Chapter 22: Unexpected Disappearing Act

Chapter 22: Unexpected Disappearing Act

Emily's Weibo was skyrocketing in followers, with a surge of fans and admirers flooding in. She was overwhelmed trying to keep up with the messages—full of romantic confessions and some inappropriate comments. Among them was an unexpected message from Ryan.

Ryan: [[Image]]

Ryan: [Wow [Admire][Admire]]

The image Ryan sent was of Emily's cover photo, featuring her with her back to the camera, her eyelashes gracefully lowered. Emily loved this photo, believing it perfectly captured her ethereal profile and elegant shoulders.

Ryan: [Looks like our next collaboration might not just be you shooting me]

Ryan: [We could even share the frame [Meow Meow]]

Emily grinned as she read the messages. Biting her lip, she typed a response:

[Sure [So Happy][Clap]]

Just then, Jessica burst in, looking flustered. "Did you see the editor's message? What's going on?"

Emily looked up. "What's happening?"

"Have you not noticed? All the news and trending topics about you online—they've suddenly vanished!"

"What?"

Emily quickly checked her phone. Sure enough, the trending topic "Alisa," which had recently been splashed in red with the word "Hot," had completely disappeared. Terms like "Lover" and "Cover" were gone too.

Not only that, images and videos that had been widely pushed on various websites were also mysteriously gone...

"The magazine's promotion and distribution are baffled. And here's the weird part," Jessica said, "the editor said their biggest offline and online sales points were cleaned out as soon as the issue hit the stands!"

Emily was stunned. "What?!"

"The editor suspects it could be the competitors or someone jealous of your resources and exposure."

Emily remained silent, already formulating a guess.

She pursed her lips. "It's neither the competitors nor jealousy."

"Who then?"

**

"Chairman Harrison, they're all stored in the warehouse," Jason said, "A total of fifty thousand copies."

Ethan walked over slowly, his expression still somber. "Is that all?"

"That's all that's available for now. If there's a reprint..."

"Then we'll buy more."

Jason: "...Understood."

Jason felt like a diligent laborer today. In just one morning, the boss had bought out all the magazines featuring the boss's wife on the cover.

He didn't understand why the boss didn't just communicate with the magazine directly but chose this extravagant, monopolistic buying method. He bought one copy for himself and stored the rest in the warehouse, as if only he should see his wife's image.

Jason glanced at the boss's expression, then at the magazines on the coffee table. Before he could settle his gaze—

"What are you looking at?" Ethan raised an eyebrow, his tone cold.

Jason: "!"

"I-I…" Jason stumbled over his words, wishing he could disappear on the spot, "I wasn't looking at anything, Chairman Harrison!"

Ethan adjusted his tie, visibly impatient. "Alright, that's enough here."

"Oh…" Jason began to leave, then hesitated and turned back cautiously, "Chairman Harrison, the magazine may be sold out, but the photos of the wife online are still very popular…"

Ethan shot him a cold look.

Jason's voice dropped. "Many media outlets are still reposting…"

"Why are you telling me this? What about public relations and promotion? Is it a lack of personnel or inadequate capability? Am I paying them to sit around in the office?"

Jason was jolted by the pointed questions and quickly nodded. "I'll handle it right away!"

Once Jason left, Ethan sat back on the sofa, covering his eyes with one hand. His furrowed brows revealed his frustration.

After a moment of rubbing his forehead, his gaze returned to the coffee table.

The woman in the magazine looked elegant and noble, but to him, every inch of her pale skin and every delicate curve was glaring...

Ethan picked up his phone and found the same photos online. They were everywhere.

He snorted and threw the phone aside, only to pick it up again shortly.

He saved the photo, selecting the original size.

And added a note: :)

After saving it, he zoomed in on the photo, focusing on the mole that was normally hard to see and shouldn't be shown to others.

His frown deepened.

He was very familiar with everything about her.

Emily's mole had appeared only after they were married. She wasn't pleased with the blemish on her otherwise flawless skin and had playfully blamed him, saying it was his fault for leaving marks.

Ethan had dismissed this baseless claim and even joked that if she continued, he might just bite it off...

Ethan closed his eyes, growing more irritated.

This should have been his private view, but now she was offering everyone a chance to see it...

His phone buzzed twice with an incoming call. Ethan glanced at the caller ID, his expression sour.

"Hello?"

"Ethan, it's me. Your brother."

Ethan's tone was curt. "What's up?"

In the Harrison family's generation, Ethan and his cousin were the only two male descendants. His cousin Daniel, the eldest son of Ethan's uncle, was expected to take over Harrison Family. Although Daniel was somewhat better than the other wealthy heirs, he was no match for Ethan.

The old man had decisively handed the reins to Ethan, which had long caused some bitterness in Daniel's family.

Ethan, accustomed to being aloof, was distant even with his own parents and even more so with his relatives.

"There's nothing much. Just noticed you two have been quite lively lately. Seems like your wife is trending again."

Ethan held the phone, tapping his fingers lightly on the coffee table, and responded indifferently, "Mm."

Daniel continued, "Don't blame me for not telling you in advance, but the family isn't pleased with the photos of your wife. Haven't you seen them?"

"I've seen them," Ethan glanced at the magazine beside him. "I knew about Emily's cover photo already. It's not a big deal."

Daniel was agitated. "Not a big deal? 'Lover' is a third-rate magazine. Why is she doing a cover for them? How will it look to outsiders? Is this appropriate for a Harrison Family wife? It's scandalous—"

"Scandalous?" Ethan interrupted coldly, "Who said that?"

"Don't worry about who said it. I'm telling you this for the family's sake. The way Emily is, it's damaging the Harrison Family's reputation—"

"Speaking of Harrison Family's reputation," Ethan said coldly, "you should worry more about the companies under you. According to the annual report, one of your companies alone lost over sixty million in the first half of the year. It's not very reputable to keep asking headquarters for bailouts, is it?"

"You—"

"As for Emily, she's my wife. I'll handle it myself," Ethan's tone brooked no argument. "It's not for others to criticize!"

He hung up the phone, and the office intercom rang.

"Chairman Harrison, the front desk just said your wife has arrived." Jason hesitated, "She doesn't seem too happy…"

Ethan was silent for a moment, his eyes dark as he looked toward the door.

"Let her in."