Chapter 114: The Struggle for Lika
Otis spoke up, saying seriously: "We believe Lika has done nothing wrong, so the Jenkins family will not withdraw our sponsorship no matter what."
The entire conference room fell silent.
Those who had been waiting to see Jeffrey make a fool of himself were now completely stunned.
Both Zaid and Beck frowned as they looked at Otis.
Zaid couldn't help but speak up: "Otis, are you sure about this? Did you ask York about this?"
Jeffrey also snapped out of his daze and glared fiercely at Zaid, scolding: "Shut up! Otis is speaking!"
The injuries on Zaid's face hadn't fully healed yet, and his temper flared up. He was about to snap back at Jeffrey.
But Otis said impatiently: "Alright, alright, I'm not mistaken. This is how it is. The Jenkins family supports Lika. She doesn't need to withdraw from the competition. Besides, we invested in this sponsorship precisely because we valued Lika's abilities. Now that she's withdrawn, what about our advertising?"
Beck glanced at the person beside him, who understood and spoke up: "Otis, I heard you're a fan and really like this Lika, but being a fan is one thing - business is like a battlefield. You can't just do whatever you want without listening to York."
Otis couldn't take it anymore and slammed the table as he stood up.
"What do you mean 'do whatever I want without listening to York'?" Otis stood up, looking down at everyone. "Our family gets along great. What I'm saying today is the result of the three of us discussing it together!"
"And..."
Otis swept his gaze over everyone with an aggressive air: "So what if I appreciate Lika?"
"Today, I'm making this clear - I'm protecting Lika, no matter what!"
"If Lika stays in the competition, we'll continue, and the Jenkins family will follow through with the subsequent artist development work. But if Lika withdraws, no matter how popular The Sound of Heaven becomes, the Jenkins family won't participate!"
These words were quite forceful.
Given The Sound of Heaven's current popularity, even without Lika, the other contestants had considerable commercial value.
There were also three judges - not to mention anything else, Cecil's momentum was very strong.
Jeffrey was absolutely dumbfounded.
But he also knew this wasn't the time for him to speak.
Just as everyone was looking at each other and exchanging glances, the Brown family's representative also tapped on the table.
"Mr. Brown has given instructions. I'm here today representing the Brown Group to state our position - if Lika doesn't withdraw, the Brown Group has no objections."
This time, everyone's expressions truly changed.
No longer shocked, but thoughtful.
Shadow City had three major powers: the Brown Group, the Adams Group, and the Jenkins Group. The Adams family was seriously divided internally - Jeffrey could only represent one-third of the Adams family, while the other two-thirds didn't support him.
But the other two - the Jenkins Group strongly backed Lika, and the Brown Group had no objections. This was getting interesting.
Was there something going on that they didn't know about?
"Mr. Brown also asked me to pass along a message," the Brown Group representative said. "For all the investor shares withdrawn because of this, the Brown Group will take them all."
"Hey!" Otis protested. "Why are you stealing my lines? The Jenkins family too!"
"However much there is, we'll take it all!" Otis said.
With this development, the representatives from various investors began to hesitate and contacted their companies one after another, asking about the situation and seeking answers.
First, the Jenkins family hadn't been a sponsor for the first three episodes. Even if they valued Lika, it was because of the third episode.
What happened in the third episode?
Contestant Lika's popularity exploded, and her abilities were clear for all to see!
So the Jenkins family must have valued Lika's commercial potential, plus Otis's little fan hobby.
As for William, first of all, it definitely wasn't because he had his eye on Lika. Everyone knew he used to be all about Isabella, and Lika was Jeffrey's person - it wouldn't come to that.
Second, the Brown Group representative came over seemingly wanting to swallow up shares?
So actually, they valued Lika and The Sound of Heaven's worth.
Thinking it through this way, didn't it all make sense!
The answer was: Lika and The Sound of Heaven's value far exceeded what they currently saw, and there was something they didn't know about.
So the answer they reached was: don't force Lika to withdraw, don't give up shares, just continue.
However, one thought circled in the minds of all parties.
That was - who exactly was Lika, to make Shadow City's three major powers compete for her like this!
Everyone wanted her!
Who was the face behind that mask?
Jeffrey looked at this person, then that person, his eyes darting around.
This dispute was resolved just like that.
In the Adams Group office, Jeffrey laughed and slapped the table.
"You didn't see Zaid and Beck's expressions - they were so frustrated!"
"I bet they contacted everyone beforehand, but in the end, before I even said much, those people all betrayed them."
"In the face of absolute profit, what does that little bit Zaid and Beck gave them count for?"
"Awesome!"
Jeffrey was still laughing heartily, but Amelia started thinking.
Why?
If she could still understand the Jenkins family's previous actions, what about this time?
Without knowing her true identity, why would they support her like this?
Amelia couldn't figure it out.
And then there was William.
Why was he doing this?
He was the one who came over to make threats before, he was the one who supported Isabella, and now he was the one protecting her spot.
Thinking this way, Amelia voiced her thoughts out loud.
Jeffrey wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes. He said he completely understood.
"I was thinking about how to tell you about this earlier. I found it strange myself." Jeffrey said, then took out a document and placed it on the desk. "But I just got some news."
Jeffrey pushed the document toward Amelia.
Amelia glanced at it. The content of this document was similar to the method she had provided last night for turning the situation with Isabella to their advantage.
"Is there a problem? Was it rejected?" Amelia frowned.
But Jeffrey just shook his head.
"This one is a document submitted by the Brown Group," Jeffrey said.
What?
Amelia didn't understand.
"When our people went to submit the report this morning, they told us that before us, the Brown Group had already protected this show."
Jeffrey tapped on the document: "Our people got hold of this - this is the Brown Group's approach."
"Of course there are some other things. Anyway, the news we got is that this show won't suddenly disappear."
Listening to Jeffrey's words, Amelia frowned deeply.
So why exactly?
"I also thought William was crazy before," Jeffrey was still searching for something. He said, "But then I remembered something."
Jeffrey handed another document to Amelia.
"After the third episode ended, William's people came over saying they'd give 'Quiana' compensation."
"Actually, forget about compensation - his meaning was very clear. Hush money, to keep quiet about the fact that Love in Micro wasn't written by Isabella herself."
"I didn't even think twice before refusing." Jeffrey said, "This time, maybe he's using this as an exchange."
Jeffrey shrugged: "Of course, it's also possible he feels he went too far and really wants to give you some compensation."