Chapter 23
Stephen crossed his legs and looked down his nose at Austin. “Go on.”
Austin offered every detail he could remember. “I was too scared to say no. Knowing Layla, si
she’s more than capable of pulling a stunt like that. I thought playing along was enough, but she dragged me to the hotel with her.
“I begged her to let me go but she refused to listen. When we got to the hotel room, I bolted. I’d sooner lose my car than risk having you wipe out our family business, so I ran down the fire escape.
“I came back here after I saw you entering the hotel lobby. That’s all that happened, I swear.”
Martin swatted his son with the rolled–up document again. “of all the people you could choose to cross, you just had to pick Mr. Yates. Did the last beating I give you teach you nothing?”
Austin flinched. He closed his eyes and wisely kept his mouth shut.
Martin tumed to Stephen and said, “Mr. Yates, I know this punk was wrong, but Ms. Murray can be rather demanding. Austin probably didn’t have room to say no. Do you think you could let him off the hook this once?”
Having gotten the information he needed, Stephen rose to his feet and said coolly, “Stay away from bars and have Layla do the same. Those aren’t ideal places for hangouts.”
“Of course, Mr.‘
Mr. Yates,” Martin replied. Despite being in his 50s, he was terrified of Stephen and dared not cross the man.
After Stephen left, the sound of Martin reaching Austin a lesson could be heard coming from his office.
Stephen called his assistant, Tyler Wilkinson, on the way back. “Reach out to the media platforms and have them take down all the footage of me and Layla.”
“Right away, Mr. Yates, but your rift with Ms. Murray is more or less public knowledge now,” his assistant pointed out.
Stephen was silent in the car. His gaze darkened as he stared ahead. A beat later, he said, “Don’t take down all the footage. Leave some of it.”
Tyler was rendered speechless on the other line. He wondered what Stephen was planning to do.
Stephen elaborated, “Leave the footage of Layla drinking in the bar but blur it out. Do not let it get taken down no matter who demands it. Also, contact Regina and book her the earliest flight to Lasville. I want her here by tomorrow.”
Tyler did as he was told. He did not dare to question the workings of Stephen’s twisted mind.
That evening, all the scandalous footage and articles that had to do with Stephen were taken down. Even the headline that had trended that afternoon-“Mr. Yates Storms Hotel To Catch Cheating Wife“-had disappeared.
The only footage left was of Layla drinking at the bar with a man, but their silhouettes were blurry.
Having cried her heart out in her room, Layla decided to scroll through the latest gossip on the internet. Somehow, all scandals related to Stephen had miraculously disappeared, leaving only hers.
It seemed Stephen was intent on letting her clean up her own mess this time
Layla wiped her tears and tried to come up with ways to get the articles and footage taken down.
On Stephen’s end, he had just gotten off the phone with his assistant when another call came in. He glanced at the number and rejected the call when he got a second call, he rejected it again.
However, the caller seemed determined to get through to Stephen, for they called the third time. Armoyed, he put the call through and raised the phone to his war
“Stephen, you’re too good for Layla-”
He bang up dispassionately yet again, and this time, he blocked the number for good measure before driving home.
When Stephen got home, be found Dylan staring up at him dejectedly. “Daddy, Aunt Layla was crying this afternoon. Can I go back to my mom’s place?
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