The journalists raised some pointed questions, but Carl had come prepared. As long as he played the victim card while announcing the “truth,” everything else would develop naturally.
“Before Joan and Larry, the president of Norton Corporation, got engaged, I was her one true love! “It’s all Larry’s fault! He was the one who forced us to break up. He also threatened me that if I come looking for Joan again, he’ll go to any lengths to cause devastation to my family and myself!
“My family is of little significance. How could we possibly compete with the powerful Norton Corporation? So, reluctantly, I vowed never to see Joan again. “So much time has passed, yet I still cannot forget her. Left without a choice, I created a fake identity to meet Joan. That way, I don’t have to worry about retaliation from the Norton Corporation. I just didn’t expect my cover to be blown.”
Carl put up a miserable front as he spoke. The journalists at the scene were instantly hooked and began to buy his lie.
“Mr. Johnson, so what you’re saying is, you and Ms. Watts have been madly in love with each other all this time, but it was Mr. Norton, the president of Norton Corporation, who destroyed your relationship?”
The journalists continued to ask. They could hardly believe that Larry was the third party in that relationship.
“No, Joan doesn’t love me anymore. She has made her choice. Larry is indeed a much more suitable partner for her compared to me. But I just can’t forget about her, so I came to see her.”
And with that, tears welled up in his eyes.
To their relief, Larry was not who they imagined him to be—a person who would come between other people’s relationships. It was certainly unrealistic to think that the dignified president of Norton Corporation would turn out to be such a despicable person. If that were true, the journalists might have second thoughts about broadcasting the interview.
“Mr. Johnson, if what you’re saying is true, then we certainly sympathize with what you’ve been through. But please know that Ms. Watts has a fiancé now. So it’s not right of you to keep pestering Ms. Watts like this.”
One of the journalists was sharp enough to point out.
“I know what I’m doing isn’t right, but I just have to see her and our child.”
Carl, with his head lowered, admitted with a twinge of sorrow.
“What? Is Joan pregnant with your child?”
Carl practically dropped a bombshell on them all, igniting their agitation at once.
“Mr. Johnson, I sure hope everything you say is based on the truth and facts. Otherwise, you could go to jail for committing slander.”
Another journalist reminded him out of courtesy, hoping that he was not deceiving them.
“Why would I lie about that? Joan is indeed pregnant with our child. Although she has made a different choice, the child is undoubtedly mine. I can’t bear to leave them!”
Somehow, Carl had gotten wind of the news that Joan was pregnant, so he used that to his advantage, claiming the unborn child as his to stir the pot. Naturally, his story left the journalists in utter shock.
The news they got today was simply too huge to ignore, and they needed time to sort it out.
The journalists raised a few more trivial questions before deciding to call it a day. After all, the information they had collected so far was more than enough to cause an uproar.
Sure enough, after the journalists announced the news to the public, the whole city of Marsingfill was shocked to the core!
First of all, they could not tolerate the fact that Norton Corporation abused its power to threaten Carl.
Carl’s role was apparently much closer to the average person, and he represented the masses. Hence, the fact that Norton Corporation threatened Carl was really getting on their nerves.
Secondly, Carl and Joan used to be a couple, and Joan was now pregnant with his child!
Carl might not have admitted that Larry single-handedly destroyed his and Joan’s relationship, but considering that Larry had threatened him not to see Joan, it was not far-fetched to say that he was not above breaking up a couple who were in love.
Perhaps the president of Norton Corporation was a homewrecker through and through, but he held such a powerful position that he could cover up all his nasty deeds.
A repeated rumor would eventually become a fact.
