“It's Sky Media,” Mark stated.
He figured there was no point hiding it from Sophie because it was just a matter of time before she found out anyway.
“Answer it. I'd like to see what hidden agenda they have.” Sophie had never retreated in the face of challenges. In fact, she was looking forward to seeing what Clayton would do.
“Sophie, Clayton's a handful. I think we should just stay away from him.”
Despite knowing that they had the upper hand in that situation, Mark was still worried.
“It's okay. We'll be able to handle this.”
Speaking, Sophie took Mark's phone and answered it before putting it on speaker, rendering Mark speechless.
“Mark, Clayton would like to meet you. This is bad for everyone, so you shouldn't drag this out. Why don't you just sit down and talk to him? Both of you are living in Jipsdale. You guys will still meet one another anyway,” Sky Media's public relations manager persuaded patiently.
“There's nothing left to talk about between us.” Mark was still furious after what had happened.
Clayton shouldn't have touched Sunny!
Sunny was bedridden in the hospital, and there was little chance of his hand ever recovering.
“Mark, are you sure you want to burn your bridges? Do you think you'll still be able to survive in this industry without Sky Media?” The manager said so because he had no idea what Clayton was like, but his statement triggered Mark.
“What do you mean? Are you still using his influence to threaten me now that things have turned out like this?” Mark questioned in fury.
“What I just said is reality. You guys indeed have the advantage now, but how can you guarantee that things will remain this way forever?”
“Just shut up.” Mark hung up the phone. “Did you hear that, Sophie? They are not letting go of any chance!”
Mark felt he had nothing to lose if that issue concerned just himself—but not if his bandmates from The Wheelers were to be affected.
“Calm down, Mark. There's no point getting so worked up. Sky Media is in a mess now. Just wait till I procure their company. I bet Clayton won't be able to behave so arrogantly after that,” Sophie assured calmly, feeling that there was no point getting angry because of someone like Clayton.
“What did you just say?” Mark had never heard Sophie propose something that outrageous.
“I said I'm buying Sky Media. Is there a problem with it?”
“Sophie, are you sure...” Mark's voice trailed off, for he did not know what else to say.
“Don't worry about it. I'll make sure Clayton pays for what he did.”
Then, Sophie grabbed her phone and went outside.
“We're not stopping the promotion. The publicity department has already made the arrangements for you guys. We've secured a few good music shows so far, so the four of you should go ahead first. We will see what we can do for Sunny after he recovers.”
As many as three of the top five songs on various records charts were from The Wheelers' latest album at that time, and that propelled them to popularity again.
Clayton had intended to crush the band, but what he did only made them more famous.
“Where are you going?”
“I'm going to Lombard Group.” Sophie was thinking about asking Tristan for help.
“All right.”
Mark said no more when he heard that Sophie was going to meet Tristan.
Although Tristan had gifted Sophie a car, she still preferred taking a cab because driving a luxury car to school would attract unnecessary attention, so she usually hailed a cab instead.
When Sophie arrived at the company, the receptionist came out to welcome her.
“Ms. Tanner, are you here for Mr. Lombard? I'll bring you over.”
“It's okay. I'll go up myself.” Sophie was not used to people being too cordial toward her.
“All right, then.” The lady pressed the button at the elevator and sent her off.
To employees like her, it was important that they get on Sophie's good side because she was the CEO's girlfriend.
Otherwise, they would be in trouble if Tristan were to get angry.
The elevator stopped on the ninetieth floor, and the door opened. Seeing that Sophie had come, the secretary stood up immediately to welcome her.
“Ms. Tanner, Mr. Lombard's in a meeting. How about you wait for him in his office?” The secretary then ushered Sophie into the room.
Since Tristan was engaged, Sophie made herself comfortable on the couch and started designing a program for Arius.
By the time Tristan got back from the meeting, he was dismayed to see her engrossed in her phone. To him, Sophie's screen time was so long that it worried him as that habit was not good for her eyes.
It was not until he went over to sit beside her that Sophie realized he was back, so she exited the program on her phone and spoke to him.
“Has the meeting ended?”
“Yes. Sorry for the wait,” Tristan replied, massaging her eye area.
Sophie did not stop him since it felt relaxing for her.
Tristan's so attentive.
“How are things with Clayton?” Tristan asked. He had not gotten involved thus far because he wanted Sophie to deal with the issue on her own first.
“I'm still working on it. I plan on buying Sky Media,” Sophie replied confidently.
“I see. Just do what you want. Let no one tell you otherwise.” Tristan was convinced that Sophie would make things work.
“But I need your help.” The truth was that Sophie could solve the problem on her own, but since Tristan had insisted on helping her, she thought it would be nice to let him do so, or else Tristan might start thinking that she did not trust him.
As Sophie expected, Tristan's eyes sparkled when he heard her.
“Really? What is it? Tell me.”
He was delighted because that was the first time Sophie solicited his help.
At least she knows I'm on her side when she runs into trouble.
“Clayton is trying to get the Bureau of Cultural Affairs to minimize the issue, but I can't just let him off the hook like this!” Since Sophie's company was part of the entertainment industry, things would turn ugly if the government got involved.
“Don't worry about it. I know the person in charge there. I'll make sure Clayton doesn't get things his way.”
Sophie's request was nothing to Tristan, for it only required a call from him to get it done, so he took his phone and contacted the Bureau of Cultural Affairs' chief, who happened to be in a meeting.
When the chief saw it was Tristan, he shot to his feet.
“You guys continue. I need to take this,” he said to the other attendees at the meeting.
I can't afford to miss Mr. Tristan's call. I've always wanted to get closer to him.
“Who is it? This is the first time the chief has gotten so nervous,” someone noted at the meeting. They had always thought that their head was a composed and powerful man. That was because they had never really seen him behaving like that.
“I have no idea who it is,” the secretary seated beside the chief answered, shaking his head.
The chief carefully held his phone with both hands as he stepped out and picked up the call reverently.
“Good morning, Mr. Tristan. What can I do for you?”
The chief could not wait for an opportunity to be of service to Tristan. If there were anything he could do for that man, the chief would readily give it his best, but after Tristan filled him in on everything that took place, the chief was still confused about why Tristan wanted him to just sit and do nothing.
Nonetheless, the chief knew it would be better for him to insulate himself from the matter. After all, Clayton was involved.
So, the chief assured Tristan, “Don't worry about it, Mr. Tristan. I won't meddle with this no matter what.” That was the answer Tristan wanted, and he was pleased to hear that.
“Great. Just do nothing and ignore his calls.”
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