<🎧 Song Recommendation: Tabloid Junkie by Michael Jackson>

...

Von was the least expected person anyone would have guessed to have ties with this project.

He wasn’t even an actor. In the eyes of the public, he was a record-breaking musician who had built his empire in the studio.

Perfect Ruins was a major literary adaptation filled with dark themes, complex trauma, and heavy emotional baggage.

It seemed completely absurd for a veteran director like Marcus Burglewater to cast a twenty-year-old musician as the lead in a movie that required such immense dramatic range.

That was exactly what made everyone even more surprised at the revelation. The sheer impossibility of it made the truth hit like a shockwave.

The other reporters who had been actively following the rest of the crew down the carpet immediately halted in their tracks.

For a split second, they just stared. Then, completely abandoning Marcus, Xander, and Chloe, they turned and stampeded toward Von, bombarding him with frantic questions just so they could get a recorded response again.

But Von was done already. He simply slipped his dark sunglasses back over his eyes, ignored the flashing lights, and continued his stride down the red carpet toward the venue entrance.

Meanwhile, Harvey was left standing behind the velvet rope with a wide mouth.

He didn’t even know what shocked him the most right now — the grand revelation that Von Varley was the lead actor, or the realization that he had just lost his bet with Marvin and had to quit smoking permanently!

He hadn’t anticipated any of this to happen. He had just thrown the question out there as a desperate hail-mary to prove his roommate wrong, but it had completely backfired on him.

"Von! Are you really the lead?!"

"Von, please can you repeat what you said to the camera!"

"Von... VON... VON...!"

The desperate shouts slowly faded away for Von as he finally entered the massive building.

The festival security team did their job perfectly, forming a human wall at the doors to ensure the rabid press couldn’t follow him inside.

Out on the carpet, Harvey was typing furiously on his phone. His hands were actually trembling.

He knew that the entire world was about to go crazy in a matter of minutes, and if he was the first one to leak the news with hard photographic evidence, it would do incredible things for his media page’s traffic.

He quickly retrieved a picture from his cameraman. It was a flawless shot that captured the exact moment Von was flashing his signature smirk while taking off his glasses.

Harvey quickly attached the image and typed out the caption:

REVEALED: 14x Platinum Independent Sensation Von Varley has been confirmed as Aiden Caldwell, the male lead for Perfect Ruins!

For now, Harvey just uploaded this massive headliner to his outlet’s various social media pages.

As it began circulating with terrifying speed, he proceeded to draft a full follow-up article right away, while standing right there on the sidewalk.

’I’m grateful to Marvin for making me take this risk,’ Harvey said inwardly, watching the retweet numbers on his post gain unprecedented traction.

’But fuck him if I actually have to stop smoking.’

At this rate, it might even be one of the most engaged articles his company had ever released in its history.

***

Meanwhile, Von was completely unaware of the massive chaos he had just created by exposing his identity before the official press release.

The cast had just gotten to the designated press room inside the Elgin Theatre.

They walked up onto the small stage and took their seats at the long table where the pre-screening Q&A session would be held.

The room was packed with elite entertainment journalists who had been allowed inside early.

The moment Von sat down and took off his sunglasses, many of the reporters in the room had their mouths wide open once again.

Cameras immediately began flashing in a blinding frenzy for a few seconds, capturing the musician sitting behind the nameplate that read: Aiden Caldwell.

The murmurs in the room grew louder and louder as journalists scrambled to text their editors.

"Ahem."

Marcus leaned into his microphone, his loud, authoritative cough echoing through the speakers.

It was enough to remind everyone in the room what they had actually come for. The flashing lights slowed down, and the journalists took their seats. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Wow, what are these reactions? I never knew you were this popular," Chloe whispered into Von’s ear from beside him, hiding her mouth behind her hand.

"I swear, I didn’t know either," Von replied back in a hushed tone while adjusting his microphone.

He had definitely expected some surprise. He knew his fans would be excited. But the usually cynical reporters looking completely spaced out and utterly speechless was more than exaggerated. It was as if they had just seen a ghost.

"Good afternoon. My name is Cassandra Georgia from Green Screen Insider, and my question is for Von." Eventually, a sharp-looking woman in the front row was the first to speak up, holding a recorder out.

"I was today years old when I found out you’re leading this big project. Do you think you’re qualified enough to not let down the passionate book fans?"

It was absolutely no surprise that the very first question was directed at Von, even if the journalists hadn’t been able to prepare for his presence in advance.

As expected, Von wasn’t afraid a little bit to answer. His violet eyes locked onto the reporter.

"Ah, yes, of course. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t qualified. I competed with Sammy Howkins, who isn’t a small actor by any means, and I managed to get this role over him. Doesn’t that convince you enough?"

Many jaws dropped at Von’s first statement. The silence in the room was deafening.

He had casually revealed the lie that Sammy had been spreading across the media for months, and he did it without a single ounce of fear or hesitation.

For a long time, Sammy Howkins had let the media believe he had rejected Perfect Ruins because the script was doomed to fail.

Now, Von had just publicly exposed that Sammy hadn’t walked away, he had lost the role to a twenty-year-old singer.

Von wasn’t acting brash by doing this. He had already discussed his intentions with Marcus beforehand.

Marcus had agreed to the tactic, although he had warned Von that it could backfire heavily if Sammy used his industry connections to turn people against him.

He was essentially starting a public war against an A-list actor.

But Von was the least worried about that. Sammy had already tried to sabotage them; it was time to fight back.

The journalists and many others in the room made quick, frantic notes on their notepads, realizing they had just been handed the headline of the month.

Before the whispers could escalate, another journalist quickly stood up.

"My name is Derek Salmon, from Pop Tea Daily. My question is also for Von. What makes you believe you’re capable enough for this? Pardon me if I’m wrong, but this is your debut movie. Many in the industry will agree with me that acting isn’t a walk in the park. There was also leaked news about your sudden collapse on set, which reportedly affected your production negatively and bled the budget. Can you confirm that?"

All focus was on Von when that question was asked, and Derek stared back at Von with a confident smile, guessing he had trapped him in a corner.