On the other end, it sounded like he was busy. He didn’t say much.
His distant, cool tone only made Millie’s nerves twist tighter.
She felt even more unsettled, even more uncertain about everything.
Her grip on her phone tightened unconsciously.
After pressing her lips together, she tried to steer the conversation. “There's a firestorm online right now—trending topics, rumors everywhere. Isn’t this affecting you or the Davidson family?”
“Hmm?” Alexander flipped a page in his file, answering with his usual calm, unhurried voice. “It’s nothing.”
Millie’s breath caught. “But for AetherX Dynamics, these kinds of issues—”
Between two smart people, words rarely needed to be spelled out.
Of course, Alexander knew exactly what she was implying.
“You mean, all this gossip is hurting the company’s performance?”
Millie nodded. “Yeah. My technology, my company—they can stand on their own. But I don’t want everything I’ve built to be destroyed by baseless rumors—”
These rumors were already having very real consequences for her.
If she couldn’t turn things around now, she’d be crushed for the rest of her life.
She refused to collapse at a time like this.
Especially when that wager still echoed in her mind.
She could lose, but not to Danielle.
“Alex, I’ve worked so hard for so long. I can’t let rumors be the thing that brings me down.”
Alexander nodded thoughtfully.
“The company is affected, because you’re the owner.”
He spoke softly, almost as a suggestion. “What if you step down for now?”
If she resigned, the company wouldn’t be associated with the scandal.
She could always come back once the storm had passed.
It was, honestly, the simplest and least costly solution.
But that wasn’t what Millie wanted.
She bit her lip. “If I step down now, wouldn’t that just make me look guilty? Alex, you know there’s nothing inappropriate between us.”
Her words were met with a long silence.
Millie’s heart thumped wildly in her chest.
“Alex?”
[I attended AetherX Dynamics’ investor conference. Their new technology is genuinely cutting-edge. The project has great potential, and professionals have analyzed it—the government is heavily supporting these kinds of ventures.]
With those trending topics and data going public, the tide was turning.
Seeing it all, Millie finally felt her anxiety start to ease.
The Davidson Group’s PR team had always been legendary.
“You already had all this in motion?”
Of course—no matter the crisis, Alex was always on her side.
With Newsworld’s backing, everyone suddenly had confidence.
Even those who’d been hesitating because of Jake started to make moves.
After all, Alexander was Jake’s son. If he was willing to publicly support AetherX Dynamics, it meant Jake had given his blessing.
To outsiders, their family stood united.
Using Sophia as a benchmark was clever, too—it made everything sound more authoritative, more professional.
Alexander’s voice was calm. “Public opinion takes time to shift.”
For him, this kind of PR maneuver was hardly worth worrying about.
Still, Millie couldn’t shake her concerns. “And your father—?”
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