Chapter 38
What kind of suffering had she endured to be so dismissive when recounting these experiences?
“In the future, if anyone hurts you, I won’t let them get away,” he said, as if making an oath.
She rubbed his head of black hair, treating him very much like the younger brother she professed him to be. But he knew better. He’d gotten close to her and seen how she responded to him. She might try to keep him at arm’s length, but they were far past that.
“Jay, I’m a big girl, and I can take care of myself. Don’t keep saying stuff like that.” She smothered a yawn. “Hurry up and eat.” She lowered her head and continued eating.
A spark flashed in his eyes, as if he were thinking of something.
The incident had indeed been blown out of proportion, yet it hadn't occurred to Lily that her company wouldn't be able to suppress the top search results. There were simply too many sites and too many people talking about the event. And while her people could bribe some news outlets, there were simply too many, and the scene of her standing at the roadway while an entire dumpster of garbage was opened and sorted…that was sweeping the world and trending.
Damn it!
Between the missing ring and the speculation about its cost and appearance, and the sanitation workers going through the trash looking for it, there was more than enough fodder to keep people talking. The corresponding images were especially publicized. They showed her dressed flashily, standing beside the rubbish piles, next to several sanitation workers bent over the trash looking for the ring. Such a contrast immediately generated the ire of many. They accused her of being morally flawed and putting on airs—the "rich bitch" who watched while others labored.
Some online even stated, “She lost her own ring and still wanted the sanitation workers to find it. They've already been working hard sweeping the roads all day. Why didn't she look through the rubbish herself?”
“So she’s better than everyone just because she’s a celebrity?”
“Who is she to hog the city’s resources? She doesn’t pay the sanitation workers’ salaries. Why does she need so many people to help her look for a ring?”
Even Lily's fans, working hard to clear her name, couldn't curb the negative comments. Many people at the scene had recorded videos of the incident and uploaded them online. It was a PR nightmare!
“Why can’t the top search be taken down?” Lily saw the negative online comments increasing and could no longer sit still.
“There’s nothing we can do. I don’t know what’s wrong with these key influencers. We’re reaching out, asking them to stop posting and offering compensation. But they aren’t willing to take down the related content.”
“This is absurd!” Lily shouted. “Offer them more money!”
“We have,” her manager said. “And we have to be careful not to push too hard; that could backfire. We don’t want them to say we’re trying to buy them or silence them. Free speech and all that.” There was some rustling on the other end of the phone, as if he were covering the mouthpiece. “Frankly, if you’d called me immediately, instead of just your agent and publicist, I would’ve told you to keep your money and lavish it on the workers. Or forget the ring and buy a new one—it would’ve cost a fraction of what we’re spending now on damage control. Damn it, Lily, you could’ve spun this better by rewarding those poor people or getting your hands dirty yourself.”
Lily sucked in a breath. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that,” she said icily.
But his words struck a chord. She could’ve handled this better—better if she hadn’t started this farce in the first place.
The manager relented. “Sure. Fine. Hopefully, we won’t run into a situation like this again.” He paused. “Lily, did you offend someone—I mean, besides the public and the workers? Someone big…”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because money cures most things, and this situation…we can’t pay our way out of it. So I’ll ask again, who did you piss off?”
“Who could I have offended?” She pondered. “I’m an Atkinson, and I’m engaged to Sean. Everyone else should be afraid of offending me, unless…”
Lily froze. Could it be Jason Reed? Few people were more powerful than her family or the Stevens family. It would take significant power and money to be refused. Those capable of hiding the truth from the masses and influencing key opinion leaders and the media were few, and Jason was one of them.
Could it be that, because of Jennifer’s death, he was taking out his anger on her and Sean? There had been no change, and their businesses had continued as usual with Reed Group. Jason had even accepted their wedding invitation.
And yet, as Lily thought of the previously taken-down projection ads, she was suddenly unsure.
“Oh no,” her manager whispered.
“What!? What is it?”
“Turn on your television.”
Lily turned on the TV. It showed aerial footage of the Sanitation Center and people sweeping and spraying the street where they’d emptied the dumpster. Then the scene cut to security footage photos of her, with close-ups of her hand.
“Police launched this investigation in a matter of hours and made a shocking discovery…” the reporter said. “…a composite of security camera footage proving that Lily hadn't lost a ring. The photos clearly show she wasn't wearing it; only a pinkie ring. The ring in question was purportedly worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.” The reporter frowned. “Perhaps Miss Atkinson just misplaced it.”
At that line, the co-anchor arched a brow. “Oh, yes, Joann. I can see how hard it must be to keep track of millions of dollars of jewelry.”
The sarcasm was brutally effective. In the blink of an eye, Lily was utterly hated on the internet. The fans who had originally defended her were powerless against such circumstances. What else could they say? The police had already issued a detailed investigation report.