Jasper was taken aback, his arms still in midair. He had wanted to comfort Alyssa with a hug.
âI only wanted toâ¦â
âI said, stay out of this!â Alyssa had no patience to deal with him further. She stormed away from him, still on her phone, and slammed the door as she walked out.
The warmth and tenderness Jasper had so achingly wished for disappeared just like that. Their shared moment from earlier burst, just like a short-lived bubble floating up into the sky.
Alyssa didnât take the antique Jasper had given her. To her, family was the most important thing right now.
Sadness filled Jasperâs chest, making his heart twinge in pain.
But now wasnât the time to be depressed. He quickly recovered and left the room.
âMr. Beckett, I just saw Madam leave looking absolutely pissed. Did you upset her?â Xavier asked worriedly, a sliver of blame in his eyes. After all, his boss had always been known to get on Alyssaâs wrong side.
âSomethingâs happened to Madam Lyla,â Jasper said, his gaze dark.
âHuh. No wonder there was some commotion downstairs!â Xavier quickly took out his phone and looked up the news online.
He suddenly frowned, showing Jasper the screen. âLook at this, sir!â
Jasper focused on the video that played on Xavierâs phone. Narrowing his eyes, he snatched the phone away to take a closer look.
It was a video from decades ago, and the resolution was blurry. Yet it was still clear enough to recognize Lyla standing onstage while she shakily covered her legs. A clear liquid was flowing down between them.
The audience erupted in shrieks and gasps of shock, followed by countless snapshots from cameras as if they were starving wolves jumping upon fallen prey.
âMy ⦠my mother was Lyla Nelsonâs biggest fan. She told me about how Lylaâs reputation got ruined because of the rumors that she was on drugs and how she even pissed herself onstage during TS Networkâs celebratory live broadcast,â Xavier explained.
He couldnât bring himself to watch the video. âThe internet wasnât as powerful back then as it is today, nor were the phones back then capable of taking videos, so the news didnât spread as rampantly as it is today.
âBut my mother had attended the broadcast in person, being a fan and all, so she had seen the incident firsthand.â
Jasper was getting more and more upset by the second.
An incident like urinary incontinence in public was worse than a death sentence for someone like Lyla, who had been the number one celebrity actress loved and adored by countless people nationwide.
Xavier went on to say, âMy mother also said that the incident was all over the news and magazine headlines the next day. You could get it anywhere!
âBut only a couple hours later, every single shred of news about the incident suddenly ceased to exist in public. She had no idea who had bought all the papers, but they couldnât find a single report on it anymore.
Jasper knew just exactly who had done that for Lyla-Winston Taylor.
Only a man of his power and influence could force the entire countryâs media outlets to go silent on Lylaâs incident.
âIt looks like whoever leaked that incident today has been keeping it in the works for a long time.
Seeing how they were able to acquire videos that Mr. Taylor had destroyed, they mustnât be an ordinary person,â
Jasper analyzed calmly.
He was able to maintain a composed demeanor even though Alyssa had basically backhanded him just a moment ago.
âWhoever it was must either be someone from TS Network itself, or they were directly involved with what happened to Lyla all those years ago.â
âGood analysis, sir!â Xavier exclaimed.
Jasperâs expression was frosty. âLook into this immediately. I want you to get me every single person who was involved in this incident, including any reporters, social media accounts, and whoever recorded that video in the first place.â
âRight away, sir!â
Jasper then hurriedly left, leaving/Xavier behind.