SWNOVELXO Chapter 98: Breaking News
Despite the unforgiving sun, VERITÉ magazine's newest issue was the hottest thing in the city that morning.
Everyone was talking about the multimillionaire, Gareth Smithers and his company, the Smithers Group.
Pages and pages of VERITÉ were swung to the side, all in search of the explosive exposé written by Brooklyn Baker, who everyone was even shocked to find out was no longer working with Business Everyday!
The exposè read;
THE MONSTER BEHIND THE CURTAIN: GARETH SMITHERS UNMASKED
By Brooklyn Baker, VERITÉ Magazine
They say the devil doesn't wear horns, but a suit and tie. This morning, that devil has a name: Gareth Smithers, CEO of the Smithers Group, a man who built his empire on the shattered dreams, stolen ideas, and crushed spirits of those who trusted him. A man whose legacy now drips with exploitation, deceit, and irredeemable corruption.
For years, Gareth Smithers paraded himself as a visionary, a titan of industry shaping the future.
In truth, he was nothing more than a parasite, preying on the brilliance of young, ambitious employees who dared to dream under his roof.
Sources from within Smithers Group have revealed a chilling pattern of intellectual theft — young innovators, eager and full of promise, walked into the company with groundbreaking ideas, only to have them stripped away and repackaged under Smithers' name.
There were no settlements. No acknowledgments. No compensation. Just stolen futures. The few who dared to push back found themselves blacklisted, their careers suffocated before they could even take off. Lawsuits were whispered about but never filed, because who could stand up against a man with pockets that deep?
...
The story went on. There was evidence with pictures showing similarities in financial calculations and others included in the expose.
Brooklyn was brutal and unforgiving in her delivery of the message.
She called Smithers a thief, a man who sabotages careers, and a slave trader — a name fitting fit a man who bound his employees with what could only be described as modern-day shackles branded as contracts.
People read this with intrigue and horror in their faces. For many business men, pride was a currency. Self image was important.
If one had built an empire, it was best to believe that it was built in their own hard work and ideas. Now that Gareth was being outed as non original and oppressive, the image of his company began to dwindle.
Stocks were falling fast, customer approval ratings were low, many businessmen were worried that random people could sue them because the business ideas they used actually belonged to someone else and had been stolen!
But the story didn't end there. There was a final crime. The most unforgivable crime.
As Brooklyn had put it; the crime that should send a shudder through every person reading this.
Two women, both employees of Smithers Group, have come forward with allegations of sexual assault against Gareth Smithers. Their names remain withheld for their safety, but their accounts are damning.
She went ahead to describe the manifesto from these women, their experiences in the hands of Gareth Smithers leading everyone to see that there was a pattern.
These women, once silenced by fear, have now spoken. And their voices will not be ignored.
The Smithers Group has yet to release a statement. Their silence is deafening.
The question remains: How many more victims are out there? How many more dreams has Gareth Smithers stolen? How many more lives has he destroyed while the world applauded his so-called 'genius'?
The truth is out now. I, Brooklyn Baker, will not look away. And neither should you.
Stay tuned.
Madness was in the business world of Los Alverez.
There were attempts to try to silence it. Richard Morrison even sent a huge sum to Sophie that day, one was 20 million to stop sales of the issue, then the other was a 100 million to buy her entire magazine company.
Tempting money. Very very tempting. But one look at her approval ratings and copies sold and Sophie knew that her dream was manifesting before her and she couldn't sell out.
She had hit 100,000 copies in one day! The photocopying team and the distribution team were working all their asses off.
This was a positive sign for her.
Yet, despite the uproar in the business community, television media and major newspapers remained eerily silent.
Richard Morrison's media influence cast a long shadow over that part since he had more control there. He suppressed coverage of the scandal in major news outlets, though more courageous ones continued to spread the news.
And as it happened, VERITÉ magazine continued to fly off shelves. Businessmen, investors, former employees, and curious readers devoured every page.
Questions flooded boardrooms. Some of Smithers' partners began to quietly withdraw their support, unwilling to be caught in the inevitable fallout.
Television media, however, had found something else to focus on. On the very next page was Brooklyn Baker's second big story;
The Mystery Investor Unmasked: FuglyDuckling.
Brooklyn hadn't been as harsh as Darren expected. She said some objectively nice things about him, such as;
'...and here's the kicker, he's a survivor. A former intern at the notorious Smithers Group, Steele was one of the many young visionaries whose ideas were hijacked, stolen, and erased by Gareth Smithers.
