Ryan caught the joke in Lilia's voice. The young man supported his chin with one hand, "Since you say so, I will tell you my guess." Ryan said, secretly smiling.
"Oh?" Lilia raised an eyebrow. She didn't miss Ryan's gleaming eyes.
"I'm sure the winner of the best musician award this year must be ..." Ryan deliberately stopped his sentence for a moment.
"Must be...?" Lilia urged.
"It can't be me!" Ryan announced confidently.
Lilia and Ryan both laughed out loud at the ridiculous joke.
Rina looked at the two people chatting about the awards ceremony in a friendly and warm manner. Her heart was filled with jealousy seeing Lilia so close to a popular newcomer like Ryan. The woman secretly took out her cell phone and snapped the two of them from a certain angle.
The photo captured the moment when Lilia turned her head to talk to Ryan, so that the woman's head covered half of Ryan's face. However, at first glance, it would appear as if Lilia and Ryan were kissing. Plus, the lighting in the hall was dim and created an ambiguous atmosphere.
An hour later, the music awards ceremony ended. However, the event, which should have been a hot topic on the internet, was defeated by a photo that had just been circulating. The photo was posted by an anonymous account and was accompanied by the caption "Lilia Pangestu and Ryan Fever kissing?!"
The photo immediately spread to various social media and caught the attention of netizens, especially Ryan's fans. Even accounts that usually spread negative gossip about celebrities also posted the photo.
Lilia only found out about the uproar when she got into the car that picked her up.
Merry had been busy with her cell phone beside Lilia. Her gaze continued to stick to her cell phone screen as she said, "Sis Lilia, take it easy! Your fan group and I will set these idiots straight! How could they just believe this photo?! Don't they all have eyes?!"
"Y-Yes… I leave this to you." Lilia nodded.
She was sure Harold would do something about this situation. She thought Merry's help was just like pouring a glass of water on a burning house. But she appreciated Merry's efforts to defend her reputation.
[User1060]: "Are you all blind? This photo is clearly being taken from a strange angle! Can't you see that there is still a lot of distance between Lilia and Ryan?"
[User2939]: "Wow, how many people were hired to make this fuss?"
[User6066]: "Lilia Pangestu is a beautiful and popular model, no wonder she can't help herself when she meets a handsome young man like Ryan Fever! I can prove the truth of this photo!"
[User1060]: "@ User6066, after I checked your account, you only posted negative news about Lilia Pangestu! So you created a fake account just to spread this fake news! Just wait, I'll call Lilia Pangestu's fan group and terrorize you!"
Merry continued to type on her cell phone furiously. She gathered members of the Lilia fan group who were active and terrorized the account continuously until the account owner was forced to deactivate their account.
When their car drove away from the event's building, Lilia got a call from Ryan.
"Have you seen the photo?" Ryan immediately asked when Lilia picked up the phone. The young man's voice, who always looked cheerful, now sounded heavy and languid, "I'm really sorry. I didn't think this would happen when I sat next to you."
Ryan only intended to chat with Lilia who looked bored to death in her seat. But he never thought that his good intentions would bring such a disaster. Now the fans were exploding with anger. Ryan saw that some of his most loyal fans even started bashing Lilia for tarnishing their idol's image.
Ryan's shoulders slumped even more as he thought about this situation. Even though he tried to explain what happened, he wasn't sure that his fans would stop badmouthing Lilia's name. Ryan was ready to hear Lilia's slurs when he called the model. After all, that woman was innocent and got dragged into this situation. If Ryan were in Lilia's position, he wouldn't accept being slandered like this either.
"Do not worry." However, Lilia's voice on the phone sounded very calm.
"I know it's not your fault, so I won't blame you." The woman didn't scold or even blame Ryan. Instead, Lilia was trying to make him feel better.
In fact, Lilia said it all because she already knew who the culprit was. Seeing from the angle and distance of the photo, only Rina could do it. Lilia felt that the woman's tactics were always cheap and childish, without ever learning from her mistakes.
But Ryan didn't know that. He thought that Lilia was really a good person for not blaming him.
The young man rubbed his slightly watery eyes and replied, "You don't need to make me feel better. It's all my fault for being careless. Don't worry, I will clarify this matter on all my social media. I won't let this problem get any worse!"
Ryan planned to use all the connections that his manager Tony had to mitigate this situation. His manager's connection was the reason why Ryan became a popular singer so quickly.
As an artist with talent, popularity and good looks, Ryan had big ambitions and was always careful about his image. But this time he let his guard down because he thought that they would be safe from the paparazzi inside the ceremonial building.
