Chapter 238: The Mysterious Call and the Scandal

The next day, while sitting in his office, Eric stared at the photo he had snapped on his smartphone the previous night, trying to make out the figure of the man whose features were blurred by the distance and poor lighting. Mike’s mention of Jade being tailed echoed in his head as he studied the suspicious figure in the image.

While he was deep in thought, a sudden "riing" pierced the quiet, a call from an unknown number flashed across his screen. Ignoring it, Eric let it ring out. Once the ringing stopped, a "ding" signaled an incoming voicemail. He opened it and listened,

"Good morning, CEO of E.R Holdings. My name is Ingrid Watson. I am reaching out to invite you to the reopening party of the Southwest Bridge and a business opportunity at our building. The date and time will be sent to your email. Please call me back to confirm. Thank you for your time."

Eric sat in silence. He recognized the company name mentioned in the voicemail instantly. Pulling up his contacts, he dialed Martin, who answered by the second ring.

"What’s up, son?" Martin asked.

"Dad... do you know someone named Ingrid Watson? I just got an invite to the Southwest Bridge, Your logistics company, reopening party and she invited me specifically as the CEO of E.R Holdings, not Elliot’s Production," Eric explained.

Martin fell silent for a moment. Eric could hear the muffled sound of his father walking away, likely stepping out of a room to find some privacy.

"Ingrid Watson is the daughter of Thomas Watson, my golfing buddy who acquired my old logistics company. How on earth did she get your number?" Martin asked, sounding baffled.

"That’s what I’m trying to figure out. How does she even know this line and about E.R Holdings?" Eric replied.

"Hmmm... let me look into this. I’ve never mentioned you to her, even though she knows who you are from your viral videos and is familiar with The Empress," Martin answered.

"Got it, Dad," Eric said.

"Don’t give her any answers until you hear back from me. Just because she’s the daughter of my friend on the golf course doesn’t mean she’s a friend outside of it. We need to be careful," Martin warned.

"Understood, Dad," Eric replied.

"Alright, I’m hanging up now to give her a call. I’ll let you know what I find out," Martin said.

Before Eric could reply, the line went dead. Setting his phone down on the desk, Eric fell back into thought. He glanced at his laptop, which still displayed the half-finished song arrangement. Closing his eyes, he began humming softly to pick up the rhythm.

Scarcely five minutes into his humming, a sharp "slam" echoed as the office door flew open. Eric looked up to see Emma and Ruby rushing in, still wearing their workout gear. Their faces looked tense and grim as they sat down across from him.

"Babe, we’ve got bad news," Emma blurted out.

"Huh... what kind of news?" Eric asked.

"Here... just look at this," Ruby said, shoving her smartphone across the desk.

Eric picked up the phone and stared at the screen. His eyes widened at a social media news article featuring a photo of Tania and Greg walking out of a hotel, flanked by two middle-aged men whose faces were blurred. Tania’s distinct hairstyle and Greg’s towering height made them instantly recognizable. The headline blared: "Nobelia Idol Spotted Leaving Hotel with Three Older Men, looks Like Idol Salaries Aren’t Enough, So She’s Got Three Sugar Daddies at Once,"

Naturally, the comment section was flooded with vile insults directed at Tania, referring to her by her code name, Sapphire. After skimming through the toxic comments, Eric raised his gaze to meet Emma and Ruby.

"Where is Tania right now?" Eric asked.

"She’s downstairs with Ms. Keisha and Jade. They brought her into the interview room to keep her safe because two newly recruited girls from Anthony’s team pointed her out and started insulting her," Emma answered.

"We got this article from them too... I think someone is actively trying to sabotage us, and it’s definitely connected to the creeps following us these past few days," Ruby added.

"That’s right, babe. Ruby and I are actually getting pretty freaked out," Emma admitted. "Anthony went downstairs right away to handle those two trainees," she added.

"Yeah... sounds like those two troublemakers are about to get fired or heavily penalized," Ruby chimed in.

"Alright... you two head back down and call Greg to come over here. I’ll make a quick call, and then I’ll be right down," Eric instructed.

