Chapter 281: Counterproductive

Chapter 281: Chapter 281: Counterproductive

The press conference was being live-streamed, with footage from the event pushed simultaneously to every major online platform.

Mr. Churchill, his voice choked with sobs, accused the Whitman family of being heartless and ungrateful with every word. On camera, he cut the figure of a pitiful father who had tragically lost his beloved daughter.

Everyone present was taken in by his masterful performance, their hearts filled with sympathy for the Churchill family.

The live comments flew across the screen, and the comment section below exploded.

"The Whitman family is going too far! It hasn’t been that long since Miss Churchill passed away, and they’re already treating her family this badly?"

"That was a human life we’re talking about. I feel so bad for Iris Churchill; her sacrifice wasn’t worth it."

"Everyone knew about President Whitman and Iris Churchill’s relationship back then. I shipped them so hard! Who would’ve thought that just two years after her death, Chadwick Whitman would be this heartless. If Iris knew what was happening, I wonder if she’d regret sacrificing her life to save him."

"Mrs. Churchill is still in police custody. The Whitman family must have pushed them into a corner, forcing them to hold this live broadcast to appeal to the public for help."

"Can’t President Whitman come out and give an explanation? @Whitman Group Official Account"

In the office, his assistant, Shawn Warner, rushed in and handed a tablet to Chadwick Whitman, his voice laced with anxiety.

"President Whitman, we have a problem. The Churchill family is holding a press conference, playing the victim to get public sympathy. If we let this public opinion crisis continue to develop, the company’s stock price will take a massive hit."

Chadwick Whitman calmly glanced at the screen, a bone-chilling coldness swirling in his eyes.

"If they insist on digging their own graves, then don’t blame me for being merciless. Go to the press conference immediately and release all the evidence. It’s time the whole world saw the Churchill family’s true, greedy, and despicable colors and all the filthy deeds they’ve committed over the years."

Shawn Warner froze for a second, then nodded firmly.

"Understood."

’For the past two years, the Churchill family had been shamelessly using Iris Churchill’s memory and the Whitman family’s name to line their own pockets, their greed insatiable. Out of respect for Iris, President Whitman had always tolerated it, turning a blind eye.’

Shawn Warner had been bottling up his frustration for a long time, but he knew how deeply his boss had loved Iris Churchill, and it wasn’t his place as an assistant to interfere.

’If the Churchill family had genuinely cherished Iris, then it would be one thing for President Whitman to compensate them. But from start to finish, they never once treated Iris like their own flesh and blood.’

’Two years ago, before their daughter was even cold in her grave, the family was already eagerly negotiating terms, like leeches endlessly feeding on the deceased. It was utterly despicable.’

Now that President Whitman had finally decided to settle the score, Shawn Warner was over the moon.

He immediately grabbed the fully prepared and sealed evidence file and drove to the hotel. On the way, he called the hotel manager to make all the necessary arrangements.

In the hotel lobby, Mr. Churchill continued his tearful tirade while subtly scanning the reporters and cameras. Seeing that public opinion was entirely on his side, he was secretly gloating and could barely suppress a smirk.

’The more hype this generates, the more public pressure the Whitman family will be under, and the more leverage I’ll have. This time, I’m going to rip a huge chunk of profit right out of their hands.’

’This long-lost eldest daughter of his has truly brought the Churchill family a massive windfall!’

’He’d never had much fatherly affection for Iris Churchill. After all, she hadn’t grown up with him and they weren’t close.’

’When he first heard she’d been found, he’d had no choice but to take her in just to save face.’

’His original plan was to marry her off to another wealthy family and use the hefty bride price to subsidize his own. He never expected Iris to actually manage to hook the great Chadwick Whitman himself.’

’Just when he was about to become part of the Whitman family by marriage, Iris had to go and die saving Chadwick.’

’But on second thought, her death had served its purpose!’

