Chapter 109 She No Longer Wants to Be the Powerless Amelia
[Lika, I gave you a chance.]
[Everything you had before was just luck. Did you really think I had no way to deal with you? Beg me. If you beg me, maybe I'll still think of a way to help you cover this up.]
It was from Isabella.
Jeffrey leaned over to take a look, and he immediately started cursing.
Mia and Soren too. For a moment, the entire living room was filled with Jeffrey's cursing.
Amelia gripped her phone tightly.
Isabella's relentless pressure, her showing off—should she just sit here hoping for a miracle?
No.
She had to do something!
Flashing through her mind was Jasper's eyes that wouldn't close in peace that cloudy day, and that rainy night when William stood in front of her with half a broken piece of wood, his face blurred.
And... and the child she had lost.
Life had to be in her own hands.
She already...
Didn't want to be that powerless Amelia anymore.
Her nails dug into her palm, the pain bringing her a bit of clarity.
The divorce certificate matter would have to wait a few days.
Right now, the most urgent thing was handling the show-related issues.
And the show-related matters mainly involved two things.
First, would the show suddenly be shut down?
Second, would the sponsors force her to quit the competition?
When Amelia opened her eyes again, they were filled with determination.
First, she would not voluntarily quit.
If all the sponsors demanded she quit, then could she buy some time?
She didn't need to wait until the last live broadcast to clear things up. She just needed to wait three more days to get the divorce certificate, then she could show that document and the corresponding evidence to the other sponsors.
The netizens wanted the show to give them a response, so give them one—just say "to avoid wrongful accusations, an investigation is needed," and results would be given before the last live broadcast, say in 4-5 days.
Amelia looked at Jeffrey and said apologetically, "Jeffrey, you might have to bear some pressure these days."
She said clearly and firmly, "You might need to make a bet that in 4 or 5 days, you'll give them a satisfactory answer, at the latest before the final live broadcast."
Amelia explained her thoughts.
Jeffrey immediately understood, his eyes lighting up.
Right!
Buy time!
He nodded. "Don't worry. I'll go throw a tantrum and stall them a bit. With your reasoning, both the netizens and sponsors should accept a few days' delay. I'll use my status to put some pressure on them too. Once you get the certificate, everything will be fine."
Everyone around nodded.
Mia said excitedly, "Yes, we don't necessarily need to wait until the next round. We just need a few days."
Just as they were talking, Jeffrey's phone vibrated again.
It was a call from Oliver.
This time, Jeffrey didn't dare not answer.
"Come back." Oliver's aged voice came through, full of severity. "Right now!"
The other sponsors probably couldn't find Jeffrey and went to Oliver instead.
"Okay, Grandpa, I'll be right there." Jeffrey said, hung up the phone, grabbed his car keys, and said to the others, "I'll video call you on my other phone so we can stay in touch. I have to go see Grandpa."
Everyone nodded.
Jeffrey hurried off.
On the sponsors' side, once Jeffrey stabilized Oliver and then used the Adams family to apply pressure, they should be able to stall for now.
But what about the show's review process?
There had been cases before where shows with poor public opinion or featuring problematic celebrities received official guidance.
At minimum, all footage of that celebrity would be cut.
At worst, the entire show would be shut down.
The sponsors would consider this aspect too.
Amelia thought for a moment, looked at Mia, and said, "Can I use the computer?"
Mia immediately opened the laptop.
Amelia's fingers flew across the keyboard, and she had Mia and Soren help search for relevant information.
She couldn't fight alone—she needed to use collective wisdom.
Thinking of this, Amelia said to Hawk on the side, "Sorry."
Hawk had mentioned before that he didn't like noise.
Hawk waved his hand to indicate it was fine, his eyes staying on Mia's computer screen.
After talking with them for a bit, he went to work on his program.
"You'd better take out your SIM card now. I think that Isabella you mentioned won't miss the chance to leak your phone number," Hawk said.
Actually, without Hawk saying it, Isabella had already started.
Amelia's phone kept vibrating with abusive text messages and a barrage of verification code messages bombarding her.
Amelia removed Lika's SIM card.
This SIM card was specially prepared by the Adams Group and wouldn't trace back to Amelia's personal information. Once removed, the world would be quiet.
Amelia put the card away and looked at the other two in the living room. "Let's continue."
"Okay!"
"Okay!"
It was already evening now. Even if official guidance were to be given, it would be tomorrow, because giving guidance also required meetings and reviews.
Some procedures could only happen during daytime working hours.
...
Meanwhile, at Floral Haven.
Isabella watched William's car leave through the window, then looked at the text message she had just sent to Lika, smiling as she wiped away her tears.
Her smile was somewhat twisted.
Too many things had happened during this recording. She didn't know when it started, but she had been on the defensive the whole time.
According to her plan, Lika shouldn't have been able to win this round at all, but a mysterious powerful force suddenly appeared, forcing her to let this opportunity pass and save her strength for the final round.
She had originally planned to do what Lika's team did in the third round with their surprise attack—release the [fake donation] accusation in the final round to catch Lika off guard without giving them time to prepare.
But she was caught up in speculation herself, so she had to use bigger news to suppress it all.
The [fake donation] accusation had to be released early.
Isabella murmured softly, "But so what if it's released early? Lika, your name just isn't on the donation list. Even if you donate now to make up for it, netizens will think it's not sincere, that you had no choice. You have no chance left. Let's see how you turn this around!"
The caregiver beside her couldn't help but say, "But Ms. Taylor, your name isn't on the donation list either. What if..."
Isabella looked at the caregiver speechlessly. "Are you stupid? Everyone knows that tanzanite was bought by William for me, and that ruby pendant is around my neck too. What does it matter if I'm on the list or not?"
"This kind of thing is obvious to everyone. It doesn't need to be on a list." Isabella said.
The caregiver wanted to say something more but finally closed her mouth. She had wanted to say that William wasn't divorced yet—wasn't that marital property?
But thinking about it, she let it go. If she said more, she'd just get scolded again.