Chapter 239 Waiting for Her
Meanwhile, at Silverbrook Manor, Sophia was panicking and didn't know what to do.
She never dreamed that Olivia's birthday party would take such a dramatic turn.
She had been waiting to watch the show unfold.
The trending topics had even spread across the entire internet.
But instead of going as she expected, it backfired on her completely.
She accused Rodolfo of colluding with those big shots, but he turned around and did a charity event on the spot.
Sophia was so angry she smashed her phone.
After venting, fear started creeping in.
When she did this, she thought it was a sure thing and never considered the consequences of failure.
Now she had offended so many people at the banquet. Once it ended, they definitely wouldn't let her off!
What scared her even more was that the reporter's livestream had been shut down.
Although she hadn't contacted him directly, what if the police traced it back to her?
Sophia quickly ordered her informants to contact Rick.
But they told her, "We can't reach him anymore..."
"How can this be?"
At that moment, in Shadow City, Rick also started panicking after his livestream was shut down.
He had been holding onto some hope.
After all, he'd been in journalism for years, and many situations could be reversed.
Like tonight's incident - maybe there would be more developments.
Even though his livestream was cut off, he still had many social media accounts.
So Rick quickly logged on, planning to follow up on the banquet.
But to his surprise, all accounts under his name were blocked. He couldn't log in at all, let alone post anything online.
And the controversy he had stirred up was disappearing and being blocked at a terrifying speed.
Only then did he sense something was wrong.
He realized he needed to run this time.
If he didn't run now, he'd definitely be in trouble!
In his rush, Rick didn't even pack his luggage. He just grabbed his bank cards and some important documents and prepared to leave.
But unexpectedly, as soon as he opened the door, he came face to face with police officers.
"Sir, is there something wrong?" Rick tried to stay calm.
The police showed their badges without expression and said directly, "Rick, your livestream involved slander and defamation, causing serious social impact. We're now arresting you according to law for investigation."
"I didn't!" Rick was shocked. He couldn't let himself be arrested.
Without thinking, he tried to break through and run.
But the police weren't having it. They reacted quickly and pinned him to the ground.
"Stay still! Or we'll charge you with resisting arrest and assaulting an officer!" the police shouted sternly, putting handcuffs on him and quickly taking him away.
At the hotel, when Olivia returned upstairs, she ran into Daniel who had come out looking for her.
She was a bit surprised to see him. "Why did you come out?"
Daniel touched his nose and said, "Nothing, I just noticed you'd been out for a while, so I came to check. Where did you go?"
Olivia nodded and said, "I went to see a friend."
"A friend?" Daniel's eyes held some deeper meaning as he asked, "What friend? Why didn't you bring them upstairs?"
Olivia said, "He doesn't like crowds. We just talked for a bit. Let's go in, don't keep the guests waiting."
Daniel wanted to say more, but before he could, Olivia had already walked in.
He watched her back, unable to stop thinking about Eric's report.
Tonight, Eric had tried several times to resolve the crisis but couldn't find a single opportunity!
The message he kept getting was that someone had already handled it first.
Daniel couldn't help wondering who had such capability.
After thinking it over, the figure that appeared in his mind was Andrew.
Probably only that person had such means and power, right?
Daniel felt inexplicably uneasy.
Since Olivia's return, he had maintained a gradual approach with her.
He had planned to wait until she completely cut ties with Michael, until she healed her wounds, until she fully emerged from the shadows, before getting closer to her and being honest.
But now he suddenly discovered that another person was infiltrating her life in another way, seamlessly.
He suddenly couldn't remain calm anymore.
He felt he needed to do something!
Olivia didn't know what Daniel was thinking.
As soon as she entered the banquet hall, she went straight to Rodolfo and her parents.
Besides Joseph, several other guests were gathered around them - all people with power and influence.
They were all telling them what they knew about the situation.
"I asked around with the higher-ups, and they have no intention of pursuing this matter."
"The important department personnel will write a report at most. The police also have news - the rumor-mongering reporter was just arrested. Rest assured, we'll make sure he pays the price!"
"Rodolfo, you don't need to worry about this anymore. Leave it to us."
