Chapter 416 - 412: My Sister Deserves It All

Given Lily Sterling’s usual personality, she would have been too embarrassed to stand in the center.

But she knew Heather was helping her out of a bind. George Lowe was standing right next to her, and the thought of it made her skin crawl.

So she nodded without hesitation and quickly walked over to Heather Keaton.

Heather pulled Lily to her right side. "That’s right. You’re the lead actress; you don’t need to be so polite."

She said it loudly on purpose so everyone could hear, making it clear that she was the one who had asked Lily to stand in the middle.

Lily gave her a grateful smile.

The spot next to George Lowe was suddenly empty, but he was a seasoned pro. He didn’t show the slightest displeasure. Instead, he chuckled and turned to Hope Miller. "Hope, you’re too short to be standing in the back. Come stand next to me."

"Oh? Teacher Lowe, I couldn’t possibly..." Hope Miller feigned a delicate surprise, covering her mouth with her hand.

After all, she was just a minor supporting character. The front row was reserved for the main cast, the key creative team, and the senior actors.

"What’s not to be possible? It’s just a photo. Come on."

As he spoke, George Lowe reached out, grabbed Hope Miller’s slender arm, and pulled her into the spot where Lily had just been standing.

Hope Miller put on a show of resistance, but she couldn’t hide the delight in her eyes. ’I mean, no matter the occasion, who wouldn’t want to be in the front row?’

"Three, two, one... to a successful shoot!"

A flurry of camera flashes went off, and in just half an hour, the new show’s production launch ceremony was over.

Back inside, the director told everyone to take a short break. Cars would soon be arranged to take them back to the hotel, where the launch banquet would also be held.

Yuna quietly hurried in. "Lily, the fans are still waiting outside and won’t leave. Do you still want to see them later?"

"The launch ceremony is over. Don’t let them wait outside."

"They want autographs."

Lily nodded. "You and Finn get them organized. Lead them to the hotel’s underground parking garage. I’ll sneak down after I get back."

It was too hot outside, and Lily was worried the fans would get heatstroke from waiting for so long.

Even signing autographs would take a long time, which is why she thought of a cool, shady place like the parking garage.

"Lily, you’re going to wear yourself out," Heather, who had overheard, couldn’t help but remind her in a low voice. "This is just your first offline fan event. Situations like this will become very common, and more and more fans will probably show up in the future."

"I know, Heather," Lily explained softly. "Even though a part of me wishes they wouldn’t spend so much time and money coming to these offline events, I was still really moved when I saw them today."

"Today was just the launch ceremony, and I won’t have anything else to do once we’re back at the hotel. So it’s fine for me to sign some autographs and spend a little more time with them. They all came from so far away."

Hearing this, Heather gently patted Lily’s shoulder. "That attitude of yours... it’s both a good and a bad thing. It’s great for the fans, of course, but it’s going to exhaust you."

But Lily shook her head. "Compared to them, I’m not tired at all."

That afternoon, topics related to the *March Alley* launch ceremony started climbing up the trending lists one by one.

Modern urban dramas had always been Heather Keaton’s domain, and Goldman Golding naturally wanted to build up her hype. As a result, several topics related to her shot straight to the top of the lists.

Lily Sterling, on the other hand, never spent money on extra marketing, so her trending topics were all pushed up by the painstaking efforts of her fans.

Initially, only two topics had made it to the middle of the list, but then a photo of Lily’s fan support suddenly went viral!

In the photo, Lily’s fans were happily holding up their milk tea cups. The related topic read: "Lily Sterling Warms Hearts by Ordering Milk Tea for Fans at Launch Ceremony to Beat the Heat!"

Since the fans of the other celebrities didn’t receive this kind of treatment, the comparison was stark.

Organic traffic to this topic surged. Many fans were instantly moved because chasing after your favorite stars under the scorching sun is the hardest part. To get a cup of milk tea ordered for you by your idol at a time like that—what could be more blissful!

And so, everyone watched as the topic skyrocketed from the middle of the list, shooting straight to second place, sandwiched between two of Heather Keaton’s trending topics.

In a coffee shop, Cecilia Sterling was scrolling through the trending topics on her phone, a fond, proud smile unconsciously spreading across her face.

This kind of positive exposure, this adoration from her fans, was what Lily deserved, but it was something she never had in her past life.

Seeing these trending topics now, Cecilia was incredibly happy for her younger sister.

A shadow fell over her. Before the smile could fade from her face, Cecilia looked up to see Fabian Griffin plopping down into the chair across from her.

Seeing that Cecilia seemed to be in a good mood, Fabian asked casually, "What are you looking at? You look happy."

Cecilia put down her phone and answered truthfully, "News about my sister."

Fabian raised an eyebrow but didn’t pry into Cecilia’s personal affairs. Instead, he deftly pulled a folder from his bag and handed it to her. "As you requested, I looked into some struggling businesses in the Sunstone District that are being sold off."

Cecilia took it and pinched the folder between two fingers to gauge its thickness. "It’s this thin?" she asked, puzzled.

Fabian shrugged. "There aren’t many. A lot of owners won’t let go until the very last second. The ones who are willing to sell are the ones who really can’t stay afloat any longer."

Then, a puzzled look crossed his face as he asked, "I’m a private investigator and hacker with a strong sense of professional ethics, and I don’t usually ask about my clients’ business. But this time, I’m just genuinely curious. Why are you looking into these companies? They all look like they’re about to go under."

"What do you think?" Cecilia countered. Fabian Griffin was an extremely intelligent man; otherwise, he wouldn’t be in this line of work.

Fabian hesitated for a moment before venturing a guess. "For an acquisition?"

Cecilia just smiled, neither confirming nor denying it.

Fabian’s mind was full of question marks; he clearly couldn’t understand Cecilia’s motives.

Cecilia slowly opened the file and asked, "If I were to acquire one, do you have any recommendations?"

"Me? Give you a recommendation?" Fabian blinked. He had no idea what Cecilia planned to do with these hot potatoes.

But Cecilia nodded. "Yes. You’re the one who investigated them, so you must know the details better than I do."

"Well, from what angle are you asking for my recommendation?"

"The difficulty of acquisition."

Fabian couldn’t help but laugh out loud. "In my opinion, none of them would be difficult. They’re all on their last legs. If you’re willing to buy, they’d probably thank their lucky stars."

Cecilia smiled too as Fabian continued, "But since you’re asking, I’d suggest you start with The Crimson Hotel."

With that, Fabian took the folder from Cecilia’s hands and quickly found the section on The Crimson Hotel.