Chapter 321 - 319: Explosive Internal Scandal

The children from the village had to go to school in town. The mountain path wasn’t treacherous, but it was very long. Sheila had said it took her almost four hours to walk to and from school, and even longer on rainy days.

On a normal day, she wouldn’t get home until seven or eight at night.

Lily Sterling had assumed Sheila just got out of school early today, but the girl’s face was crestfallen as she whispered, "Lily, I’m not going to school anymore."

"What?"

Lily Sterling was stunned. Even Yuna and Finn stopped what they were doing.

The villagers were wary of outsiders. They usually just watched the film crew from a distance. If anyone tried to strike up a conversation, they would just shake their heads, refuse to talk, and turn away.

Only the children were willing to talk to them, especially Sheila. She was pretty much the only local they had gotten to know in the village.

"Why not? Aren’t you a great student?" Lily Sterling quickly knelt down, looking at Sheila with a serious expression.

When they were chatting by the river while washing clothes, Sheila had told her that she was in the fifth grade and had always gotten excellent grades. She was an honor student every year.

She had told Lily with such excitement that she wanted to go to college, become a doctor, and leave these mountains behind. Her future was full of hopes and dreams.

And now, just a few days later, she was saying she wasn’t going to school anymore?

The topic clearly pained Sheila. Her eyes immediately reddened as she choked back sobs. "My older brother is starting high school, and my younger brother and sister have to go to school too. My family doesn’t have enough money for all of us. My brother’s a boy, so Dad says he has to test into a university. I’m a girl, so I just need to marry into a good family someday."

Lily Sterling’s brow furrowed at those words. Sheila was so young, yet her father was already drilling such ideas into her head.

But Sheila was strong. She held back her tears and thought more of her parents. "I understand. It’s hard for them, working far from home. If they really had the money, they’d let me keep studying."

"But you want to keep studying, don’t you?" Lily Sterling asked, her own eyes turning red.

Sheila slowly lowered her head, neither nodding nor shaking it.

She could no longer bring herself to utter the words, "I want to go to school." To her, it was already an impossibility. Even thinking about it was a luxury she couldn’t afford.

"Don’t be afraid. I’ll sponsor you. I’ll pay for your schooling!"

At these words, Sheila looked up, her bright, fawn-like eyes staring at Lily Sterling in disbelief.

Lily Sterling’s heart ached as she gently stroked the girl’s face. "You can’t just accept this fate. If you give in now, you’ll never leave these mountains. I believe in you, so you have to believe in me too, okay?"

In an instant, Sheila’s eyes filled with tears. She tilted her head back slightly, and the tears trickled from the corners of her eyes, falling onto Lily Sterling’s heart like pearls from a broken string.

She reached out and pulled the poor girl into her arms, offering silent strength.

But Lily Sterling knew all too well that in the endless mountains around them, countless girls were trapped. Not just girls like Sheila, forced by circumstance to accept their fate, but also countless "Yaras" who had been lured and trafficked here from the outside.

Yara was the name of the trafficked girl she was playing in her movie.

*

「Lane Group, Chairman’s Office.」

"How long are you going to drag this out?"

Eugene Jacobs stood in the middle of the room as Walter Lane stood before him, his face dark as he demanded, "How many days has it been? Hmm? Is there any progress?"

"Chairman, I’ve been trying to contact Miss Sterling nonstop every day, but she won’t answer my calls or reply to my messages."

"Then can’t you find her some other way?" Walter Lane suddenly bellowed, making Eugene Jacobs flinch.

"Can’t you find out where she lives? Even if you can’t find her address, her school is right there! Can’t you find her dorm? Her class? How can you not find her?"

Walter Lane’s patience had clearly run out. The barrage of furious questions made Eugene Jacobs break out in a cold sweat.

"I was afraid being too aggressive would backfire," Eugene Jacobs explained cautiously.

Walter Lane was utterly disappointed in him; he looked like he wanted to smash his head in.

"Do you think you’re the only one who can handle this?" Walter Lane asked, staring at him through gritted teeth.

Eugene Jacobs shook his head repeatedly.

Before Eugene Jacobs could say anything else, there was a sudden, urgent knock on the office door.

Already in a rage, Walter Lane roared impatiently, "Get in here!"

The door opened to reveal the company’s General Manager Coleman. His expression was even uglier than Walter Lane’s. He froze for a second when he saw Eugene Jacobs standing in the chairman’s office, an odd look clearly flashing across his face.

"What is it?" Walter Lane didn’t bother looking at Manager Coleman’s face, his voice cold.

Manager Coleman’s mouth moved, but for a moment, he seemed at a loss for how to begin.

Walter Lane, already furious, saw this and his eyes widened in anger. He snapped, "Cat got your tongue? Spit it out! I don’t have the patience today!"

"Ch-Chairman, something’s happened." General Manager Coleman quickly gathered his words, speaking meekly as he couldn’t stop his gaze from flicking toward Eugene Jacobs. "Every employee in the company received an anonymous email. It... it contains a video."

"A video?" Walter Lane’s brows knitted together. "What kind of video?"

Manager Coleman couldn’t bring himself to say it in front of Eugene Jacobs. He walked over to Walter Lane and whispered in his ear, "An explicit video of Manager Jacobs."

Those few words left Walter Lane completely dumbfounded.

"Wh-what?" His voice shot up several octaves.

Manager Coleman nodded awkwardly. "The whole company has seen it. If this gets out, the impact on the company will be huge."

Walter Lane felt a rush of blood go straight to his head, as if he were about to have a stroke.

He glared at Eugene Jacobs. If looks could kill, Walter Lane’s stare would have already ground him to dust.

How could they cover up an internal scandal that had exploded like this? Once the story got out, the company would inevitably be dragged down with it. A drop in the stock price was practically guaranteed.

But just as Walter Lane was about to erupt, a phone suddenly rang, shattering the silence of the office.

It was Eugene Jacobs’s phone.

Eugene Jacobs cursed inwardly. What terrible timing. He hurriedly pulled out his phone to decline the call, but he froze when he saw the caller ID.

A look of joy instantly spread across his face.

"Chairman, it’s Miss Sterling!" He excitedly held the phone up for Walter Lane to see. "She’s contacting me! She must have come to her senses!"