"Yes, continue the party. After it ends, we'll finalize the charity project!"
Rodolfo knew their status and knew they wouldn't joke about such things, so he completely relaxed.
Vaughn and Victoria also breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good."
They thought tonight's incident would get so many people in trouble!
Evelyn listened and felt relieved too.
Just then, seeing Olivia return, she came over and asked quietly, "Did I guess right? Was it really Mr. Hamilton's doing?"
Olivia didn't deny it. She nodded slightly, "It was indeed him."
Evelyn immediately smiled and praised generously, "Wow! Mr. Hamilton was so cool this time! Olivia, are you still not moved?"
Hearing her start teasing again, Olivia couldn't help but tap her head. "Stop talking nonsense, or people will misunderstand. I'm not talking to you anymore, I need to get busy."
Evelyn watched her seemingly fleeing figure and couldn't help but smile. If her face wasn't blushing, maybe she would have believed her!
Olivia still felt bad about what happened tonight.
Next, she accompanied Rodolfo in receiving guests and toasting them, which was a way of apologizing.
But her gesture was clearly unnecessary.
Everyone really didn't blame Rodolfo.
Before Olivia could speak, they took the initiative to comfort her, "Ms. Smith, you must have been frightened tonight. We all heard that the troublemaking reporter has been arrested."
"Those outsiders had bad intentions - it's not your or Rodolfo's fault!"
"Yes, on such a happy day, don't let this kind of thing ruin your mood."
"I'll toast to you, wishing you a happy birthday and eternal youth."
Olivia was very grateful and returned the toast.
As the party progressed into the second half, relevant departments came to take photos and investigate, leaving only after confirming there were no problems!
The birthday party gradually returned to its original harmonious atmosphere.
As time went on, the online storm seemed to calm down, but the aftershocks kept rolling in.
Netizens who loved surfing the web noticed something was wrong and posted again, but their posts sank without a trace as soon as they were published.
They tried other ways to discuss it, like using letter abbreviations for important figures and being very cryptic.
But in the end, they found that no matter what method they used, posts would still be deleted and groups shut down.
Until an official news account came out and published a summary of tonight's controversy.
[Emerald City's relevant departments immediately investigated the rumored birthday party and have now confirmed that the banquet did not involve money transactions as netizens claimed.
Every guest present voluntarily attended the birthday party, which was purely a gathering of friends.
Additionally, reporter Rick's rumors about corruption are completely false.
Rodolfo's high-profile display of affection for his student is understandable, as they were separated for many years and reunited - this friendship is justified.
Rodolfo's annual donations and medical charity work are all true, so we hope the public will stop spreading false information and wasting public resources.]
As soon as this official message was released, netizens across the internet quieted down.
However, this didn't stop them from passionately cursing Rick.
[I knew the money transaction was fake! Rick has been spreading rumors for ages - can they arrest him already!]
[Rumor-mongering warrior, slandering so many medical experts - he can rot in prison!]
[@Shadow City Police, what are you waiting for? Arrest him! I've been disgusted by this trash reporter for so long - all he does is sensationalize!]
[Probably jealous. Rodolfo doting on his student like that triggered this trash who hates the rich!]
As the topic's popularity soared, netizens were all waiting for news of Rick's arrest.
At 10 PM that night, Shadow City Police issued a notice: [In Shadow City, we caught Rick who was trying to flee. The police have now formally arrested the suspect!]
After seeing this, netizens cheered in the comments.
[Seeing this result, I finally feel better!]
[Rick got what he deserved!]
[He even tried to run - add another charge!]
At the same time, Andrew's side also started taking action, listing all the troll farms and particularly active haters who spread rumors tonight, and suing them all.
After cursing Rick, netizens saw this news and started joining in the fun.
[Good job suing them! The internet isn't lawless - these trolls should have been cleaned up long ago!]
[Wow, the best legal team in the country is mobilized!]
[Envious, Olivia is tonight's lucky one!]
[I used to think she was lucky being Mrs. Johnson, but after the divorce, I realized lucky people can get even luckier!]
[Yeah! Left the first wealthy family and became wealthy herself!]
[If it were me, I'd probably be even more high-profile than her.]