Chapter 38 Special
After Jordan left, Thomas cleaned up the mess. Since Irene's feet were injured that she couldn't do a favor, she laid on the reclining chair as she surfed the Internet. Because of Edric's aggressive questioning last night, she opened the TV station's blind date program's website to see what had happened. Irene was extremely shocked.
Looking at those harshly condemning posts and people who threatened to reveal her ex-husband and evil mother-in-law, Irene got a headache. Things seemed to be developing in an unknown direction. This wasn't what she wanted to see. She called Kinsey and asked, "Kinsey, how do I make these public outcries disappear?"
"I was just about to call you." Kinsey replied, "It's true that we didn't expect things to turn out like this. Now, it's not just about people wanting to reveal your ex-husband and your mother-in-law, but a series of posts doubting your authenticity also appeared this afternoon. People who sent the posts believe that you and the TV station conspired to do all this for fame and publicity. There was never any scumbag, evil mother-in-law, or mistress. That post was immediately reposted many times. It was so quick that I suspect Edric was involved."
"Him? I don't think he's that bored."
"It's hard to say. Now, the Internet is full of public outcry against you. Although no one knows that the evil mother-in-law and the scumbag are his mother and him, as a concerned party, he must feel as disgusting as swallow flies when he sees such a post. He will definitely find a way to get things out of the way."
"He came to see me last night," Irene told her about how Edric came to see her last night.
Kinsey sneered, "What reason does he have to come to you? Irene, you are too kind. If it were me, I would definitely reveal his name. It would not only make him bear the pressure of public outcry but would also ruin the mistress' reputation."
"Forget it. It's all in the past now. Kinsey, I really don't want to have anything to do with him, do you understand?"
"I know. I'm just indignant. Irene, you don't know how disgusting Edric is. To suppress those verbal attacks, he asked someone to call our chief operator and said that he didn't sponsor the TV station's program to create hype around a certain person. Our chief operator felt extremely pressured and specifically held a meeting to talk about this matter. He told everyone to come up with a feasible plan to solve this." "Is there a plan?"
"Because the incident arose because of you, everyone suggested we create a special blind date for you so that you can find a man who is in love with you as soon as possible. As long as you find the person who is in love with you, and as long as you leave, this incident would definitely die down."
Kinsey told Irene the content of the TV station's meeting that day. "Now, we're choosing a blind date candidate for you. There was a continuous stream of people who signed up. The news of the selection contest at noon today has reached thousands of people. I'm confident that you can find a man who would truly love you and have mutual commonality with you."
"I hope so!" Irene sighed. Kinsey had tried her best. This matter would be settled like this. Among the sea of people, she hoped that she would find a person who would stay by her side for the rest of her life. The person who called to put pressure on the TV station wasn't Edric, but the Executive Assistant John instead. John knew everything about Edric and Irene. When he saw his boss being condemned, he naturally became displeased, so he called a high-level executive of the TV station to pressure him.
Because of that phone call, the TV station's public relations team had immediately changed its strategy. They began to report on Irene's blind date profusely. Although, as a result, it lessened the condemnations against the wicked mother-in-law and the scumbag ex-husband, it wasn't a good thing for Edric.
When he turned on his computer and saw the TV station openly recruiting marriage candidates for Irene as a TV show, he became infuriated and scolded John. "Who asked you to call them? Did you have nothing better to do?"
"I was just angered by those comments..." John felt wronged.
"I would rather be scolded than see her choose a man! Jerk!" Edric was angry, but John said nothing. His boss had finally spoken the truth.
Upon seeing his beloved woman chose between men like a queen, no man would feel good. He had indeed done wrong regarding this matter and deserved to be scolded.
Jordan was also furious about Irene's blind date on live TV. He sneered at Irene and said, "See how popular you are now. Your name has spread so far!"
"Isn't it all thanks to you?" Irene glared at him. "If you hadn't gone, I would have been able to stay here the entire time and receive my reward in silence. Now, my reputation stinks because of these rumors." "Those words definitely don't reflect what you truly think!" Jordan looked Irene up and down. "You must feel very smug inside. After all, this is a special blind date program for you. To put it bluntly, you are picking men. Don't you have the feeling of a queen choosing her consorts?"
"Jordan! You sharp-tongue simply can't say anything pleasant!" Irene glared at him.
"You see, I've acted as cannon fodder for you, so shouldn't you at least thank me? Just thinking about it infuriates me. I've risked my reputation for you for a while, but how did you treat me? You didn't even reciprocate. How can I bear to live with the shame in the future?"
"Thank you, my foot!"
"Irene, I'm serious. If you can't find anyone you like this time, we might as well get together."
"What do you mean?"
"I've been caught in the crossfire anyway. I'm sure I won't be able to find a woman in the future, so we might as well suck it up and spend the rest of our lives together."
"I'm a divorced woman and a single mother. Would you really like to suck it up and get together with me, Mr. Reed?" Irene reminded him.
"I'll just suffer a loss." Jordan smiled cheekily. "To think about it, getting another son for nothing is actually quite good."
