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Chapter 88: Jonah Under Fire

Author: Clare
last update Huling Na-update: 2025-09-19 02:48:28

The triumph in the boardroom was a firebreak, not an extinguishing of the flames. It brought a halt to the instant coup but did nothing to stop the blaze that had been smoldering in the press. The tale, having been unleashed by Harper Lane, took on a life of its own, spreading into more ghastly, more specific forms.

The story was no longer one of a secret withdrawal. It was now a story of Jonah Miles.

The front-page lead in the top financial blog the next morning was a masterclass in character demolition: SILK OR SERPENT? The Calculated Rise of Jonah Miles, from Nowhere to Clarkson's Bedroom.

The article was a pyromaniac brocade of half-truths and inference. It painted Jonah as the ultimate social-climbing ascender. It described his modest beginnings, not as a sign of respect, but as an inspiration to ruthlessly cold ambition. It depicted his noble rejection of the Vega offer as a "brilliantly calculated gambit" to get Clarkson's exclusive attention. His uprising was retold as calcula
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