Meanwhile, in one of the elite apartments in Surabaya, William Anggara was relaxing alone in his living room. He wore gray cotton pajamas, with hair still wet from the shower. There were stacks of beer cans on the table.
The man was reading comments on his social media when his cell phone suddenly vibrated. Sara Hartanto's name appeared on the screen. William stared coldly at the screen for a moment before turning down Sara's call. He smiled faintly and returned his focus on social media.
Seconds later, Sara called him again. William rejected her call again, but Sara kept trying to reach him. Finally, the man picked up the phone in annoyance.
"Delete your comment!"
Sara immediately shouted in a commanding tone as soon as the phone was connected. She was so angry that she didn't bother greeting William. The man said nothing in return, but his hand gripped the cell phone even stronger.
"Hello, are you listening to me?!" Sara asked impatiently.
"I can hear you." William answered in a low voice. He took a can of beer and took a sip, "What happened?" He asked as if he didn't know anything at all.
William heard Sara take a deep breath before laughing out loud. Her voice was tinged with rage, "What happened, you say? You want to play stupid in front of me? William Anggara, what do you want?!" Sara's voice rose on the phone, "Do you feel sorry to see people bash that woman on the internet, so you deliberately defended her?!"
"I'm just telling you the truth." William replied, forcing himself to remain calm, "You and I both know that Lilia isn't that kind of person. Someone slandered her… just like what happened back then."
When William said that, his face was icy cold. He heard Sara's gasping breath, but he didn't feel guilty at all. Indeed, their relationship had been fractured since some time ago. William finally made up his mind to leave Sara after the accident. He felt disgusted when he found out that Sara deliberately designed the accident to slander Lilia.
Before they dated, William thought that Sara was a young lady from a rich and powerful family. Hartanto Entertainment, which she managed, also had a big influence in the entertainment world. William admitted that he chose to leave Lilia and went abroad with Sara because he was tempted by her financial power.
However, it turned out that William overestimated Sara's position in the Hartanto family. The woman's influence and financial capabilities were more limited than Sara had always prided. This led William to waste three years abroad in vain.
When the man returned to Indonesia and met Lilia again, his heart was moved again. William found himself wondering if he could still correct his mistakes three years ago. Would Lilia give him a chance to restart their relationship?
That was why William defended Lilia in his comments earlier. Maybe he was being influenced by alcohol right now, but William didn't want to see Lilia reviled by people who didn't even know her.
Sara's constant nagging voice made William finally hang up the phone and block Sara's number. He missed Lilia's calm demeanor and soothing smile even more.
*****
Lilia just returned to the Lakeside Villas at 11 pm. Before she left the agency office, she assured Harold and Joe that everything would be alright. Lilia had a way to stop the rumors, but she could only do it tomorrow morning. The two men seemed skeptical, yet they couldn't do much in this situation.
Along the way home, Merry kept urging Lilia to tell her how to do it. But Lilia only answered her with a secretive smile.
Until midnight, the topic of Lilia and Ryan's kissing continued to go viral with no sign of abating.
At that point, William made a new post. He posted a photo with the caption, "I miss the flowers that bloom in the dry season and you."
The photo showed the figure of a woman standing behind the tatebuya tree. The woman only showed her back, but anyone with eyes could recognize her as Lilia Pangestu.
The photo also caused great excitement on the internet. Although the impact was not as strong as the kissing allegation, the photo William posted could distract netizens a little.
Of course, there were people who did not accept the photo. Lilia's fans immediately protested. Someone even made a discussion topic entitled "Get William Anggara out of the world of entertainment!" Obviously, the account that created the topic was User1060!
In the next morning, Lilia immediately checked the situation on the internet as soon as she woke up. The excitement over the photo of her kissing Ryan had subsided a little, but the topic was still being discussed. Lilia was surprised to see the names of the men she had worked with, such as William Anggara or Alex Vander, also went viral. It seemed that netizens were very interested in her love life.
Lilia also found out that Lyra Music Company had posted a clarification regarding yesterday's incident. They stated that the kissing in the photo never happened. The company would also sue the person who spread the photo for defaming their artist.
However, the clarification from Lyra Music Company alone was not enough to counter the gossip.
Lilia went downstairs and saw Jean who was busy in the kitchen. She automatically looked around, looking for Sister Mei's figure. A few moments later, Lilia remembered that today the woman was on leave.
Lilia walked to the kitchen door that was slightly opened, then leaned against the threshold. Her gaze was fixed on Jean's back, who was busy cooking. An idea came to Lilia's mind and she immediately took out her cellphone.
A few minutes later, the virtual world was again in an uproar by Lilia's post that morning. She posted a photo followed by a short caption, "He can cook!"
The photo showed a man wearing a black shirt and trousers. But the man was turning his back on the camera, so that his face could not be seen. Even though the mysterious man was holding a knife and was cooking, his elegant impression did not diminish even a bit.
The man's back looked much more charming than the artists who always show off their good looks up front like William Anggara.
People on the internet, especially Lilia's fans, immediately competed to make various theories about who the man was. Most of them were sure that this man was Lilia's boyfriend.
"Hmm?" Jean turned his head when Lilia finished posting the photo, "What are you doing?"
"Nothing." Lilia smiled broadly as she hid her cell phone behind her back.
Not long after that, the announcement from the official Aphrodite Agency website attracted a great excitement from the netizens. The agency gave a shocking statement regarding last night's events.
"Yesterday, a photo of a kissing allegation that framed Lilia Pangestu and Ryan Fever was circulating. The narrative behind the photo is untrue and has damaged the reputation of the two parties involved. With this, we file a lawsuit against Hartanto Entertainment on charges of defamation. We hope Sara Hartanto, Rani Kaliya, or Hartanto Entertainment can clarify this issue as soon as possible."
The announcement also included a formal letter from the attorney, video footage of the award ceremony, and photos taken by reporters covering the event.
The video recorded the entire program from the start to finish. All interactions between Lilia and Ryan were also recorded there. However, the figures of the two seemed too small to be seen as the video recorded the entire hall. For this reason, the Aphrodite Agency also included a photo from the reporter. The photos showed Lilia and Ryan sitting next to each other. The two of them were clearly just sitting and chatting without doing any inappropriate actions.
One of the most eye-catching photos was the one where Lilia turned to Ryan to speak. The lighting in the photo was exactly the same as the photo taken by Rina. The only difference was the angle at which the photo was taken.
Netizens were amazed to see the plenitude of evidence submitted by Aphrodite Agency. They became aware that this agency was fully committed in protecting their artists.
In less than an hour, the announcement had gone viral on the internet. This was the first time a 'war' broke out between companies in the entertainment world. Conflict in the entertainment world normally involved artists knocking each other out.
Feeling cheated by the photo, the whole internet blamed Rina and terrorized her social media accounts. Sara and Hartanto Entertainment were also dragged into this case. Their reputation plummeted and many of the company's investors withdrew their funds.
The impact of this simple incident on Hartanto Entertainment was so great that it shocked the Hartanto family.. That morning, Sara was called home.
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