The case reported by Jupiton authorities was a hit–and–run from a year ago.
That case involved both Xylia and Tessa, and it went through three hearings before the truth finally came out.
The first time, Xylia ended up in jail for three months, all because her own son falsely testified against her.
The second time, the victim’s family member, Seth, confessed to murder and insurance fraud.
These two wrongful convictions let the real culprit, Tessa, walk free. During the first trial, Xylia came forward with video evidence from a third eyewitness, proving Tessa was the one behind the wheel.
The second time, the police discovered a video of Connor threatening Seth into confessing, which ended up turning Tessa from the hit–and–run driver into just an innocent passerby.
This third time, as the truth finally came to light, the authorities in Jupiton stepped in and started making
arrests.
Tessa was taken away by the police, and Connor wasn’t let off the hook either—he was taken straight to the station.
When Xylia saw all the chaos blowing up online, she found herself totally frozen for a second.
Still dazed, she instinctively pushed open the study door. “Joshua, are you-”
“1
But before she could finish, her sharp eyes caught Joshua had a Bluetooth headset on, eyes locked on his screen—he was clearly in the middle of some kind of meeting.
She immediately mped her mouth shut, motioned that she’d wait outside, and slipped out without making a sound.
Joshua couldn’t help but smile.
He wasn’t actually in a meeting–he was on a video call with his father, Aaron.
Aaron had promised Joshua he’d run thepany for two years, keeping all the business stuff off his te so Joshua could fully focus on winning Xylia back. Still, even if Joshua wasn’t in charge, he had to stay in the loop about everything that happened at thepany during those two years.
That was a non–negotiable order from Aaron.
Joshua didn’t argue.
As soon as Xylia left, Joshua jumped at the excuse. He grinned at Aaron over the video call, “Your daughter–in-w needs me for something. Gotta run.”
Without waiting for Aaron to respond, he hung up first.
Typical–got himself a wife and his dad instantly dropped lower on the priority list.
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Aaron prided himself on being zen his whole life, but hitting middle age only to face Joshua’ste–onset rebellious streak–now that was something else.
He had to take a few deep breaths just to get his mood back in check.
Xylia was curled up on the living room couch, still glued to her phone.
Joshua came out of the study and casually sat down beside Xylia, wrapping his arm around her. He asked softly, “Hey, what’s up?”
Xylia nudged her phone closer to him, showing him the screen.
“Did you do this?”
On the screen was the video of Connor threatening Seth.
Joshua barely nced at it and shrugged, saying, “Just figured I’d use this chance to deal with Connor too— saves him from going nuts at you every other week.”
He’d kept that video under wraps for ages, and with all eyes on Tessa’s scandal now, dropping it on Connor was a win–win.
Joshua had been feeling pretty pleased with himself, but then something crossed his mind, and his face instantly clouded over.
He lowered his eyes with a hint of grievance, ncing at Xylia like a puppy begging for attention.
He muttered, “You’re not thinking of cutting him any ck, are you? Are you worried about him? Or that little troublemaker?”
Xylia calmly reached out, pinched his chin, and turned his head back.
“If you’re just fishing for jealousy, then go pout somewhere else.”
Getting called out like that actually put Joshua in a great mood.
As long as you’re not thinking about Connor and Maddox, that’s all that matters to me.
He leaned down, resting his forehead against hers.
“I knew it–those two are just part of your past. I’m the one you’re meant to be with.”
Xylia couldn’t figure out where Joshua had learned all these sweet–talking lines–he always had a way with
words.
Still, she just found him impossibly cute, and couldn’t resist reaching up to ruffle his soft silver hair.
“Seriously, how are you so good at this? You even managed to dig up that super clear video of Connor threatening Seth?”
Gettingplimented like that made Joshua feel like he was floating way above the clouds, ready to leave the
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stratosphere.
:
He looked mighty proud of himself. “Come on, stuff like this is a piece of cake for me.”
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Xylia thought he looked so excited, she could almost see his tail wagging–she just couldn’t stopughing.
Meanwhile, Connor had been swampedtely.
By the time the news started blowing up online, he hadn’t even seen it yet. It wasn’t until the police called him that he finally found out what was going on.
With the head of thepany getting called out for such sleazy behavior, Ford Group was facing a total media firestorm.
[No way, this drama has way more explosive twists than I ever expected! When I was scrolling online before, I just saw people dragging Mr. Ford’s wife for a hit–and–run and her getting sent to jail. Turns out she was framed by her own husband–all because of another woman! That’s beyond trashy!]
[For all those folks who im rich guys are the most devoted–guess again! The bigger the mansion, the wilder the mess. Word is, Tessa’s actually Mr. Ford’s ex–wife’s little sister.]
[Brother–inw hooking up with his sister–inw? Sure, sounds spicy in a webnovel, but IRL, it’s just straight up repulsive.]
[Question for Tessa’s stans: Did she snag all those dance lead titles just because Mr. Ford bankrolled her way to the top?]
[Ford Group’s trying to expand into Norhill? Please, keep your bad vibes out of our city! Just go back to Jupiton!]
[No room for scumbags like him in Jupiton either! Boycott Ford Group!]
[Boycott Ford Group!]
[Boycott Ford Group!]
[Also, can someone check if Tessa cheated her way into those dance lead titles? @National Dance Association]
[Exactly! We’re done with scandalous artists! Tessa did a hit–and–run, wrecked her own sister’s marriage, and then pulled the same stunt by framing her sister again. Who’s feeling sorry for her? Not us.]
[@National Dance Association, we need a thorough investigation!]
Within just two days, Ford Group’s stock plummeted once again.
Some stubborn Tessa stans were still trying their best to whitewash her online, but with all the legal and moral lines crossed, even her reasonable fans started dropping her–and some were straight up dragging her
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instead.
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The National Dance Association, swept up in all this public drama, kicked off a full investigation into Tessa’s reign as the dance lead over the past few years.
But meanwhile, Tessa was totally cut off from the outside world, stuck in the detention center andpletely clueless about any of it.
When Connor was being interrogated by the police, he didn’t have a leg to stand on–there was nothing he could say to save himself.
All he could do was seethe in silent hatred for the true culprit–Tessa.
‘I must’ve been out of my mind,‘ Connor thought bitterly, ‘tricked by a worthless nobody I foolishly saw as a treasure. How could I have let myself get led astray by that idiot and end up in a mess like this?‘
The once–powerful head of Ford Group was shipped back to Jupiton in disgrace.
And Ford Group’s branch in Norhill? It was done for.
When Joshua caught wind of this, he grinned in approval and gave a satisfied nod.
Bad guys always have to pay for what they’ve done–that’s karma, in and simple.
With Connor and Maddox out of the picture and no chance to mess with Xylia anymore, Joshua was so pumped he nearly wanted to pop some champagne and celebrate right on the spot.
But Xylia didn’t even get a second to celebrate–her studio’s online shop had just been nuked, after trolls flooded it with fake refund requests and reports, getting it shut down in no time.
But with her name finally cleared, Xylic Studio shot right back into the spotlight. Loads of curiousizens went down the rabbit hole and tracked down her ce.
Xylic Studio got absolutely mobbed–the ce was bursting at the seams.