Possessed No More: The True Star Returns to Claim Her Throne-Chapter 23: The Power of the Number One Paparazzi

Chapter 23: Chapter 23: The Power of the Number One Paparazzi

The people in this group chat were all top-tier gossip accounts in the industry. Theirs was a mutually beneficial relationship: Justin Locke provided the material, and they were responsible for the exposé, driving traffic to their own accounts.

A seventy-thirty split meant the person who provided the dirt got seventy percent, and the person who published the leaks got thirty.

The fact that Boss Locke was willing to offer a bigger cut meant someone at Starmaker Entertainment had crossed him.

Justin Locke quickly sent the data package to these people, requesting that they not publish the articles until after midnight.

Most people would be off work by then, so even if they tried to do damage control, they’d be overwhelmed. After letting the story blow up overnight, he’d hit that scumbag Fulton with something even bigger tomorrow.

’That scumbag Fulton never did anything good anyway. Plenty of young girls have been ruined by him. Taking him down could even be considered a good deed, right?’

’Yeah, I’ll just count it as earning some good karma.’

Looking at the broken camera and memory card the caregiver had happened to bring back, a smile touched Justin Locke’s lips. ’Miss Perry really is my savior. Not only did she save my life, but she also brought back the stuff I worked so hard to film. Zachary Fulton’s good days are officially over.’

At the stroke of midnight, several topics simultaneously shot to the top of the trending list: #AListActresssNightWithTycoon#, #IngridThorneKeptWoman#, #ExposingTheSugarDaddiesBehindStarletT#.

Worried the scandal wouldn’t generate enough heat, Justin Locke assigned a task in his paid commenter group chat: "Flood the comments. I want Ingrid Thorne completely buried!"

He’d been discovered this time because he was tailing and secretly filming Ingrid Thorne. Zachary Fulton, who always claimed to be a devoted husband, had more mistresses than just her. And Ingrid Thorne didn’t just have him as a sugar daddy—the real kicker was that she was secretly married.

Ingrid Thorne was going to be dead to rights this time. As for Zachary Fulton, his thugs had done plenty of dirty work for him, including arson and murder. He could just wait for his prison cell.

Meanwhile, an oblivious Zachary Fulton had already taken Ingrid Thorne abroad to relax.

The next morning, all the dirt on Ingrid Thorne exploded online. The company’s PR department scrambled to do damage control, but to no effect. The biggest problem was that they couldn’t reach the people involved.

At 9:30 AM, a group of uniformed officers entered Starmaker Entertainment. The company had been formally reported for tax evasion, hosting orgies, driving artists to suicide, and more. A whole series of problems came to light.

A few other first and second-tier artists were also exposed for sleeping with fans, drug use, and cheating. Within three hours, Starmaker Entertainment’s stock had plummeted to its daily limit.

The shareholders were all fuming, wishing they could grab Zachary Fulton and beat him to death. Unfortunately, they still couldn’t get ahold of him by noon.

Zachary Fulton’s wife, Luna Lowell, was at a beauty salon for a treatment when her phone suddenly received a thick stack of photos.

The photos were a sea of pale flesh. The women’s private parts were pixelated and their faces partially obscured, but there was only one man: her husband, Zachary Fulton, the one who always professed to love her to death.

Luna Lowell shot up from the massage bed. Forgetting her treatment, she grabbed her phone and tried to call her husband.

But she couldn’t get through. It was only then that she discovered her family’s company was in crisis. His affair with Ingrid Thorne was also all over the internet. Luna Lowell was so furious she didn’t even dare to drive. She hailed a cab to the company, hoping to get the situation under control, but things were never that simple.

It wasn’t until 3:00 PM that Zachary Fulton’s call finally connected. His assistant, braving the risk of a severe tongue-lashing, explained what had happened at the company.

Ingrid Thorne still wanted Zachary Fulton to buy her a diamond necklace she had her eye on. Seeing him finally hang up, she moved in to act cute, but was met with a hard slap from him. "Get lost! The company lost hundreds of millions in one day! All of you, get the hell away from me!"

Zachary Fulton returned to the country alone that same day, but it was completely useless for Starmaker Entertainment. Many of the company’s artists had already been taken in for questioning, and government agents were still auditing the books. What company these days didn’t have a few skeletons in its closet?

Any company put under that kind of scrutiny was bound to have its secrets exposed. Three days later, the accusations of tax evasion against Starmaker Entertainment were confirmed. The fines alone amounted to over two billion.

Zachary Fulton was quickly taken in for investigation. Someone had turned in evidence to the police that he had ordered his men to commit murder. With artists in trouble, executives implicated, and Luna Lowell demanding a divorce, Starmaker’s world basically came crashing down.

...

「Two days later.」

While filming on set, Riley Perry received a friend request from Justin Locke.

She was never one to make a losing deal. When she saw the note with the two words "Medical Expenses," she immediately accepted.

He quickly transferred 10,000 yuan over.

He even made a point to thank her. Riley replied with a "You’re welcome" before accepting the transfer.

’Yep, she wasn’t being polite at all. She really had paid 10,000 for his hospital bill that night, so she felt no guilt in taking the money.’

After that, the two didn’t speak again.

The pace on set was fast, which had to do with Director Quinn’s casting standards. All the actors involved had at least some skill, so there weren’t constant calls to "cut." However, Director Quinn’s curses still echoed across the entire set. He was the type to start yelling at the slightest hiccup.

Chloe Sterling only had one scene that morning. After she was done, she sidled up to Riley Perry, phone in hand, and started gossiping in a low voice. "Did you see the trending topics just now? Another one of Starmaker’s artists went down! I wonder who their company offended. If this keeps up, they’ll probably only have trainees left."

Riley Perry hummed in agreement. ’Of course they offended someone.’

She’d had some free time earlier and had casually looked into what happened that night, so she knew who both parties were.

One was the president of Starmaker Entertainment, the other was the number one paparazzi in the entertainment industry.

’Picking a fight with the number one paparazzi is a death wish. And to think Zachary Fulton runs an entertainment company... He should have known better. He deserves whatever’s coming to him.’

"Who went down this time?" Gossip is human nature.

Even though they could have just looked at their own phones, they had to huddle together, the two young women’s heads practically touching.

Their assistants rolled their eyes in resignation, then stood behind them and joined in on the gossip.

"Oh, it’s another third-tier actress."

Chloe Sterling: "You don’t know her?"

Riley Perry blinked her beautiful, almond-shaped eyes and asked with a puzzled look, "Am I supposed to know her?"

"You forgot? In that show from when you first debuted, she was the third female lead. Later, you two even competed for a main role, but she dragged you down to prop herself up, and she ended up snatching the role."

Riley Perry’s eyes were full of clear innocence. "I really don’t remember."

Chloe Sterling was speechless. Riley Perry was so different from her online reputation. Weren’t they saying she held a grudge like no other? How could she hold a grudge if she didn’t even remember the person?

But that didn’t dampen her enthusiasm for gossip. "Who cares about her? Forgetting her just means she’s not important. Look, look! She’s just a third-tier actress, but she’s keeping three toy boys! Seriously..."

Riley Perry: "So jealous." ’Three toy boys... I want some too! But I can’t bring myself to spend the money!’