Possessed No More: The True Star Returns to Claim Her Throne-Chapter 42: Accident

Riley Perry didn’t give a damn what that scumbag couple was thinking. After dressing them down, she felt incredible. She gathered Chloe Sterling and the others and sauntered away, leaving the scumbag and his bitch to stew in their anger.

Once they were away from the crowd, Chloe Sterling sidled up to Riley Perry and started gossiping in a low voice, "I never would’ve guessed you and Vernon Jacobs had a thing. With all the hate you get online, how come no one ever dug up this story?"

Talia White thought, ’...The only reason Chloe Sterling is still in the entertainment industry is definitely because her family is loaded! If she came from a slightly less privileged background, she would’ve been run out of the business ages ago.

It’s best not to ask about things like this unless the person brings it up first. If they’re sensitive about it, you could lose a friend.’

But Riley Perry wasn’t that fake. She had never liked that bastard Vernon Jacobs, so when Chloe Sterling asked, she answered, "I met him while filming my first show. He pursued me relentlessly after that, and after a while, I couldn’t keep turning him down, so I agreed."

"From the time I agreed to be with him until we broke up, it was less than six months total. And during those six months, we barely spent any time together. I’m telling the truth when I say I never loved him. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to stay so calm when I saw him with Gigi Walsh.

I honestly don’t care about him."

Chloe Sterling nodded. "I believe you. Seriously, that’s not how someone acts when they’re in love."

’You’d expect someone to be heartbroken and devastated after being cheated on, not be like Riley Perry, who spoke about it so calmly, as if it were someone else’s story.’

Riley Perry thought, ’That’s because I really *am* talking about someone else’s story.’

"As for why it was never exposed? I guess I have my anti-fans to thank for that. They probably figured that if they released the story, I’d be seen as the victim and might even gain some fans, so none of them ever brought it up."

The expressions on the others’ faces were indescribable.

Talia White said, "But from the way Vernon Jacobs was looking at you, his intentions aren’t pure. He might try to get back together with you in the future."

Riley Perry suddenly laughed, then her expression turned to one of contempt. "It’s just the classic ’you always want what you can’t have.’ He’s just a masochist. If he dares to show his face in front of me again, I won’t be so polite."

’Believe it or not, the better she did, the more resentful and regretful Vernon Jacobs would become. If she ended up down on her luck, he’d change his tune completely, convinced he made the right choice. Her misfortune would even serve to ’deepen’ the bond between him and Gigi!’

Chloe Sterling linked her arm through Riley’s and laughed. "You’re really something else, scaring them with evidence that doesn’t even exist. It worked great, but now they’re probably going to hate you even more."

Riley Perry walked at a leisurely pace, not bothering to hide the smugness in her voice. "Who says I don’t have evidence? Even if I didn’t before, I do now, don’t I?"

’But actually, she had some from before, too!

It was just that if she really exposed that stuff, Gigi Walsh and Vernon Jacobs would be ruined, but she’d definitely end up on the trending list along with them. She had no interest in that kind of publicity.

Right now, she just wanted her work to speak for itself.’

"Did you secretly record them just now?"

Riley Perry glanced at Rocco, who was walking behind them and fiddling with his phone. "I didn’t, but Rocco did."

Rocco, having been called out, hurried forward a couple of steps. "I started recording the video as soon as Vernon Jacobs called out Ria’s name. It’s a shame it’s not as clear as it would be with my professional camera. Ria, I’ll send it to you right now."

Talia White thought, ’...Let’s have a moment of silence for Vernon Jacobs and Gigi Walsh. One second is more than enough!

Why did you two have to go and provoke Riley Perry?

Normally, that girl is like a pink rose—charming and lovely. But the moment someone crosses her, she turns into a man-eating corpse flower.’

The group chatted and laughed on their way back to the hotel. It was almost midnight, and Riley Perry was too tired to move. She cast a Cleaning Technique on herself, then hugged her blanket and went to sleep.

The next day, Riley Perry took Rocco’s car and arrived early at the set again. The first scene of the day was a fight scene, and it required wirework. After she finished with her makeup and costume, the Martial Arts Director arrived. The director told Riley Perry to go learn the choreography from him while the crew finished setting up the scene.

The Martial Arts Director said, "I’ll demonstrate it for you once. I’ll try to go as slowly as possible."

Riley Perry nodded obediently. "Okay, got it."

Today’s scene was one where Jade Sullivan’s identity is discovered. Deciding to go all in, she kills to silence the witness, only to be immediately found by Felix Sherman, leading to a fight between the two.

In a fantasy drama, fights naturally involve flying around, but for Riley Perry, this was a piece of cake.

The Martial Arts Director finished demonstrating the sequence move by move. "Did you get all that? That’s the whole process. I can break it down for you again, move by move."

Riley Perry asked, "How about I give it a try first?"

The Martial Arts Director didn’t believe she could have memorized it all, but he nodded anyway. "Go ahead."

Riley Perry picked up a prop sword and began to replicate the Martial Arts Director’s demonstration, move for move.

The Martial Arts Director’s face instantly lit up. They were the exact same moves, but when Riley Perry performed them, they were exceptionally graceful. And she had really memorized the entire sequence.

"Miss Perry, have you practiced this before?"

Riley Perry sheathed the sword and replied with a smile, "I’ve practiced for a while. What can I say? With a face like mine, I wouldn’t dare go out without some self-defense skills."

"And you have a photographic memory?"

"You were such a dedicated teacher, I couldn’t let your efforts go to waste. It’s only natural that I’d pay extra attention and remember everything."

The Martial Arts Director’s estimation of Riley Perry grew even higher. Everyone on set had been saying how great her acting was—and it truly was—but he never expected her to be so good at fight scenes, too. And most importantly, she was humble!

"Alright then, run through the moves with Best Actor Sherman in a bit. If there are no problems, we can start shooting."

Felix Sherman arrived a little later. After he got into costume, the two of them rehearsed the fight. Since they had already filmed this scene once before, a quick run-through was all they needed to get reacquainted with it.

The subsequent filming process went very smoothly, especially Riley Perry’s parts. Her moves were incredibly fluid, creating a truly ethereal effect.

Suddenly, just after completing a difficult maneuver, Riley Perry’s body froze. She felt the tension go out of the steel wire attached to her waist. At the same time, someone below screamed, "The wire is about to snap!"

The next second, Riley Perry’s body plummeted downwards. The faces of the crew members below all turned pale. She was five or six meters off the ground—if she fell from that height, she’d be half-dead, if not worse!

Someone frantically tried to drag something soft onto the empty ground below to at least cushion Riley Perry’s fall, but where was the time?

Just as everyone was panicking, they saw Riley Perry suddenly flip over in mid-air, shifting her falling trajectory by half a body’s width. There was a tree next to her; she reached out and grabbed a branch to break her fall. The next second, the branch couldn’t support her weight and broke with a SNAP.

The people below let out another collective gasp.

Riley Perry’s body plunged downward again, but no one noticed that her descent had already slowed. She even had a moment to glance at the people on the ground.

Samuel Hughes had already run to a spot just three or four meters from her landing point, his arms outstretched as if he could somehow catch the falling girl.

But he was definitely not going to make it in time. With a sickening THUD, Riley Perry’s body hit the ground.