Possessed No More: The True Star Returns to Claim Her Throne-Chapter 51: Hammer

The files were quickly sent to the agent, who then transferred the money. It was at Victoria Koenig’s instruction; he sent one hundred thousand.

Raymond Warren didn’t actually have that much dirt on him. Justin Locke had only collected eight files, for which four thousand yuan would have been enough.

But Victoria Koenig was delighted. He was more than happy to spend the hundred thousand. He even had his agent add a special note to the transfer: "Unconditional gift."

Staring at the one hundred thousand yuan, Justin Locke found a rare, new kind of joy in his work.

In the past, he only cared about making money. As long as a scoop could make him famous, he’d release it. Eventually, he became the number one paparazzi in the business. Of course, he made a lot of money, but he also suffered malicious retaliation more than once.

The worst incident was when he was caught by Zachary Fulton’s bodyguards. He’d nearly lost his life.

Those days of being chased and beaten taught him that this industry has its own rules—unwritten ones.

If you want to survive in this business, you have to play by its rules. Don’t cross the line.

But if you can make it to the very top, then you’re the one who gets to set the rules.

Take his current situation. Zachary Fulton had been foolish enough to cross him, so he’d ruined his company and sent him to prison for good measure.

He was also the one who set the prices for his dirt. His word was final. Celebrities had to pay up, even if they didn’t want to, because the alternative was much worse. Weren’t there always a few people every year who lost their lives over a scandal?

Between swallowing your pride and dying, the choice was obvious.

But ever since Riley Perry saved him, he’d started to have other ideas. And today, after Victoria Koenig’s one-hundred-thousand-yuan payment, those thoughts grew even stronger.

Taking a different approach down the same path could yield different results. He still needed to make money, but he wanted to make it with a clear conscience.

The next morning, just as Elder Halloway was taking Riley Perry’s pulse in the living room, a torrent of stories about Raymond Warren and his fans exploded online.

Raymond Warren’s company frantically tried to get the stories taken down from the trending charts, but it was useless. Victoria Koenig, through some unknown means, had contacted several of the girls Raymond Warren had preyed on. To everyone’s surprise, two of them actually came forward, writing long, detailed posts to expose him.

The internet exploded. Between the major influencer’s exposé and the victims’ irrefutable proof, the comment section on Raymond Warren’s social media page was a flood of angry messages.

His fans quickly turned on him, unfollowing and joining the attacks. The most common comment was: "My idol’s career just collapsed, but thank God for the whistleblower. I’m a female fan!"

That’s right. They were genuinely grateful to the whistleblower.

If someone hadn’t posted Raymond Warren’s dirty laundry online, who knew how many more of his female fans would have fallen victim to him.

Another comment bashing Raymond Warren was upvoted to the top: "Look at the video. The whole thing, from start to finish, was three minutes and forty-two seconds. That includes undressing and foreplay. And after all that, he still had to risk exposure to pay these women hush money. You have to ask, what’s the point? Wouldn’t a steady girlfriend be way less hassle?"

That’s right. Raymond Warren was a minute man.

Yet, that night with Miles Ford, he had gone at it for over two full hours.

It just went to show the power of the pill Riley Perry had given him.

Riley Perry saw those comments, of course. ’Looks like Rhona is about to get busy again,’ she thought. ’Our pharmaceutical company can’t just have a single diet pill, can it? We should add a Perry-brand Viagra to the lineup.’

Cole Sinclair had great faith in Elder Halloway’s diagnosis. Still, he couldn’t wrap his head around how someone could fall from such a height and be completely unharmed.

"Elder Halloway, is it really normal for her to be like this?"

Old Master Halloway didn’t even write Riley Perry a prescription. He chuckled and said, "This little girlfriend of yours seems to have some training. Her vitality is incredibly strong, and her physical constitution is far beyond that of an ordinary person. That must be why she could take a fall like that and be perfectly fine."

"So you can stop worrying needlessly."

Cole Sinclair asked again, "Are you sure she doesn’t need a prescription to help her recuperate?"

"All medicine has side effects. Why take any when there’s nothing wrong with you? It’s not candy, you know."

Riley Perry shot Cole Sinclair a look, her alluring eyes glinting playfully. "Elder Halloway, you’re absolutely right," she said. "Taking medicine when you’re not sick is just plain idiotic."

Old Master Halloway let out a hearty laugh. "This young lady is quite amusing. Sinclair, you’ve got good taste."

Old Master Halloway left soon after. Samson Sinclair personally drove him back. After retiring, Old Master Halloway had settled down in the scenic city of Riverbend, which wasn’t too far from the film studio. Otherwise, he couldn’t have arrived so quickly.

After Elder Halloway left, Cole Sinclair finally turned his phone back on. It immediately began to ring nonstop. Riley Perry felt exhausted just listening to him take one call after another. Then, her own phone rang. It was Director Quinn.

"Do you need me to come back and reshoot my scenes with Raymond Warren?" At that moment, she had no idea that she had played a small part in Raymond Warren’s downfall.

Director Quinn asked, "So you’ve seen the news online?"

"Yeah. Thankfully, I didn’t have that many scenes with Raymond Warren. Have you guys found a replacement yet? Since our crew can’t start filming today anyway, I can come over this afternoon if you find a suitable actor."

Director Quinn thought, ’It’s not that fast.’ He was just giving Riley Perry a heads-up. However, Director Miles’s production was on a tight schedule, so it really would be for the best if they could reshoot Riley’s scenes today.

"No rush, no rush. You focus on your recovery. We can talk about these scenes when you have time. We’ll be filming here for a while longer anyway."

After hanging up, Riley Perry was a little puzzled. ’Why would Director Quinn call me personally over something so minor?’

She was puzzled, and so was the assistant director of *Starfire*.

"Why are you handling such a minor issue personally? Couldn’t you just have an assistant do it?"

Seth Quinn, lounging leisurely in a recliner, rocked back and forth. "How’s the tea?"

The assistant director grinned instantly. "It’s heavenly! But speaking of that, I’m mad at you, Old Quinn. You’re not a very good friend, you know. You poured me half a cup that one time, got my palate all spoiled, and now you won’t give me another sip. When did you get so stingy?"

"Exactly. That’s why I need to stay in touch with Riley Perry more often. These relationships get better the more you nurture them. Who knows, maybe she’ll send me another bag sometime!" 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"What? Riley Perry gave you that tea?" The assistant director’s mind was already spinning.

"After she finishes filming with Director Miles, I need to get her a good role," Seth Quinn mused, ignoring his assistant director. "Who’s got a good script right now? If there’s nothing, I could always buy one and direct it myself."

The assistant director was speechless. ’...Don’t you only direct one movie a year, max? Aren’t you supposed to be enjoying life and spending time with your wife? We haven’t even finished filming *Starfire*, and you’re already thinking about your next project?’

’Good thinking, though!’

’If Old Quinn could really sweet-talk Riley Perry into another project, he’d have to make sure he was around her a lot. Maybe the young woman would give him some tea, too?’

’And even if she didn’t, he could always steal some from Old Quinn!’

...

At the hotel, after waiting for what felt like forever for Cole Sinclair to hang up, Riley Perry immediately grabbed the man’s tie, her eyes blazing as she looked at him. "Mr. Sinclair, I could be called in to work at any time. You came all this way—you don’t plan to just stay holed up in this room handling work, do you?"