During the intense online debate, someone quietly posted a photo of Aurelia wearing the outfit from the picture.
"An actress with the surname S? Is it her? Aurelia, who just debuted a year ago, isn't very popular, but her silhouette and figure seem similar to the one in the photo. I remember not long ago there was news about her being involved in a casting couch scandal, wasn't there?"
This statement stirred up a huge wave, and some netizens, who hadn't seen the follow-up clarifications, immediately started wildly speculating. Some gossip-savvy netizens even reposted the original revelation from the microblog.
"At that time, I was puzzled why the revelations that were trending disappeared all of a sudden. Now seeing this revelation on the microblog, I understand. It turns out some celebrity has such a strong backing; I'm trembling with fear that my account might get banned," an amazed net surfer from home exclaimed, adding an astonished emoji.
Gustavo Yates watched the increasingly uncontrollable comments with a bit of worry and asked Mason Nightshade, "Boss, should we try to control the public opinion?" He feared the way things were developing would be detrimental to Young Madam's career in the entertainment industry.
"No need," Mason Nightshade replied indifferently.
Grayson Quinn was scrolling through the trending gossip entertainment on his phone, and upon hearing what Mason Nightshade said, he chuckled.
Really? Wasn't this the same guy who was drinking away his sorrows at my place just a couple of days ago? Is he really not afraid of his wife getting angry now?
Should he take this opportunity to fan the flames a bit?
He still had Young Madam's phone number in his contacts; should he tattle on Mason Nightshade about those awkward incidents in the army or the recent case where he tracked her phone? Seeing others scratching their heads in anxiety was indeed his favorite wicked amusement.
Thinking this, Grayson Quinn sneakily took a photo of Mason Nightshade sitting behind the big conference table, obscured his own number, and sent it to the contact labeled as Young Madam. His lips curled in mischievous delight, and his previously sour mood lifted.
Coming here, as it turned out, was indeed a great decision.
In the courtyard, Aurelia lay on a deck chair, watching a video about painting on her phone, when it started buzzing incessantly with notifications. She didn't know who was flooding her with messages. She opened her microblog, and a flood of private messages came in, along with countless mentions. She clicked on a message from Caleb.
"Aurelia, what's going on with this gossip? Is that man beside you Mr. Nightshade? You need to explain to everyone quickly; things on the internet have exploded, and if this keeps up, it will be out of control."
Aurelia furrowed her brows in confusion and opened the picture Caleb had sent her. It was the gossip that was reported just ten minutes ago. However, ten minutes ago, there were only hundreds of comments under the post, and now it had already exceeded ten thousand.
She then opened a message from Andrew Kennedy.
"Is everything alright?"
Just three simple words, no excessive concern, but appropriately inquisitive.
Their relationship wasn't that close, so for Andrew Kennedy to send a greeting at this time, he was already being quite considerate. Of course, one cannot deny the possibility that he was also inquiring about the truth of the matter.
If this piece of gossip turned out to be true, even though she was just a minor role in the drama, it would still affect the show. Andrew Kennedy was the male lead and had emotional entanglements with Anne Hart. In such a scenario, someone exploiting the chaos and directing the fire towards him wasn't entirely out of the question.
Aurelia replied politely yet firmly, "Nothing major."