The Ex Who Became His Obsession - Chapter 47: Chapter 47
You are reading The Ex Who Became His Obsession, Chapter 47: Chapter 47. Read more chapters of The Ex Who Became His Obsession.
The thick envelope was stuffed with cash. Alyssia was stunned, turning to look at Charlie with disbelief.
"Here's your bonus for this month," Charlie said, slowly turning the wheel as he drove out of the garage.
Alyssia couldn't believe her ears. "But Charlie, our department just had its bonuses cut."
And Charlie was the one who cut the bonuses.
"This is yours," Charlie said, glancing at her. His gentle smile seemed to warm the very air inside the car. "I can't just let my reporter chase exclusives and pay out of her own pockets for everything.
"At least, like that 150 dollars you gave the cleaning lady—"
Before Charlie could finish, Alyssia had already pulled out 150 dollars and thrust the rest back at him.
"Alright, I'll take this as my compensation," she said.
If this money had come from Vanguard Media, Alyssia would have taken it. But she knew this was from Charlie personally.
As if reading Alyssia's mind, Charlie tossed the envelope back into her lap. "Didn't you see? There's a form inside that needs your signature. I still have to submit it to accounting."
Alyssia reopened the envelope and, sure enough, found a bonus receipt form inside. 'Got it. Well then, it would be improper to refuse,' she wondered.
"To be honest, I already scored a hefty payout by selling the footage to the Sour Lemon Studios," Alyssia admitted, a little sheepishly.
Sour Lemon Studios was small but paid big. They needed to catapult themselves to fame, while Alyssia needed someone to break the story immediately. It was a match made in heaven.
Charlie let out a soft chuckle. "You earned this. The only thing Vanguard Media did for you in this whole mess was hand you a camera. But honestly, we owe you way more than that."
'Making Bright Orange Media apologize to Vanguard Media? Hah. Who would have dared to even dream of such a thing before?' he wondered.
No veteran of Vanguard Media could ever forget the sheer arrogance and brazenness Bright Orange Media displayed during Vanguard Media's crisis years ago.
This remained a deep scar in the hearts of many Vanguard Media veterans. Now, Alyssia had finally given them the sweet taste of revenge.
What Charlie actually wanted to say was, honestly, Vanguard Media didn't even deserve someone as brilliant as Alyssia.
While waiting for the interview, Alyssia casually took a camera from her bag and tucked it into the gap between the sofa's armrest and cushion.
From that angle, if Archer sat beside her, his profile would be perfectly captured by the camera.
Every compromising act and incriminating word exchanged between Archer and his female assistant on that sofa was captured exactly this way.
In fact, Alyssia hadn't initially planned to capture any private details about Archer. But it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, Alyssia had already uncovered Archer's connection to Milena.
Later, in her rush to get away, Alyssia only managed to grab her phone and voice recorder, completely forgetting about the hidden camera.
After Archer checked out, Alyssia used the excuse of shopping with Beatrice as cover to return to the hotel, where she slipped the cleaning lady 150 dollars and quietly retrieved the hidden camera.
So when the cleaning lady testified as a witness about Alyssia's actions, Alyssia made no move to correct the timeline discrepancy.
Alyssia didn't need to. If everything Archer said was proven false, no one would even care about the cleaning lady's words.
The cleaning lady testified that Alyssia gave her 150 dollars so she let her in, which meant Bright Orange Media or Archer might just offer her even more to fabricate testimony.
Alyssia didn't want anyone to know she'd hidden a camera. After all, as a journalist, planting surveillance equipment before an interview would inevitably raise questions about her professional ethics.
She didn't want to get into another argument with Archer's financial backers, explaining her suspicions about his collusion with Milena. And it was unnecessary.
Alyssia always focused on the big picture, never sweating the small stuff. She knew exactly what the audience wanted. All she had to do was show it to them, and they'd be satisfied. They'd worship her like a god.
Actually, whether it was Vanguard Media or Bright Orange Media, if they just stopped and thought for a second, they could easily guess that Alyssia was the one who provided the video Sour Lemon Studios released to the public.
And she even did the editing herself.
Alyssia claimed she had no more leverage left and couldn't fix the situation, but there was never an innocent, naive reporter.
