Ste slowly raised her hand in Haynes'' direction and flipped him off.


    Haynes'' dark eyes narrowed, his expression turning cold.


    So she''d rather stand here, humiliated and cornered, than say a single conciliatory word to him? Fine. Just fine.


    He was curious to see exactly how long she could keep her pride.


    A barrage of reporters'' questions echoed in Ste''s ears, so loud and chaotic she could barely make out what anyone was saying.


    Yet Ste remainedposed, her face perfectly calm and unreadable, showing not a hint of panic.


    The more unruffled she appeared, the more relentless the reporters became.


    After all, what they loved most was watching someone crack under pressure, to catch that moment of fear or defeat.


    Jasper was absolutely ecstatic.


    Finally, he''d managed to livestream Ste''s public embarrassment for his eager viewers.


    Just as Jasper was congratting himself, his other phone began to ring.


    He quickly handed his streaming phone to Rachel. "Rachel, hold this for a second. I need to take this call."


    Rachel, just as eager to watch the online crowd tear Ste apart, was happy to oblige. "Sure."


    Jasper slipped away to a quiet corner and answered, "What''s up?"


    "Mr. Wilkinson, you won''t believe it-Ste''s trending again!"


    Jasper didn''t even blink. "Isn''t she trending every daytely? What''s the big deal?"


    "But this time it''s different, this time—"


    He cut the caller off, impatient. He still had Ste''s meltdown to watch.


    "Yeah, yeah, I know exactly why she''s trending. I set it up myself."


    A stunned silence. "Wait, you started this trending topic? Why didn''t you tell us sooner?"


    Jasper rolled his eyes. "Would it have made any difference if I had? Do you have any actual questions?"


    "Mr. Wilkinson, one more thing-do you want us to coordinate on this?"


    Now Jasper was getting annoyed. "Do you want to keep your job? Handle it like you always do. Don''t bother me with the basics."


    "Understood."


    He hung up and hurried back to see how badly things were going for Ste.


    But to his surprise, a fresh wave of reporters came flooding toward Ste, pushing past the original crowd in their rush to get close.


    Rachel nced at the neers and whispered, "Jasper, did you invite this second group of reporters too?"


    Jasper looked confused. "No, I only called one group... Did my staff identally double-book?"


    Before either of them could figure it out, the new reporters elbowed their way to the front, practically shoving the others aside as they crowded around Ste, faces alight as if they''d just won the lottery.


    "Ms. Cameron, the museum just published the list of items you donated the ones worth sixty million dors!"


    "Ms. Cameron, we heard you''ve donated forty million to charities—children''s homes, retirementmunities, aid organizations. What inspired you to give so much?"


    "Ms. Cameron, you''re not even considered one of Novaris'' wealthy elite, yet your donations surpass even theirs. How did you make such a decision?"


    Questions came from every direction, the original pack of reporters now jostled to the back, looking utterly bewildered.


    Donations? What was going on?


    A few reporters, not wanting to miss out, quickly started up their livestreams.


    "Good morning, viewers. This is Neo-Vespera News,ing to you live from the scene of Ms. Ste Cameron''s interview..."