Chapter 267 Nowhere to Hide
"Yeah, it's really me," Jessica said with a faint smile.
Given Mackenzie's understanding of her, she believed this was 100% true. Jessica wouldn't lie about something like this.
Mackenzie clutched her chest and sat across from Jessica. After a long pause, she said, "Jessica, I don't know the whole story. If you're willing to tell me everything, I'd love to listen and offer advice. But remember, you're an artist with Star Entertainment, and "Charles II" is currently airing. No matter how deep the grudge, you must be cautious and think about the consequences of your actions."
"I understand," Jessica said calmly, looking directly at her. "I won't drag down the studio or the company. This show is a significant opportunity for me and will be one of my representative works in the future. It won't affect the broadcast."
"Good to know. I don't mind other things, but if something really happens, it will be hard to explain to the company."
"Don't worry. I'll be careful."
Mackenzie's phone rang, and she stepped out to take the call.
Jessica sat alone in Mackenzie's office, casually browsing Facebook. She noticed the issue was gaining more and more attention, with public opinion spreading widely.
She had no intention of stopping it. She even logged into her main Facebook account and, as if by accident, liked a post comparing a GIF of her dance in the show to a dance from a movie five years ago.
Ten minutes later, Mackenzie returned from her call. She had overheard staff talking about Jessica liking the comparison GIF.
Back in the office, seeing Jessica still sitting there, Mackenzie pulled up a chair and sat down, staring at her. "As this situation spirals out of control. What's your plan?"
"Let it continue to spread and ferment," Jessica said, playing with a crystal chess piece from Mackenzie's desk, clearly having waited a long time.
The crystal chess set was usually just a decorative item on the desk. Now, the transparent pieces in Jessica's hands looked quite interesting.
Mackenzie stared at her for a long time. "The longer this ferments, the more criticism you'll face, and the more pressure the company will put on you. I managed to temporarily calm the company, but in a few days, that might not hold."
She continued, "At least give me a date. How long will this go on? Or to what extent?"
Jessica played with the beautiful crystal chess piece, not in a hurry to make a move. She looked at the crystal chessboard and said slowly, "Until everyone knows, and neither Trinity nor I can hide."
"Even if the dance five years ago was yours, Trinity being replaced and winning an award would ruin her. But where's the evidence? That scene was shot behind a veil, right? The movie showed the dance behind the veil. If the film crew didn't notice the replacement, how could the audience? Besides your own testimony, nothing else counts as evidence."
"If the evidence were that easy to guess, Trinity wouldn't have been so confident as an award-winning actress for so many years," Jessica said, placing a piece on the board. She picked up another crystal piece and said softly, "Let it ferment a bit longer. No rush."
Online arguments continued. Jessica now had many fans defending her. They edited many of her action scenes and behind-the-scenes footage to prove that all her moves, whether in action or dance scenes, were real, with no stunt doubles or editing. They compared this to Trinity's recent works, showing that many of Trinity's action scenes were done by stunt doubles. They insisted Jessica was more skilled and that any similarity in dance moves was a coincidence.
Once someone became famous and hadn't changed their name, it's easy for people to dig into their past. Fans quickly found out that Jessica had graduated from Xyleria Dance Academy, where she studied for seven years and won many awards. They proudly used this to compare.
But this wasn't enough to convince everyone. Learning dance and plagiarism were different matters.
Trinity's fans, along with Deborah's fans, gathered in small groups, trying to find evidence to discredit Jessica. They discovered that Trinity also studied dance, though she hadn't won any awards. Since both had studied dance, Jessica didn't have the upper hand. Plagiarism was still plagiarism.
Jessica's fans accused Trinity of riding on her popularity.
Trinity's fans retorted that their award-winning actress didn't need to ride on a minor artist's fame.
Deborah's fans, leveraging her lead role, controlled many "Charles II" fan forums and other promotional platforms. They stated in the platform descriptions that Jessica's fans were not allowed. Any posts mentioning Jessica were deleted immediately, and any attempts by her fans to clarify were also blocked and deleted.
The situation was heavily against Jessica as if a hammer was poised to crush her, leaving her no chance to rise again.
Amidst the criticism, the producers of "Charles II" considered dropping Jessica and issuing a statement that her dance moves were unrelated to the crew, minimizing the impact on the show.
However, due to pressure from Harriman Entertainment, they couldn't openly criticize Jessica. They could only delete all promotions related to Jessica and Katrina's character, remain silent, and not issue any statements.
This led fans to believe the producers were protecting Jessica, prompting more criticism on the show's company WhatsApp.
All day, from the producers to the PR team to the studio, everyone was overwhelmed. Meanwhile, Jessica calmly went home and cooked steak for Danielle as if nothing had happened.
In the afternoon, Trinity was about to leave for a business event.
Before leaving, she learned from her assistant and manager that the current situation was in her favor. No matter what Jessica said or did, no one would believe her.
Trinity had once worried that Jessica's return to the entertainment industry would lead to this issue being exposed.
But now, it seemed Jessica was no threat.
It was funny.
Even if Jessica spoke out, who would believe her?