"Greg is already on his way. Okay... Ruby and I are heading back down," Emma said, standing up.

"Yeah, don’t take too long. Poor Tania is a wreck downstairs," Ruby added, rising as well.

Emma leaned over to kiss Eric’s cheek before both of them turned and walked out of the office. Eric immediately dialed Mike, who picked up on the third ring.

"Mike, can you get down to my office right away?" Eric asked.

"What’s going on?" Mike asked.

Eric gave Mike a quick rundown of what he had just heard from Emma and Ruby, detailing the vicious social media article. Mike listened in total silence until Eric finished.

"Got it, I’m heading over now," Mike replied.

"Sweet... I’ll wait for you downstairs," Eric said.

Hanging up, Eric thought about calling Katie to accompany him downstairs, but learned she was already with Tania, Jade, Keisha, and Anthony. Eric pocketed his phone, stood up, and left his office. Moments later, he stepped into the enclosed fourth-floor meeting room.

Katie was staring at a smartphone screen, her face dark and serious. Tania sat across from her with her head bowed, hands locked beneath the table. Keisha stood with a comforting hand on Tania’s shoulder, while Jade sat right next to her. Emma and Ruby stood just behind Katie with their arms crossed, looking fiercely protective. Anthony walked over to greet Eric as he entered.

"Eric, sorry about this mess. The two new talents who harassed Tania are currently under review by management and are barred from coming here until the investigation wraps up," Anthony stated.

"Is the article blowing up?" Eric asked.

"Not nationally... seems localized for now, but the impact is heavy. Someone clearly wants to drag us down," Anthony answered.

"How is Tania holding up?" Eric asked.

"She’s... still shaken up. But you should hear what happened straight from her," Anthony replied.

Eric stepped forward and sat down across from Tania. Sensing Eric’s presence, Tania lifted her head. Eric offered a reassuring smile and prompted gently,

"Can you tell me what happened?" Eric asked.

"Yes... but before that... do you recognize that hotel?" Tania asked.

"Yeah... that’s one of Uncle Joe’s hotels," Eric answered.

"About a week ago, Greg’s parents came in from out of town. Since Greg lives in the dorms and Ruby and I share an apartment... I took Greg’s parents to stay at that hotel. The photo in the article was snapped when we were walking out. Greg and I didn’t do anything wrong, and as for the two older men behind us, we don’t even know them, they just happened to walk out at the exact same time," Tania explained, her voice trembling.

"Sorry, Eric, she’s still really shaken. She was reading the comments earlier... you know how vicious people online can be," Jade interjected.

"Right... exactly. People out there don’t know the facts and just judge based on a snapshot. I understand, Tania," Eric said, reaching across the table to place a hand reassuringly over hers.

"Mr. Eric, incidents like this need to be handled with zero tolerance. And I’ve heard from Emma, Ruby, Jade, and Tania that someone has been tailing them. I actually caught someone lurking outside this building watching one of the Nobelia girls before, but when I ran out to confront him, he bolted. We need to investigate this before it turns dangerous," Keisha urged.

"Yes... I agree, Ms. Keisha," Eric replied.

"I’ve already messaged my private investigator and Norman to meet us here in two hours. Eric, Ms. Keisha, can you both join us?" Katie asked, stepping forward from the group.

"Of course, Ms. Katie, I’d be glad to," Keisha nodded.

"Do we need to tag along?" Emma asked.

"No, the four of you stay upstairs. We’ll wait for Greg and Mike to arrive since they’re on their way, and then the five of us will handle it," Katie directed.

"Alright... in that case, Anthony, let Caleb know what’s going on once he’s out of his meeting, and fill him in on all the details," Eric said.

"Will do. I’m heading back up now, honestly, I was right in the middle of a board meeting with him before this crisis pulled me down," Anthony replied.

"Thanks, bro," Eric acknowledged.

Anthony gave a firm nod, turned on his heel, and strode out of the room to head upstairs and rejoin the board meeting alongside Caleb.