Chapter 504 - 500: An Unfortunate Prophecy

Everyone on George Lowe’s team stared, their eyes wide with horror.

Just then, the phone in George Lowe’s pocket suddenly rang. Snapping back to his senses, he fumbled for it, his hands shaking so badly that he almost dropped it.

"Hello?"

Whatever the person on the other end said, George Lowe’s expression instantly turned chillingly dark. He roared, "I fucking saw it! Get it taken care of now!"

Only after he finished yelling did he remember Cecilia Sterling was still holding up her phone, livestreaming. He shot Cecilia a vicious glare and stormed out of Lily Sterling’s dressing room.

The others, nursing their injuries from the beating Blair had given them, scrambled out after him.

Outside the dressing room, the director and a group of staff had gathered to listen in. When George Lowe suddenly threw the door open and stormed out, they all flinched and awkwardly looked away in embarrassment.

But George Lowe had no time to deal with them. ’If what just happened gets out,’ he thought, ’I’m finished!’

Back in the room, just moments after George Lowe left, Blair’s livestream was forcibly shut down by the platform.

"According to platform regulations, your livestream content is suspected of containing violence and other inappropriate elements. Your broadcast has been suspended for 24 hours. Please comply with the platform’s livestreaming rules..."

Cecilia Sterling raised an eyebrow at the official notification. "George Lowe sure moves fast," she said. "But it’s too late."

With that, she tossed the phone to Blair and gave her a thumbs-up. "Brilliant move. It saved time and money, and it was a critical blow. We used the simplest method to get maximum exposure. The trending topics are probably blowing up by now."

Cecilia’s prediction was spot on. On platforms like X, Tiktok, and Redbook, related topics had already shot to the top of the trending lists. All sorts of clips from the livestream were going viral.

And that wasn’t all. Connie moved quickly, contacting major influencers and marketing accounts that worked closely with Goldman Golding to further amplify the buzz around the incident.

Goldman Golding’s PR department also swiftly released a statement clarifying the incident, detailing how George Lowe harassed and attempted to violently assault their artist, Lily Sterling, in her dressing room. They also announced that a police report had been filed.

At the same time, the official account for ’March Alley’ released a notice about George Lowe’s repeated harassment of female actresses on set. They announced their decision to drop him from the production and find a suitable replacement to reshoot his scenes.

George Lowe never imagined that a single misstep would throw him into the eye of a public storm, facing condemnation from the entire nation.

And it was all because Lily Sterling had a mysterious, powerful older sister who wasn’t afraid to challenge authority.

"What the hell? Something like that actually happened?"

In the restaurant, Estelle Goodman and Jane Sterling were filled with righteous indignation after seeing the news online and hearing Cecilia’s story. "That old geezer is still causing trouble at his age? Isn’t he afraid he’ll get too excited and just keel over in bed?"

Jane Sterling was kicking herself. "I shouldn’t have stayed at the hotel," she said, full of regret. "Are you all okay? No one’s hurt, right?"

Lily Sterling smiled and shook her head, then looked toward Blair. "It’s a good thing Blair was here today. Otherwise, we would have been in real trouble."

"Don’t worry," Blair said. "If I hadn’t been here, Cecilia wouldn’t have provoked him so directly. No matter how angry she got, she would’ve prioritized your safety."

’She knew Cecilia well. She never acted rashly, especially when Lily was involved. She’d always be extra cautious.’

Cecilia gave Blair a look that said, ’You get me.’ Just then, Estelle Goodman asked, "So, George Lowe has been kicked off the show? Does that mean Lily will be safe from now on?"

Cecilia nodded. "Of course. The whole thing was livestreamed nationwide; by now, pretty much everyone knows about it. There’s no covering up what George Lowe did. An incident like this is enough to get him blacklisted as a disgraced artist. No production team will dare to hire him again."

"Serves him right, the old bastard. The only way to make someone like him behave is to have him paralyzed in bed!" Jane Sterling scoffed.

And just like that, her words came true.

That evening, George Lowe had a stroke!

「The next day.」

Cecilia woke up having had a wonderful night’s sleep. She had to admit, the hotel Julian Summers had arranged was fantastic—the bedding was incredibly comfortable.

Just as she finished freshening up, the doorbell rang.

Cecilia paused for a moment. ’It’s probably Estelle and the others,’ she thought, walking over to open the door.

"Surprise!"

Standing outside the door was Julian Summers, dressed casually in a baseball cap. With an excited grin, he spread his arms and gave the dumbfounded Cecilia a light hug.

Cecilia blinked, her gaze shifting to Secretary Grant, who stood off to the side. The secretary offered only an awkward yet polite smile.

"What are you doing here?" Cecilia asked, recovering from her surprise.

Julian Summers walked right into Cecilia’s suite without an invitation. Secretary Grant followed him in, wheeling two small suitcases. Cecilia reached out and took one from her.

Julian Summers plopped down on the living room sofa, stretched lazily, and said, "I came to hang out! A group of four girls needs a guy with them to stay safe."

He then propped his chin on his hand, looking at Cecilia with a raised eyebrow. "I saw what happened yesterday," he said excitedly. "If I’d been there, I totally would’ve helped Blair beat them up."

Cecilia gave him a skeptical look.

’She believed he would try to help, but who would end up getting beaten was another question entirely.’

"I ordered the deluxe breakfast service," he continued. "Our rooms are still being cleaned, so they’re sending it here. You should call the others to come eat with us."

Cecilia nodded. Phone in hand, she pulled Secretary Grant aside and asked in a hushed, confused tone, "What’s going on? Isn’t the Golden Week holiday supposed to be his busiest time of year?"

After all, the Sullivan family was in the hotel business.

Grant shot a furtive glance at her boss before whispering, "Miss Sterling, our boss has his eye on your cemetery project."

"Huh?"

Cecilia cried out in surprise.

’Julian was the one who’d introduced her to Master Ingram, the feng shui expert for the cemetery, so it wasn’t surprising that he knew about her plans.’

But...

Cecilia walked up to Julian Summers and asked him point-blank, "Mr. Sullivan, what are you really up to?"

Julian Summers’s expression froze. He whipped his head around to look at Grant, but she avoided his gaze and looked down at the floor.

"Tsk." Julian’s face fell as he feigned displeasure. "What could I be up to? It’s definitely... a good idea, that’s what."

He seemed to lose his nerve as he spoke, his bravado replaced by a sheepish, fawning smile. "Seriously, you’ve got a great mind for this stuff. How did you even come up with building a cemetery on that mountain? Let me in on it! I think this project is going to be a gold mine!"

"You want me to let you in on it?" Cecilia asked, staring at him.

Julian Summers nodded vigorously.

Cecilia couldn’t help but laugh. "Dude, you’re in the hotel business. Do you really think it’s appropriate for you to invest in a cemetery?"

Julian Summers: "..."

Cecilia was at a loss for words. ’The man’s audacity was something else; how could he ignore such an obvious taboo?’