Caspian gave him a thumbs up. “Yes! That’s right! If that’s the case, Alpire Group and S are definitely related to each other. Besides, Alpire Group seems to have been plotting to acquire our company for a long time. I don’t think they’re after us for the money.”
Larry mulled over it for a while before replying, “Exactly, and that was what I worried about the most, but, alas, it’s now confirmed to be true. Anyway, what does S want from us?”
Meanwhile, Nancy was ordering coffee in a café. Her ears immediately perked up the moment she heard two of the servers gossiping about Norton Corporation.
“I wonder what’s the relationship between this guy and Mr. Norton.”
What kind of relationship could they be referring to? Countless questions flashed through Nancy’s mind as she sipped on her coffee, straining her ears to listen more.
“Yeah, it does look suspicious. Look at him—he is even publicly defending Mr. Norton.”
As the servers continued to chatter and giggle at their phones, Nancy could not wait to share what she heard with Joan and rushed back to her seat.
They bumped into each other while on their way to Norton Corporation. Thinking that she had not formally apologized to Joan for locking her out previously, Nancy decided to invite Joan for a coffee together at a café nearby. After all, their previous conflict was not something easy to be resolved.
“Joan, just now I heard the servers gossiping about Larry’s relationship with another guy. I wonder what’s that about.” Nancy eyed the counter, signaling Joan to look at the servers.
Joan could not help but roll her eyes. What relationship? What guy? Brushing aside the rumor, she told Nancy to pay no mind on the silly tittle-tattle. Just when Joan was about to take a sip on her coffee, Nancy sprang up from her seat, pointing at the phone in her hand. “Oh my God!”
“Gosh, Nancy, stop being so jumpy. I’ve had enough of stress at the company these few days. My poor little heart can barely take it anymore,” Joan said, patting her chest.
Nancy continued to stare wide-eyed at her and smiled stiffly, handing her the phone. “Okay, I’ll shut up. Have a look at this yourself.”
In the video, a group of journalists was swarming a man in the middle. Since this clip was taken by one of the onlookers in the jostling crowd, the whole footage was so shaky that it made Joan dizzy.
As the clip went on, the crowd got even denser. As such, Joan could not see the face of the man who was surrounded. Nevertheless, she clearly heard the journalists asking questions related to Norton Corporation. Before the clip ended, someone among the crowd shouted, “I don’t care! I’ll help him no matter what!”
Wait a minute. That’s Caspian’s voice. Turning towards Nancy, she saw her burying her face in her hands as if she was so embarrassed that she could not bring herself to face anyone.
The short clip immediately spread throughout all entertainment news with the headlines: ‘The Commotion in Front of the Norton Corporation’, ‘Norton Corporation’s Staff Is Gay’, ‘Staff of the Norton Corporation Provokes the Journalists’. At the time of their viewing, the footage had about fifty thousand likes and twenty thousand comments.
The majority of the comments were about the relationship between Larry and the staff. Joan could not help but sigh at the speed of the news became viral on the internet—probably faster than the speed of a rocket launch. The media is taking the content in this video out of context. It clearly shows that the man is only trying to get his friend out of a sticky situation. Yet, the media misled the audience into thinking it was something else.
Joan handed the phone back to Nancy, speechless. Nancy threw her phone into her bag and stepped out of the café with a grim expression, muttering, “I’m going to see him now!”
After leaving a tip on the table, Joan hurriedly took her bag and trailed behind Nancy to look for the protagonists in the video. Have the words about the company’s crisis spread out? Otherwise, why are those reporters flocking the company?