"Thank you, Mr. Reed, for being willing to suffer a loss. I might be ordinary, but I've never been willing to suck it up with anyone. Please don't make such a joke again, Mr. Reed. Thank you." "You woman, did you really think that I like you? I was just teasing you, okay?" Jordan's face turned bright red.
That woman was really extremely arrogant and actually looked down upon him. Jordan felt extremely embarrassed. Fortunately, he was just joking and testing her. If he had directly mentioned it, he would have suffered greater humiliation. After thinking about it, he still felt angry. "Why are you still standing there? I'm thirsty. Go make tea for me quickly!"
Irene picked up the cup and ran out quickly. There was a "bang" sound behind her. Jordan smashed something on the ground.
Irene lamented inside. This guy was simply too bad. A minute ago, he was fine, but a minute later, his mood suddenly changed. Thinking about the question-and-answer conversation just now, she wondered if she offended him?
Because of that episode, Jordan's attitude towards Irene suddenly began to worsen. He had been sulking for the past few days. There was even trouble when a man became narrow-minded. Jordan was the pettiest man of all. After this lesson, Irene secretly made the decision not to offend Jordan in the future.
In the blink of an eye, her blind date TV program also began. When she went to ask for a leave of absence from Jordan, his face was tightly drawn, as if Irene owed him a lot of money. Although his expression was unpleasant, in the end, he still didn't make things difficult for Irene.
Because this blind date program was held for Irene alone, Irene didn't wear a mask. Instead, she appeared on the scene in a set of very ordinary clothes.
Although she was wearing very ordinary clothes and didn't have any makeup, her appearance was still dazzling. Her natural unadorned beauty made the audience under the stage applaud for her appearance for a long time.
Irene sat on the seat prepared for her on the stage. She was very familiar with the stage, so she behaved naturally. After sitting down, she looked towards the male guest seat with composure. Suddenly, she felt a little cold. Irene instinctively looked back at the source of the coldness. She was shocked. Why did Edric come here?
Upon seeing Edric, Irene felt nervous. What was he doing here?
Edric had a smile on his face, but there wasn't any trace of a smile in his eyes. He coldly looked at the woman on the stage. Watching her turn her eyes to the male guest seat after sitting down, he felt very uncomfortable, as if a cat was clawing at his heart.
Irene, are you really that eager to get married?
The host began to host the program with a smile. "After a week's selection, we have selected 50 male guests, who fit Miss Irene's marriage requirements the most, for two blind dates. This blind date was sponsored by the Myers Group. We have invited Mr. Edric, the President of Myers Group, to come to the venue. Please say something, Mr. Edric."
At his ex-wife's blind date, they made him, her ex-husband, say a few words. This was undoubtedly the biggest irony for Edric. But no matter how ironic it felt, he had to come. He had to come to see what kind of man that woman would choose.
Edric walked to the stage with his usual calm composure and a smile on his face. He took the microphone from the host's hand and walked towards Irene's side, and then he stood still.
Upon seeing him walk to her side, Irene felt a burst of anxiety in her heart. She conspicuously felt an invisible source of pressure and instinctively clasped her hands together.
Edric's eyes took in her subtle movements. When Irene was nervous, she would clasp her two hands together. How could she still keep this habit? D*mn woman, there were also times when she felt nervous? He originally wanted to seize the opportunity to make a few jabs at Irene, but he couldn't bring himself to do so anymore because of her subtle movements.
The words that came to his mouth immediately changed. "Although the Myers Group sponsored this blind date program, it became extremely popular because of the appearance of a beautiful woman like Miss Nelson. Today, I came here to witness the marriage of lovers. I sincerely hope that the program will be carried out as soon as possible. I also hope that every single man and woman who participates in the program can find their own happiness."
Irene didn't expect him to stand by her side just to say a few words of formality. Her hanging heart was suddenly at ease. Edric gave her a meaningful look and walked back to his seat.
The host picked up the microphone and began to talk about the rules of this evening. This time, it was completely reversed as before. Everyone knew Irene's information, so the male guests introduced themselves to Irene. Irene chose the male guests according to the male guests' information and her first impression of them. The eliminated male guests left while the rest stayed for the second round. In the first round of self-introductions, Irene eliminated eight people.
Looking at the eight people who were eliminated, everyone down the stage was astonished, since among those twenty-five people, the eight people who were eliminated were the best in all aspects. Irene turned a blind eye to the astonishment beneath the stage. She had already learned a painful lesson from Edric, so from the bottom of her heart, she believed that handsome men from affluent families would inevitably cheat on her. Therefore, the eight people who were eliminated were actually unintentional collateral damage.
In the second round, she eliminated a few more people, and now there were less than ten male guests left on the stage.
The third round was an interactive game that Irene and the male guests interacted with each other to judge the tacit agreement. And there were only be two male guests left on the stage after the third round of the game.
The last round was the declaration of love. The remaining two male guests on the stage made their love declaration to Irene. In the face of their affectionate confession, Irene's facial expression didn't change a all.
Without exception, all the 25 male guests were eliminated that night.