I Married My Ex's Billionaire Father
Chapter 88: Cornered Rats

Chapter 88: Cornered Rats

The media ate up every single bit of Lottie’s story. The story of the wealthy oppressing the poor was always a popular one. And with Lottie’s dramatic performance, it was even more compelling.

The news spread like wildfire, and soon, Levi and Lyse were both the subject of public scorn. Stories from their pasts were exhumed and brought back under public scrutiny, it was a free for all.

Levi was furious. He had never imagined that Lottie would stoop so low. He knew that she was desperate, but he had not expected her to resort to such underhanded tactics without a thought for her daughter.

"Maybe you should call for a press conference of your own, explain that you had nothing to do with Jeff’s alleged witch-hunt." Chris offered. "After all there have been investigations into his company."

Levi sat in the midst of Ethan and Chris as they thought up ways to ease the tension and deal with the stress of the media attack, while his mind was far away on Lyse.

When he had come back from work, it was to again see the paparazzi camped in front of their house, barricading Lyse indoors. He could tell that she was devastated even though she tried to put up a brave front before him.

He realized that it must have been horrendous, to watch your mother who was supposed to protect you, hang you out to dry in front of the wolves. It led him to wonder if Lottie was really Lyse’s mother. His own mother, as strict as she was, would never hurt him like that.

"Like all scandals, this one too will die out." Levi said abruptly, stunning Ethan and Chris who exchanged wary glances.

"Not this one, Levi." Chris said, "Every day, there is a new scandal tied to you and Lyse. At this point, they are not going to stop."

"I said leave, them as they are." Levi repeated firmly.

He did not want to do anything that would further pit Lyse against her mother, and if he did something again, who knew what The Chadwick’s would do next. They were like a cornered rat.

However, true to Chris’s words, as the scandal unfolded, the pressure on Levi and Lyse intensified. They were forced to deal with angry protesters, negative press, and public humiliation. And worse, they could rarely go outside.

But as the days passed, it became clear that the damage had been done. The public’s perception of Levi and Lyse had been irrevocably tarnished. They were no longer seen as the mysterious couple, but as ruthless bullies who were probably unhappy married to each other.

Levi knew that he would have to do something to regain control of the situation. So he decided to hire a crisis management team to help them navigate the storm. The team advised them to stay out of the public eye, to let the scandal die down, and to focus on rebuilding their reputation.

Levi and Lyse followed the advice of their crisis management team. They retreated from the public eye, avoiding social events and media appearances. They also began to work on rebuilding their reputation, donating money to charity and supporting various social causes.

Lyse, in particular, was struggling to cope. She had always been a private person, and she hated the idea of her life being laid bare for the world to see. She feared that the parts of herself that she had kept private would be exposed and the people she had been protecting all this time would be the ones that suffered.

She did not even care that Brooke had granted an interview where she had talked down on Lyse’s talent as a fashion designer, and even called her a hack, citing the time that she had been fired from her job as fashion designer. Brooke went on to say that Lyse had no talent and that was why her husband had to buy her own fashion label.

Someone even got a staff at the hospital to release photos of Lyse with a black and bruised eye after she been punched in the face by Max. The story was that Levi was physically abusive towards her.

All of that had not bothered her nearly as much as when someone online, found out about the women’s shelter and released the information. And to make matters worse, they hinted at the shelter being a brothel that she was running.

Levi, who had been trying to stay calm for Lyse’s sake, came back one day and heard that she had not come out of her room the whole day.

He forcibly opened her bedroom door, and found her curled up in the dark and in tears. He was so enraged that the heat of his anger provoked a fear in Lyse and as he stood up, she hurriedly grabbed him.

When he stared at the hands holding his arm and stopping him from leaving, she hurriedly dropped her hands.

"Don’t go, please." She mumbled as she stared at her hands.

With a sigh, he sat on the edge of the bed, then he tilted her face up to look at him. The sight of her swollen eyes and tear streaked face ripped a hole in his chest.

"Despite everything they have done to you, you still plead for them?" He asked softly, his forehead in deep furrows.

"I don’t care about them, I am just sick of people getting hurt." Lyse answered. "Maybe if we leave them, they will let us be." She added hopefully.

Levi sighed with pity, knowing that the drama was not letting up.

"They will get tired of it soon enough." She said, as if trying to convince herself.

*

Brooke was in her room, one her computer, on one of the various burner profiles that had been smearing Lyse’s name. She wished that she could also leak the news about Lyse’s husband, but Lottie had firmly warned her against doing that.

’It would be the icing on the cake, everyone would see how disgusting she is and Levi will dump her and leave her on the street where she deserves. While I live happily ever after.’

Her happy thought were suddenly interrupted by a loud crash and she jumped off her bed in fear and ran down the stairs to see what had caused that noise.