hapter 258 Who Owns Missy?

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The article was full of phrases like “next–gen fashion,” “a rising star in affordable luxury,” and “the first wave of digital–native beauty brands.”

Page after page hyped the brand’s rise.

When Halbert flipped to the final page, there was an interview with a senior exec at Missy. The quote imed that although the brand had only been around for three months, it had already redefined the modern beauty scene.

Three months?

Halbert nced across the room at Eliza, who was still sleeping soundly.

What exactly was iher /iiconnection /iito /iiMissy/ii? /i

He pulled out his phone, ready to look into thepany’s ownership. But no matter how deep he dug, the inte came up short. The identity of Missy’s founder remained a mystery.

Clearly, someone had intentionally hidden it.

iCould /iit ibe /iiEliza/ii? /i

Halbert shook his head.

iSure/ii, /iishe /iiwas /iiclever /iiand /iihad made /iisome /iiquick /iicash /iiduring /ithe iflu /iioutbreak/i. iBut /iibuilding /iia /iiwhole /iibeauty /iibrand /iithat /iifast/i? iNo /iiway/ii. /i

In the ibusiness /iiworld/ii, /ithat kind iof /iimeteoric /iirise /iiwas /iiunheard /iiof/ii. /i

iNo /iione /iicould /iijust /iiunch /iia /iired/ii–/iihot /iibrand /iiright /iiafter /iisecuring /iifunding/i–iunless /iiit /iihad /iibeen /iinned /iia /iiyear /iior /iitwo /iiin /iiadvance/ii. /i

iBut /iia /iiyear /ior two agoi, /iiEliza /iiwas /iistill /iiunderage/i.

iThinking /iishe /iihad /iithe /iiskills /iito /iipull /iisomething /iilike /iithis /iioff/i? I’m ithe /iist /iiperson /iiwho’d /iibuy /iithat/ii. /i

Still, just to be sure, Halbert sent a message to his assistant.

Dig into whoever’s behind Missy. Also look into the connection between Soren and Eliza.

The next morning, Soren woke up in his hotel suite. It was already well past his usual 7 AM wake–up time.

He felt a mild headache–probably fromst night’s drinking.

After a quick shower, his manager came in and ced a digital scale in front of him.

“Time to check your weight, Mr. Soren.”

“Yeah, sure.”

He stepped on casually.

But when the number jumped from his usual 130 pounds to 135, Soren blinked.

13:51 Tue, b8 /bJul

Chapter 258 Who Owns Missy?

So did his manager.

Soren’s weight was usually stable. Maybe a pound or two of fluctuation, max.

But five pounds overnight?

“What exactly did you catst night, Mr. Soren?”

Soren couldn’t even remember. He just knew that Late–Night Street Eats had been amazing.

The Zesty Crawfish, grilled oysters, giant isquid/ii, /iiskewers/i… iI’d /iigone /iiall /iin.

Not to mention the beer. I’d had imore /iithan /iia /iifew /ijust to ikeep /iiEliza /iipany/ii. /i

His manager nearly lost it.

iHeavy /iioil/i. Spicy icarbs/i. iBarley/ii–/iibased /iibeer/i. A iweight/ii–/iigain /iinightmare/i.

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“Cancel all appearances for today. You need to detox and reset. From now on, no more junk food. Not even one bite.”

Soren actually felt a little disappointed.

iThat /iistuff /iihad /iibeen /iireally /iigood/ii. /i

Just as the assistant was preparing to clear the schedule, she suddenly gasped.

“Mr. Soren! We’ve got a problem! Someone posted a photo of you online!”

She shoved her phone toward him.

It had only been five minutes since the post went live, but it was already trending.

At this rate, every gossip site would be running with it. Today’s top trending topic was pretty much guaranteed.

“Top celeb caught onte–night date. Cuddling and kissing in the car.”

The manager’s face went pale.

iCuddling/i? iKissing/ii? /i

The blurry photo showed Soren inside a car, leaning across the center console–barely visible next to a woman with long hair in the passenger seat.

iBut /iit wasn’t what it ilooked /ilikei. /i

Eliza’s iseatbelt /iihad /iigotten /iistuck/ii. /iiSoren /iihad /iibeen /iihelping /iiher /iiunbuckle /iiit/i.

“Damn it. Who has this much free time?”

The post didn’t mention any names. But die–hard fans would recognize that profile in an instant.

It wouldn’t take long for people to ID him–and blow it way out of proportion.

“Don’t panic. They haven’t dropped your name. This smells like a shake–down. I bet whoever posted it is

b58/bb% /b

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13:51 Tue, b8 /bJul

Chapter 258 Who Owns Missy?

waiting for us to make contact and pay them off.”

The manager didn’t seem too worried.

iWe /ihad money. And a blurry, context–ifree /iiphoto /ilike this? It wasn’t iworth /iimore /iithan /iia /iifive/ii–/ifigure ipayoff /iiat /imost.

Then Soren looked at the post again.

Instead of panicking, he saved the photo to his phone.

The manager stared, dumbfounded. “Mr. Soren… what are you doing?”

“It’s not a bad shot. Just a little too blurry.”

The manager thought he was hearing things.

Right then, the manager’s phone rang.

As expected, it was the paparazzi calling–to negotiate a price.

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