'Do they really think I graduated from Ravendale University by riding on Charlie's coattails? Dream on,' she wondered.
Even now that they had figured everything out, all they could do was bite their tongues. They were in no position to say anything publicly.
Archer was red-hot at his peak, but once his star faded, no one would even remember him a few days later.
No one in the media was going to keep hounding a washed-up celebrity or rehashing some old scandal. What they craved was novelty.
Fresh events, fresh reports, fresh concoctions, and even fresh conspiracies were the most important.
Charlie asked, "Do you know who masterminded all this?"
Alyssia nodded.
Charlie left it at that.
Charlie had stayed on the sidelines throughout this incident for one simple reason. He knew that for Alyssia, this minor challenge was just a warm-up.
"Getting Archer put behind bars would be easy," Charlie continued, "but he'll probably keep his mouth shut."
"Yeah, it'd be weirder if he did talk," Alyssia said, unfazed. "I never planned to use him to get to Milena anyway."
Alyssia gazed out the car window at the city, where dazzling lights bloomed and crowds wove through the illuminated streets.
'It's such a beautiful world. Why not just enjoy it?' Alyssia thought to herself. 'Why dwell on what can never be reclaimed?'
Alyssia smiled at Charlie and said, "Relax, Charlie. That's not my thing."
Alyssia wouldn't bother taking the evidence against Milena to Leonard, nor would she waste her time trying to explain herself to him, begging him to believe her. She didn't need to.
Her eyes sparkled like gemstones, radiating an incomparable beauty. Overcome by impulse, Charlie reached out and gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Huh?" Alyssia turned her head toward Charlie.
Charlie immediately snatched his hand back, his gaze darting awkwardly to the road. "Uh, just saw a stray hair on your shoulder," he mumbled.
He quietly curled his fingers, savoring the lingering softness of her hair at his fingertips.
Alyssia looked down at her shoulder.
Fearing she might notice his feelings, Charlie quickly changed the subject and asked, "Did you know Bright Orange Media is backed by the Whitaker family?"
Alyssia froze mid-motion. When she looked up, her eyes had taken on a razor-sharp edge. "Why are any of the Whitaker family still breathing?"
Alyssia poured every ounce of malice she had into the Whitaker family, openly and without restraint. The murder of her parents was an unforgivable blood feud.
"Alyssia?" Charlie began, his voice laced with hesitation. "The truth is, you're much safer with the Clairmont family. You know, if Declan ever gets the chance, he won't let you off the hook."
"Of course, he won't let me off," Alyssia scoffed, her eyes glinting with icy resolve. "If he dares, let him try again. Let's see what he'll get from me this time."
Alyssia scoffed, 'He is just a pathetic loser.'
Charlie fell silent, but a faint worry still lingered in his heart.
The feud between the Whitaker family and the Clairmont family had long blurred the lines between right and wrong.
The Whitaker family had orphaned Alyssia, but the Clairmont family nearly wiped out the entire Whitaker family in return.
Seven years ago, Declan Whitaker had just staged a comeback overseas, only for Alyssia to drive him back into hiding.
The family feud had unmistakably carried over to the next generation.
"Alyssia," Charlie said, the words tumbling out before he could stop them. "I know you're fiercely independent. Asking for help just isn't your way—"
Saying those words, Charlie felt his heart practically bleed. He had almost single-handedly molded Alyssia into the independent woman she was today.
"But if you ever find yourself in danger," Charlie said softly, "promise me you'll remember that I'm here for you."
"I will," Alyssia replied, her smile radiating a gentle glow. "I'll never forget you saved my life, Charlie. So I'm sure you wouldn't mind doing it again or a few more times, would you?"
"Let's hope not," Charlie chuckled. He never wanted to see her in harm's way again.
Seven years ago, when Charlie saw Alyssia curled up in the snow, clutching a steel pipe lodged in her abdomen, his heart seemed to shrink into a tiny, aching ball.
Barely conscious, Alyssia's eyes still flickered with hope when she saw Charlie. With trembling hands, she weakly pressed a hard drive into his palm. "Char, hurry. Get this to Leonard."
For the first time since she was ten, she called him Char.
