Chapter 103
The interview that was supposed to resolve the issue only made things worse.
"Oh no, Ma'am, you have to see this," Katrina exclaimed, showing the latest online news.
Lily took the tablet and saw the extent of the damage caused by the interview.
"What are we going to do now, Ma'am?" Katrina asked, clearly worried about how they would manage this crisis.
Lily watched as the stock value plummeted; their company's shares were now nearly worthless. It was clear that their business rivals had been waiting for an opportunity to strike, and the situation with Ariana provided them with the perfect chance to do so.
Everyone had seen the interview, and her grandfather immediately reached out to his old contacts to see what could be done.
Alexander had watched the interview too but remained calm.
"Did you see the interview?" James asked as he entered Alexander's office. He had left his company and rushed over when he saw how bad things had become.
"The whole idea of the interview backfired. Now that Lily couldn't contain it, are you going to proceed with the plan you had in mind?"
Alexander looked at him calmly. "Did you get the information I asked for?"
"Yes."
"Where is the file?"
"I didn't bring it since everything she said about being in a coma was true; it’s the same information we already had."
"What about her claim of amnesia?"
"I'm having that investigated."
"And what about details on the hospital where she was during the coma, as well as what she's been doing since she woke up two years ago?" Alexander asked.
James scratched his head. "I'll get on it."
Alexander frowned. "Be quick about it before I lose my patience."
James sighed. "Damn it, today’s Sunday. We should all be with our families, not running around trying to clean up this mess," he ranted.
Alexander just stared at him calmly from his executive chair, showing no signs of the crisis they were facing.
Seeing this, James sighed in frustration. "I’m sure you’ve got everything under control; otherwise, why are you so calm?"
"My wife will take care of this. By tomorrow morning, it’ll be like none of this ever happened," Alexander said confidently.
"Haven’t you seen the current state of your company? The interview made everything worse."
Alexander didn’t respond, just stared at him. "She said she would handle it, and she will. So shut up before I kick you out of my office."
James knew better than to argue further and immediately fell silent. If Alexander trusted Lily to resolve the situation, then she would.
Ariana smiled as she read the news, knowing her words had exacerbated the situation. Now she would wait and see if Alexander wouldn't come to her and what Lily would do since she had done the interview.
Lily stood outside Ariana’s hospital room. The hospital staff had informed her that Miss Martins was well enough to go home, but she had chosen to stay.
Lily considered confronting her about the interview but decided it was best to leave. What was done was done; now it was time to initiate Plan B.
She walked out of the hospital and received a call from Sarah.
"Hello, Sarah."
"Lily, how are you holding up?"
"I’m okay."
"With everything happening, I know you’re not fine."
"I’m fine, trust me. I’ve faced worse, remember?"
Sarah sighed. "I know, but this time it’s affecting the company. Ariana is up to no good; you should steer clear of her."
"I’ll be fine."
"We’ll talk later. Bye, Lily."
"Bye, Sarah."
Sarah ended the call and turned to Anthony with a frown. "You have a lot of connections; can’t you do something?"
"I’m sure Alexander and Lily have it under control. This is just a minor setback for them," Anthony replied, working on his laptop.
Sarah frowned, walked over, and took the laptop from him.
"Not now, woman," Anthony said, annoyed.
"I’ll give it back only if you agree to dig deeper into that woman called Ariana. I’m sure she hasn’t lost her memory like she claims and has approached Lily with a plan. As their close friends, we should help them out. I have a bad feeling she’s going to be trouble."
"Fine, I’ll investigate her. Now, can I get my laptop back?"
Sarah was about to hand it over but hesitated.
"What now?" he asked, frowning.
"Me or the laptop?"
"Why are you being childish, Sarah?" Anthony sighed, feeling a headache coming on.
"I’m childish?" she asked, getting emotional.
Seeing her teary eyes made him regret his words. Anthony stood up and approached her. "I’m sorry, my love, that was a slip of the tongue. Of course, you’re not childish, and I will always choose you over anything," he said, trying to comfort her.
He always forgot that her mood swings were part of her pregnancy.
After leaving the hospital, Lily went to the Kane family residence to pick up Viola.
"Mummy!" Viola rushed to her mother as she entered the living room.
Lily picked her up and hugged her tightly. "My baby is getting so heavy."
"I missed you, Mummy," she said, kissing her mother's cheek.
"I missed you too, my little princess," Lily said, feeling happy to see her daughter and kissing her forehead.
After they both had dinner with Grandma Helen, as Sandra was not around, they returned home.
After making sure Viola had taken her bath and was asleep, Lily got ready and left the house again around 8 p.m.
She went to the other side of the city to see Jacob. Jacob had a secret hideout where they conducted some of their underground activities.
She passed through several security checkpoints before taking the elevator to the underground.
"Lily, you’re here."
"Yes, and I need your help, Jacob," Lily said, wasting no time. If they waited any longer, things could get worse.
Jacob knew what she meant and immediately nodded.
The following morning, every negative story about the Kanes and Blake vanished from the internet as if they had never existed.
Ariana searched through various online pages but couldn’t find any of the news from the previous day. Everything had completely disappeared, including videos from her interview. All the groups her newly formed fans had created also vanished, as did the anti-Kane groups.
What shocked Ariana even more was that no one was talking about it anymore.
She was further stunned when she saw that the stock prices of Kane Corporation and Blake Enterprises had returned to normal after news of their substantial philanthropic efforts was posted.
The only news now online was about their charitable activities in the country.
Ariana felt weak, unable to believe what had happened. It was as if she had woken up from a dream, like everything had been a nightmare.
She didn’t know how it had been done, but she was certain it was Lily’s doing. Alexander preferred more aggressive tactics.
She had severely underestimated Lily.
"You may be tough, Lily, but I will break you, no matter what," she said, gritting her teeth.
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