The crowd broke into a low-voiced discussion. They didn’t expect to hear anything from Linford Bradley like that.
“Mr. Bradley! Do you have any evidence to say that?” Someone shouted among the crowd, “Or are you simply trying to distract us from the real problem.”
“I’m very aware of the fact that my company is the sole problem in the public eye. Distracting people won’t solve any problem. I’m just trying to provide directions for the investigation.”
“According to our source, your father and brother’s jobs in the army have been suspended. Did any of them violate any rules on their positions?” Another journalist asked.
That was a trick question.
If Linford said no, they would ask about the reason for their suspension.
But if he said yes, it just proved that the Bradley House was not as clean as Linford claimed it to be.
Drew slammed the table before him as his eyes fixed furiously on the screen of television, “Did you guys see that? These journalists are fucking jackals!”
Everyone’s eyes focused on Linford’s face, and no one was commenting.
It took Linford a couple of seconds to finally speak up this time, “Enzo Bradley, my older brother, the owner of the Medal of Honor, has served this country like no one ever could. He directed actions in the UN and saved countless lives. I don’t think I need to repeat what he has done for the country or the planet since you can find all his contributions online. I can’t even think of a reason why he got suspended. I think I, this disappointing brother of his, am probably the sole reason for his suspension. As my father…”
“Our source also got the information that your father abused his power and distributed a piece of agricultural land to the Wayne House. The Wayne House, however, used that land for business purposes. Is this true? Would you answer this question directly and truthfully?” The journalist pressed another tricky question.
Linford didn’t seem to be flinching, “The Wayne House raised piggybacking Bradley’s wealth and power. That piece of land was distributed legally to the Wayne House without violating any rules. My father only learned how they use the land after a while. After that, my father decided to take the piece of land back. My company purchased the land at a high price, and we are using it for legal agricultural purposes now. You can find relative formalities on the website of the local government.”
“So, your father still abused his power, right?” The journalist didn’t have any intention of letting it go.
Linford didn’t even look in his direction, “I’ve answered your questions. Next.”
Linford gave a faint smile, “If you didn’t make any mistake, would the police come to capture you for no reason?”
The journalist answered, “Of course not.”
“If people attacked you on the internet and made up crimes that you’ve never committed, some guy even jumped off your building publicly, what would you do about it?”
That journalist reacted quickly, “Mr. Bradley, you can’t just change the topic for your convenience. That’s not something you can randomly say to people.”
The smile on Linford’s face was sarcastic, “See? I only gave a hypothetical scenario, and you already couldn’t take it. But what I said was exactly what happened to our company.”
A low murmur stirred again before another journalist asked, “However, Mr. Bradley, you can’t say your company doesn’t hold any responsibility. The murder did happen in the community you built. You’ve got to make an acceptable response.”
Linford looked directly into the camera, “Our company has refunded whoever wanted to leave the community without any second thought. The victims’ families have also been compensated generously, even if that couldn’t compensate for their losses. We’ve used all our resources to try to find the traces of the murderer, and we cooperated when the police called for our help. I hope everyone who cared about this case can remember that it was the murderer who caused this tragedy. Daicom Corporation has never wanted any of this to happen. I believe that is all that the victims’ families want. They need justice, not shifting blames.”
“You’re trying to change the subject!” The journalist suddenly yelled, “No matter how hard you tried to explain everything, this is still your company’s fault! You’re trying to fool people! We’re talking about a man who jumped off your building this morning! You can’t brush it off like that! It’s disrespectful!”
Linford’s face fell as he stared at the journalist, “You’re the one who’s trying to create more chaos! That man passed away most heartbreakingly. The only thing he wanted was the truth. You people don’t give a damn about the truth! You only want to shift all the blames on me to serve whoever paid to come and throw those ill-intentioned questions at me. That is truly disrespectful to the deceased. I’m here because the public needed an explanation. Now that I’ve explained everything the public rightfully wanted to know. I believe it’s time to end this conference.”
With that, Linford just turned around and got off the stage.
****
Lana couldn’t take her eyes away from her phone. She had read report after report about the poor jumper on the news this morning, but Miles looked quite calm as if he didn’t have anything to do with the whole thing.
Lana’s finger scrolled down the screen. She was exceptionally silent today.
“Why? You still can’t stop thinking about Bradley? Lemme tell you how to stop this. Just imagine how he fed Cristelle in bed. That should make you more unwavering about our plan.”
Lana cast a murderous look at Miles, “I thought you still needed to go to the company today.”
Miles laughed coldly, “I thought you would go to work too.”
Lana put her phone down, “Linford Bradley is cunning. It would help if you watched the conference. He was quite assertive, and he persuaded most people who criticized him. It’s not easy to start any trend again. You really shouldn’t have done that to Leon Fox.”
“Leon Fox? Who’s that?” Miles didn’t seem to care as he lit a cigarette.
“Leon Fox, that man you forced to jump off the building!” Lana hissed.