Laurence"s eyes brightened. It was a good idea. "Are you talking about bundle sales?" he wondered. "It makes good sense. I could arrange for Kylie to attend activities with Khloe. In this way, it would create a buzz, and whenever the media thought about Kylie, they would also think about Khloe. All the while, I could hire professionals to whitewash Khloe."You"re my savior!" Laurence cried as he walked in excited circles around his in the office. "But..." Laurence paused, "There are few activities that Kylie and Khloe could attend together..."
"I have a few ideas," David replied. "Let"s get together for drinks and figure this out."
"Sounds good," replied Laurence.
No sooner had Laurence hung up the phone when his office door was pushed open, and Khloe barged in. Her eyes were red, and he could see that she"d been crying recently. "What are you doing back here again?" he wondered. It is late now..."
"Daddy…" Khloe cried.
Laurence hastily got up and pulled Khloe onto the sofa. He looked at the red mark on her face and asked her, "What"s wrong with your face?"
Khloe covered her face and began to cry harder. Laurence looked at her, and his heart nearly broke. "What is this all about?" he wondered. "Is somebody bullying you?"
Khloe looked at her father and was too distraught to respond. She was distraught, but she was also ashamed.
Laurence took a second look at the red marks on his daughter"s face and was able to discern what might have happened. His face turned red in anger, and he demanded an answer from her: "Did Kylie do this to you?"
Kylie nodded her head and wiped the tears from her eyes. "She really hurt me," she cried, "and I am afraid of what she is truly capable…"
Laurence wrapped his arms around her and comforted her. "My sweet bean," he crooned, "Daddy"s here. You have no need to be afraid. I will teach her a lesson!"
Khloe"s face turned white, and she said, "Daddy, you can"t oppose Kylie. She has too many of her shares in her hands. If you push her too hard, there is no knowing what she will do. She could ruin our whole family!"
Laurence silently considered his daughter"s words. After a moment, he said, "She has less power than either of you realize. Furthermore, in the end, she won"t see a cent of the company"s money. My Lawyer, Duncan, is managing her shares. He won"t let her gain control of her shares. Not only have we figured out a way to block your sister, but I"ve figured out a way to help you regain your reputation. All you have to do is cooperate with the arrangements I"ve made.
Khloe nodded obediently and memorized the name of her father"s lawyer as she walked out of his office. She had no money to pay Ken but, if she could access Kylie"s shares, it would be a piece of cake. Once she was out of her father"s office, she looked up his number and called him. When he answered, she expressed her intention to buy Garcia Entertainment shares. Duncan promised that he would contact some of the shareholders and see if anyone would be willing to sell.
The next day Laurence posted an article according to David"s suggestion. He admitted in the article that he had been unfair to Kylie and that he had neglected her because he had been too busy with his career. Reading this, a large number of netizens were moved by his father-and-daughter trick. They understood that in order to be a successful man, hard decisions had to have been made. They felt bad for him and wanted to give him a chance to correct his mistakes.
Immediately after the first article, he posted a second. It read that Garcia Entertainment had arranged to host a variety show on television. The company hoped that both Kylie and Khloe would partic.i.p.ate, as well as many other actors and actresses. As expected, the news created much of a stir. Everyone knew that there was some animosity between Kylie and the other two members of her family, so many saw this as an unexpected olive branch.
As expected, there was much speculation and debate as to what the "real purpose" of the show was about, along with a debate about who would win. It was argued that Khloe had more experience, but others pointed out that Kylie was a lot smarter.
In a Tweet, Lucas explained that the show would be a comparison of acting skill and intelligence, and it would also test each contestant"s ability to cope with hardship."
In secret though, Lucas was helping Kylie because she had some dirt on him, and she was blackmailing him.
Kylie opened her Facebook profile and saw that her last chat had been interrupted by Ethan. Seeing that, she went on to YouTube, and she did not log on Facebook for some time. When she returned to Facebook, she found that Stars had sent a lot of messages to her. "Kylie," the messages began, "do you have a moment? I want to talk with you. We haven"t spoken for a while. I"ve arranged everything. I can go back anytime I want."
"Kylie," he continued, "you haven"t been online recently. Is everything okay?"
Kylie hurriedly sent him a message in return: "Stars, I"m so sorry. My phone was dead all day yesterday."
Stars: "For a moment, I thought that you were avoiding me."
Kylie typed with a smile on her face: "No, I didn"t. I would never do that. We have been friends for a very long time, I appreciate our friendship, and I have always thought of you as a big brother. I am excited that we are finally going to meet."
Stars: "I am also excited to meet you!"
As Kylie shut down Facebook, she saw a shadow in her window. She turned quickly and was startled to discover that Ethan had come in through the window again. "What the f.u.c.k!" she snarled. "This is a break and enter. I should call the police!"