Laila was well aware that someone or some group had been scheming behind the scenes. The most obvious example was the recent case where Roy was framed, a woman was killed, and they almost dragged her into the mess.
With so many media outlets targeting her at the same time, if no one was manipulating things behind the scenes, no one would believe it. After all, the media thrived on controversy, not following each other's hype.
To coordinate so many media outlets to attack her simultaneously, it had to be the work of someone with considerable wealth. This individual behind the scenes not only possessed substantial resources but also had an intellectual mastermind or a think tank to devise strategies like "flattery and sabotage."
When she considered it carefully, the person she suspected most was Faiza. However, she had been away for a while, and the idiot prince hadn't maintained contact with her. Any grudges seemed to have faded with time. But besides him, who would want to harm her? Rival competitors? Or someone else?
Laila couldn't figure it out, so she decided to stop thinking about it. When the enemy comes, the soldiers come to block the water, and the soil covers it. Who's afraid of whom?
While she was lost in thought, her phone suddenly rang.
After answering, she heard her grandfather's voice, "Your mother is about to give birth. Do you want to come back and see?"
"So soon?" Laila immediately stood up and walked out of her office. At the same time, she asked her secretary, Demi, to prepare the fastest flight to New York. She inquired, "Wasn't it supposed to be two more weeks?"
The old man on the phone huffed, "It's because of that Quentin! Your mother suddenly wanted to go for a ride, and he took her. He didn't even consider her current condition!"
Laila silently lit a virtual candle for Quentin. It was evident that her mother had employed her persistent tactics. Couldn't blame Quentin for being unable to resist, just like Laila had succumbed to them on several occasions. Her grandfather knew this but still blamed Quentin. It seemed that such incidents wouldn't be in short supply for the next several decades.
"I'm taking a flight over right now," Laila said, as she was already heading down the stairs to get into her car.
The car raced toward the airport, and if they slowed down even slightly, they might not make it in time for the closest flight.
While in the car, Laila called Louise, saying, "Janet is about to give birth. Can you prepare for the park's opening ceremony for me?"
"Sure," Louise, who knew Laila's plans, naturally agreed.
When Laila arrived in New York, a helicopter brought her directly to the hospital's rooftop. At that time, Janet had been pushed into the delivery room but had not yet given birth. The whole family stood outside, nervously and joyfully awaiting the arrival of a new life.
Quentin was also standing outside the delivery room, looking like a fool as he stared at the delivery room door.
Laila took out the camera she always carried from her bag and took a photo of him in his dazed state. When the photos were developed, she would show her mother and her future brother or sister what their father was like.
Quentin was too preoccupied to notice that Laila had taken his picture. He felt like someone on the verge of drowning, clutching at a straw and refusing to let go. Nervous didn't even begin to describe his current state. He had never realized that being a father was such an unsettling experience.
Previously, he had never considered that he might have a child in this world. He thought his whole life would be accompanied by numbers and money. If it weren't for Janet, he might still be drawn to beautiful women and fine wine. But now he wanted to get married and create a warm home for the woman he loved, and their child.
Seeing Quentin's dazed shift from motionlessness earlier to his restlessness now, Laila couldn't help but ask, "Have you thought of names for the baby?"
"Names?" Quentin first blanked out as if he hadn't connected the dots yet. Then he suddenly remembered, "Oh, names! I've thought about it. If it's a boy, he'll be called William, and if it's a girl, Elizabeth."
Laila's eye twitched. She wanted to ask him if he had really thought about it or if he had randomly picked names from the British royal family's genealogy. But it wasn't surprising; it seemed like the British liked only a few names. Just look at the names the royal family had been using for centuries; they recycled the same few names over and over. She couldn't quite understand the Western way of naming children. To them, it was a wonderful thing for grandchildren to inherit their grandparents' names.
When he seemed quite satisfied with his choices, Laila didn't bother to say anything more. She strongly suspected her mother had made the decision after all. She couldn't imagine Janet giving her child an ordinary name. But, then again, she probably overestimated her mother's naming ability, given her name, Laila (black-haired).
Just as I was thinking about it, the door to the delivery room finally opened.
A tired Janet was pushed out, along with a swaddled baby, a wrinkled little boy.
Laila thought it was quite interesting that she would have a younger brother at the "advanced age" of 21 years old.
On the same day, she posted the news that she had a younger brother on her FB, which immediately attracted a wave of blessings from fans who followed her. Seeing the photos posted, they all said that having such a beautiful sister and mother, and they believe that in 20 years he will be a handsome boy.
The number of users of FB is not very large at the moment, and the number of people using it in just a few months is only a few million. In fact, it is already a very impressive number, but Laila can't help but compare it with the number of users of social software in later generations but forgets that it is still 2001, and the Internet is far from developed to the point where everyone has a computer and a smartphone.
She was just sharing her good mood with her fans, but what she didn't expect was that the incident suddenly took a direction that left her stunned.
First, when those who had downloaded FB knew about the baby brother, they shared the information with their friends. Everyone was surprised to find out something we didn't know, yet the media had no information.
FB began to be pushed out, and more people got to know that such a simple, enjoyable app allowed them to interact directly with their favorite celebrities and share their emotions and stories with them in real-time.
FB's download numbers started to slowly rise. This initial rise was still relatively minor, and it didn't get much official attention.
However, the media, having been informed by their sources, became aware of this development and were somewhat perplexed. We didn't know about this, but the public already knew.