Chapter 67
Another commented, “We want this to be over too, but there’s nothing we can do. We can only hope for the whole thing to go away on its own.”
The public’s attention would surely dwindle in a few days.
“No.” Simon refused without hesitation.
There was no way Stephen could suffer a few more days in misery.
“Do you have a better idea?”
Faced with the question, Simon fell silent for a moment.
Then, he replied, “There’s only one thing left to do. Make Shawn, Eric, and Brandon’s crimes public and put arrest warrants out for them. As for Ethan. He was wrongly accused in all of this, but he’s not entirely without blame. Stephen, on the other hand…”
Simon looked at everybody and said, “Like us, he was fooled by how sneaky Shawn and his friends were. Besides, Ethan should hold some responsibility. He knew what those people were like but said nothing anyway. It’s outrageous of him to mislead us and put the city at
risk.
“Stephen isn’t the main culprit. Most of the blame is on Shawn and his pals, and Ethan should be responsible for keeping us informed. Stephen should only be held partially accountable for falling for the deception.”
The others exchanged glances, getting the message.
Ethan could not be released until he was cleared completely, and it did not matter that he was the hero. He was in the holding cell for an accusation anyway, so he would not suffer any real harm while locked up, would he?
As for the whole situation with Stephen, it was clear that Simon took Stephen’s side, but like Stephen, all of them had been deceived. Hence, they chose to turn a blind eye, or they would have to share the blame too if Stephen was held accountable.
The real issue was that Ethan had withheld information and said nothing! Compared to the safety of North Hill City, the simple misunderstanding with him was insignificant.
Simon said coldly, “We can’t let Ethan rot in prison because he’s the hero, but we can’t just let him go. He’s still a risk. For all we know, he could be linked to Shawn and his pals.
“So, I’ve decided to make a public statement about giving Ethan a house when, in truth, we’re putting him under house arrest.
“The public can’t comment on that.”
The crowd was impressed with Simon’s approach, which could kill two birds with one
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Chapter 67
stone, and the public would have nothing to nitpick about. After all, an accusation landed Ethan with free accommodation.
“Alright. We’ll go with this plan.”
The meeting ended, but Simon did not stop there. He took out his phone to give Stephen a call.
“Get some sleep tonight, son. We’ve got a solution underway. Call for a press conference tomorrow, declare that you had no idea, and just apologize to the public.
“I’ll give you the specifics of what to say, and you can read out accordingly. We’ll take care of the voices online.
“You’re my son. Iwon’t let anything happen to you.”
Stephen was moved to tears at how protective Simon was of him. For all Simon cared, Ethan could sit in jail. The preferential treatment was clear.
That night, all videos and articles about Stephen were wiped from the internet.
The next day, Stephen stuck to Simon’s plan and held a press conference to apologize to the public. He stood firm on the fact he was deceived by Shawn’s, Eric’s, and Brandon’s convincing act.
Ethan was also called to question on withholding information.
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