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Chapter 214

Chapter 214

Ever since Grizzlyworld Corp.’s products were pulled from shelves the night before, CEO Jazen Massey had a gnawing feeling that something was very, very wrong.

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His team kept trying to calm him down, insisting the child on the packaging was just some random kid–nothing to worry about.

But now, staring at the official subpoena from Chronos Legal, Jaxen erupted in fury, flipping chairs and slamming his desk before turning on his design director, Cody Cantu.

“You told me she was just a kid! So why the hell am I getting sued by Chronos Legal?!”

Cody stood frozen, pale and trembling, taking the full brunt of the verbal assault.

He didn’t even dare respond. Thirty minutes of relentless shouting later, all he could do was lower his head and replay the beginning of this mess in his mind.

It had all started with a casual scroll on X. He’d stumbled upon a wallpaper account that had posted a picture of a smiling little girl–round face, bright eyes, healthy glow.

She looked so warm, so pure, so… marketable.

Cody, seeing an opportunity, thought: Parents will love this. Their products were designed for moms and children, and this girl’s face was practically made for packaging.

He’d messaged the original poster, asking about the source. The reply? “All images from the internet.”

That was all the green light Cody needed. He saved the high–res version, sent it to the printer, and slapped the girl’s face across an initial test run of snacks.

To his surprise, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. Distributors reported higher sales, retailers praised the new packaging–and that was when Cody came clean to Jaxen: the image had been pulled from the internet and wasn’t properly licensed.

Jaxen hesitated. No one had complained. No lawsuits had come. The profits were rolling in. So he gave in to temptation, greenlit full–scale production, and watched the money pour in.

They expanded the line. Launched new flavors. Even started seeing their products on endcaps in major shopping malls.

her as their “brand ambassador” right on the packaging, with a full backstory to boot.

wanting “Jolene” to endorse their products too. But

gotten away with it.

came the

soon as Jaxen saw the name Chronos Legal, his

known across

machine.

you, it wasn’t a matter

overwhelmed with dread, kicked Cody again. “Who

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Chapter 214

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I don’t know…” Cody

phone and used Google’s reverse image search. Nothing came up. He then went back to the original

later, a reply came: [That post was flagged and removed. Every time I try to re–upload the image, it’s auto–blocked.

men froze. That… wasn’t

some random kid. They had messed with someone untouchable. Jaxen was on the verge of collapse. “You did this. And now I’m gonna lose

at the company knew. The two locked themselves in the

knock on the door. They jumped.

the tension inside. Smiling, she

bags with Jolene‘ on them

account had ballooned from 5,000 followers to over

Cody’s eyes lit

“Let’s apologize online. Publicly. If we control the narrative, we might get the

hell good would that do? All it’ll do

fault and act sincerely, people will follow the outcome. And if

Frowned. Weighed his rapidly shrinking options. Finally, he gave a stiff nod.

In fact, best–case scenario? Maybe another company who’d been crushed by Chronos Legal in the past would

hope was all he

in his office, with Cody holding the phone. He spoke slowly and somberly, eyes red- rimmed, voice trembling with regret.

design department’s fault–and admitted they’d violated a child’s image rights. He pledged to return all profits made from the infringing products.

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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