Chapter 229 Mr. Jardel Speaks Up for His Wife!

• "I agreed to marry you purely for the kids. My heart’s only with them. I’ve never considered feelings, and I don’t want to." Listening to Yvette Milligan say it so calmly, Lance Jardel’s eyes dimmed a notch. But the next moment, he heard her continue: "So since we’re already a couple in name, I won’t get tangled up with anyone else. My friends are just friends. I hope you remember that and stop guessing wild stuff." Lance’s heart swung up and down—relieved by her promise, yet bleak because she reminded him their marriage was only "in name." Meeting Yvette’s frank, steady gaze, he couldn’t say a word. He just nodded slightly. "Yeah. Okay." Yvette, having finally let out what she’d been holding in, saw the mighty CEO behaving unusually obedient and felt her mood lift. She gave a faint smile. "Don’t worry about the trending mess. I’ll handle it. You focus on getting better. I’m heading out." Lance watched her walk away, easy and unburdened, replaying that small smile she left him. His heart gave a light jump, and the corners of his mouth tugged up without him meaning to. Declan Jonas walked in and ran straight into his boss wearing a goofy grin. He was so spooked he nearly backed out and shut the door. Luckily, the iron-nerved Mr. Jonas held himself together, stepped forward with a casual cough: "Ahem, Mr. Jardel, Ms. Yvette isn’t mad anymore?" "Mm." Lance pulled back from his thoughts, and his gaze fell on the untouched insulated lunch box. His long fingers tapped the table twice. Eyes narrowing, his voice went flat: "Find out who’s pushing the trending topics." Yvette had said she’d take care of it, sure. But there’s no way he’d let the woman he liked get bullied. After giving Declan his orders, he pulled out his phone and logged into his social account. Normally, the PR department ran this account. Lance barely looked at it. But after the press conference for the Yin Xiaoxiao incident, he’d started using it himself. In no time, a new topic climbed onto the trending list: #Mr. Jardel Speaks Up for His Wife Under it was a post from Lance’s account. In a down-to-earth tone, he shared the heart-shaped lunch Yvette brought him and mentioned in passing that she and Adrian Yeary were just normal friends. He hoped unrelated folks would stop spinning nasty guesses. The internet isn’t outside the law. Jardel Enterprises wouldn’t tolerate slander. The wording was nice and measured, but reading-comprehension pros jumped in fast, summing it up as: "My wife was just delivering lunch and casually met a friend. I didn’t make a fuss. Mind your own damn business. Keep it up and I’ll sue." The scene got even wilder. A big wave of spectators fell for the CEO’s blatant wife-shielding, while conspiracy fans muttered that rich families are a swamp, that Mr. Jardel only posted to save face, and who knows how stiff things are between them in private. Others grabbed popcorn, waited for a twist, and yelled for the media to dig deeper, bring the hard proof. In short, everyone had something to say. What the casual onlookers didn’t notice was that many outlets who’d been knocking Yvette earlier suddenly went quiet and behaved themselves, no longer daring to jump around. Meanwhile, Jardel Enterprises’ rivals in the shadows ramped up their paid posts. The same play came from entertainment-industry competitors who’d long wanted to smear Adrian Yeary but never found dirt. These folks had the board mapped out and launched another wave of copycat blasts, riding the conspiracy wave. The trending page turned into a carnival, thick with smoke and stink. In the old neighborhood’s ShadowByte base. "You sure you don’t want to suppress the trending list?" Rogue lounged on the couch, eyeing Yvette, puzzled. "This isn’t like the Yin Xiaoxiao mess last time. Back then, once the truth came out, public opinion flipped clean. But with rumors like this, there’s no clean way to explain anything."