7 Chapter 7 – Damage Control
When Zhao Sean had exited the bathroom after his cold shower, the first thing he noticed is his phone on the bedside table, the screen flashing to an incoming call.
It was a good thing that he had it on silent or Leo would have been disturbed in his sleep. Zhao Sean picked his phone up, walking to the other room where there was an office. He had already asked A–Yue to set up his laptop earlier when they checked in and requested a room with a separate office room.
"–Where the hell are you?!" Zhao Sean's grandfather asked angrily on the other line after he hit the answer button.
"I'm staying out tonight, Grandpa. What's the matter?" Zhao Sean asked, plopping himself down on the swivel chair in front of the table.
Zhao Sean heard his grandfather curse and slam a hand down on something hard, judging by the loud 'smack' he heard on the other line.
"You little! Where are you exactly?! Don't you know that your fiancèe is in the custody of the police?! And the media had already found out! Why aren't you doing anything to–"
"And what's with the trending topic right now?! Someone had tagged me on those social media sites and they are talking about your scandal you little rascal!!!!"
"What are they talking about you and Qin Mary breaking up?! I thought I told you to announce your engagement before but you didn't listen! Why aren't you listening to me?! I'm your grandfather and you dare defy me?!"
Zhao Sean let Zhao Fang Lei vent his anger and frustration out first, he doesn't want to be disrespectful to his elders and doesn't really want to argue with his grandfather anymore than he did the past few days.
Zhao Sean loves his grandfather. He really does. So much that he's even willing to sacrifice his happiness just so he could satisfy his grandfather's unfair demands to him, but this is too much. They had been having this same argument ever since Qin Mary invaded their lives.
Zhao Sean is still listening to his grandfather's rant when he decided to open his laptop and see if Qin Yuer really had the guts to follow through with her words. He heard her loud and clear but didn't bother to reply as he's getting more and more disgusted by the minute.
When he opened Douban, Twitter, Weibo, and Oasis, he was surprised to find articles and tweets tagged to him, and looking at the Tending Now on Twitter, his mouth dropped open at what he saw.
"GRANPA! THIS IS WHY MOM HATES YOU AND RAN AWAY THE FIRST CHANCE SHE GOT!" Zhao Sean snapped, pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to rein in his anger and annoyance at being lectured and at what he had been reading with regards to him, Qin Yuer, and Wang Leo because they are just dripping with pure bullshit it's not even funny.
"I won't tolerate you being this disrespectful you brat! Don't expect me to help you clean up the mess you've created! Good luck dealing with the Qins and with Vernon Zhong!" Was all Zhao Sean heard before he heard a click, signaling that his grandfather had indeed dropped the call.
Reading the articles again, he couldn't help but grit his teeth.
"......Singer and Actor, Zhao Sean and the actress from Orange Entertainment had broken up because of a third party."
"....Film and Entertainment Emperor Zhao Sean is gay. He was seen entering different love hotels with different men and thus his relationship with Ms. Qin Yuer, an actress and model from Orange Entertainment did not last long. Attached here is photo evidence of Zhao Sean with different men."
"Wang Leo's sex scandal was discovered by a fan surfing the net and he was surprised!"
"....It was determined that Wang Leo did indeed record a sex scandal with a non-showbiz girl before and what's shocking is the evidence is actually verified!"
"He was so young too!"
— Passionate Eater of Melon had published four new articles related to #ZhaoSean #WangLeo #QinYuer #QinMary
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Zhao Sean sputtered. What bullshits are these?! Are these people really so bored they cook up some bullshits? Well obviously, Qin Yuer was so bored and hated Zhao Sean enough to ruin him like this.
It seemed that she didn't heed his warning and now she wouldn't be able to get out of this mess unscathed–if she wanted to see how cruel and ruthless he can be, he'll show her.
Zhao Sean dialed A–Yue's number.
A–Yue answered on the third ring as if waiting for Zhao Sean's call. They both knew that this is going to be a long night.
"Laoban," A–Yue answered.
"Do damage control, send my grandpa all the evidence collected, including the CCTV footage and the voice recording we collected," Zhao Sean ordered, slumping to his seat.
He hasn't even started yet, and here he is already exhausted.
"On it, would you like me to contact Jinnian-jie and Sapphire's PR Department to release a statement?" A–Yue asked. Zhao Sean could faintly hear tapping on the other line as A–Yue speaks.
