Two days passed by in relative peacefulness.
At home, Jin Liwei had no choice but to temporarily allow their cats to sleep in their bedroom at night because Iris couldn't bear to leave them especially after Ice Cream's meltdown at the veterinarian's clinic.
When she told him all that happened after he left for his emergency meeting, he felt guilty for not being there with them. Even though Ice Cream and Popcorn were currently hogging all of Iris' tender loving care, he didn't dare complain. The two poor cats looked so pitiful and in pain after their procedure.
During the day, the couple left the cats to the sitters. Dom and Jiang Ying Yue were already feeling better from their colds, but Iris didn't allow them to return to work until they were fully recovered.
She continued to work hard with Pandemonium in promoting their single "Monster of Insanity." Their careers were all going extremely well. Their song maintained its number 1 spot in the music charts with no signs of being ousted.
"Monster of Insanity" was the kind of song that the more people listened to it, the more they loved it. Even if they didn't like it at all when they heard it for the first time.
Moreover, people really didn't have much of a choice but hear it multiple times every day. Especially after being featured in the news so much after Iris Long was confirmed to have invented three new musical techniques. There was a sense of pride within the people while listening to the song because their fellow countrywoman, Iris Long, did something that would forever be recorded in the history books.
With all of these attention, Iris Long was now quickly becoming Bright Summit's darling artist alongside Jin Chonglin. She hadn't reached his level of stardom yet, but Bright Summit now had great expectations of her career prospects and was ready to support her.
As her status within the management company was elevated, so was the status of her manager Tang Yiyi. In extension, the other artists under Tang Yiyi were also enjoying an increase in resources, most especially Pandemonium who collaborated with Iris in "Monster of Insanity." After all, Iris repeatedly stated during interviews that she wrote the song because she wanted to collaborate with them. They jokingly claimed that if it weren't for them, there would be no "Monster of Insanity".
Everything was going well.
"Jin Chonglin and Iris Long Have a Secret Love Child All Along!"
The photos showed a disguised Jin Chonglin and Iris Long together at a small plaza. For hawk-eyed people, it wasn't that difficult to identify him even when he was wearing dark shades, mask and a cap.
As for Iris Long, it was a bit more difficult to recognize that it was her but her cats' appearance gave away her identity. Actually it was Ice Cream's fatness that gave Iris away, in addition to the cats' unique gold collars. Many remembered the collars when Iris showed a photo of her cats during her interview with Feng Jiu. The gold collars wouldn't be noticed if it wasn't for the paparazzo zooming in on them.
If it was only Jin Chonglin, Iris and her cats in the photos, they could still explain it as just friends hanging out together. However, Jin Chonglin was clearly shown carrying a toddler in the photo.
Although the child's face was blurred out in the tabloid's publication, the paparazzo who took the photos claimed that the toddler's features looked very similar to Iris Long's. He also claimed hearing the child calling Iris "Mama".
The tabloid article insinuated that all of Jin Chonglin and Iris Long denials in the past about their relationship were all lies. That they really had an affair when Jin Chonglin was still in a relationship with Fan Luo. It even insensitively said in an indirect manner that Fan Luo had grounds in attempting to murder Iris a couple of years ago and that her jealousy was justified.
What was more, it accused Iris Long of lying about her coma despite the fact the she already showed her medical records to the public before. The article implied that it was a trick to cover up the real truth which was that Iris Long had been pregnant with Jin Chonglin's child all along. And she had to take a long break from showbiz to give birth to their love child.
The article added:
"Don't be surprised when it's revealed later on that Iris Long's mysterious fiancé is actually Jin Chonglin. She said that her fiancé is a businessman and not from showbiz during her interview with Feng Jiu. The photo of the man she showed at Feng Jiu's talk show must be an actor to misdirect us from the truth that Jin Chonglin is her real fiancé. With all the lies she had been telling us in the past, her credibility is not the most trustworthy at the moment. Perhaps the two think we would all forgive and forget all of their lies with the passing of time."
Bright Summit was caught completely unawares. One moment it was basking in its artists' successes. The next moment, the same artists that it was so proud of were involved in a scandal together. They immediately contacted Jin Chonglin and Iris Long to ask them about the truth of the matter.
The general public, who was proud and celebrating Iris Long's history-making accomplishments in music earlier, was now viciously criticizing her. They called her an immoral woman for having an affair and bearing a love child with the then engaged Jin Chonglin. They especially condemned her for lying to the public.
Compared to Iris, the attacks to Jin Chonglin weren't as harsh. He was a man, the people said. Besides, he was already a known playboy even before all of these happened.
The people were more critical to the woman, Iris, calling her a sl*t and a homewrecker because Jin Chonglin was already in a relationship with Fan Luo during that time. Some malicious people even started saying that Iris Long should've died in the car accident planned by Fan Luo as punishment for having an affair with a taken man.
With all of the bashing, the Black Stars and some of the Pandemonium fans were quick to defend Iris Long. However, as they did so, they still begged their Boss Iris to tell them the real truth. Some of them were already wavering, feeling betrayed at the thought that she lied to them for so long.
CaptainBlackStar: "Don't waver, comrades! Let's believe in our Boss Iris! Some of us have met her personally several times before. We know that she has a straightforward personality. She wouldn't lie about something as important as this. The tabloid is the one that's full of lies! If you're going to believe a tabloid, then you don't belong to the Black Stars!"
Their leader's words somewhat reassured the Black Stars. They continued to defend their Boss Iris while waiting for her to release an official statement.
Amidst all of these, a distinct group of Black Stars and Jin Chonglin's army of fans started rejoicing. Their stance was the complete opposite of everyone else's. They wanted for the contents of the tabloid to be the real truth.
"OMG! It would be amazing if Boss Iris and Prince Lin Lin really have a child together and are engaged! Then they would get married and be together forever!"
"LinRis is the ultimate couple in this century! All the people wanting to break them apart are our enemies! #LinRis #WeLoveLinRis #LinRisForever"
All of these LinRis shippers were thanking the tabloid for revealing the "truth". They were all excited and looking forward for their Prince Lin Lin and Boss Iris' official confirmation of their relationship. They couldn't wait for LinRis to become official. They even started calling the child as "Baby LinRis."
That same day, both Jin Chonglin and Iris Long released official statements through Bright Summit and on their own social media pages. They denied the tabloid's allegations of any affair between the two of them. They claimed that it was only recently that they had grown closer as friends and fellow artists under the same management company.
Iris also cleared up the matter about the child. She said that it was her godson and that her godson called her "Mama."
The Black Stars believed her wholeheartedly. As for the general public, some believed her, some didn't. They were unsatisfied by her statement. If she and Jin Chonglin weren't really the child's parents, then why didn't she reveal anything about his real parents? They felt that the couple should just admit that they had an affair and a love child together.
Despite all the criticisms and Bright Summit's advice, Iris continued to work as if not affected by the attacks being thrown at her.