Author’s POV
Meanwhile, Ethan Quinn was fuming. He never imagined his photo would be dragged into some tawdry scandal.
Worse still, his face had been blurred out!
"Find out who’s behind this," he snapped, his anger filling the office. "Who dares smear my name in San Francisco?"
His assistant quickly agreed, not daring to waste time before rushing off to investigate.
Across town, Georgina sat staring at her screen with a face like thunder, refreshing the page repeatedly.
"What’s going on? Why can’t I find any of yesterday’s news stories?" she demanded, hurling a nearby object at her assistant.
The assistant suppressed a groan of pain, not daring to dodge. She simply endured the abuse.
"How incompetent are you?" Georgina snarled.
"Ms. Georgina, last night’s campaign was actually quite effective, but early this morning, everything got suppressed," the assistant explained timidly.
"I asked around, and someone must have—"
Georgina slammed her hand on the desk. "It shouldn’t happen this fast! Did you not pay enough?"
Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Or did you pocket the money yourself?"
The assistant looked up, frantically shaking her head. "Sister Georgina, I swear I didn’t take anything. Please don’t accuse me wrongly."
"Everyone knows your family needs money. If I hadn’t taken you in, you’d probably be sleeping on the streets by now. And this is how you repay me? By stabbing me in the back?"
Georgina stood up and violently shoved her assistant, who stumbled backward, nearly falling. The woman bore the abuse silently, head bowed, too afraid to express her anger.
Not satisfied, Georgina grabbed a ruler from her desk and struck her assistant, the sharp crack echoing in the office.
"That’s what you get for your incompetence!"
She continued her assault, cursing with each blow. The assistant tried dodging at first but eventually just stood there, numb to the pain.
"Knock knock—"
The sound at the door interrupted the scene. Georgina quickly tossed the ruler aside, plastered on a smile, and went to answer.
Ethan’s assistant stood outside, there to inform her about the semifinals.
"Designer Cloud, the semifinal schedule has been confirmed. Please have your work ready before 2 PM."
Georgina’s smile widened. "Of course. Please tell Mr. Quinn that I’ll definitely make a splash in this round."
The assistant nodded curtly, his gaze briefly drifting to the woman standing behind Georgina.
"I’ll be going now."
"Wait," Georgina called, grabbing a small bag from her desk and holding it out. "These are pastries from my family’s kitchen. Could you give them to Mr. Quinn? I remember he enjoys sweets."
The assistant accepted the gift, nodded, and left.
Once the door closed, Georgina’s expression darkened again, though she didn’t resume her physical abuse.
"Find a solution immediately," she hissed. "I don’t care how. We spent too much money on this news story for it to just disappear."
"The semifinals are this afternoon. Contact the paparazzi to smear Serena during the livestream."
"I refuse to believe a mere designer has this much power to shut things down."
"Knock knock—"
Georgina jumped at the sound, her tirade interrupted. The office had decent soundproofing, but not perfect—someone might have overheard.
She cleared her throat nervously before opening the door.
Ethan’s assistant stood there again, holding out the bag of pastries.
"Designer Georgina, I apologize, but you’re mistaken. Mr. Quinn doesn’t enjoy overly sweet foods. I’m returning these to you."
Georgina laughed awkwardly but didn’t take the bag.
"These aren’t too sweet, they’re quite fragrant. If he just tries them, he’ll see. It’s just a small token of my appreciation."
The assistant’s cold gaze swept over her, making Georgina increasingly uncomfortable.
Not wanting to prolong the awkward exchange, she finally accepted the bag back.
"If Mr. Quinn doesn’t want them, I won’t insist. Thank you for your trouble."
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, she closed the door again.
The assistant pondered for a moment before returning to Ethan’s office.
"How’s the investigation going?" Ethan asked irritably. Even though the news had been suppressed, he still felt annoyed by the whole situation.
"Sir, we’ve identified the paparazzi who maliciously edited and spread the footage, but we’re still looking for whoever’s behind it all."
Ethan sighed. "Never mind. It’s hard to uncover everything in such a short time."
"Mr. Quinn, when I went to inform Designer Georgina about the semifinals, I overheard something... strange."
"What was it?"
"She said she couldn’t let her money go to waste and instructed her assistant to spread the rumors again."
"She also mentioned hiring trolls to smear Ms. Serena during the semifinals."
The assistant reported everything he’d heard without holding back. It was Georgina’s carelessness, thinking he’d already left, that had made her speak so freely.
Ethan turned in surprise. "Georgina? She really said that?"
"I might have misunderstood the context, but we should verify the facts."
Ethan drew a deep breath, dismayed to discover such a person within LUXE Jewelry.
"Go ahead and investigate further. I need concrete evidence."
"Yes, sir."
As his assistant hurried away, Ethan received a new message. Checking the time, he realized he needed to leave soon.
The semifinals were again divided into two sessions, and as a judge, he needed to arrive early.
When he reached the backstage area, he spotted Serena already waiting in the green room.
Ryan wasn’t with her, so Ethan decided to approach.
"Did you see last night’s news?" he asked.