’Thanks to the deceased Iris, the Churchill family’s status had skyrocketed over the past two years. The entire family had reaped the benefits, enjoying immense prestige.’

Beside him, Hannah Churchill listened to her father’s exaggerated sob story, a strange unease creeping into her heart. She leaned in and whispered, trying to stop him.

"Dad, you’re laying it on too thick. What if this backfires and we completely infuriate the Whitman family...?"

Mr. Churchill shot her a dismissive glance.

"What’s there to be afraid of? Chadwick Whitman was deeply in love with your sister; he’d never annihilate the Churchill family. In a little while, he’ll definitely send someone to negotiate a truce, and then your mother can walk out of that police station."

’Not only that,’ he thought, ’but all those partners who unilaterally canceled their contracts will be forced to come crawling back under the weight of public opinion.’

Hannah Churchill bit her lower lip, her brow tightly furrowed.

"Even if we reach a settlement, the Whitman family will definitely hold a grudge against us. We’ll be nothing but a topic of gossip in our circle from now on."

"Who cares what other people think as long as we get something real out of it?" Mr. Churchill cut her off impatiently, his tone carrying a warning. "And you’d better give up that fantasy of marrying into the Whitman family. You know exactly how they all treat you. Do you really want to be humiliated by them again?"

Hannah Churchill fell silent.

’Of course she didn’t want to be looked down on, but she was in love with Chadwick Whitman! If she could just marry him, she’d be willing to endure their disapproval!’

Just then, the gazes of every reporter and bystander in the room snapped toward the giant screen behind the stage, their expressions changing instantly.

A recording of an argument between Mr. and Mrs. Churchill began to play from the screen, the audio echoing clearly through the hall.

"So what if I was the one who lost her back then? It’s not like I did it on purpose!"

"I’m not blaming you. But since she’s been found, we have to bring her home. How can a daughter of mine, Thomas Churchill, be left to wander outside?"

"She’s grown wild out there, full of vulgar habits. Bringing her back will only embarrass the Churchill family."

"Fortunately, she has a pretty face. In a couple of years, we can marry her off to a wealthy family for a hefty bride price. At least then, having her won’t have been a total waste."

"Forget it. It’s not like I can get close to her anyway. If she hadn’t wandered off when she was little, I wouldn’t have been shamed for years as a neglectful mother."

Thomas Churchill’s face went deathly pale. He whirled around to stare at the big screen, his pupils constricting. Hannah Churchill’s eyes also widened in shock, the color draining completely from her face.

The screen changed, now showing surveillance and home video footage from after Iris Churchill had been reunited with her family.

Upon returning to her biological family, she received no warmth or affection. Instead, she faced daily exclusion, abuse, and relentless jealousy from her parents and sister. Even the household staff took their cues from the family, treating her with open disdain.

The kitchen staff never left food for her, and all the strenuous chores were forced upon her. Meanwhile, Mrs. Churchill, clad in an elegant dress, would sit on the sofa and watch coldly, chiming in with sarcastic remarks from time to time.

"Iris, if we hadn’t been kind enough to bring you back, you’d still be in some shantytown, picking through garbage without enough food or warm clothes. Don’t think you can be lazy just because you’re a Churchill now. We don’t raise useless people in this house."

Yet, the couple’s treatment of Hannah Churchill was completely different. She was decked out in designer brands and given the best of everything. They even forced Iris to cater to Hannah’s every whim, acting as her subordinate and obeying her unquestioningly.

Hannah, her face a mask of arrogance and her eyes full of contempt, would deliberately show off in front of Iris.

"Sister, did you see that? Mom and Dad only care about me. I just casually mentioned I wanted a car, and they immediately went out and bought me a BMW."

In stark contrast, Iris could only walk or use a shared bike to get around. She perpetually wore a cheap, faded dress, and her entire outfit was worth less than the diamond hairpin in Hannah’s hair.

Countless small, daily incidents like these were shown one after another.

"Turn it off! Turn off the screen!"

