Aureus PR SolutionsThis was the subsidiary company Sebastian worked at.The building’s glass façade gleamed under the noonday sun, but inside, the atmosphere was anything but bright. Several of the employees were gathered in the lounge and watching the latest news about the hospital ceiling collapse. When Elias strode into his team section, he saw the employees gathered, watching. Most of them were not dressed appropriately. Some had pulled off their buttons and their shirts were not tucked in, some were wearing flip flops and some of the ladies were even busy retouching their makeup as they discussed. Elias raised a brow at this sight. So unbridled?However, he didn't attract their attention as he leaned back on the doorframe to listen into their chatter. The screen was currently showing Lila addressing the media as the spokesperson of the company. She was dressed corporately and seemed quite composed unlike how casual and easygoing she looked earlier that morning in a nightdress.

The moment he disappeared, the room erupted in whispers.“Review meeting?”“In twenty minutes?!”“Damn it, I need a jacket—”“Flip flops, you’re done for, bro.”Chairs scraped, people rushed, and panic set in as everyone scrambled around trying to fix their clothes and prepare whatever they could for the meeting.And Lina with her lipstick still clutched tightly in her hand exhaled shakily. She had just been spared the axe, but she knew it wasn’t out of kindness.She had just returned to her desk right opposite his office when the intercom rang. Lina was Sebastian's assistant so she was placed nearest to his office.When the intercom rang, she quickly grabbed a notepad and a pen before rushing off to his office. Upon getting there, she found him standing by the floor-to-ceiling window with his suit off.He turned when he heard her enter and went straight to the point, “Give a brief of everything that happened in the office since I came last.”Lina nearly dropped her pen. Of all the th

Elias’s eyes lingered on the hashtags before he clicked on one.It turned out, the matter had taken a turn for the worse.One of the victims of the accident had a chronic heart condition. The stress and jolt from the collapse worsened it, and he died from cardiac arrest.Now, the internet had erupted.Threads upon threads carried photos of the victim, a middle-aged man whose grieving wife clutched their child during a tearful interview. Broadcasters replayed it again and again, feeding the fire.“My husband was recovering,” the woman sobbed, her voice cracking. “He would still be alive if not for that collapse. Halberg killed him!”There was even a video of the victim’s last moments. Elias watched for a few seconds before sighing. It was a pity that the man’s life had been lost, and inevitably, the blame would fall on Halberg’s construction operations.His jaw slowly tightened. It would take a miracle to sway the court of public sentiment back from such an accident.He was still think

The loud slam of the door of Elias’s office echoed through the floor like a gunshot. Lina flinched, half-standing from her chair. “S-sir, you can’t just—!”But the man ignored her completely, striding forward with heavy, angry steps that made the floor seem to quake beneath him.Elias’s head lifted slowly from his desk.The man who came was in his late thirties, a little on the pudgy side, with a round face that flushed easily when he got worked up. His thinning hair was slicked back too neatly, and his suit strained slightly around the middle as though it hadn’t kept up with his waistline. Beady eyes glared from behind rimless glasses, and his jowls quivered as he spoke.“Sebastian,” he spat the name like a curse, “you’ve grown wings. How dare you fire my person!?”Lina stumbled in right behind him, breathless as she looked at Elias anxiously. “Sir, I—I tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t listen—”Elias raised a hand slightly. His expression didn’t shift much. “It’s fine.”She froze,

He stood slowly, one hand resting on the back of his chair. “Halberg’s made every statement from the position of defense so far, hasn't it?”“Yes, sir,” Colin said uncertainly.“Then we stop defending.” Elias went on, “We issue a statement declaring that Halberg Group will request a public audit into all their past construction projects starting with St. Ives Hospital. We announce that every file, every permit, and every report will be handed to the city’s safety commission for review. Immediately.”A beat of silence followed, and the staff members looked at themselves as if he had grown three heads.Even Lina who was beside him blinked. “Sir… that’s— That’s practically inviting them to dig our grave.”Elias looked up from the table, his expression unreadable.“Better to hand them the shovel than let them come for our throats,” he said simply.The words sank like a stone, and for a long moment, no one spoke.“Sir, you can’t be serious—”“We don’t even have clearance.”“That’ll drag th