"Isn’t kneeling to apologize a bit too much? After all, he’s just a young man who might not have known any better. Besides, we don’t even have proof that he really snuck in." "Yeah, this is all just Zane claim. The Gibson family haven’t spoken up yet, and they haven’t admitted to anything." "Why do the Gibson family look so calm? They don’t seem angry at all." "Could it be that they already knew about this?" "If the Gibson family were aware of this all along?" "No way! The Gibson family has been in politics for generations. They wouldn’t stoop to something like this!" "I still trust the Gibson family, they must have been deceived as well." "But if they really knew about it, then it’s official the Gibson family have fallen, and there’s no coming back from this disgrace!" "I thought I was here to network with the CEO of Cloudia Corporation, but instead, I was tricked!" "Looks like Arthur isn’t the CEO after all." The crowd buzzed with discussion, most of it filled with anger and condemnation. Spencer observed these people coldly. Before his downfall, these same people had fawned over him, acting as if they were lifelong friends. Even after his fall from power, while their attitudes had cooled, they had never openly disrespected him. But today, based on nothing more than a single accusation, they were so quick to pass judgment. Not a single one of them bothered to question whether the accusations were true. Perhaps, to them, currying favour with Zane was all that mattered. He had always known how cruel the world could be, but seeing it firsthand still left him with a complicated feeling. Arthur had expected this reaction from the start. People would always abandon reason when their self-interest was at stake. He didn’t rush to stop Zane. He wanted him to think he had already won, only to watch him fall even harder. Zane, acting as though he was the voice of justice, addressed the crowd. "We all know Spencer character. I’m sure he was deceived by Arthur as well!" "Here’s what I propose, Arthur is still young and ignorant, so let’s be lenient. He should kneel before everyone, apologize sincerely, and leave Seacity for good." "Let’s put this matter behind us. Everyone, let’s calm down. In the future, we should be more cautious in judging people." Standing on the stage in his neatly pressed suit, Zane played the role of a righteous government official, speaking on behalf of the people. Though the crowd remained agitated, his suggestion seemed reasonable. Arthur was just a kid from a small town. They had been foolish enough to fall for his deception—there was nothing to do but accept it. Having him kneel and apologize would at least clear their names. It would make it clear that they weren’t complicit in trespassing on private property. They could live with that. The murmurs of agreement turned into a chorus of demands. "Hurry up and apologize! I need to record this and send it out. I don’t want anyone thinking I was part of this mess." Hearing this, others pulled out their phones as well. "Yeah! We’re not trying to bully you, but what you did was too much. We can’t let this stain our reputations." "Hurry up, I have other things to do!" "You need to apologize not just to us, but to the Gibson family too! They were probably tricked just like we were." "Spencer and Nancy haven’t even gotten angry yet. They must really like Arthur!" "Ha! They never had a son, so when they finally got a son-in-law, they clung to him. Turns out, he’s nothing but a fraud!" "The Gibson family must be cursed to end up with a disgrace like this!" "Good thing Mr. Zane exposed the truth! Otherwise, we’d still be in the dark!" "That’s right! If the real owner of the estate found out and spread the news, I’d never live it down!" "If I ever see this fellow in Seacity again, I’ll make sure to humiliate him!" "Who cares if he was the top SATs scorer, with such a terrible character, he should be disqualified!" "Exactly! We should be ashamed to have someone like him as a top scorer!" The Gibson family stood silently amid the uproar, their hearts filled with both anger and cold disappointment. They didn’t know the truth behind the emerald, the estate, or the designer suits, but they trust Arthur character. They wanted to defend him, but without understanding the situation themselves, they had no words to counter the accusations.