On the screen, two people were talking to a reporter. The two people have blonde hair and a fat face, making them look like average Americans that would be found anywhere on the streets.
Currently, they were giving an interview to a reporter standing in what looked like a residential area.
"So, tell me about what you saw?"
"It's been a few years so I don't remember well but I remember we were transporting a prop for a scene when I heard a sharp voice. It belonged to Aiden Silvereye, the lead actor in the movie and the voice sounded angry."
One of them said and the other person nodded and continued on the story.
"We were curious, so we walked up to the direction the voice had come from and saw that Aiden Silvereye was shouting at Katie, abusing her about something she had done."
"Did you see him hitting her or abusing her in any way?" The reporter asked, squinting his eyes.
"I don't know but her face did look a bit red. Though, it could be makeup. Back then, we were on the final schedule and the rumours about Aiden and Katie were doing the rounds around the set due to how close they seemed with each other."
The blonde guy said, making a face that seemed like he was thinking back on the past days. He was finding it difficult to remember as a lot of time and movies have gone by after he worked in [30 days of Happiness].
"So, you are saying that they were in a relationship?"
"Didn't Katie Brooks confirm it?"
The blonde guy asked back and the reporter nodded his head.
"Yeah, but the director of the movie Leo Shaw had come out and said that it was a marketing campaign and we all know it's a common tactic. Moreover, no one saw Aiden and Katie together after the movie often, so there are doubts."
The reporter explained and both the men seemed like they didn't know what to say. They looked a bit flabbergasted but they still blabbered on.
"Well, we were only part of the crew for the European part of the shoot. I didn't know anything about the marketing campaign but I can say one thing for sure. They both were very warm and close to each other."
The interview ended there.
Someone closed the TV straight after that and banged the desk in happiness. It was Franco Li who was watching the news report with a grin on his face.
He had bribed a few members of the crew to say these things and although they needed better acting skills in his opinion, it was still fine as the job was done. According to him, every man has a price, especially people who are doing low end jobs.
He had just told his assistant to look for anyone in the crew who would be easily bought and the next day, a list was on his table. After that, it was easy as these people were just there to add some more petrol into the fire.
What the two men had said could be taken in any way as it wasn't like they had seen Aiden slapping Katie but the media would present it as evidence of the accusations to the common people.
That was the final nail in the coffin for Aiden's reputation.
'Now you will know that in this industry, you are either with me or against me.'
He thought in his mind and it was at the moment that the door to his office opened and Katie walked in with his assistant.
Looking at her, Franco frowned.
"Katie, why are you here? You should be going through the interviews and get into the public limelight. If you don't do that, then. your name will be out of the trending searches in a day."
"The interviews have already ended. Moreover, I'm saying the same thing to every reporter. After a while, it gets tiring."
"That's the life of a celebrity. You know that well."
Katie didn't say anything to it and just looked at Franco before talking about the thing she was here for.
"What happened to the movie you said you will get me? A lead role in a big commercial movie. I have not even seen the script yet."
"It's still in the planning. SGA is producing it and I can get you the script anytime but you can't do any movies at least for the next few months."
Hearing that, Katie was shocked.
"Why?"
"You need to let this matter die down. It would take at least three months for the media to find something else to talk about. You need to portray yourself as a woman who went through a lot of mental abuse till then. I will get you to appear on women oriented programs and talk shows. This is the image building phase for you."
Franco had made an entire plan for Katie as he genuinely sensed talent in her.
Though more than that, she was someone who was easy to manipulate. It was very funny to him that she had agreed to betray her friend when he had offered her big movies and a chance of becoming an A-lister.
"But you said before that I will get to act in—"
"Can't you show some patience?"
Franco suddenly cut her off and said, his voice high pitched. Katie was shocked at his sharp voice and wasn't able to say anything else.
"I have made a plan for you and you only need to follow it word by word. I don't need your feedback or complaints until you earn the right to speak up. Do you realise that If everything went wrong you and me both are fucked? Lawsuits are already gonna happen but my lawyers will handle it but if you suddenly start getting these big budget movies, then the media will try to look under the carpet and if even a whisper goes out, they turn towards us. It's a game of reputation, you see."
He said with conviction in his voice. Franco's assistant watched all of it with a straight face but he wished he could close his eyes at the moment.
But he was too numb to these things at this point.
***
At Aiden's office, there was chaos everywhere one looked.
They have worked fast and released a statement, saying that Aiden had never done anything like this and all the accusations were wrong.
Moreover, he had also talked about going to court and filing a defamation lawsuit against Katie Brooks. But all this was still in the legal spectrum.
The common people were already too used to it as normally, in every Metoo case, the same thing would happen. Someone would accuse, the one who was accused would send out a statement claiming it to be false, then legal matters would start.
Normally, in most cases like this, people would confess themselves after a while.
But for Aiden who was falsely accused, this was obviously not an option. He was still dealing with the massive drop his reputation was having.
He has curated a great reputation for him for years and in one day, it was on the ground.
It was a bit funny to him that one incident can change so much.
It reminded him of a soft drink company whose stock prices fell hard because a footballer told someone to drink water as it's healthy over the soft drink. Without doing anything, the company lost billions.
Aiden felt like that company.
The s he was doing for different companies and brands were suddenly in jeopardy. There were phone calls from them, asking about terminating their contract.
His whole team was dealing with that.
Three brand deals were already over and three more have told him to meet with them, so they could talk about the recent accusations on him. They were probably looking to not attach themselves with him anymore.
Brands were always like this. They didn't like any controversy around the star they were in a contract with as it could negatively affect them too.
In the end, Aiden was losing money and the worst thing about it was that all of it was in the middle of the promotion phase of his upcoming movie. Because of this whole fiasco, that was taking a hit.
Alberto had already called him multiple times, threatening and cursing him. He looked like he would barge inside his office and punch him If he could.
The marketing team for the movie was trying to salvage the situation somehow by promoting the movie more on the back of other characters and taking Aiden entirely out of the promotions. That was fine with him as his presence would only hamper the movie.
The good thing was that Olio still believed that he was innocent.
The man had seen his fair share of accusations himself and actually believed that Aiden was innocent in all this. Not only him, others like Leo and Omar. Even other people he knew like his former co-stars.
There was at least a phone call from then and even though no one wanted to say anything in the public eye, Aiden was happy there was some support.
But the worst thing in all this was yet to happen.
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