The Retired CEO's Guide To Being Spoiled-Chapter 268: The Real Battlefield

As for those who inherently harbored prejudices, who always found the lifestyle of the wealthy to be an eyesore, or who carried malicious intent from Julian Sterling’s previous kidnapping incident, along with those who simply loved to blindly follow the crowd and were easily led by public opinion... these people would absolutely not let this matter go easily just because of a few photographs.

And the truth of what unfolded in those first few minutes was not much different from what they had predicted. Initially, when the steering comments appeared to provide links to the official post of Caldwell Empire, they were still fiercely countered and attacked by the malicious forces. Even up until now, there were still scattered similar comments on the forums, stubbornly criticizing, smearing, and making all sorts of assumptions. However...

The influence of those negative comments had diminished significantly. They were completely crushed by a tremendously powerful new wave, consisting of countless comments praising how good Gemma Thornton and Thea Lockwood looked together, and then turning to compare which of the two couples was more romantic. The cursing posts were gradually pushed down to the very bottom of the page.

Watching the spectacle of public opinion reversal unfold more smoothly than imagined, Helen Lloyd, standing to the side, could not help but give a thumbs up to the young man who was comfortably leaning back against the sofa reading comments, voicing her admiration: "Julian, you are truly amazing."

Her tone was incredibly calm, sounding as if she was giving a somewhat reluctant, perfunctory compliment, but this was truly an admiration coming from the bottom of the heart of a professional secretary like Helen Lloyd.

Her nature had always been extremely serious; she was absolutely not good at flattering or sweet-talking others. She could still say them for social pleasantries, but her straightforward personality made her feel that the more she tried to speak flowery words, the more fake they sounded. As for that somewhat blunt and concise compliment just now, it was genuinely the most sincere praise she had for his problem-solving abilities.

And Julian Sterling seemed to not mind the rigidity in the other person’s compliment either.

He shifted his gaze away from the phone screen, raised his head to look at Helen Lloyd, and slowly broke into a relieved smile. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Helen Lloyd still could not contain the curiosity in her heart, so she asked another question: "But how could you be so confident that public opinion would be steered in this direction, Julian?"

Why? It was simple.

Because of human nature, especially netizens, who would not like looking at beautiful things, who would not like watching handsome men and beautiful women acting out romantic scenes. The feeling of enthusiastically shipping, following, and supporting the love of others, also known as chasing OTP couples, is always the kind of entertainment that brings the greatest joy; how could a person who only ever knows about work like her possibly understand this mentality.

Although he thought this clearly in his head, Julian Sterling absolutely did not dare to say these words out loud. He could only remain silent, continuing to maintain the slight smile on his lips to appear profound and unfathomable.

He was genuinely afraid that if he accidentally blurted out those idol-chasing theories, Helen Lloyd, with her meticulous nature, would continue to press him on how he was so well-versed in these matters.

Could it be that at that time he would have to honestly confess and say that it was because he himself was also someone with a passionate hobby for gossiping just like that? If so, it would sound a bit disgraceful, and it would definitely completely destroy the calm, mature image that he had painstakingly built in front of his husband’s subordinate.

It was just that... looking at the intimate picture of the two girls on the screen, along with that pampering smile, Julian Sterling could not help but click his tongue. He turned the screen for Helen Lloyd to see: "Do you not think their chemistry is really good? I must admit those people are not wrong, they look great together."

Helen Lloyd: "..." This is not within my professional expertise, I genuinely do not know.

Perhaps seeing that Helen Lloyd really did not care much about these things, Julian Sterling only said that much and then stopped. After that, he looked at Helen Lloyd and asked further: "Is everything settled now?"

"The crisis communication department is monitoring closely. Once there is a sign of deviation, they will redirect it immediately. But is there a need to bring up the matter between you and the boss again to resolve it thoroughly?"

It was true that guiding public opinion toward Gemma Thornton and Thea Lockwood could help temporarily suppress those attacking comments. But it did not resolve it thoroughly, the bad comments were still there. Once the heat of that other couple cooled down, Ethan Caldwell and Julian Sterling would continue to be hung up on the guillotine.

"Just keep monitoring. The real battlefield has not even started yet, I am afraid everyone will have to work overtime tonight."

Helen Lloyd raised an eyebrow, but Julian Sterling did not explain further, simply handing her the plan he had finished organizing: "Please help me arrange these things. Reorganize all the work, it must be done by tomorrow noon at the latest. Book me a flight ticket for tomorrow afternoon to Kensington city."

"Are you planning to look for the boss?" Helen Lloyd took the plan, casually asking a question.

And Julian Sterling did not deny it either: "That is right. Going to quell the rebellion. I do not believe things will be this peaceful."

After finishing assigning tasks to Helen Lloyd, Julian Sterling waved his hand for her to leave. He picked up his phone and called Ethan Caldwell’s number directly.

The phone rang twice before someone picked up. Before the other side could even speak, Julian Sterling spoke first: "Let us see who I caught playing on his phone instead of working?"

"I am not."

"If not, then why did you answer the phone so fast?"

"It is your call, I have to pick it up quickly."

"Pfft, sweet talker." Julian Sterling playfully scolded, then his voice turned completely serious: "Has your side found out who it is yet?"

"Not yet, for fear of alerting the enemy, we are only investigating secretly. There were too many people coming in, going out, and appearing during that period, so screening them also takes time. The possibility of hidden cameras being placed in the room beforehand cannot be ruled out either. Oh right, but there is still important progress."

The man’s voice was very measured, and the space on the other side was also quiet. Perhaps because the incident had just happened, the man was only staying in his room.