... Darren Steele was actually the catalyst who began the revolution against Gareth Smithers when he successfully resigned and escaped the slave contracts that had bound them all.'
For the vultures and cowards in the media outlets owned by Richard Morrison, this was news they could broadcast.
They took Brooklyn's story and shared it with their bigger audience on television.
The new host of Business Everyday stood before the screen, announcing it to the world: "The record-breaking Bitcoin investor, known as FuglyDuckling, has been unmasked. And his name is Darren Steele."
Reactions erupted across the city.
"Who cares? That Bitcoin is a scam."
"A Ponzi Scheme, I say!"
"A 21-year-old kid? What does a kid know about investments?"
"Hey, don't I know that guy?"
Meanwhile, in his private office, Gareth Smithers sat rigidly in his chair.
He wasn't yelling like his usual self. He had run out of voice, his throat was dry. Veins popped out all over his face and body, his eyes were as red as an evil ruby, bloodshot, and sweat beaded his forehead down to his neck.
He barely moved, just watched as the news played on repeat, his mind spinning.
He didn't even have the strength to curse Darren Steele. All he could do was seethe in silence.
Ring! A phone rang. Then another, and another and another. Multiple phones were ringing all over the building. Customers were demanding questions and the employees were panicking.
Lily sat at her desk, staring at the television in shock. "Darren..." she whispered. He had always been obsessed with cryptocurrency. He had ranted about it, studied it, talked about its potential. But now, seeing his name flash across the screen...
"So you actually did it."
In the MWMO headquarters, Ryan Anders stomped through the corridors but stopped and watched the breaking news with Amelia.
'...made his first purchase at a mere $82,500, only to shatter records with an astronomical profit of $928,125. His second move? A staggering $1.5 million investment that now holds a current portfolio of 3,750,000 BTC. Whatever this Darren Steele sees in Bitcoin, surely normal people like us are blind to it.'
Ryan exhaled sharply, and turned around. Amelia asked. "What do we do now?"
Ryan's jaw tightened. "We've lost our element of surprise," he muttered. "But I can still get him."
Then he walked into his office.
Across the city, in a pristine office filled with medical charts and research papers, Dr. Leonard Holloway barely paid attention to the television. He was reviewing patient files until a single word caught his ear— "Duckling."
His head snapped up. He turned to the screen just in time to see the face of Mr. Duckling himself.
Darren Steele.
The media dismissed him as a reckless investor, a young hotshot throwing millions into digital currency.
Holloway grinned from ear to ear. "Darren Steele," he whispered proudly. "So that is the name of this enigma?"
In her bedroom, Sandy hugged her pillow, watching the TV in stunned silence, the glow of the screen reflecting in her eyes.
Her phone was clutched in her hand. And after trying hard not to glance down at it, she finally did, staring at the CryptoTracker notification she had received the night before.
It was a friend request.
'FuglyDuckling wants to be friends.'
She couldn't believe it.
Meanwhile, in the app itself, everyone was in a frenzy. The community of investors and crypto enthusiasts was in shock.
"HE'S JUST A KID? WHAT THE HELL?!"
"A 21-year-old spending millions? Damn, I need to step up my game."
"Bitcoin is still a joke. Kid got lucky."
"Nah, he was smart. Those investments were legendary."
Many more comments lined up one after the other, filling Sandy's screen and Andy Nashville's as well.
He was at Sagomoto Wealth Offices, watching the large television screen with his boss, Mr. Sagomoto, while his phone was in his hand.
When the face of FuglyDuckling was displayed, Andy's eyes widened.
"I've seen that face before," he muttered. "I've met that man."
Sagomoto barely glanced at him. "Are you lying to me to cover the fact that the media got to him before you did?"
"No! No! I'm serious, sir!" Andy stammered. "I met him the day I went to settle the deal with Grant Hayes. He said he was interested in us. He said he'd call."
Sagomoto stiffened. "So you are telling me that Darren Steele, the investor I was destined to manage, will call me?"
Ring!
The office fell silent. "Mhm?"
Sagomoto and Andy exchanged looks before Sagomoto slowly reached for the phone. He cleared his throat and picked up.
"Hello?"
The calm and confident voice of Darren Steele came through. "Hello, Mr. Sagomoto."