Chapter 56 Only One Way Left
Arnold had finished his meal and retreated to his room to continue writing, so he wasn't around.
Enrique nodded in agreement with his brothers. "Kevin's just too much. Isn't he just making things harder for Brenda?"
Paul was puzzled. Why were they all blaming Kevin?
He couldn't help but ask, "Don't you think their actions were a bit too close?"
Enrique didn't hesitate. "No way. Kevin was just comforting Brenda. We do the same whenever she feels down."
Brenda was their sister, and this kind of comfort just showed how close they were. He didn't see anything wrong with it.
Paul, busy with the company for years, was only home about three days a week, mostly just for dinner. During the day, they all had their own work.
So he really didn't know how close his sons and Brenda had become.
Did comforting a sister really need to be that intimate? Was he just old-fashioned?
With a stern face, he asked, "Do you also hug and kiss Brenda like that?"
Loren and Richard noticed Paul's expression wasn't right.
Just as they were about to deny it, Enrique, looking matter-of-fact, said, "Yeah, what's wrong with that?"
Loren and Richard fell silent, thinking Enrique was being foolish.
Seeing Enrique's demeanor and hearing his words, Paul was furious.
He slammed the table hard. "You are siblings! This is outrageous, absolutely outrageous."
Enrique argued, "It's because we're siblings that it shows how close we are."
He even complained, "Dad, can you stop overthinking?"
Paul fell silent.
How could he not overthink?
Even if he didn't, others would!
If people in their elite circles found out, where would his reputation go?
He squinted his eyes and asked, "Do you treat Elizabeth, your biological sister, the same way?"
Enrique shook his head. "No way. Our relationship with Elizabeth isn't that close; she wouldn't even think of being that close to us."
Elizabeth usually showed concern for them but never initiated intimate contact. Brenda, on the other hand, relied on them a lot.
Paul was infuriated by Enrique's self-righteous attitude. "Elizabeth's behavior is what a normal sister should be like, got it?"
Seeing the defiant look on Enrique's face, Paul knew they wouldn't listen to him.
He turned to Betty, blaming her, "Look at the sons and foster daughter you've raised."
With that, he stood up with a stern face and went straight to his study. He needed to think carefully about what to do with his sons and Brenda.
Betty watched Paul leave, feeling aggrieved. She knew her sons were close to Brenda, but she didn't know they interacted like this in private.
She looked at her three sons and said, "Brenda is still young and doesn't understand. But you are her brothers; how can you be so intimate with her?"
She emphasized, "When Brenda comes back, no more hugging or kissing her."
Enrique was still defiant. Why couldn't they be close and affectionate with Brenda?
Just as he was about to retort, Loren stopped him. Loren looked at Betty and said, "Mom, we understand."
Their parents were old and couldn't accept such intimacy. They would continue to be close to Brenda in private, just not as careless as Kevin.
Seeing the defiance on Enrique's face and Loren's dismissive attitude, Betty felt a sense of unspeakable resentment towards Brenda for the first time.
How could a girl be so unself-respecting, being so intimate with her brothers?
Elizabeth was not like that; she always kept her distance from men, even her own brothers.
Thinking this way, she sighed.
Apart from Elizabeth trying to take Brenda's identity and things, in other aspects, Elizabeth, her biological daughter, was indeed more worry-free.
"Handle this quickly and keep it quiet," she told Loren and Richard. "If people in our circles find out, we'll be a laughingstock."
The two nodded. "Got it!"
Feeling exhausted, Betty got up and went to her room to rest.
Loren and Richard both took out their phones and started making calls non-stop. One arranged for the headlines to be taken down, while the other hired netizens to release news about other celebrities to divert attention.
After making the calls, both felt drained.
They also regretted letting Kevin take Brenda on this show.
Since joining the show, bad things kept happening, and they had to clean up the mess.
The matter had nothing to do with Elizabeth, and both blamed Kevin for being too careless.
However, things didn’t go as planned.
Just as their video and headline topics were taken down, new videos and renamed topics quickly emerged and made it to the top again.
Even the news about another celebrity didn't completely steal the spotlight.
Because of the intimate video of Kevin and Brenda, online discussions about who the real siblings were became even more heated.
In the yard, after Brenda finished speaking, the assistant director, along with the cameraman, knocked on the doors of the other guests' rooms and interviewed them.
Everyone briefly shared their feelings, making Brenda's earlier lengthy speech seem too deliberate.
After asking each guest about their feelings, the production team once again turned off the live stream and left the yard.
Seeing the live stream turn off, Richard couldn't hold back and called Kevin to scold him.
Kevin, feeling very wronged and aggrieved, didn't understand why he was being blamed.
Brenda, feeling scared, had sought him out for comfort.
They usually comforted and interacted with Brenda this way, and Brenda liked being soothed like this.
How was he supposed to know the production team would do a surprise live stream?
Richard and the others blamed it all on him, which made him very angry.
The two argued over the phone and ended the call on bad terms.
Richard watched the online public opinion spiral out of control, feeling equally furious.
His plan for Kevin to take Brenda on this variety show was to solidify Brenda's kind-hearted image and make her a sensation.
He had planned to continuously arrange good resources for her, aiming for her to reach the top of the entertainment industry next year.
However, things didn't go as planned.
Not only didn’t Brenda become popular, but she was also overshadowed by Elizabeth, and her reputation took a significant hit.
For a moment, he didn't know how to resolve this issue.
Sitting in the study, thinking for half the night, he suddenly came up with an idea.
Then he called Kevin.
Kevin, tossing and turning, couldn't sleep and answered the phone when it rang, "So late, Richard, what do you want?"
Richard was concise. "I need to discuss something with Eugene. Pass the phone to him."
Kevin, feeling perplexed, wondered why Richard wanted to speak with Eugene in the middle of the night.
However, he refrained from probing further and called out to Eugene.
Eugene, already roused by the phone, inquired, "What's going on?"
Kevin handed him the phone. "Richard wants to speak with you."
Unaware of the earlier incident involving Kevin and Brenda's live-streamed hug, Eugene, feeling puzzled, accepted the phone and asked, "It's late. What's going on?"
Richard explained the earlier incident and the online escalation, "Now there's only one way to divert everyone's attention."
Eugene frowned and asked, "What way?"
Richard calling him so late made him suspect the solution involved him.
Sure enough, Richard quickly said, "Expose your relationship with Elizabeth."
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