The Billionaire’s Reluctant Bride (Elara and Victor) novel Chapter 35

The Court of Public Opinion

The Court of Public Opinion:

The morning after the Regars scandal broke, the city awoke to a changed world. The revelations about Daniel and his family had spread like wildfire overnight, dominating every conversation from subway cars to coffee shops, from university lecture halls to corporate boardrooms.

By dawn, a crowd had gathered outside the Regars Enterprises headquarters. What began as a few curious onlookers quickly grew into hundreds of protesters. Their angry chants echoed off the glass and steel exterior of the once–proud building.

“Shame on Regars! Justice for the victims!” they shouted, waving hastily made signs bearing slogans like “Corrupt Regars Must Fall” and “No More Corporate Criminals.”

Sarah Lin, a former Regars employee who left the company two years ago due to harassment, was among the protesters. She stood at the front of the crowd, her voice hoarse from shouting.

“I tried to speak up,” she told a cluster of reporters, her hands shaking slightly. “But they silenced me, threatened me with my family’s safety. Now everyone knows the truth about Daniel Regars and his family. It’s… it’s overwhelming, but I feel like I can finally breathe again.”

“Yes, they are bad people,” another victim reported. “They threatened to destroy my family.” She wept. “I can still remember the day I was harassed and assaulted.”

“They must be brought to justice,” another said. “They must face the law and suffer the consequences. We need justice.”

“We need justice,” they all shouted on top of their voice.

Across the city at a coffee shop, truck driver Mike Holloway sat at the counter, shaking his head as he watched the news on the small TV above the coffee machine.

“Can’t say I’m surprised,” he grunted to the waitress. “These big shots think they can get away with anything. It’s about time we do something about it. The evil needs to be stopped.”

The waitress, Jenny, nodded in agreement. “My cousin lost his job when Regars outsourced their factory work. Said it was to ‘ stay competitive,‘ but it looks like it was just to line their own pockets.”

In the financial district, tension filled the air as stock prices dropped. Not only Regars Enterprises but also companies associated with them were affected. Traders gathered around screens, their faces filled with worry.

“It’s a bloodbath,” muttered Alex Chen, a junior analyst at a major investment firm. “Regars is dragging down the market. The ripple effects of this… it’s going to be brutal.”

At Westfield University, Professor Elena Rodriguez was holding a lecture for her business ethics class. The lecture hall was packed, with students even sitting in the aisles, all eager to discuss the scandal of the Regars.

“What we’re seeing here,” Professor Rodriguez explained, her voice carrying easily over the attentive silence as the lecture hall was silent, “is not just the fall of one corrupt family. It’s an indictment of a system that allowed such abuses to go unchecked for so long. The question we must ask ourselves is: how do we prevent this from happening again?”

In the back of the hall, marketing student Zoe Taylor live–tweeted the lecture, her posts gaining traction as they were shared and commented on by thousands.

“Prof R dropping truth bombs about #RegarsScandal,” she typed. This isn’t just a business story, it’s about power, accountability, and justice. We need systemic change! #Corporate Reform”

As the day went on, public reaction got intense. Social media platforms were flooded with memes mocking the Regars family, while more serious discussions about corporate accountability and regulatory reform trended worldwide.

Local politicians rushed to distance themselves from the Regars, with some calling for investigations into campaign contributions they had received from the family. Others saw an opportunity, using the scandal as a platform to push for stricter corporate regulations.