CHAPTER 147: CHAPTER 147: CLARIFICATION

"Have you not handled what I asked you to?" Julian Hawthorne’s expression was cold, starkly different from his usual gentle demeanor.

"Young Master, the previous trending topics were removed, but just as we took them down, someone immediately spent a fortune to put those rumors back up again..."

Julian’s voice was chilling, as if filled with ice shards: "Then keep removing them, delete all related content, and find out who is behind the leaks."

"Alright, Young Master, I’ll deal with it right away." The man, drenched in cold sweat, hurriedly left.

The study was shrouded in a freezing gloom on Julian Hawthorne’s face.

He returned to Ardendale today and had just landed when he received a call from his friend Ian Kane, informing him of his and Clara Sterling’s trending topic.

He checked X and immediately called Clara to calm her emotions, while also instructing his people to handle the situation.

His team quickly pulled down the trending topics and deleted the unsavory comments online.

However, soon thereafter, a slew of marketing accounts surged back, propelling those rumors to trending status once more.

Who is behind this manipulation...

Thea Tate?

Isaac Sutton?

One of Silas Sheffield’s rivals, or those illegitimate siblings from the Hawthorne family?

These rumors came fiercely, not only targeting Clara and Silas but even exposing his own identity.

Clearly, the mastermind has formidable influence.

Everyone he suspected had a motive.

Who could it be...

Silas Sheffield was on a business trip to Arctica and, after a long flight of over ten hours, the plane landed in Morena.

Local time was 9:30 am, and Beijing time was 9:30 pm, with a twelve-hour time difference.

This business trip was to attend a significant multinational commercial cooperation meeting and discuss a major project with partners here, and he would be staying in Arctica for a week.

Disembarking the plane, Silas Sheffield turned on his phone, seeing numerous missed calls from Clara Sterling, Grandma, Sophie Sheffield, and several company executives.

Neither Grandma nor Sophie was aware of this trip, but Clara knew.

His flight was at 9 am, and he had set off for the airport at 7 am.

Ms. Cheney had been arranged to care for Yvonne Sterling, ensuring their marital life at Prospect Hill Villa was undisturbed by outsiders.

Before leaving, he worried that Clara would be hungry upon waking, so he prepared breakfast for her and left a note on the table, informing her of his business trip to Arctica.

His schedule was packed, attending video conferences en route to the airport and handling emails while waiting for departure.

Before boarding, he glanced at his phone, seeing no message from Clara, thinking she was likely still asleep.

He refrained from calling her to avoid disturbing her sleep.

During the twelve-hour flight, Silas Sheffield briefly lost contact as his phone was off.

Now, upon opening WhatsApp, he saw a message from his pinned contact "Wife," and abruptly stopped in his tracks.

[I can explain, there’s nothing between me and Julian Hawthorne.]

Upon reading, a veil of gloom dispelled in the man’s heart, fatigue lifting, replaced by a smile.

Last night, he received photos from an unknown number.

In the pictures, his wife and Julian Hawthorne were sitting face-to-face at a cafe, seemingly engaged in pleasant conversation.

The angle clearly captured the expression on Julian Hawthorne’s face, showing tenderness and affection.

Being a man himself, Silas understood exactly what such a gaze meant.

Julian Hawthorne had feelings for his wife.

Even though he had publicly declared their relationship, kissing in front of Julian, it seemed Julian still hadn’t given up.

Upon returning home last night, his mood was sullen, and he uncharacteristically smoked.

Since Clara disliked the smell of smoke, he usually refrained.

The last time he smoked was shortly after Clara had arrived in Veridian, the night Isaac Sutton found and met her.

Last night, he waited at home for her to return, smoking one cigarette after another, the waiting was an ordeal.

A knot of resentment festered inside him, and his chest felt stifled.

Typically calm and rational, not much could affect his emotions except Clara.

Anything related to Clara, even the smallest matter, could easily sway his feelings.

Julian’s affections for Clara were overt, and on 520 at the restaurant, had Silas not happened upon them, Julian would have confessed to Clara.

He waited a long time before she finally returned home.

He asked where she had been.

She only said she had been out for coffee with a friend.

A friend, huh.

He didn’t further inquire about which friend.

She didn’t want to say, and he wouldn’t force her, avoiding awkwardness.

Last night, he vented his anger and jealousy onto her, grasping her waist, taking her again and again.

How could he bear to blame her?

No matter how upset he felt inside, he’d only punish her in that way.

He thought this matter was over, not expecting Clara to voluntarily explain.

It seemed she understood; honesty and trust were most important between husband and wife.

His mood lifted greatly, replying: [I believe you.]

"President Sheffield, something’s gone wrong!" Zachary Lynch suddenly spoke beside him.

"What is it?"

Zachary, nervous and cautious, said, "President Sheffield, rumors about Madam and President Hawthorne have spread online, even exposing President Hawthorne’s identity as the fourth young master of the Hawthorne family in Ardendale, and..."

Silas Sheffield seldom uses X, not wasting time and energy on trending topics and news unrelated to him.

Upon turning on his phone, he first checked Clara’s message, replied to her without reading others, thus unaware of the rumors online.

"What else?" Silas Sheffield frowned.

Zachary had just opened his phone, seeing notifications automatically pushed from X.

Entering, he saw photos of the president’s wife and Julian Hawthorne, his heart palpitating, followed by online claims that the president and his wife were divorcing, feeling as if the sky was collapsing.

Faced with such a major issue, why hadn’t Sheffield’s public relations refuted yet?

Why hadn’t they handled the trending topics?

Prompted by Zachary, Silas opened X.

Seeing the trending topics, his recently relaxed expression instantly hardened.

He immediately called the public relations manager at Sheffield Group’s headquarters.

"With such a major issue, how dare you ignore it?" Silas Sheffield’s voice was wrapped in layers of ice.

Across vast distances, the manager from the PR department could feel the bone-chilling aura from the president, cautiously replying: "President, without your instructions, we dare not make decisions on our own..."

"Didn’t you know I was on a business trip?"

"I knew..."

"Go to the HR department tomorrow and follow the procedure." Silas’s tone was cold, permitting no refusal.

The public relations manager thus was dismissed.

Immediately, Silas Sheffield registered on X and personally issued a clarification statement.

[My relationship with my wife is excellent, never having considered divorce. She reported in advance about meeting Mr. Hawthorne; they’re just ordinary friends. Anyone maliciously speculating and spreading falsehoods will face legal consequences.]