Chapter 685 All Eyes
Tilda’s rise had already shaken the world to its core. She unmasked herself as X, took the world championship, and stunned everyone when she was revealed to be the protégée of Professor Kerrigan, the brilliant architect behind Cetherland’s lithography machines' development. Her name spread like wildfire, impossible to ignore.
Her beauty was sharp enough to conquer the entertainment industry, and her cool, untouchable presence only magnified the effect. Crowds adored her. She carried influence that never faltered, brilliance that no one could deny, and a face that belonged on every magazine cover. With such a mix, it was no surprise that every spotlight found its way to her.
Now Russell’s scandal exploded across every social media platform and every news app. That scandal was amplified even more by the sheer gravity of Tilda’s fame.
The Crown Group’s push behind the scenes felt almost pointless.
“Holy hell, that’s the chairman of Jenson Group we’re talking about! I saw him once at an event. The man looked like he was carved out of stone, all dignity and authority. And now he’s caught in a scandal this huge? The police actually arrested him!”
“Please. You’ve got to start keeping up with the news. Stuff like this happens all the time. You can’t ever really know what’s behind the curtain with people.”
“Exactly. I’ve been a fan long enough to watch idols go from heroes to frauds. Every time I thought someone was flawless, the truth cracked me open. That’s why I stopped believing in those polished images years ago.”
“Thank God Tilda got out before the ship sank. If she’d stayed tied to the Jensons, she’d have gone down with them. Their dirt would have dragged her under too.”
“Tilda’s story fits like a movie script. She’s that tragic genius who knew when to walk away. Just two weeks after they welcomed her back, she was already gone. She must have seen through them. Tilda is untouchable.”
The noise of public opinion swelled louder, rising like a storm across every screen.
In the center of it all, Tilda sat curled up in the corner of her bed. She held a copy of How the Steel Was Tempered open in her lap, her expression calm and unshaken by the chaos beyond her walls.
After answering a flood of worried messages, she stood and walked to the tall window. She gazed out at the glowing skyline, her eyes calm, reflecting the countless city lights flickering across the horizon.
The city kept moving, flawless and steady, its rhythm unchanged by the fall of any one man.
Her gaze sharpened, cold and knowing. “So this is where we are. Now the real show begins. I’ll watch it unfold. The curtain is almost ready to close.”
The pieces she had laid were sliding into place. With Kyla and the Jensons locked inside her web, the grand act would play out as she had envisioned.
Dominic was the first to return to the Jenson estate.
The staff, many of them loyal for decades, rushed to meet him as soon as he stepped inside. Their voices shook with dread. “Mr. Dominic, tell us it isn’t true. Did Mr. Jenson really…”
The sentence broke apart before they could finish it.
The weight of their eyes pressed down on him. Dominic forced himself to stand steady. “I’m sorry. This time… Dad isn’t coming back.”
“No… That can’t be real. We saw the news blowing up, but there’s just no way. Mr. Jenson would never do anything like that. We’ve worked for him more than ten years. We know him. We trust him. It has to be a mistake, Mr. Dominic. It has to be.”
Dominic’s voice cracked under the weight of exhaustion. “Samantha, I want to believe that too. But the truth doesn’t bend for anyone. I don’t know the whole story, but judging by how Dad carried himself… it’s real.”
The silence that followed was heavy.
Even those who wanted to fight the truth had no words left.
“Excuse me. I need to collect a few things.”
Dominic walked past them and entered Russell’s study.
He crouched before the safe and punched in the code his father had given him. A sharp click sounded as the lock released.
Inside were stacks of documents and several bank cards.
He checked each item carefully, comparing them against the list his father had prepared. When everything lined up, he pulled out his phone and dialed his most trusted aide.
His instructions were firm. Prepare his five younger brothers and Blair for immediate departure to Motrar.
And there was the thing with Kyla too.
Hatred burned inside him at the thought of her, but he knew he had no choice.
If not for Kyla, Tilda would never have left. If not for Kyla, he wouldn’t have been blinded by trust and lost the greatest teacher he had ever known.
But Kyla was Blair’s daughter now, at least in the public eye.
She was the only way Blair could balance the weight of her guilt toward Tilda.
She might even be the spark to wake Blair from her coma.
So she had to go with them. For Blair’s sake.
Darrell was still stuck in Yvoria, unreachable, and there was nothing Dominic could do about it.
As for himself, he stayed behind.
Russell’s scandal was a wrecking ball aimed straight at Jenson Group.
Competitors hiding in the shadows would leap at the chance to strike. The danger was enormous.
But Dominic could not run.
He was the eldest. The weight of the Jenson name fell on his shoulders.
If he abandoned it now, the empire built over decades would collapse overnight, falling into another’s grip.
Dominic would never let his father sit in a prison cell and hear that the company he had built with sweat and blood had been reduced to dust.