Chapter 1575 Nothing Special
Streaming at this hour was clearly a calculated move to capitalize on the trending topic.
Ann's brow furrowed as she clicked on Azalea's livestream. The young starlet wasn't particularly famous—just a newcomer that Stanley's former agency was desperately trying to promote. She had played a supporting role in Stanley's last TV series, and the agency had been orchestrating a fake relationship between them for publicity.
Now Azalea was crying on camera while concerned fans flooded the comment section.
[Is there trouble with you and Stanley?]
[That awful man is probably hooking up with someone from S.M Corporation. I recognize the woman in the photo—it's Ann from S.M.]
[Disgusting. Those two deserve each other in hell.]
[That's definitely Ann. I've seen her in photos with another actress. Isn't she basically running S.M Corporation now?]
Azalea continued sobbing into the camera without explanation, which only intensified her fans' sympathy.
In no time, the internet was flooded with people standing up for Azalea, pushing her story to the second spot on the trending list.
Number one was still the gossip surrounding Ann and Stanley.
Watching the video, Ann's expression darkened as realization dawned. She finally understood why Lester had asked her to knock on Stanley's door.
The hotel's security had always been impeccable, with no history of paparazzi breaches. These photos had to be Lester's doing—a calculated ambush she couldn't have anticipated.
Ronald instructed the PR department to monitor the online chatter closely before turning to Ann. "How do you want to handle this?"
Even if Ann came forward with the truth, no one would believe her. The photos were real. If she explained she was simply waking Stanley up, fans would be even more convinced of an affair.
And now that Stanley had officially transferred to S.M Corporation—an announcement they'd planned to make on Twitter immediately—they couldn't proceed without throwing both of them into an even bigger media firestorm.
They couldn't explain, but they couldn't announce Stanley's signing either.
A cold glint passed through her eyes. This kind of backstabbing between agencies was despicable even by industry standards.
She massaged her temples. "Let's hold off on announcing Stanley's contract for now. I need to think about how to approach this."
Without an explanation, Stanley's reputation would suffer too—he'd be painted as the villain.
She turned to him. "You should clarify things on Twitter first. Deny any relationship with Azalea. Your fans already know your former agency was exploiting you, so be firm about it."
"Will do," Stanley agreed, handing over his phone. Any statement would need to be vetted by the PR team before posting.
Once approved, his statement went live and quickly gained traction. He clarified that he and Azalea were merely colleagues, and their supposed "date" had actually been a cast dinner with the entire crew present. Notably, he made no mention of Ann.
Ann sank into a nearby chair, leaning back as she contemplated her next move.
What she didn't know was that the moment she became a trending topic, Emily had forwarded the news to Paul.
Emily: [Paul, look how messy Ann's personal life is. Yesterday she was flirting with Alex, today she's after a celebrity. God knows what STDs she might have. Disgusting.]
Paul was in the middle of a meeting at his company and initially ignored Emily's message. But when she sent several more in rapid succession—"I always knew Ann was trouble. The internet is right about her"—he finally clicked through.
His eyes narrowed as he saw the gossip about Ann and Stanley, complete with photos. He scrolled down to the comment section filled with vitriol.
"Mr. Adams?" Someone called his name. "Mr. Adams?"
He slowly put down his phone, his expression unreadable. "Continue," he said flatly.
The meeting attendees exchanged puzzled glances. This was the first time he'd ever been so obviously distracted during a meeting.
After the meeting, Paul returned to his office and couldn't resist checking the trending topic again. The comments attacking Ann had surpassed 100,000, most claiming she had aggressively pursued Stanley but been rejected.
Stanley had always maintained a sterling reputation in the industry, with many actresses praising his gentlemanly behavior in interviews. Now he had clarified his non-relationship with Azalea but hadn't mentioned Ann at all, leaving her in a precarious position.
The majority of comments vilified Ann, with a minority criticizing Azalea for opportunistically streaming during the controversy.
[Both women are shameless. Poor Stanley.]
[Exploited by his company, forced to generate publicity with Azalea, and now pursued by this Ann woman who's an executive. How could he possibly refuse someone with that much power?]
[Is this Ann trying to sleep her way to signing him? To be fair, Stanley's face is pretty popular in the cougar circuit.]
Sitting in his chair, Paul couldn't help but search for photos of Stanley. He studied them for a moment before reaching his conclusion.
Nothing special.
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