Chapter 193
Josephine frowned, clearly puzzled. “And how exactly are we supposed to fix this? Have those two go live and calm the backlash?”
Wouldn’t that just bring them back to the same problem? In the end, Haven would still have to face it herself.
Before Noah could offer a defense, Haven’s voice cut through the tension, clear and steady. "Josephine, I’m willing to do it."
"Haven?"
"I know you’re only trying to protect me," Haven said, a resolute smile touching her lips. "But Mr. Getty was right about one thing: making a mistake isn't the end of the world. What’s truly terrifying is lacking the courage to own up to it."
Josephine stared at her, stunned by the transformation. This was the same woman who, only a short while ago, had been so paralyzed by the weight of responsibility that she had attempted to end it all. Josephine could still feel the phantom sensation of gripping Haven’s hand by the lake, desperate to pull her back from the edge.
A life was far too heavy a price to pay. That was why she had chosen to shoulder everything herself.
If the data was wrong, they'd correct it. Fortunately, no serious harm or danger had resulted. But if Haven lost her life over this, that would truly be a waste.
Josephine glanced discreetly at Noah, then pulled Haven aside by the hand. "Tell me the truth—are you doing this willingly? If someone threatened you, you need to be honest."
Haven gave a small, sad laugh. "No one is threatening me, Josephine. This is my choice. I can't let you fight my battles anymore."
"Are you sure?" Josephine glanced at the tripod and the phone. The stream was primed, the camera already catching their silhouettes in the background.
Once that 'Live' button was pressed, there would be no retracting her words.
Haven said firmly, "I'm sure."
She couldn't let Josephine fight her battles anymore. This was her responsibility to begin with.
Josephine sighed softly. “Then listen carefully. Once the livestream ends, people might attack you. It could even affect your future career.”
"It's okay. I thought it through before I came here." Haven had prepared herself for everything. She'd even called her parents beforehand.
Fortunately, they'd been incredibly supportive. They'd even said that no matter the outcome, they would always be her rock.
Her courage came from her family's support.
Josephine smiled. She was actually quite relieved. "You've got real guts. That's great."
“Ladies, we’re about to go live,” Noah reminded them.
The two had supposedly stepped aside to talk, but the office was only so big—he could hear everything. He almost felt like he was the villain here.
How frustrating.
Josephine shot him an annoyed look. “We’re coming. Stop rushing us.”
Noah immediately fell silent.
Fine. He knew better than to argue with her.
As the countdown ticked away, Josephine scanned the room. "Where is Mr. Getty? He arranged this whole production; is he not showing up?"
"He’ll be here," Noah said with a mysterious glint in his eye. "He just had an errand to run. He should be back with minutes to spare."
"Where did he go?"
Noah only smiled, refusing to answer.
Seeing Josephine didn't press further, Noah breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, even he didn’t understand why Cedric had insisted on handling this personally. Anyone else could have done it.
He was baffled.
Just as the countdown reached the one-minute mark, the office door finally swung open.
Cedric had arrived.
"You're finally here," Josephine said.
Cedric's lips curved slightly upward. He stepped aside, revealing someone behind him.
Haven's eyes widened. "Ryder?"
Ryder stood stiffly, his expression blank, as though his soul had left his body.
Cedric cut short their reunion. "Let's begin."
The Getty Group incident had drawn widespread attention from multiple parties. The moment the livestream went live, viewers flooded in.
In the blink of an eye, comments covered half the screen.
[What's going on? I heard they're livestreaming to clarify things?]
[Mr. Getty!]
[Don't fangirl right now. The point isn't eye candy. The point is what explanation The Getty Group will give. Otherwise, I won't dare use their AI medical services.]
[I know that girl. Her name's Haven. I heard she was hospitalized before.]
[That was a suicide attempt.]
[Really?]
Cedric had done his best to suppress news of Haven's suicide, but rumors still leaked out. Fortunately, The Getty Group's PR had been effective enough that it hadn't blown up completely.
"We're livestreaming today to give everyone an explanation." Cedric spoke, his voice low and steady. The instant he opened his mouth, the chaos in the livestream quieted for a moment.
"This is the employee responsible for that dataset."
After he spoke, Haven stepped forward. "It was me."
[So she's the culprit? Why didn't she come forward from the start? It took her this long to admit her mistake. Does she have some kind of backing?]
[AI medical data is critically important. Making an error like this shows she's careless and sloppy. I strongly suggest firing her!]
[Totally agree.]
Haven had mentally prepared herself before the livestream started. She'd imagined facing all kinds of abuse, but seeing it firsthand still made her feel awful.
She took a deep breath to steady herself. "I'm truly sorry for this mistake… I'm willing to take responsibility. I just hope everyone won't let this reflect poorly on the company. Mr. Getty and Ms. Kennedy are truly excellent supervisors."
[They threw you under the bus and you're still calling them good bosses?]
Haven caught that comment and immediately responded. "That's not true! Ms. Kennedy wanted to take responsibility for me, and Mr. Getty didn't blame me for my mistake! My appearance in this livestream is entirely my own decision. I believe that when you make a mistake, you can't run from it—you have to face it. I know it's a bit late to say this now, and I don't dare expect everyone to forgive my error. But after this incident, I'll resign voluntarily and never work in a related field again."
[Really?]
[Just quitting isn't enough, right? The data error caused a volunteer to get sick and hospitalized. Shouldn't you compensate for medical expenses?]
Lily saw that comment and immediately spoke. "I don't need medical compensation. Mr. Getty and Ms. Kennedy already covered everything. They paid for all my hospital expenses."
[Did you two rehearse this? Are you putting on a show for us?]
[Your family must be loaded if you don't need medical fees!]
A few dissonant comments suddenly appeared in the chat, leading others astray.
Gradually, people started attacking Lily and Haven.
Haven's face went pale. Standing here had already taken all her courage. She'd expected criticism for her mistake, but she hadn't anticipated people twisting things from this angle.
She panicked for a moment, unsure how to respond.
A hand settled on her shoulder.
Haven turned in surprise. Josephine smiled at her. That hand wasn't particularly large, but it was soft, warm, and carried an invisible strength.
Josephine looked at the camera. "Every word we say in this livestream is the truth. If anyone doesn't believe us, you're welcome to fact-check us anytime."
Cedric glanced at Noah.
Noah gave Ryder a push from behind. Ryder, who'd been playing dead in silence, stumbled forward into the frame.
[Who's this?]
Ryder's legs trembled at the sight of the livestream and camera, but there was no turning back now. He squeezed his eyes shut and went for it. "Actually, I discovered the data was wrong a long time ago."
[Who is this guy? Just shows up saying he found errors in the data?]
[Must be an employee of theirs.]
Josephine instinctively glanced at Cedric, but he maintained his usual composed expression. Still, she seemed to vaguely grasp what was happening.
"Haven was responsible for the initial version of this data, and you were responsible for reviewing it. Are you saying that when you reviewed it, you already noticed something was wrong, but you didn't tell Haven or inform your supervisors? You chose to conceal it?" Josephine asked.
Ryder gritted his teeth. "Yes."