My Ex-Wife Is A Big Shot In Disguise novel Chapter 26

"How is that possible?" Leo said.

He instinctively denied it. His gaze avoided Cullen, who was seated beside him, and looked toward the chaotic dance floor.

"Why would I divorce her if I like her?" Leo said. "As for why I'm delaying the divorce..."

He swirled his glass, leaned over the table, and said, "Take a look yourself. The moment news of the divorce got out, a diverse mix of people with dubious characters started appearing around her. We grew up together, so I can't let her go astray."

Cullen was displeased. Upon hearing these words, he furrowed his brows. He put an unlit cigarette in his mouth and said, "Fine if you insult others, but why do you categorize me as one of those people? Are we friends?"

Leo glanced sideways and let out a soft snort. "It's precisely because I know what kind of a person you are that I categorize you as one of those people," he said.

Many of the second-generation young male scions in the circle of high society were unmarried. A young male scion who was still a virgin was quite rare. A young male scion like Cullen had slept with numerous women. There were too many to count.

Leo thought, 'If I were to let Madison be married to him, wouldn't that be deemed as pushing her into a fire pit?"

Cullen dismissed this with a scoff. "It's considered priceless when a young person who used to be wayward or lead a dissolute lifestyle changes his ways and turns over a new leaf. Jessica is the person who will make a wayward person like me turn over a new leaf. Just wait and see."

Leo could not be bothered with him. His phone happened to ring, and he ignored what Cullen said.

The call was from Sally, but her assistant was the one speaking on the other end of the line. After saying a few remarks, Leo's expression turned slightly serious. "Where did she hurt herself?" he said. "I'll come over right away."

The call was hung up. Leo no longer had time to drink and chat with Cullen. "I'm heading to the hospital," she said. "Remember to find out the things I asked you to find out."

Cullen was not interested in Sally. "Give me Jessica's contact info," he said. "I'll check on it right away."

Leo ignored him, grabbed his suit jacket, and headed out.

Cullen felt deeply flustered. He said, "Surely, you have her contact information, right?"

Leo was left speechless.

The news of Sally's injury trended on social media for a whole night.

After all, she was a national goddess. Even something as minor as scratching her finger and getting it treated at the hospital could make headlines and make her fans worried, let alone a car accident.

At the same time, Rose Garden became one of the trending topics.

Cynthia published the post. Although it seemed like a simple narrative about the cause of the accident, most of the writing focused on Sally being chased out by Rose Garden, which led to her returning via a remote road late at night. It subtly steered the incident toward the restaurant, implying that Sally would not have gotten into the accident if she weren't angry over getting driven out of the restaurant.

In short, there was a reason behind the accident, and it was understandable.

With the photos from the accident scene, it became even more heartbreaking for the fans. Everyone commented that they felt heartbroken about Sally's situation.

Sally's studio also liked the post that Cynthia published.

Subsequently, a video of Sally arguing inside the store was released.

Due to the editing effect, the entire video made it seem like they were bullied. The waiter even rudely said, "Eat it or leave."

The words 'Big-time restaurant is a bully' negatively labeled the restaurant, making fans believe that Sally's accident happened solely due to the impact of Rose Garden on her mood. They demanded that Rose Garden take responsibility and the waiter involved come forward, apologize, and take responsibility for causing the accident.

Madison found out about this news the next day after waking up.

When she returned home from Opal Heights Bar last night, it was well past two in the morning. Since Rose Garden was not open for business in the morning, she slept in for a while.

However, she did not expect to receive news that the restaurant was temporarily closed and that she did not have to go to work when she woke up.

Madison did not sit idle either. She registered an account on the social media platform, which was lit with discussions on it. While she was at it, she made a cup of coffee.

Coincidentally, as soon as she logged in, she came across the trending search for a post published by Sally.

It skyrocketed to the top of the trending charts. An 'explosive' tag was even added to the post.

The rich aroma of coffee filled the room as the silver spoon stirred slowly in the coffee cup.

Meanwhile, Madison, who sat at the dining table, kept holding her phone. She did not pick up the cup to take a sip.

In the post, Sally did not accuse Rose Garden. Instead, she started by expressing respect for the descendant of an imperial chef. It was mentioned that she heard about Greg's presence at Rose Garden yesterday. She went there out of admiration, only to be chased out due to not understanding the rules. She sincerely apologized and stated that the accident was due to her careless driving and had nothing to do with anyone else. She hoped fans would not blame others for it.

The accompanying picture showed one of her in the hospital. She was swathed in bandages, smiling brightly but with a pale complexion.

It was a sight that evoked sympathy.

The effect was quite evident. In the comment section, aside from waves of sympathy, there was also anger directed toward Rose Garden. People commented that there was an intense uproar, so it was no wonder that Rose Garden decided to close temporarily to avoid negative attention.

Madison expressionlessly closed the app and called Greg.

As soon as the call connected, an irate voice mixed with a sense of grievance rang out. "Madison, you were there yesterday," Greg said. "It was that woman who caused trouble without reason, and now she's shifting the blame onto someone else! How fucking shameless!"

Madison was solemn initially. Suddenly, she felt a mix of helplessness and an urge to laugh. "Alright," she said. "Calm down. How's the situation on your end?"

Upon hearing Madison's voice, Greg stopped complaining and said in a serious tone, "I'm not at the restaurant. Justin mentioned that many people were blocking the entrance early in the morning. I told Justin and the others to ignore them, stay inside the shop, and not come out. After all, there's no shortage of food and drinks for the time being."

Upon hearing this, Madison furrowed her brow and asked worriedly, "No one got hurt, right? Those people didn't resort to violence or smashed things, right?"

She witnessed many similar incidents when she was abroad. It was alright if things were smashed. She was more worried about people getting hurt.

Greg sighed and said, "Nope. That didn't happen. It was just a group of kids holding signs demanding an apology. They didn't go as far as physical assault."

"Glad to hear that," Madison said as she heaved a sigh of relief.

As she turned on the computer on the table, she instructed Greg. "Is the restaurant's surveillance footage from last night available?" she said. "Please have someone send them to me."

There was suddenly no voice on the phone.

There was only silence.

Madison glanced at the screen in puzzlement. The call was not disconnected either.

"Greg?" she said.

After a moment, the voice from the other end of the line slowly came through.

"Madison, when this incident hit the news, I asked Justin to extract the surveillance footage to clarify, but... it's so darn strange," Greg said. "Last night's surveillance footage is gone! It isn't just our restaurant's surveillance footage that's gone. Even the videos you asked Justin and the others to record on their phones are all gone! It's so fucking bizarre!"

Madison paused. As if she had expected such a situation, she calmly continued. "Didn't I ask you to make a separate copy of the surveillance footage and recordings? Did you send them to me?"

Greg was frustrated and angry. "Not only did I send them to you, but we also kept a copy locally," he said. "The videos saved on our computers are gone. Your copy is probably... Forget it. She's a megastar, and she's capable. Rose Garden will bear the undeserved loss. If worse comes to worst, I will close down the restaurant."

"You can't close down the restaurant," Madison said. "Where else could I go to freeload meals in the future if you were to close down the restaurant?"

Madison's fingers tapped on the keyboard as she spoke, her tone carrying a hint of teasing.

"I'll handle this matter," Madison said. "Bring everybody to have a good break. When I get to work, all of you will have a lot of things to do. I'll hang up now."

Without giving Greg a chance to inquire further, she ended the call. The only sound left in the room was the tapping of the keyboard.

Before long, on the computer screen, a progress bar for data recovery slowly advanced...