[48]
Leonel desired a resolution with Chloe tonight, whatever it may be. But it turns out it was all just a fantasy in Leonel’s mind. He had lost. And even more painful was that Chloe completely closed herself off, not wanting a trace of Leonel’s presence in her life. Whatever he said was no longer acknowledged by his wife. Instead, all he received was the slamming of a bedroom door.
Leonel initially wanted to spend the evening with a reasonably romantic dinner. He had never taken Chloe to a friendly and well-known place in terms of its food. Moreover, Chloe dressed appropriately for a candlelit dinner amidst the delicious food. But many things made him emotional. They made Leonel half-crazy, trying to restrain his anger, and now he regretted listening to every word Chloe uttered.
Everything was a mess.
On top of that, the situation at the party became even more complicated. Leonel turned his car around to head back home. Everything he had planned to do with Chloe vanished into thin air, especially since Chris’s phone call came in. He couldn’t calm down so quickly, either.
“Where is Chloe?” Agatha asked with a stiff and stern expression. Agatha couldn’t hide her anger since she got into her husband’s car and asked the driver to step on the gas a little. It was all because of Leonel. She wasn’t blind to what was happening. How could her son act so recklessly? Goodness! Instead of getting closer, they were again hindered by the news that furrowed her brow.
She felt like throwing her phone out the window!
The public wondered if the harmony of Leonel Grisham’s household was faltering because his wife was experiencing semi-blindness.
There were rumors that a prominent entrepreneur was seducing the beautiful model Ester Gisela. It was suspected that the entrepreneur’s wife was experiencing blindness.
Evidence that Ester was trapped and intimidated by a famous businessman in the USA.
A party that turned into a heated debate took place tonight.
All the news on online news portals seemed like roasted peanuts that kept pushing Leonel to the surface with a negative label, along with photos that captured the angles. Agatha didn’t know what to say anymore after seeing everything reported. Even Chris himself couldn’t produce the facts of what happened while Leonel was in Cattle Village.
Everything pointed to one thing: Leonel seduced Ester and threatened her, putting Ester in an innocent position. It also made Chloe a second victim, the abandoned wife who became disabled for another woman who was even more beautiful.
“Mama,” Leonel immediately stood up from his seat. His shirt was unbuttoned, and his blazer was somewhere he didn’t know. Leonel’s face had a sense of relief, but he also looked a little confused as his mother stared at him cynically. “None of that is true.”
Agatha didn’t believe it right away. Robby, who was behind Agatha, felt the same way. His expression couldn’t be relaxed anymore as he waited for an explanation from Leonel.Copyright by Nôv/elDrama.Org.
“I truly didn’t know that Ester was in Cattle Village. Do you remember when you assigned me to Cattle Village for the Jana Group? I haven’t been in contact with Ester either. And I made decisions there, Dad, Mom,” Leonel explained. He had to explain everything to his mother and father.
He would tell Chris tomorrow. They had a scheduled meeting before starting their usual work at the office. Deborah had to know that Leonel might not go to the office to resolve these simultaneous problems if necessary. Somehow, everything was falling apart, disrupting what he had planned.
“But why is everything pointing at you?”
“I don’t know, Dad,” Leonel said frustrated. “I met Jana under good circumstances. Everything went smoothly, without any problems. I even attached the drafts that Mountain and Jana made, right? Everything was fine, right?”
Robby glanced briefly at his wife, then looked back at Leonel with a deep sigh. “They canceled the partnership.”
“What?!”
“They all withdrew from the newly formed partnership contract. Paying the penalty doesn’t matter to them. They asked for the cancellation amount, but I didn’t give it to them. You have to lobby them again; this time, it will be much more difficult, Leonel.”
“Yes, sir. But regarding all the things being reported, they’re completely untrue.”
Agatha sighed softly. “I want to believe in you, Leonel, but your behavior at the party proved your arrogance even further.” Agatha massaged her temple. “Luckily, the Layson Group, especially Mr. Josh, didn’t demand compensation. They even want to help because of all the news about you, Leonel.”
“Is that true?” Leonel looked at his mother, confused and surprised. Could the bespectacled man offer his assistance? Especially since they had just started working together. If someone else had offered help, Leonel might have been suspicious.
“You, this,” Agatha almost slapped her son’s shoulder quite hard. “All the help you need must be used wisely. All eyes are on you, and the public’s opinion of your credibility is at stake, Leonel!”
The man took a long breath. “Mother is right.” He couldn’t deny that. “Tomorrow, after meeting with Chris, I will meet with Josh. At least I will apologize directly because I was truly overwhelmed with emotions seeing Josh’s closeness to Chloe, Mom.”
“However you handle this situation, just remember that Ester is involved.”
Leonel fell silent. His father’s words reminded him of the sudden reappearance of foreign journalists’ questions. Almost everything pointed to the incident in Cattle Village that had suddenly spread widely.
