Chapter 291 Stepped In
The Colons were busy trying to help Tilda.
Over on Jude’s side, the news reached him, too. He read through the trending search, and his eyes turned sharp with fury. “Who did this?”
“There are too many media outlets and bots pushing it all at once,” Vassal reported nervously. “It’s messy and hard to trace who planned everything. But Boss… the other side clearly came prepared.
“The so-called ‘evidence’ is too polished. What should we do now?”
Vassal knew exactly how much Tilda meant to Jude. Tilda wasn’t just important–she was the only woman Jude had ever loved. And someone dared to smear his future wife? The person behind this must not value their own life.
After a moment of thought, Jude ordered, “Start damage control right away. Don’t let this spiral out of control.”
“Sure thing!” Vassal rushed off.
Just then, Jude’s phone buzzed. It was the small WhatsApp group he shared with Alfie and Maurice.
Alfie tagged him. “I saw the trending search. I’ve already told Woodward Group’s PR team to get on it.”
Maurice added. “Same here. I’ve sent out orders, too. I don’t believe Tilda’s that kind of person, but damn… the evidence looks convincing. Even with PR, it’s hard to shut down the rumors. The competition officials will hear about it for sure.”
The main issue was X. X’s style really did look a lot like Tilda’s. If that wasn’t cleared up, no amount of PR would fix things. The problem had already blown up, and too many people had seen it.
Jude replied. “Tilda isn’t dumb. She knew someone would try to smear her.”
Alfie asked. “Wait… you mean Tilda saw this coming?”
Maurice swore. “No way. She knew and still let it explode like this? Don’t tell me she’s got some hidden trick up her sleeve.”
Jude reassured them. “Just wait. Tilda is the woman I love. I trust her completely.”
Damn. Both Alfie and Maurice cursed silently in their hearts. Yes, Jude, we know she’s your future wife. But do you have to rub it in like this? Showing off your love to two single guys–what’s the point?
Meanwhile, at Lab Seven, Dane had even set aside his projects for once. He and Manfred sat together watching the livestream of the International College Art Competition. Manfred’s brow was furrowed. He had already noticed the trending search disaster.
“As an official research group, we can’t step in publicly to help her,” he said.
Dane stood up instantly.
“Professor Kerrigan, where are you going?” Manfred asked.
Dane didn’t answer. He pulled out a sketchpad and wrote.
“I believe Tilda. She’s been framed.”
“I know you can’t interfere. Then I’ll help her myself.”
Manfred smiled faintly.
“Professor Kerrigan, I said Lab Seven can’t step in. But I never said we as individuals can’t. “I know some big names in the press. I can reach out as a personal favor.”
Dane pressed his lips together, then scribbled two words. “Thank you.”
Manfred shook his head. “I should be the one thanking her. I owe Queen a huge debt. This is my chance to pay it back. “But I’ll be honest–this thing with X doesn’t look good. The evidence is solid. “I can’t imagine Tilda would ever do this, and I didn’t expect it to blow up so badly.”
Dane wrote quickly. “I believe Tilda. She must have a plan.”
Manfred nodded. “You’re right. Let’s trust her. She won’t go down that easily.”
On the Jensons’ side, Wade, Justin, and Kayden all dropped everything to watch the livestream. Even Dominic–who was all the way in Endralsia–stopped what he was doing to tune in. Dominic heard about the trending search right away. He didn’t believe Tilda was guilty for a second. He was already using his own influence to swing public opinion back in her favor.
In another room, Howard was so angry his teeth nearly cracked.
“Tilda, you’re the one who beat me! I won’t allow you to carry this false charge! “If you really plagiarized, it would disgrace not just you, not just our country–it would disgrace me! “You think I can live with being defeated by a fraud? No way. I won’t believe it!”
Howard immediately started working to clear her name in his own way.
But the cruel truth was that the mastermind behind all of this was none other than their own sister–Kyla.
Kyla watched as the trending search heat began to cool off. Some posts even dropped from the charts. Furious, she grabbed her phone and screamed into the call.
“You useless idiots! I spent a fortune on this, and now you can’t even keep the story trending? The traffic’s tanking!”
“Uh… it’s out of our hands,” the person stammered.
“Several major forces are pushing back hard, DY Group, some media moguls, Woodward Group, Rowse Group, the Colon Group, even the Jenson Group–they’ve all stepped in to shield Tilda!”