Chapter 8 Brightvale TV

• Galadriel had been one of the first to leave the orphanage. Shortly after, Aric's second sister, Luna Rothbert, had gone off to university, pursued a master's degree followed by a doctorate, and traveled overseas on exchange, becoming the youngest professor at Middlesea University. The third sister, Nahla, was constantly absent and returned to her homeland several months at a time, so Galadriel had no idea what she was up to.
• Meanwhile, Aric's fourth sister, Rhiannon Thompson, had become a famous Aetheria celebrity and probably wanted to forget the days at the orphanage, so she had severed connections with the other sisters long ago. The fifth, Elowen, still worked as a reporter at Brightvale TV, while the whereabouts of the sixth, Ellie, were unknown. Galadriel had seen Ellie a few times in Brightvale but only from a distance, so she couldn't be sure if it were really Ellie. As for the seventh, Glinda Lawson, she was still studying at Middlesea University which was a coincidence, so Galadriel wasn't too anxious with Luna looking out for her,.
• Aric stood by the road after seeing Galadriel off, staring at the thumb drive in his hand with a heavy heart. Having had to flee Brightvale with adversaries in pursuit ten years ago, he had been suppressing the hate all this time. However, he had not known whoever would burn down the Thornwood Family's core business which was decades old.
• After ample consideration, Aric retrieved an adapter to insert the drive into his phone. The passwords to the three layers of encryption had been emailed to Aric for some time, which he keyed in accordingly. Seventeen files showed up tidily on the screen going back 20 years—the Thornwood Group finances prior to becoming bankrupt, its competition, investigation documents on the Thornwood fire, witness testimonies, transcripts…everything was there.
• After poring through them for a couple of hours, he found one person cropping up constantly— Victor Townsend, the Thornwood Group executive vice president. After the Thornwood Family bankruptcy, Victor joined Conway Group, which then acquired Thornwood Group and of which he became the chairman within half a year. His rapidness of his promotion was surprising.
• The more doubtful issue was that Victor had purchased the Thornwood ancestral home after the blaze and constructed an office building on it. Conway Group even established their headquarters at the location.
• For many reasons, Victor was in the files as the Thornwood Family massacre chief investigator fifteen years ago, yet the investigation had been cut off after three years without him getting convicted. However, he had maintained a low profile in Brightvale since then, manipulating companies by short selling and investing aggressively such as Valenwood Group! Aric had long suspected that Palden had established himself in Brightvale with support from someone who looked most probably to be Victor.
• Aric lit up a cigarette after replacing his phone. There might not have had enough evidence for Victor's conviction in the Thornwood Family massacre if the investigative team could not do so, which meant he would have to gather the details of the fifteen-year-old incident if he wished to get the facts right.
• There was one location where he could get information on Thornwood Group in Brightvale from fifteen years back, so Aric flagged down a cab and went straight for Brightvale TV.
• ...
• The cab stopped outside the Brightvale TV office, and Aric got out. The documents he wanted were fifteen-year-old Brightvale newspaper reports. Brightvale Daily and Brightvale TV had different workspaces initially but had merged to be both under Brightvale TV.
• "What a piece of trash! How does the deputy station head make you that important? Am I only allowed to publish something on your say-so? If I can't print anything, what about firing me if you dare?"
• Aric held his head low but had not gone in before a woman with a plain coat and a bobcut emerged and threw down her press pass. He smiled at the sight of her, not expecting to bump into Elowen.
• "Elowen, who got you all fired up?" He studied her, who thought her voice sounded familiar, and spun around. Her rage faded somewhat at the sight of him.
• "Who else? That bald croaker at the TV station, Simon Javert!"
• Elowen was close to exploding. She had been looking into the forced demolition from Valenwood Group for six months and finally had the recordings to prove it, but she was informed by Simon that it could not be aired when she enthusiastically got it back to the TV station.
• She was affronted, but not before he clarified that the Mythralis Trade District project was at a vital stage and could not be stopped. The Elderglen Orphanage had to be destroyed, legally or otherwise. His superiors had been instructed to put the matter on the back burner to be resolved later.
• Aric was close to laughing at the knowledge that Valenwood Group was so deeply rooted to be able to pay off the station.
• "Oh, isn't this our star reporter Elowen? I heard you got dismissed by Mr. Javert!" A black-stockinged, heavily made-up woman retrieved the pass and glanced at Elowen disdainfully
• "Oh, that's rubbish. Who got dismissed? I was the one who shut the door on him!"
• Elowen snatched her pass back. All reporters were competing with one another in the station and those who got the most eye-watering scoop would be the star performer, but only so many important stories lay undiscovered in Brightvale. She had already irritated many as a result of her rockstar status, so her quarrel with Simon would be a prime chance to be laughed at.
• The woman was a reporter on Elowen's team going by Allison Teller and constantly schmoozed with the station seniors which brought about excellent relations. However, she had always begrudged Elowen and had her chance now.
• "Fine, Elowen. You consider yourself extremely capable, then? You're just a pretty face and a useless decoration. What's the purpose of having you? Valenwood Group should not be provoked by just anyone on account of it being the mainstay of Brightvale real estate and worth ten billion. They could just purchase our station! How can you ever imagine exposing them with your skills?" sneered Allison.
• Elowen clenched her fists, as Valenwood Group was commonly known as a Brightvale menace and was widely feared as if it was a predator. Assuming it was because of no proof, she had been meeting and getting in contact with witnesses for six months to get recorded testimony to destroy the company. However, she knew her mistake now. Valenwood Group remained powerful due to the likes of Allison and Simon, who didn't deserve to be reporters or work in news!
• As Elowen and Allison were close to blows, a secretary emerged from the building to inform Allison condescendingly. "Elowen, Mr. Javert told me to pass the message regarding the settlement of your paycheck with finance. You're out."