Revenge Begins: Reincarnated as a Hated Idol! - Chapter 94: The Father’s Bargain
The next morning, Neil sat in his study, pleased by the report, which detailed the current situation regarding Lucian’s scandal.
His video had managed to fool a part of the public, causing them to defend Titan Crest Entertainment from unified criticism. Just the doubt that they might be targeting someone innocent was enough to deter a large part of the population. After all, criticizing someone innocent was much worse than not criticizing someone evil. In this case, staying silent was deemed a better option by many.
This divide allowed Titan Crest Entertainment to pacify its celebrities from leaving. After all, they weren’t getting fully boycotted right now. These celebrities could still tell the fans who implored them to change agencies that their agency was innocent and that it was being framed wrongly.
Unless Aren provided some proof that Titan Crest Entertainment was lying, nothing would change.
Soon, this scandal would die down as people would begin to forget about it. After all, it was people’s tendency to move on to newer, more interesting gossip and news and forget the past topics.
This scandal was only receiving attention because it was still new. Once nothing new popped up related to it, people would begin to lose interest and find something else to talk about.
It would be then that Titan Crest Entertainment would regain its previous standing and take revenge on Aren and Sun Films. At least blacklisting Aren and Lisa wouldn’t be a problem by then.
Knock Knock!
At this moment, someone knocked on the door to his study.
Then a voice came from behind the door, belonging to his secretary, Seth.
"Sir, Mr. Caleb Pitts is here and wants to meet you."
Neil was expecting his call, but it seems he came in person.
Even better.
A faintly amused smile spread across his lips, then he ordered, "Bring him here."
Caleb had seen the video and knew that all the blame had been shifted to him. If possible, he would’ve arrived yesterday to set Neil straight; however, he was busy yesterday, asking his connections to help his son in prison.
After a while, Caleb walked through the door, stopping in front of Neil with an ugly expression on his face. He was a man in his late fifties.
Since Neil didn’t meet people in his study, there was no extra chair for visitors, forcing Caleb to speak while standing.
"So, you are stabbing me as well," he said with contempt, "just like you did to Aren, huh?"
Caleb wasn’t oblivious to the truth and knew how Aren had been murdered by Neil’s men.
"You are wrong," Neil shook his head. "It’s your son who stabbed my agency’s reputation and ruined my daughter’s life."
He smiled with a hint of amusement on his face. "Don’t you think you should shoulder the blame as his father to save Titan Crest Entertainment from falling?"
"You think this is funny?" Caleb sneered, "Then how about I expose you? Wouldn’t that be really funny?"
"Go ahead," Neil leaned back in his chair. "But without proof, who will believe you? Even with proof, I have enough connections to leave scot-free. You know it better than anyone."
"I know, but..." Caleb smirked, crossing his arms confidently. "What if I take those proofs to Sun News? Aren’t they already trying to bring you down? With that evidence, the public narrative can shift completely."
For the first time since the conversation began, Neil revealed a dark expression, his confident smile receding.
"Do that, and I will make sure your son never gets out of the prison," Neil threatened.
Caleb sighed, then raised his head to ask, "What do you want from me, then? You must have a plan, right?"
A satisfied smile spread across Neil’s face. "Of course, I have a plan. You just need to transfer your shares to me and admit to everything I claimed in the video. Do that and I will get your son out as soon as this scandal dies down."
"You want my shares for free?" Caleb asked, baffled by the ridiculous demand.
"Of course not," Neil smiled and raised a finger. "I’ll pay you 1 billion for them."
"That’s not even ten percent." Caleb yelled, "You are basically extorting me."
"So what?" Neil scoffed, "Be grateful that I’m even paying you. For how much trouble your son had caused me, I should be getting those shares for free."
Caleb clenched his fists in frustration. He knew that he didn’t have any other choice. Even though Neil didn’t say it, Caleb knew that if he declined his offer, he would face Neil’s wrath. He could either end up like Aren or... find himself in prison.
Even if he had some proof against Neil, he couldn’t use it.
Why?
Because Neil had proof against him as well. They both held a knife against each other’s throat; however, Neil’s knife was sharper than his.
Moreover, for Lucian, he had to make this compromise.
However, he wasn’t going to let Neil have his shares so easily.
"If you are going to pay me only a billion for my shares," Caleb smiled, "then I will transfer my shares to Iris, not you. It would be better for me to transfer them to my daughter in law. We can announce this as me giving compensation to my daughter-in-law who suffered because of my son."
Neil narrowed his eyes; however, he didn’t say anything for a while.
Then, he suddenly smiled, nodding: "Alright. Let’s do that."
The reason Caleb agreed despite knowing that he was in a losing deal was that he had no other option. If he refused and Titan Crest Entertainment ended up losing a lot of influence and power, then that would only make it difficult for his son to get out.
Even if he transferred shares, at least his son would escape a dark and hellish future. He could then send Lucian overseas to start a different life. Moreover, he had other assets as well, so it wasn’t like he would end up bankrupt after this.
For him, the top priority was to get Lucian out of prison and save him from punishment.
Meanwhile, on the internet, another video had begun going viral, accusing Titan Crest Entertainment of tyranny.
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(A/N - Thanks for reading. ^..^)
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