Meanwhile, the manager Ryan relied on became so busy that he didn't have time to read his novel. The man continued to coordinate with the public relations team, trying to control public opinion on the internet.
Due to the uproar caused by the photo, Lilia was summoned to the agency office by Harold. Even when it was half past ten in the evening, the office was still bright.
Harold's face was flushed from drunkenness. The man had just washed his face and there were still drops of water on his chin.
Joe, head of the public relations team at Aphrodite Agency, frowned as he continued to monitor the situation on the internet. The 40-year-old man had been the leader of the public relations division since the agency was first founded. Joe had a very wide information network and a variety of ways to manipulate the spread of news.
The sound of the typing keyboard echoed throughout the quiet office. Harold broke the silence by asking, "Joe, can you contact the person who posted the photo and negotiate with them? At least it will help defuse the situation."
Joe massaged his forehead and shook his head, "I've tried contacting them, but there's absolutely no response. I think they deliberately created this scandal, so it seems futile to ask for their cooperation."
Harold turned his head towards Lilia, who was sitting on the sofa staring at her cell phone with a calm expression. The woman looked very relaxed for a person who was facing backlash from netizens at the moment.
"Okay, tell me the truth, Lilia." Harold called out to the woman, "What do you think about this? Could it be that Ryan Fever did this on purpose to slander you?" Harold asked.
For Harold, that was the only explanation that made sense. No one on the show apart from Ryan himself expected that the man would move beside Lilia. Plus, paparazzi would not be allowed into the building.
Merry opened her mouth to speak, but she immediately closed it again. She wanted to defend Ryan, but she was afraid Harold would scold her for siding with their 'enemy'. Merry's legs twitched restlessly as she repeatedly glanced at Lilia beside her.
"Ryan didn't do it." Lilia answered firmly. She looked up from her cell phone and looked at Harold, "You could say that Ryan and I were both slandered by someone tonight."
Harold tilted his head with a confused expression, "On what basis do you say that?"
Lilia put her cellphone on the table and shifted it towards Harold, "You will know the answer when you see this."
Harold stared at Lilia's cellphone screen, "Rani Kaliya?" He asked while reading the name. He didn't know why Lilia suddenly showed one of the artists listed in the Indoensian artist database.
"The woman is sitting next to me tonight." Lilia explained briefly.
Joe also became curious about their conversation and took a peek behind Harold. The middle-aged man also tilted his head in confusion. However, their confusion vanished when Lilia clicked the name.
"Rina Cayla?!" Harold shouted in surprise when he saw the photo.
Joe looked just as surprised. The man started reading the information about 'Rani Kaliya' in the database, "Hartanto Entertainment's newest star and junior William Anggara, the king of films. Rani Kaliya has played a role in…"
After reading all that, Joe frowned with a look of disgust.
"Hartanto Entertainment is really shameless. All of the roles that Rina has played are taken from series and films produced by Hartanto Entertainment itself! They are just trying to make Rina look good!"
Harold seemed to be deep in thought, "So you're saying that this commotion was caused by Rina?"
Lilia raised her eyebrows and didn't say anything. But the answer was clear.
"Mr. Harold! Mr. Joe!" Suddenly one of the members of the public relations team exclaimed, "W-William Anggara commented on his social media!"
Harold turned towards his co-worker with a frightening expression. His voice was filled with exasperation as he scolded, "So what if that guy commented?! You don't have to tell me that!"
Harold didn't have the energy to think about William Anggara at a time like this. Who cared if that guy commented on the internet?!
However, the public relations team member smiled broadly. The man rotated his computer screen for everyone to see, "He helped defend Ms. Lilia!" He delivered the good news.
Hearing that, Harold's mind immediately went blank. William Anggara? Helped Lilia? How strange!
The man automatically turned to Lilia. Harold felt a little relieved when he saw Lilia's ice cold expression. That meant William didn't have a chance to win Lilia's heart again.
"What did he say?" Joe asked.
They all leaned over to see William's message. There had been more than 500 comments in response to the man's message.
[William]: "I don't understand why everyone is fussing over news that is so clearly fake!"
William's comment went viral and drew a lot of reactions from netizens.
[User1060]: "Why did William Anggara suddenly defend Lilia Pangestu?"
When Lilia read the comment, she immediately flicked Merry's forehead. She knew the man couldn't be trusted, but at this point, William's comments did help them.
[User2388]: "I've been waiting for you to post something everyday and you actually discussed this in your post?!"
[User9323]: "What's going on? William Anggara siding with Lilia Pangestu? Will the world end tomorrow?"
[User7829]: "Have you read this, @Sara?"
Note:
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