On her way back, Lucy received a call from Evelyn.
“Lucy, are you okay?”
Lucy wanted to say she was fine, but the more she thought about it, the more aggrieved and upset she felt.
She suddenly burst into tears, which left Wyatt next to her utterly stunned. He had no idea how to comfort a crying girl. Especially in moments like this, he felt like a bewildered puppy, unsure where to place his hands.
“Please… please don’t cry!”
But his feeble attempts to console her were futile.
On the other end, Evelyn inquired, “Are you at the dormitory? I’ll come to see you.”
“Mm-hmm,” Lucy sobbed, hung up, and continued to walk and cry.
Wyatt, trailing behind, didn’t know what to say or do. He didn’t even have a tissue with him to offer at a time like this.
As they walked, people around them threw accusing glances at Wyatt, as if blaming him for Lucy’s tears. They seemed to assume he must’ve cheated on her.
“He must’ve done something shameful to make his girlfriend cry like that.”
“Babe, don’t worry, I’d never give you a reason to cry.”
“I’d punch you before I ever shed a tear!”
…
Little did they know how unjustly blamed Wyatt felt.
She wasn’t even his girlfriend!
To make matters worse, couples around them flaunted their affection, making him feel even more miserable.
By the time they reached the dormitory entrance,
Lucy, still crying, murmured, “I’ll head up.”
“Oh,” Wyatt replied. As he approached the girls’ dormitory, the dormitory caretaker glared at him fiercely, looking as if she wanted to chase him away with a broom.
“Lucy, what happened? Do you want me to teach him a lesson?” The caretaker seemed to have a good relationship with Lucy and was quick to defend her. Pointing at Wyatt, she exclaimed, “You, young man! What did you do to Lucy?”
“Auntie, I…”
“You what? Why haven’t you apologized yet?” The caretaker had quite the temper. She felt that Wyatt was simply being foolish. With her present, aiding and comforting Lucy, wouldn’t it have been easier if he just genuinely apologized?
“Auntie, it wasn’t him…” Lucy gently pulled on the caretaker’s arm, uttering the brief sentence before heading into the dormitory. Before she disappeared, she looked back at Wyatt and said, “Thank you.”
Wyatt scratched his head and replied with a sheepish grin, “It’s okay. I didn’t really do anything.”
With that, Lucy went upstairs, but Wyatt still stood at the entrance of the girls’ dormitory.
The dormitory caretaker looked at him with a hint of irritation. “What are you still doing here? Why haven’t you left?”
Although she had misunderstood the young man, she certainly wasn’t going to apologize. After all, in her opinion, no man was truly trustworthy.
Wyatt hesitated for a moment, then departed from the entrance with mixed feelings.
On her way, Evelyn had already instructed her associates to gather all information on Joseph, including details about the bosses behind him. She wanted everything.
She couldn’t let Joseph go unpunished, especially after making Lucy cry so heartbrokenly.
In the morning, William and the others attended an open class. They sat in the last row, with Paul and Daniel sitting on either side of him, constantly asking what had happened and who was in the car.
Not hiding anything, William directly informed them that the man in the car was Joseph.
Daniel, in surprise, asked, “Joseph? The top-tier celebrity?”
“Yes, it’s him.” After going online last night, William also learned a lot. Although Joseph has many fans, there are also many negative comments about him, especially some online comments and jokes. It seems that everyone has some understanding of him.
“What on earth did he do to Lucy?” Daniel, though not particularly fond of Lucy, considered her a friend. She was amiable and had a sweet demeanor. The thought of her being hurt by Joseph was concerning.
“He didn’t exactly do anything,” William said, “but I think Joseph is really about to hit a streak of bad luck.” ｂ𝚍ｎｏｖ𝚕．ｃｏｍ
Before, netizens had been calling for Joseph to exit the entertainment industry, but paradoxically, his fame only kept rising. This left many fans scratching their heads in confusion. But William was certain that this time, Joseph was truly finished.
He had angered Evelyn.
If it were the previous gentle and weak Evelyn, it probably wouldn’t matter. But the Evelyn now…
Before William could finish his thought, Paul quickly pulled out his phone and opened a news article, exclaiming, “Look at this.”
William glanced at the headline. It was an announcement from a media company called Seal Media Group stating they had terminated all collaborations with Joseph.
“Seal Media Group is one of the largest media companies in the U.S. They cover everything from animation, movies, to TV series production and distribution – a one-stop service!” Paul explained. “Most of the TV shows that Joseph starred in were distributed by Seal Media Group. To put it bluntly, you could say Joseph owes his rise to fame to Seal Media Group’s support. They were a huge factor behind his sustained popularity.”
“Now that Seal Media Group has decided to end all collaborations with him, his career might take a significant hit.”
Paul, always an avid fan of gossip and entertainment news, couldn’t hide his excitement.
“Damn, I’ve disliked that guy for a long time. He ruined a perfectly good movie with his horrible acting. If his career didn’t tank after that, it would’ve been a miscarriage of justice!” Daniel chimed in, almost clapping in approval.
Paul continued to scroll through the news, his smile turning somewhat mischievous, “It seems Joseph is truly done for. Over a dozen media companies have announced they’re severing ties with him, and now there’s a flurry of scandals about him flying everywhere.”
William took out his phone and began scrolling, and indeed, scandals about Joseph were everywhere.
There were leaked photos of Joseph before he had cosmetic surgery, compromising pictures from various events, and even people stepping forward with hard evidence that Joseph had threatened female fans, some of whom were even underage girls. The evidence was overwhelming.
Other accusations included tax evasion and derogatory comments about his own fans. In just a matter of minutes, almost the entire internet was flooded with negative information about him. The rapid spread was truly frightening.
Even more concerning, legal authorities began initiating investigations into certain matters.
William couldn’t help but muse that no matter the era, if an actor offends those with real power, there’s usually no good ending in sight.
Evelyn was now among those with true power.
Commanding thousands of “demi-gods,” even if each one were to be put under surveillance, the agents of the 13th Bureau simply wouldn’t be able to manage.
William had once threatened Scott in Maplewood Town, but it was merely a threat. As long as these “demi-gods” didn’t overstep too much, he generally didn’t bother intervening.
With Evelyn’s current financial and influential status, even without employing those “demi-gods,” dealing with someone like Joseph would be a straightforward task, wouldn’t it?
William reopened Donald’s online novel. The number of reviews had exceeded 130,000, and the top trending comment read, “Joseph is done for. Like to celebrate!”
This comment was posted just three minutes ago and had already garnered over ten thousand likes. The fervor was truly astonishing!