"Abby, go ahead with it. I know what I''m doing," Ste said, her tone calm and reassuring.


    Abby hesitated for a moment, then decided to trust her. "With the concerting up, raising your profile isn''t a bad idea. But you know how things are online- some people will believe anything they see, no matter how baseless.


    Besides, your violinpetition moves into the main round tomorrow. It''s a big deal. I heard from Antoney Watson that some contestants will do whatever it takes to make it to the finals.


    Star, I''m a little worried about you..."


    Before Ste could respond, Joshua spoke up first. "For the time being, I can act as Ms. Cameron''s bodyguard. I''ll make sure she''s safe."


    Abby looked to Ste. "Star, what do you think?"


    Ste thought it over, then nodded lightly. "Alright, let''s do it that way for now."


    Meanwhile, Haynes received a call from Sherman.


    "Mr. O''Brien, this is Sherman."


    Haynes paused, his hand hovering over the stack of documents in front of him. "Mr. Burton, it''s unusual for you to call me directly. Is something wrong?"


    Sherman''s voice was steady. "Your good friend Jasper has been spreading some nasty rumors about my uncle, Sellers, online.


    My uncle and Jasper have never had any real conflict. Even though Jasper has been disrespectful to my father on several asions, Dad''s always let it slide because he''s younger.


    And my uncle has never held it against him. But now Jasper''s stirring up trouble, ndering my uncle all over the inte."


    As Haynes listened, his first thought was of that day when Jasper had been making up stories about Sellers now it had blown up online and made the news.


    While Haynes was still piecing


    things together, Sherman continued, "My uncle doesn''t want to go too far-he''s willing to give The Wilkinson Group another chance. I know you and Jasper are close, and our families have a long-standing connection. My uncle doesn''t want to make things ugly, so he''s willing to let this go.


    But only if Jasper removes the trending posts and publicly apologizes to my uncle.


    If he does that, my uncle will drop the matter."


    It was a perfectly reasonable request-not excessive in the least.


    Although there had been tension between Sellers and Ste before, Ste was her own person, and Jasper was Jasper. Besides,


    Jasper''s lies about Sellers had gone way out of line.


    All they wanted was a retraction and an apology. Haynes could hardly argue with that.


    He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling the fatigue settle in. "Let me look into it and get back to you."


    Sherman replied, "Please make it quick, Mr. O''Brien. The longer this drags on, the more damage it will do to my uncle''s reputation."


    After ending the call, Haynes dialed Benson.


    "In the next ten minutes, I need you to put together all the news about Sellers and bring it to me."


    Haynes rarely paid attention to gossip columns, so he genuinely had no idea what had happened.


    About seven or eight minutester, Benson walked in, looking uneasy.


    Seeing Benson''s face, Haynes felt a pang of anxiety. "What''s happened?"


    Benson opened his mouth, searching for the right words, but couldn''t seem to find them. In the end, he simply handed over the file he''dpiled.


    "Mr. O''Brien, you''ll understand once you see this."


    Haynes flipped open the file. At first, he managed to keep hisposure. But as soon as he saw the insider''s im that Sellers'' mistress was none other than Ste, his expression darkened instantly.