Mr. Churchill snapped to his senses and charged madly toward the control console, yanking out all the power cords.

But the screen didn’t even flicker; it just continued to cycle through the footage.

The Churchill family’s hypocritical, cold-hearted nature and the night-and-day difference in how they treated the two sisters were laid bare for everyone to see. The contrast was as glaring as it was ironic.

The reporters’ gazes toward Mr. Churchill and Hannah transformed completely. Online, the viewers erupted in fury, flooding the comments.

"And they call themselves parents? Being that cruel to your own flesh and blood... they’ve hit a new low."

"It was obviously the mother’s negligence that lost the child, but she turns around and blames a toddler for being naughty? That’s ridiculous."

"Iris Churchill’s cheap clothes aren’t even worth as much as one of Hannah’s hair clips. Their favoritism is rotten to the core."

"It’s bad enough that the younger sister has no sympathy, but she even ganged up with her parents to ostracize her and use her to feel superior. Is she just jealous that Iris is better-looking?"

"Thomas Churchill is so sanctimonious! He never acted like a father to her for a single day, and only brought her back to sell her off for profit. He’s not worthy of being called a father!"

"If you’re not going to treat your child well, why bother having one in the first place? They have zero sense of responsibility. They don’t deserve to be parents!"

The screen continued to change, revealing even more damning evidence.

In the two years following Iris Churchill’s death, Mr. Churchill, Mrs. Churchill, and Hannah had continuously used her name to extort money from the Whitman family, accumulating hundreds of millions and causing their family’s net worth to skyrocket overnight.

Hannah repeatedly used Iris’s name to get close to the Whitman family and harass Chadwick Whitman. After being repeatedly rebuffed, Mrs. Churchill resorted to a desperate measure: she purchased illegal drugs on the black market and instructed Hannah to drug Chadwick, scheming to get her into the bed of the man who should have been her brother-in-law.

One bombshell after another, the entire sequence of events was laid bare for the public, causing an even greater uproar at the scene.

The entire hall was in an uproar, with shouts of condemnation rising and falling.

"This family is shameless beyond belief! First, they torment their own sister, and then they go after her fiancé! Even the most over-the-top soap operas wouldn’t dare write a script this trashy."

"Mrs. Churchill getting arrested is just her getting what she deserves. Anyone else would have cut all ties with the Churchill family long ago."

"President Whitman’s restraint is incredible. A normal person could never have put up with that for two years."

"Talk about a plan backfiring! They were hoist by their own petard. Serves them right!"

Mr. Churchill’s earlier smugness had vanished. He swayed on his feet, on the verge of collapse, feeling an unbearable sense of shame.

Hannah covered her face, wishing the ground would open up and swallow her whole.

But the reporters gave them no chance to breathe, swarming them with a forest of cameras and microphones.

The cameras zoomed in, practically shoving the lenses in their faces and leaving them with absolutely nowhere to hide.

"Mr. Churchill, do you have any explanation?"

"Miss Churchill, did you really drug President Whitman in an attempt to achieve your goals?"

"Mrs. Churchill was detained for buying illegal drugs on the black market. Mr. Churchill, were you aware of this? Why did you then turn around and make false accusations against the Whitman family?"

Thomas Churchill’s lips trembled, but he couldn’t utter a single word. He clutched his chest, looking as if he was about to faint.

Hannah broke down, covering her face as she shoved at the reporters.

"Stop filming! I didn’t, it’s not like that!"

But no one paid her any mind. The reporters’ questions came one after another, boxing her in and leaving her no room to escape.

"Get out of my way!"

She snatched the camera from the nearest reporter and hurled it to the ground.

The crowd fell silent for a heartbeat, then erupted once more.

A fresh wave of pointed questions washed over her, threatening to drown her.

Just as they reached their breaking point, police officers walked straight up to them.

"We’ve received a report that you have deliberately fabricated facts, spread malicious rumors, and intentionally slandered another party. You’ll need to come with us for questioning."