Director Newman made a cruel announcement on the spot, "All the people related to the questions are dismissed from the TV station now. I'll tell the boss. You can go now."
Ignoring Fox and Carry's pleas, he sent Clarence to the studio to announce the solution. Although he did not have the power to fire the station's staff directly, he knew that it would be like this if he reported it to the station president.
As a public media, the reputation of the TV station was very important, and it couldn't be damaged because of two staff.
It was a heavy punishment because they were expelled from not only the program, but also the TV station. Both of them were regular employees of the station and enjoyed a good treatment. Being fired meant losing the job.
Not only that, but everyone knew that if it became known, Fox and Carry would never find a job at any television station. They were all majoring in this field. If they couldn't work in the station, what else could they do?
Carry almost couldn't support himself and faint. She took so many exams and finally got the job. In her original life plan, she was going to work on the Lake TV Station for the rest of her life.
She was the only kid. She had to support her parents. Losing the job was like a disaster for her.
Mr. Fox was also very worried. Carry was just a newcomer. But he had been in this business for twenty years. If this tarnished his reputation, the relationships he had accumulated over the years would be useless. To him, the loss was even greater.
Director Newman knew that Fox might do it because Carry didn't dare to do that. But there was no proof that Carry was innocent, so Newman had to fire her together with Fox. He felt guilty about the girl and wondered if he could help her find another job.
***
Sophia had been standing on the stage, helping Clarence cope with angry spectators. Until the group announced the solution: firing the responsible person, invalidating Ada's score, and permanently banning her from participating in any show of the Lake TV Station, in this episode, the winner was still Sophia.
The decision showed the attitude of the station, and viewers accepted it. Clarence apologized again on behalf of the station, saying things like this would never happen again. Then viewers left the station in droves.
Sophia had been trying to pacify the audience and was very tired. When the last audience left, she got up to the background. Clarence came up to thank her, "Thank you so much, Sophia. If it weren't for you, it could be a disaster. Unlucky me! As long as something goes wrong, it's always me who comes forward. Just now, a few guys were trying to beat me. Oh, my god!"
When Sophia got to the backstage, she noticed a girl crouched in a corner crying. A few people were comforting her, but she just cried and ignored them.
Clarence got worried and walked up to the girl at once, "What's wrong, Carry? Who bullied you? Tell me, I'll take it out for you!"
Carry just cried and didn't answer him. One of the girls said, "She's been fired. You announce it. Don't you know?"
Clarence shook his head. "They just said the staff members concerned were fired. But, what does it have to do with Carry? She didn't choose the questions... She just does the typing."
The girl sighed, "Yeah. We all know Carry. How could she do that? In my opinion, it must be Fox who did it. But he refused to admit. Newman had to dismiss Carry with Fox for the sake of the station's image."
Hearing that, Sophia knew what happened.
Carry was innocent and implicated. It was Ada who bought the questions and Fox who sold. It had nothing to do with Carry, but she carried the blame inexplicably and lost her job.
Sophia knew the truth. She thought about it and pulled up Clarence, "Come with me, sir. I need to talk to you."
Clarence was stunned. He wanted to stay with Carry, but he could tell that there might be something wrong with Sophia's serious look, so he followed her.
Sophia stopped at the corner of the stairs. Looking around, no one noticed her, she picked up her handbag and rummaged through it a few times…
"This…" she took out a USB flash drive from her bag. "In fact, I wasn't going to take it out… I hope it can help that girl."
It was the USB flash drive Nicole had given her before. Sophia had been talking with it. She had thought it would be useless when the matter had been settled. But it seemed that it would be unfair to Carry if she didn't take it out.
After all, it had something to do with her. She didn't want anyone to be implicated.
Clarence didn't understand, "What's this?"
Sophia said, "It's a recording. You'll know. Show it to the president. It may prove Carry's innocence. If it doesn't work, call me, I'll see if I can figure out another way."
Her phone number was kept at the TV station. Clarence could find it easily. Sophia didn't need to tell him, especially.
Clarence kept thanking her. Then he ran to the president's office with it.
Right then, Sophia's friends called her to leave. They had been waiting for her. After the short call, Sophia left with them.
In the car, Sophia saw that the cheating had already been a hit. Several viewers made the matter public online and attached a live video.
When they recorded the video, they had no idea that such a thing would happen. They just wanted to make a memento. But then, these videos were absolute evidence.
"The Lake TV Station said that they would refuse Ada to participate in any of their TV programs. I'm sure they'll cut all her footage when it's on the air.. As you can see, this is a live recording of the show, and there is no change at all."