But Charlie knew all too well that there hadn't been a single corner left in Alyssia's heart for him, not for a long time.
"Here's your bonus for this month," Charlie said, slowly turning the wheel as he drove out of the garage.
Alyssia couldn't believe her ears. "But Charlie, our department just had its bonuses cut."
And Charlie was the one who cut the bonuses.
"This is yours," Charlie said, glancing at her. His gentle smile seemed to warm the very air inside the car. "I can't just let my reporter chase exclusives and pay out of her own pockets for everything.
"At least, like that 150 dollars you gave the cleaning lady—"
Before Charlie could finish, Alyssia had already pulled out 150 dollars and thrust the rest back at him.
"Alright, I'll take this as my compensation," she said.
If this money had come from Vanguard Media, Alyssia would have taken it. But she knew this was from Charlie personally.
As if reading Alyssia's mind, Charlie tossed the envelope back into her lap. "Didn't you see? There's a form inside that needs your signature. I still have to submit it to accounting."
Alyssia reopened the envelope and, sure enough, found a bonus receipt form inside. 'Got it. Well then, it would be improper to refuse,' she wondered.
"To be honest, I already scored a hefty payout by selling the footage to the Sour Lemon Studios," Alyssia admitted, a little sheepishly.
Sour Lemon Studios was small but paid big. They needed to catapult themselves to fame, while Alyssia needed someone to break the story immediately. It was a match made in heaven.
Charlie let out a soft chuckle. "You earned this. The only thing Vanguard Media did for you in this whole mess was hand you a camera. But honestly, we owe you way more than that."
'Making Bright Orange Media apologize to Vanguard Media? Hah. Who would have dared to even dream of such a thing before?' he wondered.
No veteran of Vanguard Media could ever forget the sheer arrogance and brazenness Bright Orange Media displayed during Vanguard Media's crisis years ago.
This remained a deep scar in the hearts of many Vanguard Media veterans. Now, Alyssia had finally given them the sweet taste of revenge.
What Charlie actually wanted to say was, honestly, Vanguard Media didn't even deserve someone as brilliant as Alyssia.
While waiting for the interview, Alyssia casually took a camera from her bag and tucked it into the gap between the sofa's armrest and cushion.
From that angle, if Archer sat beside her, his profile would be perfectly captured by the camera.
Every compromising act and incriminating word exchanged between Archer and his female assistant on that sofa was captured exactly this way.
In fact, Alyssia hadn't initially planned to capture any private details about Archer. But it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, Alyssia had already uncovered Archer's connection to Milena.
Later, in her rush to get away, Alyssia only managed to grab her phone and voice recorder, completely forgetting about the hidden camera.
After Archer checked out, Alyssia used the excuse of shopping with Beatrice as cover to return to the hotel, where she slipped the cleaning lady 150 dollars and quietly retrieved the hidden camera.
So when the cleaning lady testified as a witness about Alyssia's actions, Alyssia made no move to correct the timeline discrepancy.
Alyssia didn't need to. If everything Archer said was proven false, no one would even care about the cleaning lady's words.
The cleaning lady testified that Alyssia gave her 150 dollars so she let her in, which meant Bright Orange Media or Archer might just offer her even more to fabricate testimony.
Alyssia didn't want anyone to know she'd hidden a camera. After all, as a journalist, planting surveillance equipment before an interview would inevitably raise questions about her professional ethics.
She didn't want to get into another argument with Archer's financial backers, explaining her suspicions about his collusion with Milena. And it was unnecessary.
Alyssia always focused on the big picture, never sweating the small stuff. She knew exactly what the audience wanted. All she had to do was show it to them, and they'd be satisfied. They'd worship her like a god.
Actually, whether it was Vanguard Media or Bright Orange Media, if they just stopped and thought for a second, they could easily guess that Alyssia was the one who provided the video Sour Lemon Studios released to the public.
And she even did the editing herself.
Alyssia claimed she had no more leverage left and couldn't fix the situation, but there was never an innocent, naive reporter.
'Do they really think I graduated from Ravendale University by riding on Charlie's coattails? Dream on,' she wondered.
Even now that they had figured everything out, all they could do was bite their tongues. They were in no position to say anything publicly.
