Chapter 350 - 348: Jared Keaton

The next day, after a high-speed train and a flight, Lily Sterling and her group landed at Lorcain International Airport at 3:40 PM.

As they walked out through the regular arrivals gate, the moment Lily Sterling appeared, she heard someone calling her name in a hushed voice!

"Lily! Lily!"

A little surprised, Lily Sterling followed the sound with her eyes and saw a fair-skinned, handsome young man behind the railing at the arrivals gate, holding a bouquet of flowers and waving at her.

Lily Sterling recognized him at a glance—the president of her unofficial fan club.

The last time she returned to Lorcain after wrapping up filming for *Heavenly Destiny as Phoenix*, this was the same young man who had organized the local fans to greet her at the airport.

"Lily, congratulations on wrapping up filming!"

Jared Keaton suppressed his inner excitement, but just like last time, his handsome face involuntarily flushed bright red upon seeing Lily Sterling.

Lily Sterling smoothly accepted the flowers, murmured a soft "thank you," and then asked in confusion, "Why are you here again?"

After the last airport greeting, she had specifically told the fans not to come and meet her flights anymore. They had all agreed at the time, yet here Jared Keaton was again.

Jared Keaton quickly explained, "I didn’t organize a group this time. It’s just me."

As they spoke, they moved off to a corner, with Yuna and Finn following close behind.

"You said last time that you didn’t want us to keep organizing these troublesome and expensive airport greetings, so I didn’t tell anyone else."

As he spoke, Jared Keaton looked a bit dejected. "Lily, you basically went dark while filming this movie. There’s been no news about you online. To be honest, a lot of fans weren’t that dedicated to begin with, and over the past two months, your fan topic and engagement metrics have completely fallen off the charts."

Lily Sterling nodded, unconcerned. "It’s fine."

Connie had mentioned this when she visited the set, but Lily had refused the company’s offer to help with marketing and drive engagement.

Jared Keaton observed Lily discreetly and noticed she was much thinner than when they last met. He couldn’t help but ask with concern, "Was filming the new movie very difficult? Lily, you’ve lost so much weight!"

Lily Sterling didn’t answer. Instead, she just looked at him and asked, "We agreed last time that you didn’t need to come to the airport. Why did you come all this way again?"

Blushing, Jared Keaton gave a shy smile. "I couldn’t help myself."

Lily Sterling: "..."

Letting out a soft sigh, Lily Sterling thought, ’Something about this is strange.’

"Wait a minute. How did you get my flight information?"

Jared Keaton: "..."

At her side, Yuna’s expression changed, and she blurted out, "You didn’t pay an airline for Lily’s itinerary, did you?"

Usually, a celebrity’s team would leak their schedule and flight information to fan groups to build hype and create the impression that they were extremely popular. This allowed fans to organize offline support events and airport greetings.

But Lily had never done that, and her flight had only been booked last-minute the night before.

While it didn’t rise to the level of sasaeng behavior like booking the same flight, paying for her itinerary was still pretty frightening.

Hearing this, Jared Keaton quickly waved his hands. "N-No, I didn’t buy it."

Lily Sterling gave him a doubtful look, which made him feel flustered. "Lily, I’m not a sasaeng. It’s just... my dad found out I’d suddenly started stanning a celebrity, and he gave me your flight information."

He quickly added, "I didn’t ask for it, he just sent it to me. And once I saw it, well, I couldn’t help myself."

Listening to his explanation, Lily Sterling’s mind went blank for a moment.

"Your dad gave it to you?"

Yuna frowned deeply. "And how would your dad know?"

Jared Keaton pursed his lips and said in a low voice, "My... my dad is the chairman of Azure Airlines."

Lily Sterling: "..."

Yuna: "..."

No wonder. Azure Airlines was one of the three major airlines in the country and had the most domestic and international routes. It was very easy to end up booking a flight with them.

"Lily, I’m really not a sasaeng fan," Jared Keaton continued to explain, terrified of leaving a bad impression on her.

Lily Sterling snapped out of it and nodded. "I know, but please, let’s avoid this in the future. I really don’t need to be met at the airport."

’Besides, him coming all by himself is actually even stranger.’

Although Jared Keaton felt a pang of disappointment, he still nodded.

"Do you want to take a picture?" Lily Sterling asked, suddenly changing the subject.

At her words, Jared Keaton’s eyes instantly lit up. "Yes!"

He took out his phone and unlocked it. Lily Sterling noticed his lock screen was the photo of the two of them from the last airport greeting, and his home screen wallpaper was a casual photo she had posted on X.

Jared Keaton opened the camera app and held the phone up high for a selfie. Lily Sterling leaned in closer and smiled as he pressed and held the shutter button, taking dozens of burst shots in just a few seconds.

"Okay, you should head back now. We have to get going. Thank you for coming, I appreciate it!"

It was brief, but seeing Lily Sterling was more than enough for Jared Keaton. Not daring to take up more of her time, he waved goodbye.

"Lily, that guy is seriously a true fan," Yuna muttered. "It’s a good thing he’s handsome, though. Otherwise, that would’ve been really creepy."

The world was full of all kinds of strange things, and people were no exception—especially in fandoms. Crazy fans were capable of anything, and Yuna felt a lingering sense of fear.

Fortunately, Jared Keaton seemed sincere and knew his boundaries. He didn’t come across as the type of fan who would take things too far.

Lily Sterling understood Yuna’s concern and smiled to reassure her. "He explained that he wasn’t the one who actively sought out my flight information, and he promised it won’t happen again."

Yuna pursed her lips and nodded. After they exited the airport, the car arranged by the company was already waiting outside for them.

The first thing Lily Sterling did was go straight home. She hadn’t told her family anything about wrapping up filming or returning, all because she wanted to surprise her mother.

So, when Jasmine Sterling saw her daughter walk in, she was both shocked and overjoyed.

"Lily, what a surprise! Why are you back so suddenly?"

Jasmine Sterling came out excitedly to greet her. Watching Finn unload Lily’s bags from the car, she asked happily, "Are you done with filming? Why did it wrap up so quickly this time?"

Lily Sterling explained, "Low-budget slice-of-life films have very short shooting schedules because ninety percent of the scenes are filmed in a single location."

Jasmine Sterling was overjoyed. During all her time in Lorcain, she had missed Lily the most.

"Honestly, you," she said fondly. "You finished filming and didn’t even tell me."

"But I wanted to surprise you!" Lily Sterling linked her mother’s arm, swaying it back and forth like a little girl. "Besides, I don’t plan on starting a new project for a while. Now that this movie is done, I want to go back to school to ground myself for a bit. It’s the perfect chance to spend more time with you!"