"Verify everything including the one with Leo first, it's better to be safe than sorry. Can you send me Mr. Vernon Zhong's contact details? I need to speak with the Qins." Zhao Sean said, sighing heavily.
Just thinking about dealing with Vernon Zhong is already giving Zhao Sean a headache. Vernon Zhong is Qin Yuer's uncle who is in Taiwan. The Qins aren't actually powerful, their business is also not doing very well right now. But because they have Vernon Zhong in their family, they aren't to be taken lightly either. Vernon Zhong is a famous businessman in the Entertainment Industry in Taiwan.
With Vernon Zhong in their family, the Qins are considered to be influential and their status there can be considered as high class. He has a wide connection in the Entertainment Industry and his grandfather is friends with that guy. Vernon Zhong is very fond of Qin Yuer as he doesn't have any children of his own, and he also spoils Qin Yuer rotten. So Zhao Sean is sure that he isn't on top of Vernon Zhong's favorite list right now since he just left his niece in the custody of the police after telling her that their wedding's cancelled.
Zhao Sean cursed. If their wedding's off, that meant their business deal with Vernon Zhong is also off. And he just let go of a million-dollar deal. But he couldn't care less. He doesn't want to be married to such kind of vicious woman. He'll gladly face the repercussions this would bring.
"Laoban, I've verified the authenticity of the articles written and posted on Douban. Ms. Qin hired some journalist to write petty rumors and gossips to slander you." He heard A–Yue said, snapping him out of his stupor.
"And what about Leo's?" Zhao Sean asked.
"YH Entertainment hired the same writer too, laoban. What would you like us to do?" A–Yue asked.
"Then contact Jinnian and our PR Department, tell them to release the whole story and a statement. Tell them we will stand with justice and we'll pursue legal actions if this continues." Zhao Sean ordered.
"What about with YH Entertainment?" A–Yue had asked, making Zhao Sean stop short, surprised that A–Yue asked.
Zhao Sean thought about it for a while.
"Try and gather some more evidence. If we could prove that Qin Yuer and YH Entertainment had worked together to ruin Wang Leo's career, then we'll notify them about our plan on taking legal action." Zhao Sean answered.
It wasn't impossible, to say the least, knowing how vicious and vengeful Qin Yuer is because let's face it, Leo did nothing to offend her except ruin her dress that she bought with his money. Zhao Sean wouldn't put it past her to try and drag Wang Leo into this just because she could.
After discussing some more about the actions they could take, Zhao Sean dropped the call to A–Yue and checked his message for Vernon Zhong's number. He also checked the time.
10:05 PM. Hopefully, Vernon Zhong had not yet retired for the night or worse, in a meeting.
He dialed Mr. Zhong's number and waited.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Zhong, this is Zhao Sean," Xiao Zhan began. He was expecting Vernon Zhong to start screaming, insulting him, and dissing him for what had happened and what he did to his favorite niece as he was sure the news had already reached the guy.
But none of that came.
"Ohh Zhan-Zhan! Hi!" Vernon Zhong greeted cheerfully. Zhao Sean was surprised. Why isn't this guy mad at him? What on earth?
"Hi, so Mr. Zhong I was just–" Zhao Sean began, mentally preparing himself for the tirade, or anything at all that was to come. He's sure Vernon Zhong's cheerfulness at having received a call from him would soon change.
"I was just about to call you! I'm really sorry about what had happened, my boy. I talked to your grandpa already and we had come to an agreement. It's a shame though," Vernon Zhong said, chuckling.
What? I thought he said he wouldn't help at all with this? What happened?
"I–I'm really sorry, Mr. Zhong," Zhao Sean muttered. Up until now, he was still trying to process the information Vernon Zhong had given him. That his grandpa talked to Vernon Zhong already.
"No need for that, and please, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Uncle? That still stands even though the marriage was called off," Vernon Zhong said.
Zhao Sean talked to Vernon Zhong some more. He was happy that he didn't offend the guy and they could still do business together, and that Vernon Zhong was okay with calling off the wedding between Qin Yuer and Zhao Sean.
"Please don't be too harsh on my niece, she was just a spoiled brat and didn't mean to tarnish your image, Zhan-Zhan." Vernon Zhong said, heaving an exasperated sigh. It seems like he too is tired of his niece's bullshits.
After the call, Zhao Sean leaned back on the swivel chair. It seems like he owes his grandpa an apology and a hotpot.
