Chapter 357 Proof That Can’t Get More Iron-Clad Than This
“One of the hotel staff helped you to change your clothes,” Leroy immediately explained, having instantly figured out Jolly’s thoughts. “You threw up over yourself. Your clothes weren’t in a wearable condition.”
Jolly gradually calmed down then. In truth, she had known Leroy for some time now. Although she had initially gotten in touch with him out of ulterior motives, as she spent more time with him, she realized that he was actually a pretty straightforward person, to the point where he was a little bland. He was largely different from other celebrities in showbiz.
Just as he was speaking, Leroy’s phone buzzed.
“Hello? What?” Leroy suddenly glanced at Jolly, a complicated look in his eyes. “My phone was on silent, so I didn’t hear it earlier.”
Jolly had no idea what the caller said, but Leroy walked straight to the window, pulling aside part of the curtain to look down before he quickly pulled the curtain back in place.
“What is it?” Still with the blanket wrapped around her, Jolly could sense that something was not right.
“Someone snapped photos of us last night. Right now, reporters and fans are swarming the hotel’s lower floors. We can’t leave for now.”
“What?” Jolly promptly got out of bed with the blanket still wrapped around her and dashed over to the window to take a look. The hotel itself was rather tall, so the crowd gathered below looked like a dark swarm of ants. But even with the sheer height, Jolly could still see that it was a sizable crowd. “What should we do?”
“My manager’s rushing over this instant. Let’s wait first.”
“Wait? For how long? When are we going to get out?” Jolly clenched the blanket. “I’ve got a reputation to uphold. I don’t want to go down in flames with all this slander hurled at me. Where’s my phone?” She only thought of her phone at that moment.
“On the bed,” Leroy answered. When Jolly saw Leroy emerge from the bathroom earlier, she had tossed her phone aside as she shrieked.
That phone… Jolly rushed over and picked her phone up. Sure enough, the call was still ongoing.
“Hello?” Jolly coughed awkwardly. “Chris, are you still there?”
“Yeah.”
“So then, everything earlier…”
“I heard it all.” Rachel didn’t hide anything. “Jolly, if I were one of Leroy’s fans, I’d charge over to the hotel and rip the door right off its hinges before pulling out all your hair. Nothing happened at all between a single man and a single woman? Who’s going to buy that?”
Even though Jolly’s phone had been on the whole time and she heard their conversation, Rachel still had her doubts. She didn’t doubt Leroy’s character; she doubted Jolly’s ability to hold her alcohol.
Jolly knew her shortcomings. “That—Chris, relax, I’ll be sure to handle this properly. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it myself.”
“How are you going to take care of it? Are you going to go out butt naked to do so?”
At that, Jolly awkwardly lowered her head to look at herself before pulling the blanket higher up her chest.
“Stay at the hotel. Don’t go anywhere. I’ll bring you a change of clothes,” Rachel said.
Jolly let out a breath of relief. “You’re a good friend. I shall come to your aid one day; I guarantee that!”
“How are you still in the mood to crack jokes?” Rachel was practically speechless. After she hung up, she spoke to Justin. “Please send me home.”
“That’s in a completely different direction from the hotel,” Justin pointed out.
“I know, but I need to go back home and grab some clothes for Jolly.”
“Such a pain. Do you have a nanny waiting at home?”
“Yes.”
“The Burton Group is fairly close to your home. I’ll get Frankie to get the clothes and meet us at the hotel.”
Rachel paused before nodding. Right now, that was the most efficient way to deliver the clothes.
Half an hour later, Rachel and Justin arrived at the hotel. The crowd of reporters and fans by the entrance was a huge, dark mass. There weren’t any less of them here than at Hudson Pharmaceuticals.
Justin drove the car straight to the underground parking lot. The hotel’s security was tight, for there were guards posted by the parking lot’s elevators. Without a key card from the hotel, no one was allowed to go up. Despite that, there were still plenty of people gathered in the parking lot. Even when she got out of the car and walked to the elevator, Rachel could see there were reporters in cars with cameras of various sizes. All of them were camping for a potential shot.
If they were to snap a photo of Leroy and Jolly right now, the traffic to the media outlets they worked for would skyrocket.
Rachel had explained her reasons to be here, so the hotel manager personally came over and brought her and Justin upstairs. Inside the elevator, Justin’s gaze darkened. “Even if they’re here just to drive clicks, they didn’t have to cause such a huge mess.”
“You noticed it too?” Rachel frowned slightly. “I could tell at a glance that they were all organized. I think things aren’t as simple as they seem.”
Fans had gathered at Hudson Pharmaceuticals, and at the same time, reporters were also camping out at Jolly’s hotel. Why did these two incidents coincidentally happen at the same time? Obviously, there was someone deliberately stirring the pot in the dark, attempting to fan the flames.
“I just don’t know who the target behind this campaign is,” Rachel said.
Was it Leroy? Or Jolly?
Or could it be Hudson Pharmaceuticals?
Before she could ponder more on it, the elevator doors drew back with a ‘ding.’ The moment the door to Jolly’s room opened, Rachel was dragged in by the hand that emerged from within. The door then slammed shut. Justin ended up getting some dust on his nose from the resulting slam without being able to get in.
Jolly clutched Rachel. “Why is he here with you? Here to see me make a fool of myself?”
“Do you think he’s bored enough to come laugh at you? He sent Charlotte and Samuel to school earlier, so he came along.” Rachel looked up to regard Leroy and nodded in greeting. “The parking lot is teeming with reporters. You can’t leave through the basement later.”
“Why should I be scared? I didn’t do anything. So what if I leave?”
“Right now, Leroy’s fans are also camping outside of Hudson Pharmaceuticals. They’re holding these banners while threatening to sue you because of a casting couch deal.”
“Where the hell did those accusations come from? I’m going to f*cking…” Jolly straight up cursed from anger.
Rachel shoved the bag of clothes into her hands. “Put some clothes on first.”
After Jolly huffily went off to change her clothes, Rachel finally opened the door. “Come in.”
Justin looked straight ahead. “Is it a good time? I can always get out.”
“It’s fine. She just went to change her clothes.”
After the door closed, the atmosphere in the hotel room turned awkward. Although Leroy was currently a spokesperson for Hudson Pharmaceuticals’ latest product, he and Rachel had only hastily met once. All communication between them had been handled by Jolly.
Leroy brought over a glass of water each for Rachel and Justin. “Miss Hudson, who might this be?”
“He’s Burton Group’s…” Just as Rachel was about to introduce Justin, she suddenly trailed off.
Justin was no longer the president of the Burton Group.
Justin didn’t seem to mind as he offered his hand. “Justin Burton.”
Leroy nodded. “Leroy Bennett.”
Rachel let out a breath. She then asked, “What happened last night? The internet’s been up in arms.”
“Last night, Jolly brought me out to have some fun. She drank a lot, so I brought her to the hotel. I don’t know who leaked the footage from the hotel corridor’s security cameras and triggered the media over the out-of-context clip.”
“Let me take a look.” Rachel hadn’t had the time to check the aforementioned video, so she had no idea how severe the current situation was.
“Here.” Leroy handed his own phone over.
The moment Rachel tapped play, she saw the doors of the elevator open to show Jolly with her arms wrapped around Leroy’s shoulders. They had just emerged from the elevator when she pressed him against the wall.
How is this ‘taken out of context by the media’?! This is practically iron-clad proof! It can’t get more iron-clad than this! The corners of Rachel’s mouth twitched hard.
