Filed To Story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
“Mr. Guajardo, the PR department has already dealt with the negative comments regarding the live stream. We’ve also paid the media to help restore both you and the company’s reputation by releasing articles all together”
“But…” Rachel paused awkwardly.
‘What is it?”
Rachel took a deep breath and replied carefully. “Sentiments are high, and the netizens are split over the issue. One side is accusing you of being an abusive cheater, and they wish to take you and H Group down.”
‘The other side, however, are die-hard fans of your relationship with Mrs. Guajardo. They truly believe that you two were flirting during the live stream and that they were blessed to have been able to witness your love on screen.”
Halston’s expression darkened. H did not expect people to have such imaginative minds and so much time for online gossip.
“Our current issue is that we can’t control the netizens’ comments, even though we are able to control the media.”
“Our teams may be trying their best in deleting their posts, but they are unable to keep up with their speed, given how they’re posting on multiple forums. They’ve even created pages to hate on you, or fangirl over your relationship.”
‘The two sides are practically at war right now, and they’re what’s keeping this topic trending on the internet. It’s simply too difficult to keep everything under control as of now!” i
Halston was speechless, he wondered if he should be angry or if he should laugh at the sheer absurdity of this situation.
“Is there a solution?”
‘The PR department has been working overtime to figure something out. Not only will this calm everyone down, but it might even help H Group regain its popularity. It’s just that… I’m afraid you’ll dislike what we have in mind….”
Halston’s patience was wearing thin.
“Just spit it out, what’s the hold-up?”
“After careful data analysis on every platform, we’ve arrived at the conclusion that most netizens feel upset for the unfairness that Mrs. Guajardo has faced.”
“If you were to obtain Mrs. Guajardo’s forgiveness, and show the public how your relationship has improved, I think we have a good chance of changing public opinion toward you,” Rachel explained while looking away from Halston.
She knew just how prideful her boss was. In fact, it wouldn’t be exaggerating to say that everyone perceived him as the ruler of Beach City. Now, they were asking for him to grovel before a woman he had abandoned, i
It just didn’t seem possible.
“No.” i
Halston was very straightforward with his answer. “Since those netizens love wasting their time on gossip, then so be it.”
‘They are naive if they think they’re able to take H Group down,” Halston scoffed haughtily.
H Group has branched out into various industries, including real estate, fashion, consumer electronics, car manufacturing, food & beverage, and they have recently been making moves toward the arms industry as well.
What Halston said was true, that the netizens had no power in taking them down.
“Just hire more people to delete these posts if there are too many!” Halston ordered coldly. “I’ll give you three days. I don’t care what method you use, but I don’t want to see anything regarding the live stream by then.
“Oh…” Rachel had no choice but to accept this task. “I’ll… discuss this with the PR team again. I suppose we can just increase our budget on public relations.”
It was obvious that this solution wasn’t going to be effective, since it didn’t solve the crux of the issue. However, their CEO’s pride simply didn’t allow any other way.
Suddenly, just as Rachel was about to leave, Halston called out to her.
’Yes, Mr. Guajardo?”
The man pointed to his coffee mug with a frown.
’What have you been doing to my coffee lately? It’s disgusting compared to before.”
Halston had a habit of drinking coffee to relieve stress. Although he wasn’t an expert, he could still tell there was a difference between today’s coffee and the ones he had before.
He missed how his coffee used to taste.
“Mr. Guajardo, it’s likely because of the change in coffee beans.”
“Well change it back!” Halston ordered sternly.
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible…” Rachel replied honestly. “Mrs. Guajardo was the one who gave us those coffee beans before. She’d always personally deliver a large jar of it to the office.”
“Unlike instant coffee, we used to grind it fresh every time we make your coffee. I presume that’s why it tasted so amazing.” i
“But we’ve used the last of it recently, and Mrs. Guajardo hasn’t given any in a long time. We’ve tried looking for the same brand, but we just couldn’t… so …” i
Rachel then shrugged helplessly, i
“Ellsworth was the one who gave that?”
“Mm-hmm, didn’t you know, Mr. Guajardo?” Rachel found an opportunity and mustered up all her courage to tell Halston everything.
“Mrs. Guajardo was the one who secretly supplied your coffee for the past few years.” i
“Not just that, your succulent plant, that favorite cake you gave so much praise to, and that ashtray you refuse to replace… they were all gifts from Mrs. Guajardo.”
“Since she won’t let us talk about her giving all these gifts, we secretly gave her the nickname ‘Lady Char’, short for charity that is.”
‘We really like Mrs. Guajardo, she’s just so nice… That’s why all of us were willing to risk our necks when you attacked her that day. We had to stop you no matter what…”
Halston remained silent, lost in thought as he glanced at the ashtray on his desk, the succulent by his window, then the cute cushion over at the sofa…
Mixed emotions started rising in his chest. He initially thought that they were just married strangers, yet she had already left her mark on his life, a mark that he can no longer erase.
“Mr. Guajardo, I have to say this, even if you threaten to fire me. Mrs. Guajardo really does love you, you shouldn’t have hurt her like that.”
“PR disaster aside, I feel like you owe her a proper apology..”
Halston remained silent. Up until this point, he wasn’t aware of her feelings for him, which meant that his ‘cheating’ did hurt her.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll be heading back to work now, Mr. Guajardo.” Rachel calmly walked to the door.
“Just… one more thing. I’m actually your fan too. I’m one of the moderators for the forum named ‘Guajardo my Ellsworth’!”
“All of our members are so talented. There was one fanfic in particular that touched everyone’s hearts! It’s such a shame that the author stopped posting long ago!”
After Rachel left, Halston carried on his work as usual, pretending as if nothing had happened. However, his curiosity got the best of him and he looked up the forum on his own.
He was completely stunned.