Chapter 306: Chapter 306: He Compromised
Justin Callahan was still half-asleep in the presidential suite of the Hawes Presidential Hotel in Westmarch when his father’s call came in.
Yesterday, he had spent most of the day busy with Nina Quinn’s situation at the hospital.
After returning to the hotel, he worked on clearing up the rumors online, staying up late before finally falling asleep.
But he never imagined that in the middle of the night someone dropped the bombshell that he was a scumbag, not only leaving him disgraced but also causing the stock price of Esteria TV to plummet.
"What’s going on with you and that woman?" His father’s voice was filled with tension on the phone.
Justin rubbed his tangled hair, utterly confused.
"Which woman? What do you mean?"
"Nina Quinn! Isn’t she pregnant with your child?"
Now, whenever Justin heard Nina Quinn’s name, his head throbbed painfully.
"I’ll handle her situation as soon as possible and return to Esteria."
Originally, he planned to find a beauty in Westmarch comparable to July Quinn, sign her up, elevate her above July Quinn, and make July regret leaving.
But now, he had no desire to do anything, nor was he able to do anything.
He thought this answer would satisfy his father.
After all, he’s had his fair share of women in the past, and his father had turned a blind eye.
But unexpectedly, his father’s response was another burst of anger: "Handle it? How are you going to handle it? Make her get rid of the child, then announce to the entire internet that you’re a legendary scumbag and our Callahan Family is the number one family of Aphelion that despises the poor and loves the rich?"
Under his father’s continued bombardment, Justin had no choice but to face the problem seriously.
"Dad, I indeed want her to get rid of the child, but announce to the entire internet? I’m not insane, why would I do something so harmful with no benefit?"
"You didn’t do it, but someone has already done it for you. Now public opinion is completely against you, and we can’t suppress the trending topics."
His father had already started suppressing the trending topics when he woke up and noticed the issue.
But after a night of fermentation, public opinion was already one-sided.
The trending topics couldn’t be suppressed, even though they released a statement promising to handle the situation properly, they were still heavily criticized by netizens.
So before seeking out Justin, his father had already thought of a solution.
"The current plan is to immediately announce your engagement with Nina Quinn."
"Dad, you’re asking me to marry her? Are you joking?"
Regardless of appearance or talent, let alone family background, Nina Quinn simply couldn’t be compared to the rich young ladies of Esteria.
From the start, Justin had never considered a future with such a person.
Their beginning was merely due to the loneliness in Westmarch, seeking someone for some amusement.
However, Justin never anticipated that the price of amusement would be marriage.
No...
He couldn’t accept it.
That would make him a laughing stock in the high society circle of Esteria.
But his father scolded him sharply: "Who’s joking with you? Now that public opinion is one-sided and our stock price hit the bottom as soon as trading opened this morning, the only way to recover all the losses is to announce the engagement immediately and silence the critics."
"You just want to recover the losses, what about my future?"
Justin was absolutely unwilling to let his future compensate for the Callahan Family’s losses.
"These losses were caused by you, do you still have the audacity to talk about the future? Fine, if you want a future, then from today, you will sever ties with the Callahan Family. After all, one less or one more of you makes no difference."
With these words, his father hung up the phone.
Justin was enraged, knowing that his father was implying he wanted the third son’s child to become part of the Callahan Family.
"Fine, sever ties if that’s what you want. Who’s afraid of whom?"
"Don’t think I don’t know, you actually want that wretched woman’s child in our family, you’ve just been waiting for the opportunity."
After cursing for a while, Justin checked the situation online.
Just as his father had said, public opinion was entirely against him, with everyone calling him a scumbag.
Halfway through, Mrs. Callahan’s call came in.
"Mom?"
"Your dad just said he’s going to bring that illegitimate child into the family, things aren’t looking good. You should agree to your dad’s request and get engaged to that woman immediately."
"Mom, have you lost it? You’re even willing to sell out your own son’s marriage?"
"This is your own doing. If you hadn’t gotten someone pregnant, they wouldn’t have caught our weakness and threatened us at our doorstep."
"But I can’t just marry such an easy woman."
In Justin’s eyes, Nina Quinn was never worthy of him.
"Without the Callahan Family, you’re nothing. At that point, marrying such a woman might not even be an option for you."
But Justin, always proud and arrogant, could never accept someone marrying him solely for the Callahan Family’s wealth.
So he shouted at his mother hysterically: "No matter what, I won’t marry her."
Then, he hung up the phone.
Justin believed he could single-handedly stand up to his parents, withstand all the pressure and avoid marrying Nina Quinn.
But by evening, he compromised...
Because at dinner, he found his card had been frozen.