“Ester is no longer just an ordinary model, right? Her profile has risen to prove she deserves to be here. But once again, Papa disapproves of her being here.”
“For a long time, Leonel, you’ve been curious about what’s going on with Ester, right? She’s the same, isn’t she? Just an ordinary woman who can adapt to Grisham?”
“There’s no need to discuss Ester, Leonel,” Agatha intervened. “Now, the focus should be on the chaos already occurring. Tell Mama what happened in Cattle Village. Maybe there’s someone we can ask for help to turn the situation around.”
***
The man clasped his hands on the table, resting on his elbows, where his interlaced fingers formed a neat connection. His eyes were satisfied as he stared at the phone lying there. There were four phones, each displaying different headlines of the critical news he had requested to be released. Creating chaos was so easy for him. Just a flick of his finger, and everything happened.
He only had to wait for the downfall of Leonel Grisham.
Not to mention the photos of himself being hit, which had already spread widely and garnered a lot of responses from the public; perhaps out there, the name Leonel Grisham was just a CEO of Mountain Pte, but in the eyes of other business people, Leonel’s credibility had plummeted to the bottom of the abyss. Emir reported that at least five newly established partnerships with Soho had been canceled immediately due to tonight’s events.
Not to mention the issue with the beautiful model he used as a pawn for Josh’s move toward his goal of taking Chloe without dirtying his hands. No, he wouldn’t let Ester suffer because of the spreading news. He also ensured Ester’s safety in his apartment because it was not impossible that other parties were pro-Leonel, digging for information from Ester.
He smiled with satisfaction. He leaned back comfortably in his oversized chair. The corner of his lip felt sore from Leonel’s punch, but it was all worth the fantastic price.
“Chloe, wait for me a little longer.”
Meanwhile, Emir, who had just finished receiving and summarizing all the information he needed to let his boss know what had transpired, knocked on the glass door with the name Josh had written on it. “Sir,” he called.
“Yes,” Josh immediately straightened his back. “Are you finished?”
“Yes, sir. Everything is following your wishes.”
Josh’s smile widened. “Now it’s time for us to rest, Emir.”
Emir, the assistant, could only nod and give an order to the personal driver from Josh William. “Sir, your car will be ready in ten minutes.”
“And you too, Emir. Prepare for some rest. If necessary, you don’t have to come to the office tomorrow.”
“But, sir,” Emir was at a loss for words due to his confusion about his boss’s peculiar request.
“Do you have anything to do besides monitoring the news and spreading this scandal?”
“No,” Emir replied firmly. “I believe everything can be monitored online.”
“Is there an important meeting tomorrow?”
“Mountain Pte wants to confirm, after Mrs. Agatha called, that Leonel Grisham wants to meet with you, sir.”
“So what should we do?” Josh asked, taking off his glasses. A smirk appeared on his face, where there were numerous question marks and a mysterious demeanor. It made Emir slightly shudder and feel a bit hesitant towards his boss’s behavior.
“Prepare the golf area. I don’t want to be disturbed tomorrow.”
“But I confirmed that Mr. Leonel can meet with you. I checked your schedule, and there are no meetings, and I just found out that you wanted to rest tomorrow.”
Josh smiled widely. “It’s fine. It’s your task to adjust my schedule, after all. But for tomorrow, I don’t want to meet anyone except Ester.” He stood up, grabbing his expensive blazer. “Let Leonel know what it feels like to beg for forgiveness and what I promised Agatha Theodore? Help? Ah… I will give that to the kind-hearted woman. But for Leonel, I’ll make him like a dog, sticking out his tongue and begging me. I’ll make him completely helpless except for his mother’s help.”
Emir was stunned.
“That’s how I work, Emir.” He gently patted his assistant’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s go home.”
On the other side, Ester, who had just gotten out of the bathtub and was feeling a bit frustrated with Leonel’s behavior at the party, was quite surprised to find Sofi still not home. She had been soaking for almost two hours.
“What are you still doing here?” Ester asked, grabbing one of the water bottles on the table. “It’s late. You should rest.”
“I’m here, Miss. I’ll keep you company.”
“What’s the matter?” Ester wondered because it was unusual for Sofi to stay. Usually, they had to leave before five in the morning, and Sofi would go back to her boarding house. This time, it seemed that she insisted on staying. Exhausted from attending a party that had made her mind complicated, Ester chose not to dwell on it too much. She just wanted to know the reason.
“Uh… there are many news circulating about you.”
“It’s normal,” Ester scoffed, finishing her bottle. “I’m going to sleep. It’s up to you whether you want to sleep on the sofa or in the next room. I don’t mind. You know where I keep my unused clothes.”
“It seems like we’ll have to cancel the photo shoot anywhere tomorrow as well.”
Ester’s brow furrowed, and her steps toward her room halted. “What do you mean, Sofi?”
“You should read this news. But don’t be influenced and don’t say anything without an official press conference from the production house.”