The CEO's Empathy Pregnancy Pains

After Michael took off, Emily wasted no time and called up Abigail to tell her his attitude. Abigail tried to calm her down, saying Michael was probably just putting on a show.

Once she cooled off, Emily thought it over and figured Abigail might be right. Maybe Michael was just bluffing. Since he had said not to sweat it, she decided to let it go.

Yesterday, Abigail had roped Nicholas into helping them stage a little act. It wasn't really acting; they just asked Nicholas to keep quiet about Emily being Ella. Nicholas didn't ask any questions and was cool with it. Emily thought she should send Nicholas a thank-you gift. She asked Abigail for suggestions, and Abigail said they should plan it out carefully. Emily laughed, remembering the last time with Jeffrey.

While Emily and Abigail were having a chill time, things were way more intense over at the Moonlit Treasures conference room.

The press conference had almost turned into a disaster. This was a big deal for the company, affecting its future in the jewelry biz.

The jewelry industry could bring in a ton of cash, which was super important for the whole Smith Corporation.

Now, with all the drama about plagiarism and identity fraud, the Smith Corporation's stock was taking a hit. In the conference room, Joshua had gathered everyone he could.

Everyone sat there with serious faces, waiting for Michael to call someone out, while Sophia stood in the corner, too scared to say anything.

Sophia knew she couldn't freak out now. She tried to keep her cool and was about to explain when Michael suddenly blew up, "What the hell is going on? Is Moonlit Treasures' PR team useless? If they can't handle it, let the headquarters' PR team take over. It's been a whole night and a morning, why is the Smith Corporation's trending topic still online?"

No one dared to say a word.

Michael snorted. "By the end of the day, I want to see the Smith Corporation's trending topic gone, or I'll replace the management of Moonlit Treasures." He then shot a cold look at Joshua.

Joshua nodded like crazy. Everyone suddenly turned to look at Sophia. She was freaking out but tried to look all innocent as she explained to Michael, "Mr. Smith, listen to me. I never said I was Ella. You can ask the host; it was the host who said I was Ella. Considering it was a live broadcast, I had no choice but to go along. I knew Ella wouldn't come, and I was afraid of a live broadcast accident, so I said it."

The host, Eric Allen from the PR department, almost cried when he heard Sophia's words.

Eric said, "The plan provided by the design department said so. I had confirmed the process with the design department beforehand."

All eyes then turned to Violet Cooper, the chief planner of the design department, who looked to Sophia for help.

Even though she had made the plan, it was Sophia who had told her to do it. Sophia had claimed she was Ella, so Violet was shocked, thinking Sophia was some big shot. She had been excited and Sophia told her to keep it a secret, saying it was to surprise Michael at the press conference. Violet hadn't checked her identity and had approved the plan directly. Now, was Sophia trying to throw her under the bus?

Sophia shot a warning look and then weakly said, "Mr. Smith, even though this wasn't my idea, it's still my fault. We can buy out Ella's work. Once it's ours, there won't be any disputes. Let's handle the online mess first." The design director tapped the table. "Sophia, you better explain this clearly to the reporters."

One man from the PR team chimed in, "We need something else to divert attention. That way, we can manage the plagiarism issue better."

Sophia quickly suggested, "I can tell the reporters that the wrong PPT was used backstage. Will that work?"

Everyone looked at Sophia like she was out of her mind. If she didn't have some connections with Michael, they would've torn her apart by now, especially Joshua, who was glaring daggers at her. "Wrong PPT? Do you think the netizens are idiots?"

The design director snorted. "You better publicly apologize to Ella and then resign."

Sophia immediately protested, "No." She had planned to claim Emily's design as her own. Admitting plagiarism now would contradict everything she had said before.

Sophia started crying and pleaded with Michael, "Mr. Smith, I can't admit it. It would make Moonlit Treasures look untrustworthy and poorly managed, and it could jeopardize our partnership with Phantom Beauty."

The design director shot back, "It's better to say Moonlit Treasures is poorly managed than to say we have a plagiarizing designer. Do you know how serious plagiarism is in the jewelry industry? It can get you blacklisted." Now she realized it could affect the partnership with Phantom Beauty. Everyone was thinking the same thing. Sophia didn't know what to say and could only look at Michael pitifully.

Michael listened to their arguments in silence, then slammed his pen on the conference table, making the room go quiet.

Michael huffed, "Am I here to listen to you argue? Now, tell me. What does Ella want? Is she willing to sell her design to the company? Also, contact the designer of the plagiarized work and see if she'll sell her design to the company." There was no conclusion to the argument. Sophia knew this wouldn't end well and could only show weakness to Michael. "Mr. Smith, I agree. I agree to resign. This is my fault. I will apologize to Ella." After speaking, she left the conference room. Everyone else remained silent, and finally, Michael said, "The PR department should expedite handling this. By the end of the day, I want to see results." He then got up and left the conference room.

When Michael got back to his office on the top floor of Smith Corporation, he found Sophia crying there. Seeing Michael, she immediately rushed to hug him. "I'm sorry, Michael. This is all my fault. I didn't realize how serious it is. I'm willing to resign, Michael. I know I've caused trouble for you. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Sophia kept crying and apologizing, leaving Michael at a loss for words.

He could only sigh and say, "Sophia, you really messed up this time." Sophia knew nothing she said would help now, so she just held Michael tightly.