Mr. Villain's Lovely Wife

Lovely wife 223

Unjustly Targeted

"Do you think it's true? That they've been married for months?" one of the reporters asked, adjusting her earpiece as she stood near the cordoned off area.

"Depends who you ask," said Kelron Baines, a senior field anchor from Vista Signal News. He flipped through his notes." Just last year, Isabella Rossi was with Calen Weiss of Weiss Inc. I heard that Mr. Weiss had some affairs that were exposed during a company event and that prompted Miss Rossi to leave the company. If she's really married to Mr. Horvath then... wouldn't that make her relationship with Mr. Weiss a joke?"

Across the lot, several media vans were lined up outside the glass-fronted conference building. A long red backdrop had been placed behind a single podium. It was sleek, minimal, Horvath-brand neutral. There was no official signage beyond a generic statement: Media Briefing - 9:00 A.M.

Reporters checked their mics and light gear while muttering among themselves.

"I heard this press con is just a PR stunt to clean up after the Sarano mess," said Leena Ardell from Daily Praxis. "Why else go public with a marriage now?"

"Come on, Liam Horvath doesn't need to marry anyone for PR, someone behind her chimed in. "He's already the heir. He doesn't answer to anyone."

Leena turned to face him. "Then why now? Why make it public right after Cassandra's claims started falling apart?

A younger reporter, Benzo Vale from Channel Tenfold, was typing something into his tablet. There's a file floating around showing Cass had contact with Olivier Horvath's office days before the incident," he said. "If that's true, this whole thing could blow up from both ends."

Kelron raised a brow. "You saying Olivier Horvath set this up?"

Benzo shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time Horvath Holdings cleaned up its mess by making a bigger one?

Another voice joined in from the group. "What about the rumors from two years ago? The ones about Liam and that model from Ardesh? The one who

disappeared from the industry overnight?"

"You mean Saphira Kess?" Leena asked. "That was never confirmed."

"It never needed to be confirmed," someone muttered. "Billionaires bury problems. Everyone knows that."

Most of them turned as a sleek black car rolled into the drop-off zone. Security shifted formation immediately. Cameras were immediately lifted. Lights adjusted.

Benzo double-checked his setup. "We're live in seven minutes."

Kelron kept his eyes on the doors. "Let's see what they say. Either this is damage control... or something much bigger." Behind them, whispers grew louder as other journalists joined the crowd, waiting. A few independent bloggers had set up tripods near the back, desperate to get clean audio. The press assistant walked past with a clipboard, checking names against a list.

A few minutes before the clock struck nine, the murmur of voices grew quieter.

A man wearing a dark grey suit stepped up to the podium. He adjusted the microphone and tapped a few buttons on the small control panel attached to the side. The background music faded out immediately. The reporters turned their full attention toward the stage.

The man cleared his throat, then lifted a clipboard in front of him.

"For those attending," he said, "thank you for your patience. We ask that you hold all questions until after the formal statement. There will be an opportunity for a short Q&A session afterward."

As he spoke, several individuals entered from the side door. They took their places behind the podium in a line, Most of them wore tailored suits stamped with the subtle Horvath Industries logo on the breast pocket.

among themselves,

Alcaraz, sharp in a deep navy suit, her badge

"Please welcome Mr. Nolan Reeve, lead counsel representing Horvath

placed a few neatly organized papers on

Successfully unlocked!

tall man with sandy hair and a

once across the room before

morning, we are here to

shifted, attention

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the first page

day Miss Sarano alleges misconduct, Mr. Liam Horvath was attending to a family emergency. His grandfather, Mr. Victor Horvath, suffered a medical complication that required immediate hospitalization. Mr.

the stack and held it

footage from the emergency department, and

ripple of murmured surprise passed through

continued, his voice steady, "a few days ago, Mr. Horvath's wife, Mrs. Isabella Rossi-Horvath, was admitted due to injuries

frantic notes.

Nolan ignored the stir.

by her side throughout her recovery. There was no meeting with Miss Sarano. There was

back up quickly, tapping the

after the full statement is complete." Nolan turned the

have time-stamped security footage, hotel check-in records, and verified images showing Mr. Horvath and Mrs. Horvath together in New

slim black folder and set

materials will be made available to all credentialed media representatives following this briefing. Each file is time- stamped, verified, and includes corroborating

whispering among themselves, clearly caught off guard. Nolan pressed

participating in fan events in Los Angeles. Social media posts, official

forward again, briefly motioning for the crowd to

side of the podium,

chose to escalate the matter in the public sphere, Horvath Holdings

He flipped another page.

multiple counterclaims against Miss Sarano. These include: defamation, attempted extortion, emotional distress, and

list hit the room like a punch. Reporters scrambled to jot

are pursuing punitive damages. We will

formal public retraction from Miss Sarano and all parties who distributed

News scribbled furiously on his notepad. Benzo Vale from Channel Tenfold typed even faster, eyes darting between Nolan and the documents being waved toward the press table by the moderator's assistant. "This is not simply a matter of reputational harm,” Nolan added. "This is a deliberate, coordinated attempt to damage not only Mr. and Mrs.

allow a few questions after Ms. Maria Alcaraz, representing Miss Rossi,

seated."

moderator moved to adjust the microphone height slightly for

a moment to flip to the correct page, then looked up at the room full of reporters, her voice steady as she spoke into the

Unjustly Targeted