Archer was red-hot at his peak, but once his star faded, no one would even remember him a few days later.
No one in the media was going to keep hounding a washed-up celebrity or rehashing some old scandal. What they craved was novelty.
Fresh events, fresh reports, fresh concoctions, and even fresh conspiracies were the most important.
Charlie asked, "Do you know who masterminded all this?"
Alyssia nodded.
Charlie left it at that.
Charlie had stayed on the sidelines throughout this incident for one simple reason. He knew that for Alyssia, this minor challenge was just a warm-up.
"Getting Archer put behind bars would be easy," Charlie continued, "but he'll probably keep his mouth shut."
"Yeah, it'd be weirder if he did talk," Alyssia said, unfazed. "I never planned to use him to get to Milena anyway."
Alyssia gazed out the car window at the city, where dazzling lights bloomed and crowds wove through the illuminated streets.
'It's such a beautiful world. Why not just enjoy it?' Alyssia thought to herself. 'Why dwell on what can never be reclaimed?'
Alyssia smiled at Charlie and said, "Relax, Charlie. That's not my thing."
Alyssia wouldn't bother taking the evidence against Milena to Leonard, nor would she waste her time trying to explain herself to him, begging him to believe her. She didn't need to.
Her eyes sparkled like gemstones, radiating an incomparable beauty. Overcome by impulse, Charlie reached out and gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Huh?" Alyssia turned her head toward Charlie.
Charlie immediately snatched his hand back, his gaze darting awkwardly to the road. "Uh, just saw a stray hair on your shoulder," he mumbled.
He quietly curled his fingers, savoring the lingering softness of her hair at his fingertips.
Alyssia looked down at her shoulder.
Fearing she might notice his feelings, Charlie quickly changed the subject and asked, "Did you know Bright Orange Media is backed by the Whitaker family?"
Alyssia froze mid-motion. When she looked up, her eyes had taken on a razor-sharp edge. "Why are any of the Whitaker family still breathing?"
Alyssia poured every ounce of malice she had into the Whitaker family, openly and without restraint. The murder of her parents was an unforgivable blood feud.
"Alyssia?" Charlie began, his voice laced with hesitation. "The truth is, you're much safer with the Clairmont family. You know, if Declan ever gets the chance, he won't let you off the hook."
"Of course, he won't let me off," Alyssia scoffed, her eyes glinting with icy resolve. "If he dares, let him try again. Let's see what he'll get from me this time."
Alyssia scoffed, 'He is just a pathetic loser.'
Charlie fell silent, but a faint worry still lingered in his heart.
The feud between the Whitaker family and the Clairmont family had long blurred the lines between right and wrong.
The Whitaker family had orphaned Alyssia, but the Clairmont family nearly wiped out the entire Whitaker family in return.
Seven years ago, Declan Whitaker had just staged a comeback overseas, only for Alyssia to drive him back into hiding.
The family feud had unmistakably carried over to the next generation.
"Alyssia," Charlie said, the words tumbling out before he could stop them. "I know you're fiercely independent. Asking for help just isn't your way—"
Saying those words, Charlie felt his heart practically bleed. He had almost single-handedly molded Alyssia into the independent woman she was today.
"But if you ever find yourself in danger," Charlie said softly, "promise me you'll remember that I'm here for you."
"I will," Alyssia replied, her smile radiating a gentle glow. "I'll never forget you saved my life, Charlie. So I'm sure you wouldn't mind doing it again or a few more times, would you?"
"Let's hope not," Charlie chuckled. He never wanted to see her in harm's way again.
Seven years ago, when Charlie saw Alyssia curled up in the snow, clutching a steel pipe lodged in her abdomen, his heart seemed to shrink into a tiny, aching ball.
Barely conscious, Alyssia's eyes still flickered with hope when she saw Charlie. With trembling hands, she weakly pressed a hard drive into his palm. "Char, hurry. Get this to Leonard."
For the first time since she was ten, she called him Char.
But Charlie knew all too well that there hadn't been a single corner left in Alyssia's heart for him, not for a long time.
End of The Ex Who Became His Obsession Chapter 47. Continue reading Chapter 48 or return to The Ex Who Became His Obsession book page.