Just like the day of the Sky's Anniversary, the press conference today had sparked a wild fire of theories and gossip in the media. But despite the fact that Lu Bohai was exposed and as an employee of Shi Publishing company, the company's reputation should have dwindled and targeted - it didn't.
Because on the other side, the revelation of Huan's innocence neutralized the accusation against Lu Bohai to a larger extent. Added to it that there were possible rumors about Huan and Yunru's relationship and how Jun stood up to fight for them - the support of the Liu and Chen family toned down the criticism they got.
So even if Sky was heavily blamed, Shi Publishing managed to survive the outcome of the press conference somehow.
From inside his office, Jun watched the news unfolding where a reporter was giving her commentary about the latest happenings, one of which was that Shi Publishing had fired Lu Bohai. That was to be expected after Jun gave his statement to hand over Lu Bohai to the cops for threatening and blackmailing Sun Bai.
He let out a sneer.
But there is still no apology from their side.
After today's press conference, it was expected of Shi Publishing as a company to first - apologize to Jun and Sun Bai for Lu Bohai's actions and second - to ask for a joint investigation to learn the truth behind the Summit's corruption.
After all, had Huan not fallen sick at the last moment and continued with the competition with her story, the fact that the judges were bribed to make Guiying win naturally affected her result as well as much as Ai's.
But there was total silence from Shi Publishing, which meant from Zhan Yahui. There still wasn't any news of a possible press conference from their side.
And before she could point any fingers against Jun, he had already issued an official apology as Sky's CEO towards Huan for the plagiarism accusations that Cui Fen made against her that affected her reputation.
Even though it was clear that Cui Fen was acting upon someone's orders whose identity was yet to be revealed to the world, she still belonged to Sky. So Jun strongly felt it was his responsibility to own up for the part wherever Sky had caused trouble, knowingly or unknowingly.
"Sir."
Jun looked up to find Sun Bai deeply bowing before him. Hai eyes widened, and he sprung on his feet. "Hey, hey, raise your head. I am younger than you, Miss. Sun."
Sun Bai looked into his dark brown eyes and felt her eyelashes growing wet. "I just want to express my gratitude, Sir. It's still hard to believe that you took a murderer in-"
"You are not a killer, Miss. Sun," Jun corrected her. "To protect your dignity from harm doesn't make any woman a murderer. Please remove that guilt from your heart."
Her eyes ached as she silently weeped for several minutes.
"I am sorry I couldn't admit it before…Even if my actions might not have been wrong, I still kept it from my employer. Even so you gave me a place to work," she slightly clenched her wrist she held with her palm, "That's why I will gracefully accept your decision to fire me. In the end, I did make a mistake."
Jun shook his head. "I am not stupid to fire you and let another company score a diamond like you. I am a businessman, and I am very selfish so no, you are not going anywhere."
She trembled hard. "B-But…"
"That's the CEO's decision. Are you sure you want to go against me?" He chuckled.
Sun Bai helplessly closed her eyes. "Somehow, I understand Miss. Zhou more and more now."
His brow twitched. "About what? What did Ai say to you?"
She cleared her throat. "That's women gossip. So it's a secret."
"..."
When did Ai gossip with Sun Bai?
"Wait, now I am even more curious! What does Ai say to you about me?" He narrowed his eyes.
"Please ask this to Miss. Zhou herself. If she is fine with it, she will tell you."
"..."
A vein popped on his forehead, but he kept his smile intact which was growing more looming. He sneered. "Yeah, I will ask her for sure, and she will tell me for sure too."
She nodded. "Good luck."
Damn this women gossip loyalty!
Before he could explode, Yunru had already captured his cousin in a big, tight and warm hug. "Bro you are the best!!!"
Yunru sniffled, his heart overflowing with happiness. "Now nobody will talk shit about Huan! And it's all because of how awesome you were! I love you Bro!"
Jun forgot all his annoyance about the women gossip part, and his gaze softened. He patted his brother's back. "I just did what was right. How could I see anybody pinning blame on my cute cousin and his girlfriend?"
Yunru's ears turned bright red, and he stuttered in embarrassment. "H-Huan is not my g-girlfriend yet, Bro…"
He teasingly chuckled. "So when will you ask her out?"
Sun Bai chimed in. "Yes, yes. President shouldn't make her wait."
"You-you…" the redness from his ears was spreading out to his charming face. "Actually, I want to do something special for her. You know how sister-in-law confessed to you at the Summit Bro! It was so novel and exciting! I-I wish to do something similar too…"
Sun Bai blinked. "Miss. Zhou confessed to Sir at the Summit?"
"Yes!" Yunru brightened. "Her short story! That was actually her confession for Bro!"
Her lips parted in amazement. She glanced at Jun, and he nodded with a grin.
"That's so beautiful," she sincerely said. Until now, she was unaware of who had confessed to who first and how.
"Miss. Zhou is indeed very talented. Her story was wonderful and since it was a confession, I could only imagine how special Sir must have felt."
His brown orbs glistened with love and tenderness. Remembering Ai's confession on that beautiful Valentine's evening always made his heart burst with a flutter of warmth and joy. So much so that he desired to make Ai feel those special butterfly and heartpounding emotions too that were firmly rooted in his heart.
A soft smile curved the corner of his lips as he had already thought of the perfect event for it.