Bones Learn To Listen When Silence Speaks by Ryn Miles 195

Chapter 195 

The livestream was packed with viewers, but the opposition acted fast and cut the feed, so the video didn’t get 

much traction. 

With Cassian’s influence, keeping things quiet was no big deal for him. 

Besides, he cared about Tessa so much, dropping cold hard cash to smooth her path. 

Whenever trouble popped up, he’d be there in a flash to handle it himself, always ready to deal with any obstacles for her. 

He treated her so well, and no one could deny it. 

That was exactly why Mia couldn’t stand it. 

“Cassian the fixer, huh? Always running around cleaning up everyone else’s mess. You totally wasted all your kindness on him,” Mia sneered. 

Aurelia agreed, “For real. I used to be nice to people just hoping they’d return the favor. But honestly? I should’ve just cut out the middleman and treated myself right from the start.” 

Mia could tell Aurelia had truly moved on from that relationship, and she was genuinely happy for her. 

But she still couldn’t help asking, “Do you ever feel any regret?” 

After all, Aurelia had given seven years of her life to that relationship. 

Aurelia paused, then said, “Regret isn’t real. It’s just hope that landed in the wrong place.” 

Mia loved how straightforward Aurelia was. “Anyway, this calls for a celebration! If you’ve got time later, come pick me up at the airport. If not, I’ll just show up at your place and be your personal house elf.” 

“If 

If you’re coming back, I’ll always make time for you,” Aurelia replied. 

“Besties for life!” Mia cheered. 

Aurelia figured Cassian would be able to keep things quiet, but the whole mess spiraled out of control before he could even react. 

By the next morning, the fireworks story shot straight to the top of the trending list. 

Dreamscape got slammed with boycotts and hate. Netizens flooded their official site, blasting them for being so irresponsible. 

The site crashed from all the traffic. 

And that wasn’t even the worst part. Dreamscape’s mobile game, barely online for twenty–four hours, got bombarded with complaints until it was taken down. 

It crashed and burned faster than a shooting star, leaving everyone sighing at how quickly it all fell apart. 

This scene felt strangely familiar. 

Dreamscape tried to handle the crisis, and as soon as things blew up, they posted an apology, promising to take full responsibility for the impact caused by the event. 

But netizens weren’t having it. They kept digging into who was really pulling the strings behind Dreamscape, and started exposing all the problems in their games. 

They had no idea until they started digging, then it was a real shock. 

The later storylines and game settings were a total mess: violence, blood, sex jokes… 

Some stuff even looked borderline anti–national. 

The more people dug into Dreamscape, the more dirt they found. 

With issues this sensitive, crossing all sorts of lines, nobody was going to turn a blind eye. 

That was why Dreamscape was taken down in the shortest possible time. 

Their chances of making a comeback were basically zero. 

On top of that, they were facing massive compensation claims and even legal action. 

But that was all for later. 

For now, an even bigger crisis was about to hit. 

Netizens these days were seriously next–level. Not only did they dig up all the shady stuff in Dreamscape’s games, they even tracked down the big–name investors backing Dreamscape. 

Ascend Group held the biggest stake, with EverMass Group coming in second. 

Both companies took a massive hit to their stock prices because of this scandal. 

Ascend Group got hit the hardest, with its shares dropping 4% and its market value evaporating by nearly 16.7 billion dollars. 

EverMass Group was on the verge of being delisted because of mismanagement. 

After this disaster, there was no way EverMass Group could turn things around. 

At the airport, Aurelia was waiting at the arrivals area for Mia, but she still hadn’t come out. 

Just as Aurelia was about to call her, a buzz of excitement suddenly rippled through the nearby VIP entrance. 

Someone in the crowd yelled, “You greedy bastards! You’ll do anything for a buck, no matter how dirty! Do you even realize how much damage those fireworks are doing to our local ecosystem? That’s our sacred ground! You went and blew it up! What the hell were you thinking?” 

“Get out of Ashmont, you crooked suits!” 

Aurelia spotted Cassian and Tessa through the crowd, swarmed by reporters. 

They must have just landed and were making a beeline for the exit. 

But the media had already caught wind and were lying in wait for them. 

If the media learned about it, environmentalists learned about it as well. 

Those were the environmentalists yelling just now. 

They came prepared, protesting and even hurling rotten eggs at the people behind it all. 

Cassian never left Tessa’s side, making sure the reporters couldn’t get a shot of her. 

And the instant a rotten egg came flying, he jumped in front of her to block it. 

Aurelia watched it all unfold. 

Her face softened. The scene was so familiar, her mind drifted for a moment. 

Once, she’d have jumped in front of him without a second thought, taking the hit from those rotten eggs herself. 

Right then, Mia called. 

Aurelia pulled her gaze away and picked up, her emotions settling into a quiet ripple. Just as she expected, that strange feeling from before was already gone. 

“Hey, babe, are you out yet?” Aurelia asked, concern in her voice. 

Mia whined, “I twisted my ankle!” 

As soon as Aurelia picked Mia up, she rushed her straight to the hospital to get her twisted ankle checked out. 

While the doctor was examining Mia, he kept frowning, his eyes darting to the high heels on her other foot. 

Finally, he couldn’t hold back anymore and started lecturing her. “I get it, you want to look stylish, but aren’t those heels way too high? You’re already tall, do you really need to wear them? If anyone’s going to get hurt, it’s definitely you in those shoes!” 

Mia rubbed her nose sheepishly. “I just got cast as a spy, and I’ll be doing a bunch of fight scenes in heels. I’m just trying to get used to it early.” 

The doctor just shook his head, totally speechless. 

Once Mia was done with the doctor, Aurelia slipped her arm around her, supporting her as they made their way downstairs together and headed home. 

Out by the hospital’s open–air parking lot, Jasper was chain–smoking, one cigarette after another. 

Just half an hour earlier, Steven had fainted due to a sudden spike in blood pressure caused by emotional 

stress. 

Fortunately, the doctor rescued him in time and snatched him back from the gate of hell. 

But his condition was still pretty grim. 

The doctor warned Jasper that Steven couldn’t take any more stress. 

Jasper was weighed down by worry, so he found a quiet spot to smoke, hoping it would ease his worries. 

But even after going through an entire pack, his nerves were still shot. 

Annoyed, he chucked the crushed empty pack and was about to hit up the corner store for another when he bumped into Aurelia. 

He almost instinctively wanted to avoid her. 

He felt so ashamed in front of Aurelia, like he wished he could just disappear. 

Aurelia brushed past him without stopping. 

She acted like she didn’t even see him. 

Or maybe she just chose to ignore him. 

Jasper only returned to Steven’s hospital room after Aurelia had left. 

Steven was already awake, and as soon as he saw Jasper, he turned his face away. 

He clearly didn’t want to see him. 

Jasper was eaten up with guilt. He hung his head and said, “Dad, I’m sorry.” 

After a long silence, Steven let out a heavy sigh. “Forget it. I expected too much from you. I always knew you weren’t cut out for business, but I still put all my hopes on you, hoping you’d somehow save EverMass Group. Guess I was just dreaming.” 

As Steven kept talking, Jasper just hung his head lower and lower. 

“Let everyone know we’re having a shareholders‘ meeting on Monday. I’ll be there myself,” Steven said. 

Jasper’s heart clenched, his eyes turning red. “Dad, what are you planning to do?” 

“What else can I do in my condition?” Steven gave a bitter, helpless smile. “At this point, all I can do is declare bankruptcy.”