Chapter 12: Midnight Chat
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“Good evening, everybody. Welcome to tonight’s Midnight Chat. I’m Rachel!
“A piece of news regarding an old man molesting his foster daughter was widely discussed this afternoon. The daughter in the story is Stella Shane, the rising star. The story didn’t attract much attention at first, but Stella released a statement later, which brought the whole incident to a new level. The online community has been paying close attention to it as well.
“Midnight Chat has always been a program about revealing the truth. I’ve received the latest update on the subject, and tonight, I’m going to discuss it with you guys and get to the bottom of this. Let’s see if the old man really has molested his foster daughter!”
Although it was past midnight, many people were still watching the show online. The anticipation had kept them wide awake. Very few people wanted to go to bed early anyway because they had all received threatening messages from the government or various apps. They wanted to know how this thing would end.
If they went to bed, would they be able to wake up tomorrow morning?
Hence, this late-night show became their last chance to find out the truth.
The discussion revolving around Himmel Soan had been very confusing. Contradicting evidence kept showing up. At first, people thought that Gary Mat had revealed the truth, but only 20 minutes passed before he issued another statement, revoking everything he had said and apologizing to Himmel Soan.
It only confused the netizens more. They couldn’t figure out what the truth could be.
The show went on.
Rachel, the host, spoke to the camera, “The incident started when an old man in his 70s was sent to a care center without any of his children showing up, but the aftermath has taken quite a few turns. Although Stella Shane, the famous singer, has made a statement, to know what really happened, we need to hear the story from other sources around her. We have Miss Ivy Larson here with us today. Miss Ivy is a diva, and she’s also Miss Shane’s good friend in the entertainment industry.”
Rachel greeted Ivy, “Hello, Miss Larson.”
“Hello, Rachel. Hello, everyone!”
Ivy was a diva who had won many awards. She had sang one song with Stella and had kept in touch ever since. But they didn’t talk very often and weren’t exactly best friends.
A while back, Ivy was involved in a major scandal, which greatly affected her popularity. Her new album didn’t sell well either. To regain her fame, Ivy had to attend all sorts of events, constantly making public appearances.
Truth be told, she didn’t have much to say on this matter. However, it was too popular a topic to be missed. If she still wanted to stay in the entertainment business, she had to try to get under the spotlight.
Rachel said, “Miss Larson, everyone knows that you and Miss Shane get along well. It’s not just for show, right? Are you also good friends off the camera?”
Ivy nodded. “That’s right. We share everything. Although I’m over ten years older, it doesn’t affect our friendship.”
Rachel chuckled. “In that case, do you know Stella’s past well? Has she talked about it before?”
“Yes! More than once!” Ivy sounded indignant and clenched her fists as though she was frustrated. “Stella’s foster father is an animal! He’s a scumbag and a piece of trash! You wouldn’t believe what he did after you hear me out! It’ll totally change the way you see this world! I couldn’t sleep for many nights when I first heard about it and couldn’t find any inspiration for my music. I couldn’t create anything. It took me a long time to get over that mood. After that, I was able to work on my latest song, Humanity. In fact, I wrote that song just for Stella. Feel free to try it if you’re interested.”
Ivy was here to use Stella Shane’s incident to boost her popularity, and of course, she would stick to her purpose. It was such a good promotion opportunity that she had to make use of it.
...
“Stella, look. It’s Ivy Larson, the diva.” The TV was on in Luke’s place, and it happened to be on the channel where Midnight Chat was showing.
The three siblings had been shooting the apology videos until then, and all three of them were intrigued.
“It’s Ivy Larson! That diva! She’s so famous!”
Luna was excited. “I didn’t expect that such a diva would help us!”
Stella didn’t think that she and Ivy were on such good terms. Ivy had been such a prominent figure before, while she was nothing in comparison. Ivy wouldn’t even look at her, let alone talk to her.
After all, Ivy was a diva!
Whereas, Stella was only a newbie in the industry who hadn’t made her debut yet.
She had just begun to gain some popularity. But her fame was nothing compared to that of the bigshots in the industry.
Although Ivy wasn’t as popular as before, she still had many fans. Once she started talking, everyone would prick up their ears and listen.
Gary Mat was a famous director, but the most famous singers and actors could easily outshine him.
He was merely a director, someone who remained behind the screen. Although he was the one shooting the films, he still needed to weigh his choices when dealing with famous actors or artists.
Of course, not all directors were the same. Gary Mat was definitely an influential figure himself, but would he dare to order the famous actors around?
Of course not. He had to politely invite them and even make humble gestures at times.
Famous actors could influence the box office more than the directors could. That was why the directors all wanted to cultivate their own stars.
Ivy’s words obviously carried more weight than Gary Mat’s.
“In the end, someone who’s practically a stranger helped me. The directors and presidents are so unreliable!” Stella sighed.
Back in the show.
Moved by her own story, Ivy was talking amid broken sobs. “Stella has gone through so much. Her father died when she was little, and her mother raised three children by scavenging on the streets until she met their foster father. They thought they had been saved and could leave the hardship behind, but… But who would have thought that man could be such an animal?! When Stella had her first period, he peeped through the keyhole as she changed her pads, and things only got worse. When she was 14…”