The Billionaire Who Saved Me - Chapter 27: Chapter 27

Elena stepped protectively in front of me, her hands trembling with rage. "You shameless old hag! Have you got no dignity left? Oliver, that ungrateful bastard, killed his wife and embezzled public funds, and you still dare to stand here and throw insults?"
Amelia shot back with a snarl, "And who the hell are you? Get out of the way. I want to see Katherine. This is all her fault. If it weren't for that wretched woman trying to bleed us dry, my son would never have had to embezzle money."
Her unreasonable logic actually drew a wave of laughter from the onlookers.
Everyone in the company knew Oliver's corruption wasn't some spur-of-the-moment thing—it had been going on for ages. And now his mother was trying to pin his crimes on me.
Elena was so furious that she couldn't even speak anymore. I could tell she was seconds away from launching a full-on attack at Amelia. I gently patted Elena on the shoulder and stepped forward to ask Amelia, "What do you want me to do?"
Amelia's eyes lit up like a gambler seeing a winning hand. "You're rich, right? Pay back the money for my son, and I promise I won't give you any more trouble. We'll stay out of each other's way from now on. What do you say?"
I grinned, "Oh yes, I am rich. But what does my money have to do with your family?"
The laughter around us was even louder.
"Bitch, are you playing with me?" Amelia had been clinging to a sliver of hope—but now, hearing my words, she flew into a rage. "You set my son up. If you don't bail him out, I'll come here every day and make your life hell."
She launched into her full methods—screaming, wailing, and threatening. Clearly, she thought this display would pressure me into giving in.
"Have you called the police yet?" I asked the security guard. I knew there was no reasoning with Amelia. She had mastered the art of shamelessness long ago.
Before the guard could answer, Amelia smirked and cut in, "The police let me go. I'm too old to be convicted." She placed her hands on her hips with a smug look, as if saying I could do nothing to her.
"Oh, is that so?" I replied coolly. "If they don't convict you, that's fine. I'll just push harder on Oliver's charges.
"Every time you show up here, I'll have my lawyers add another criminal count to his case. Let's see if we can't get him the death penalty. Want to test me?"
Amelia's smugness vanished in an instant. She bowed deeply and said in a trembling voice, "I'm sorry, Ms. Gordon. I was wrong. I'm begging you, have mercy on my son. I won't bother you again. I swear it."
Her ability to grovel when the situation turned was... honestly, impressive.
"Oh? You're not coming again? Why not? Go ahead. I don't mind." I kept challenging her.
She replied, "No, I won't come again. I'm leaving right now."
And just like that, she scurried off, nearly tripping over herself in her hurry, like she feared I might change my mind at the last second.
The whole spectacle ended just as abruptly as it had begun. She arrived full of righteous fury and left in total disgrace. Once Amelia had disappeared down the street, the employees finally dared to gather around. They started laughing and mocking Amelia's outrageous behavior.
I stood there, smiling, nodding, accepting their praise politely, but none of it touched me.
These people had all stood back and watched while things unfolded. Now, whatever they said was meaningless. I didn't have time for shallow flattery.
My mind was too focused on something else—the quick glimpse I had caught of Jennifer disappearing around the corner of the building during the chaos.
Once I got back to my office with Elena, my pleasant expression dropped. I hadn't even made my move yet, and Jennifer was already playing dirty again and again.
If anyone believed Amelia had shown up today without Jennifer's prompting, they were fools.
Jennifer knew Amelia couldn't possibly get the upper hand against me, yet she still sent Amelia here to cause trouble. She just wanted to divert my attention so I wouldn't keep pressing Xander.
She really thought I'd ignore her lame tricks forever? Now, the warm-up was over. I'd take the game seriously.
I told Elena to guard the door and let no one in. Then I went online and contacted a group of hired internet trolls. I leaked the scandalous relationship between Jennifer and Xander, offering generous compensation in exchange for blowing the whole thing wide open.
It didn't matter if the method was old or new. As long as it worked, it was good enough.
Clearly, this one still worked like a charm. The same tactic had helped land Oliver in prison, with the internet trolls playing a major role.
I didn't even feed them rumors. Everything I handed over was true. They got paid and earned exposure, so they were highly motivated. Within a day, the scandal had exploded online.
The next morning, when I arrived at the office, Xander was nowhere to be seen. I feigned surprise and casually asked Evan if he knew where Xander was. He stammered and dodged the question, clearly being cautious around me.
I didn't mind. I just smiled and asked him to inform me the moment Xander showed up—I had something to report.
But Xander never came back.
Later that morning, I sent Elena out on a fact-finding mission. With her outgoing personality, she had already struck up a good rapport with a few of the girls in the general office, even though she'd only just started.
And the general office was basically the gossip headquarters of the company. Nine times out of ten, any juicy news leaked out from there.
Elena was gone all morning, and when she returned, it was already lunchtime.
One look at the gleam in her eyes, and I knew she'd found something big.
As I guessed, the moment Elena stepped inside, she hit me with a bombshell. "Xander's wife, Thea, went to Oliver's place and beat up the mistress so badly that she lost the baby."
I'd expected a strong reaction to the scandal, but I hadn't seen this coming. Jennifer had already been about five months pregnant. For the pregnancy to be forcefully terminated, the scene must've been absolutely brutal.
I said to Elena, "Take your time."
Elena's cheeks were flushed pink, and she was still caught in the excitement of juicy gossip. I poured her a glass of water. She took it gratefully and downed it in one go. Then, realizing her own behavior, she stood up, looking slightly flustered.
"Sit and tell me everything." I grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the sofa, mimicking the same motions we used to do back in school.
There was a flicker in Elena's eyes—nostalgia, maybe. She stared at me intently, then suddenly reached for my hand and held it tightly. She asked, "Why do you feel so familiar to me?"
Then she leaned in and scrutinized my face like she might peel off a mask to see if I was someone else underneath.
I was keen to tell her right then that I was Madeline, her childhood best friend, but I couldn't.
It wasn't time to reveal my identity. The fewer people who knew, the safer I would be.
I urged, "Enough staring. Get on with it. Tell me what happened."
"Oh, right." Elena blinked back to focus and then launched into the story.
It turned out that the post exposing Jennifer's pregnancy and revealing that Xander was the baby's father was spotted online by Thea's niece, Heather.
Heather had met Jennifer before. She'd always found that live-in maid suspicious, always fluttering her lashes and flirting with Xander whenever Thea wasn't around. Heather warned Thea about it, but Thea scolded her, saying she was overthinking things, that Jennifer would never dare.
Thea hadn't believed her, so Heather had to let it go, until she saw that post online yesterday. She rushed to show it to Thea immediately.
Whoever wrote the post had serious skills. Every detail was meticulously laid out—time, place, and descriptions. The story was so vivid that people felt like they were standing in the room watching it unfold.