While the two of them were plotting Daniel's plan in the Patio, Samantha was preparing the cake that she made for her grandfather and also boiling water to make some tea for them. As she was busy in the kitchen, her phone rang and it showed an unknown number on the screen.
She hesitated before she answered the call. "Hello?" She greeted politely.
"Hi Ms. Samantha Kim, this is Yuri from Life and Travel. Is this a good time?"
She recalled that Life and Travel is a popular TV show. "Um… Yes, I can spare a few minutes. What can I do for you?"
"We'd like to invite you to guest on our show in two days if that's okay with you?"
Samantha's heart thumped upon hearing the invitation. 'Really? A guest... on a TV show?' Her thoughts had clouded. 'Why?'
When she did not answer right away, Yuri added, "We have just gotten off the phone with your friend, Ms. Becca Wise. You are going to be on the show with her on the same day."
After checking her calendar, Samantha agreed to be on their show. They talked for another minute before the call ended. At that moment, she was feeling excited but at the same time, she also doesn't know if she's going to be fine with all the attention. She brushed her thoughts aside and returned to the patio with a tray in her hands.
When she arrived, Daniel and Grandpa Kim stopped conversing. She raised a brow and questioned, "What have you two been talking about? I hope you weren't talking about me!"
The two men glanced at each other and gulped.
The three of them enjoyed their afternoon tea. Grandfather Cho was very happy because of Samantha and Daniel's presences, and of course, because he got to eat his favorite mango cheesecake.
After listening to Daniel's plan. He had to admit that although it was just a simple solution, it was both difficult and easy to execute. He just hoped that Daniel will succeed with his plan.
Daniel's phone rang as they were talking. After excusing himself, he answered the call from his assistant.
"Boss, another article has been released. This time… in the write-ups, it wasn't only you who is implicated but it also looked like Ms. Kim was the third party between…"
"Boss, I'll just send you the links." Assistant Ahn said and then a few seconds later, beeps were heard from Daniel's phone.
When he clicked on the link, it directed to an entertainment website. And there, in bold letters: "CEO Daniel Cho of Cho Corporation, confirmed philanderer."
'What is it this time?', was his first thought when he read the familiar headline. He continued to scroll and his expression turned dark.
There were pictures of him and Samantha and this time they were clear ones that showed her very beautiful face. They were from different dates, some were way back a few weeks ago and the most recent was from yesterday when they were in a yacht. They had been followed and he didn't even realize it! He was too unwary.
In the article, the details of the pictures were written as if they were true. As if they really knew what was going on during those times. There was also a solo picture of Melissa Qin and one that was taken from the charity in Country D saying that Daniel and she were a couple for years since they were still studying in the university in Country F. The writer made it seem in the paragraph that the two kept their relationship a secret because Daniel didn't want to expose it to the public; thus he can still continue to date around any woman that he fancies knowing that he seemed to be 'single'.
On the other hand, the pictures of him and Samantha showed how intimate they were, holding hands and hugging. The anonymous writer defamed Samantha Kim saying that her company, Trident got the cooperation or partnership with Cho Corporation because she satisfied Daniel Cho in bed. 'There was never a bidding, to begin with, it was all just a cover-up as the two of them have apparently been secretly dating for a while now and one of Daniel's way to show his affection was to grant Samantha's company the partnership.'
Upon reading everything, Daniel got enraged. He was not that bothered when he was the only one who was slandered. But it was a whole different story when Samantha was involved.
And below the article were already thousands of comments about her. Some were pointing out the unfair partnership between the two company and some were mocking them for being shameless and for Daniel being 'unfaithful' towards Melissa Qin. While there were others who stated their voices not to judge the article right away and remain to be objective, it wasn't enough to compete with the keyboard warriors who spread hate.
Without thinking twice, Daniel dialed Flash's number.
"I was waiting for your call, Boss. I have started to remove the articles online but there were quite a lot this time."
Daniel had already instructed him to act whenever there is another scheme like this that's why Flash had begun even without Daniel telling him. He breathed in before he gave his order, "Flash, send the files to the National Tax Service."
"Got it. What else, Boss?"
Daniel clenched his teeth before he spoke, "Mr. Qin likes entertainment so much, why don't you release that as well.. Let's see who the citizens of this country will hate the most."