press release in a few. We need to get these out quickly.”

I looked at the clock and nodded.

Eileen should have reached home by then. I picked up my phone and called Dan. “Have you reached home yet?”

“I just dropped her in the house and came out. The photographers are crowding outside so I had the security clear them out.” He must have realized I was checking in on Eileen, so he added, “She took the news better than I thought. But she feels guilty for pulling you into this mess. I didn’t have anything to say to make her feel better.”

“What did she do after coming home?”

Dan was silent for a moment. “She stayed in the living room with the kids for a while. But then I had to leave. Lucy was home already so you don’t have to worry.”

“Leigh is on her way over with the girls, too,” I replied.

Work had piled up, and I couldn’t go home like I wanted to. Everything in me screamed to sprint home and pull Eileen into my arms, not allowing her mind to wander to darker things. But now, I could only stay put, work like normal, and make sure this storm passed sooner than later.

“What did your PI friend find out about Arthur?” I questioned. I had a feeling a cocky man like Arthur wouldn’t have the cleanest record. And to highlight his mistakes and counter the saintly image he had put on in front of the camera was imperative.

“Apart from an addiction to weed and a record of selling it on campus? He has a lot of debts from questionable sources and an income tax filing waiting to be done,” Dan informed. I could hear the frustration in his voice.

“You’re saying he made enough off selling weed to get into the tax agency’s radar?” I questioned.

“But he used it all to fund his party life and buy more weed,” Dan added.

I gritted my teeth. It didn’t matter where he made the money from. If he was a halfway decent person, he would have offered to support Eileen in raising Bethany up. This was more reason for him to taste what true hardship looked like. 

“Send me the details of those.”

Dan didn’t ask questions. A few minutes had passed before I had both Stenton’s number and Arthur’s shady records in my email.

I went through each of them and my frown deepened. A hundred thousand dollars in bad debt. The interest rates should have been illegal, but I rejoiced in his misery. He wasn’t making minimum payments, and his only source of income, selling substances to college students was cut off once he graduated. Now, his clientele had reduced, so he could barely make ends meet. 

No wonder he wanted the money so badly. If he walked into his new job with this debt and his wages were deducted, people in the company would know his history. Extorting money from Eileen was his way out of crippling debt.

I had to applaud his audacity. Did he think we wouldn’t find out about it? How did he think the court would allow someone with his background to take custody of a child?

He was banking on Eileen panicking and giving it to him without consulting anyone. And from my chat with him, I could tell he thought Eileen and I weren’t serious. I had to wonder what made him think that. 

If that was the impression I was giving people, I had to do a better job at expressing myself in public.