My CEO Ex: Let Me Go.-Chapter 111

Alexander’s POV

The tall boy looked at me, his lips moving, but no words came out.

Just moments ago, Reed had been talking about his fear of getting into trouble. Who would’ve thought things would escalate this quickly?

They didn’t respond, and I had no intention of lingering on it. I cut to the chase. “The gossip accounts and entertainment leaks—the clickbait accounts—are they from your studio?”

The room fell silent.

The tall boy, hearing the thudding of his own heartbeat, lowered his head.

He had been so confident earlier, but now that he realized I was about to take revenge, no one wanted to step up as the scapegoat.

Seeing the situation unfold, the young man stepped hard on the injured leg of the employee beneath him, causing a blood-curdling scream. The employee’s eyes reddened, his face twisted in fear, sweat beading on his forehead.

The young man glanced at the others. “I’m asking you!”

Gasping for breath, the employee finally admitted, “It’s our studio’s account, but I wasn’t in charge. It has nothing to do with me!”

I scanned him, then turned my attention to the others, including the tall boy. “Who’s in charge? Who told you to post those messages?”

The tall boy swallowed hard, his legs shaky. He took a step back, silent.

The others fared no better.

One of them, unable to withstand the pressure, shoved the tall boy forward in desperation and confessed, “Milo’s the one running those three accounts. Reed took the job. I... I have nothing to do with it!”

Milo was the tall boy.

Seeing himself being thrown under the bus, he turned bright red with rage. “Harold, don’t you dare slander me! Why don’t you mention how you managed over a hundred phones and stirred up all that public opinion?”

Harold quickly shot back, “What does that have to do with me? If Dominick hadn’t contacted other clickbait accounts to create the hype, would the momentum have been that big? Isaac also reached out to the marketing company. How could I have done it alone?”

Isaac, standing nearby, was also panicking. “It was your idea in the first place! Don’t blame me for everything. I wanted to negotiate and delete the posts, but you all insisted on posting that private message!”

Dominick, the one under the young man’s foot, shouted, “I didn’t contact anyone! They saw the traffic and reposted it themselves! Don’t frame me!”

The four of them started bickering, each desperately trying to shift the blame.

I shot them a cold glance and nodded at the young man.

The young man walked to the door, closed it, cutting off any escape. Then he shouted, “Shut up!”

Immediately, the room fell silent.

“Who is Reed?” I asked, sitting down on the armchair.

Reed, already bruised, trembled, staying silent, hoping to avoid further attention.

Milo quickly pointed at him. “That’s him! He took the job. We’re just employees. We had no choice...”

Reed, furious, snapped, “Milo! You were the happiest when that job was offered to you!”

“You’re lying!”

I turned my gaze to Reed.

The young man walked over, holding an iron rod in his hand.

Reed, frightened, dropped to his knees. “I’ll tell you everything. Just don’t hit me! Someone sent me those video proofs and asked me to publish them. They offered twenty thousand dollars!”

After all, the last time they had me release information, there were no consequences. So this time, Reed had hoped for the same outcome.

If the deal had gone through, they would have split the twenty thousand, and with the traffic it generated, everyone would’ve earned a good chunk of money.

“Who is this person?” I asked, my voice cold.

“The remittance account belongs to someone named Grayson.”

My face remained expressionless, my gaze unwavering.

Reed, sneaking a glance, added, “I have the chat logs and recordings. I’ll give you everything.”

The young man and the others stood guard nearby.

I sat back down, reviewing all the chat logs and listening to the recordings.

When I looked up, I addressed the young man. “Go back and investigate this person named Grayson.”

“Okay, boss,” the young man replied.

Reed watched Alexander with a deepening frown, his eyes growing darker. He couldn’t help but regret his decision. If only he hadn’t taken that job!

If the other party truly wanted to make a move against them today, they were powerless to stop it.

The men who had come in clearly belonged to a gang, unafraid of prison. And with CEO Hawthorne’s presence, even if they called the police, it might not be enough to handle them.

If Alexander truly intended on seeking revenge, Reed’s life would never know peace again. He would be tormented for the rest of his days.

I raised my eyes to look at Reed.

Reed trembled, hurriedly pleading, “Mr. Alexander, I know I was wrong! Please, spare me! I don’t want the money—I’ll delete the post immediately! I’ll apologize to both you and Miss Vivienne, just please, don’t make this any harder on me! I’ll do whatever you ask!”

“This isn’t your first time working with Grayson, is it?”

Reed’s face turned pale, and his legs shook uncontrollably as he stammered, “No... it’s not...”

I remained silent, my expression indifferent as I stared at him.

Desperate, Reed confessed, “In August, Grayson came to me and gave me a few photos.”

He stole a nervous glance at my face, then continued, “It was a picture of you and Miss Isabella together at Vanguard Global Enterprises!”

“And?” I prompted.

“There’s nothing else, just those two times,” he rushed to say.

Seeing my skeptical gaze, Reed quickly added, “Really, CEO Hawthorne, it’s too late for me to lie to you now. There were only those two times. Any other rumors—those weren’t from us!”

By "other," he meant the photos of Vivienne and me at the Grand Theater.

I had kept the evidence. I stood up calmly, walking toward the door.

Reed looked at me with pleading eyes, his heart sinking with each passing second.

I opened the door, about to leave, but paused and turned back to remind him, “Take it easy, don’t let anyone get hurt.”

Reed collapsed to the floor.

...

After leaving the villa, I got into the back seat of the car, leaned back against the seat, and pinched the bridge of my nose.

After a moment of silence, I suddenly realized something. I reached into my pocket but found my phone wasn’t there.

Turning around, I saw it lying calmly on the other side of the back seat.

I picked it up and unlocked the screen. A missed call from Vivienne flashed on the display. Several hours had passed.

At that moment, I had been sitting at the table with the young man and the others.

I immediately dialed Vivienne’s number.

The phone rang.

The car was eerily quiet.

Leaning back in my seat, my fingers tapped lightly on my knee as I waited for the call to connect.

Suddenly, there was a beep—the call was dropped.

I dialed again, but the line disconnected.

I pursed my lips and sent a message to the young man, then moved to the driver’s seat and drove off.

By the time I arrived at The Crescent Estates, it was nearly midnight.

The surroundings were still, and the living room was dark. Vivienne hadn’t left the light on for me.

I fumbled my way upstairs, heading for the master bedroom, and tried the doorknob.

For a moment, I froze—the doorknob wouldn’t turn.

I knocked. “Vivienne, are you asleep?”

There was no response.

I called out a couple more times, but still, there was no answer.

I had no choice but to go downstairs, turn on the lights, and search for the spare key.

But I couldn’t find it.

It seemed the noise downstairs had woken Gabriella. She came out, dressed, and asked, “Sir, you’re back—why aren’t you resting?”

I didn’t answer, instead asking, “I remember the spare key was always kept here. Where is it?”

“Oh,” Gabriella said, “Vivienne said she lost her key, so she took the spare. Didn’t she put it back?”

“...”

I paused for a moment before replying, “Never mind. Go back to bed.”

I turned off the lights and went upstairs. After freshening up in the guest bathroom, I spent the night in the adjacent guest room.