A lot of things happen to an actor when he loses his reputation. Getting stripped from brand deals and endorsements was just one thing.
An actor could still handle that with good investments and save himself from moving towards financial bankruptcy. In the first place, Aiden's spending habits were pretty good, so he didn't really care about all this.
It was just a couple of brand deals in his mind.
But the real problem was that his image in the public eye had changed and that meant that he was going to lose out on something that he can't afford to — Movies.
[Hex - Part 1] and [Hex - Part 2] were already done and dusted. Nothing could be done about them as both of these were already shot. Titan studios will lose more money if they don't release it.
The problem was 'Project Dream' and a few other projects that Aiden was eyeing. Only pre-production had begun on it and a serious loss of reputation meant that those projects were inevitably going to be affected.
Three days after the molestation news, he got a call from Timmy Button, the man behind 'Project Dream'.
"Aiden, can we talk?"
"Yes."
"I don't really want to talk in circles with something like this as I don't want to keep you in some sort of doubt. Things like this are better said straightforwardly."
When Timmy said that, Aiden understood what he was going to talk about. He frowned instinctively and told him to continue.
"Go on. I can already guess it."
"I don't think I want you to play the lead in 'Project Dream'. I don't want your involvement in it in any way after the controversy. We can terminate the contract as the shooting hasn't started yet."
For the record, there are always terms in contract that says that it could be terminated without any problems before the shooting if a problem comes up. Sometimes actors will leave due to dates or if the movie is pushed ahead while other times there will be controversy like this.
Hearing Timmy's words, Aiden only had one question in his mind.
"Do you really believe that I did something like that?"
"It doesn't matter. I don't believe anything here other than the fact that my dream project will be in jeopardy and it will get negative publicity if you are the lead. There are already nut cases on the internet who are trying to boycott your upcoming projects."
"I can understand that but you are rushing the decision. Moreover, most big actors already rejected the script."
Aiden tried to persuade but it seemed like Timmy had already thought about it.
"That's not a problem. I will just pay more money. Everyone loves it and as for rushing the decision, I don't think I'm. Let's talk in my office about it this week or the next. I have already started looking for another lead, so my decision is final. I'm sorry but I don't want anything to harm my dream."
The phone cut after that and Aiden just leaned against his seat.
His brows had ceased and he had an angry look on his face, like he was thinking of something deeply. No controversy had affected him this much till now. Even when he had gone against the press association.
But he guessed that back then, he had a solid plan but here, he was trapped in someone else's plan.
It was then that the door opened and Wade came in.
"You look angry. What happened?"
"Timmy called. I lost out on 'Project Dream'."
Hearing that, Wade looked shocked. He wanted to say something but decided not to and sat down in front of Aiden.
"Nothing can be done about it?"
"He looked firm on it and I don't want it now even if he asks me to come back."
Aiden said. It was a matter of self respect to him and he wasn't a newbie in the industry anymore that needed every project. He could handle losing out on one movie no matter how good it sounded.
Wade sighed hearing that but he could understand him.
"I was looking at a few other scripts and even those meetings stopped. Your reputation is at an all time low now."
"I know."
"What are we going to do now?"
Aiden went silent hearing that. The defamation and character assassination trial was anyway going to happen but it wasn't about that anymore. People would forget about it even if the court agreed to his charges against Katie.
After all, people won't be interested in this in a month or two.
The current loss of reputation would take a lot to recover. Maybe even years. He needed to get back at Katie and Franco Li and it couldn't happen with just using the law.
They have used the media to defame him and he had to do the same.
'I guess it's time to be on the offensive.'
Aiden thought in his mind and made a decision. It was now or never for him after all.
"I think I know what to do. Give me a minute alone."
He said to Wade who nodded and left the room. After he was alone, Aiden had two ideas in his mind.
'I can't do all this with my current personality. I need something more.'
He thought and there was only one character which could help him. Someone who knew how humans acted.
But he still needed something else other than that. Some luck.
"There's no better chance to use this."
He said and took out his 'Lucky coupon'. Then, without thinking, he stripped it and from that second, he was the luckiest man in the whole world.
A strange feeling seeped into his body like he could do no wrong. He felt like he could jump off a ten storey building and still come out with no broken bones or anything. He never felt so confident before.
He stood up and got his laptop and opened up Sparrow.
On it, people were still talking about him, cursing him. There were few that were defending him and he felt good about it but the majority of them had already considered him the villain.
He also saw a few clips of Katie on some talk show where she was talking about the abuse she went through. It looked like Franco was really trying to create a great public image for her by ruining his.
'If she can go on talk shows and talk about a fake scenario, then I can at least find loopholes on them on the internet.'
He thought and the next second, he felt his personality changing. A strange energy entered it but it wasn't overwhelming this time. He just felt cold like he had become heartless and cunning.
The next second, he tweeted out something that no one was expecting.
[Hey, I'm pretty sure a lot of you have questions about the alleged molestation case against me that Katie Brooks has made recently. I have already said in my statement that it's all a lie but I think I need to clear it up a bit more. So, ask away your questions about it.]
Such a tweet was something that no one had expected and it didn't even take ten seconds before it started blowing up. Normally, celebrities would be silent and let their lawyers handle it in these types of cases.
But Aiden liked to do it a bit differently.
If someone wanted to ruin his reputation, he at least had the right to protect it with facts.
***
Skyneves was the founder of Aiden's fan group and she was also one of his first fans, following him since the dawn of his career. She was one of his biggest fans and has watched every one of his movies in the theatres.
So, it was a big shock to her when the news had broken out that he had harassed someone in the past.
It has completely blown her away.
Online, it hadn't taken ten minutes before everyone had started thinking of Aiden in a negative life and then, articles have come out with the media portraying him in a negative light too.
It had forced a lot of pressure on her as a fan.
Should she believe him or not? Had he really done something like that? These were the questions in her mind but in the end, her heart was telling her that Aiden was innocent.
She had followed him for so long and knew that she wasn't wrong about him. That's why, even with all the backlash she had defended him.
She hoped that he would clarify things soon and it had indeed happened. He had released a statement, saying that whatever was said about him was wrong and he was going to court with it.
But despite that, nothing much has changed in the public view.
They all treated it as something that he was doing to save face. They still saw him as a molester and he was even removed from the promotions of his upcoming movie.
It was then that he had suddenly tweeted out something strange.
Looking at it, Skyneves had a feeling that things were finally going to change.
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