Roy shook his head, his voice muffled, "No. And even if I said something, it wouldn't matter. She's right; I've dragged you down."
Pushing him onto the living room sofa, Laila sat down next to him, "Experience is gained through setbacks. Failure is the mother of success, right? If we can learn something from our mistakes, then this time, it's not a mistake."
Roy rubbed his face wearily with his hands, "I know. I'll be more mindful of my behavior in the future."
"Then why are you so disheartened?"
"I'm... I'm disappointed. Those fans..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but Laila understood.
"Do you feel your fans didn't speak up for you? Do you think they betrayed you?"
Roy didn't speak, clearly implying agreement.
Laila smiled, ruffling his hair, "You've misunderstood a few things, you know?"
"Firstly, not all fans will rush to your Facebook to cheer you on, but all the trolls will be there to insult you. So, it's not strange that more people are criticizing you."
"Secondly, there's a saying, 'The greater the love, the greater the resentment.' It's because they love you so much that they feel even more upset. Isn't it normal to say some venting words when angry? And have you noticed that there are still many people on your FB who trust and support you? For example, if you and I were arguing, and I said a few angry words and left, what would you do then?"
Roy seemed to understand, "Try to coax you back."
"Exactly. Just treat those fans who left you like me. There's a misunderstanding between you and them, so clear it up and persuade them to come back."
It seemed to make sense. Roy's gloomy mood finally dissipated a bit.
"Yes, you're right. If someone I liked went through such a thing, I would also feel very sad."
Laila smiled, once again messing up his hair. His hair was soft, feeling like the long fur of a cat, very pleasant to touch.
Meanwhile, on Facebook, someone claiming to be a paparazzo posted a recording on their account and attached the photo from the abandoned factory, stating that the released recording was the situation at that time.
Curious people immediately clicked on it and indeed heard a conversation between a man and a woman. Whether it was the original owner speaking, no one dared to be sure. After all, Elisa had acted in many TV shows and movies, with only a few lines in total, and even less likely to have left any impression.
As for Roy, he was more familiar, especially with his role in "Pirates of the Caribbean," which was well-known. Whether it was influenced or not, the voice on the recording seemed to resemble his.
Under Laila's guidance, Facebook integrated features from other social media platforms of the future, gaining many beloved functions.
This self-proclaimed paparazzo's account often posted gossip news and had quite a few followers. Therefore, the moment the recording was posted, it quickly spread.
The recording was, of course, the one Elisa had secretly recorded, but the Agent had taken it to someone familiar to "process" it a bit. Although Roy didn't answer a single word on the phone, he had said a lot at the abandoned factory. After some special arrangements, the recording completely followed Elisa and the Agent's intentions.
To ordinary people's ears, it was challenging to detect any problems. They could only hear that Roy did have some relationship with Elisa, and he even said something like, "Don't leave me."
If Roy heard this, he would be furious. Clearly, he said, "Don't come near me." How could they casually add a few sentences cut from elsewhere and turn it into the damn "Don't leave me"? Even if he dreamt and mumbled in his sleep, he would only say such things to Laila, right?
Roy did hear about it. After listening to Laila's persuasion, he wanted to go on Facebook and "coax all his girlfriends back." He might not consider those departed fans as girlfriends with disagreements, but at least after understanding their feelings, he was willing to explain and not let them be ruined by those disgusting things.
Once he logged in, the flood of incoming notifications almost crashed his computer. Taking a closer look, he realized someone was playing tricks again.
If it were a few days ago, he might have been really angry and scolded them harshly. But now, after Laila explained her plan, he felt that this whole thing was just a group of clowns who thought they could trick people, but in the end, they were the ones being tricked.
After thinking for a moment, he directly posted a message on his account: "A small stone insists on comparing itself to a diamond. Yet some people actually think that the small stone can snatch more attention from the diamond. It's truly ridiculous."
People who followed him were far more numerous than those following the paparazzo's account. As soon as he posted the message, a large number of people rushed in to watch.
Seeing his words, the people below immediately speculated on what he meant.
Actually, the meaning was clear. Someone quickly and joyfully interpreted it.
"Roy means Elisa is the small stone, and Laila is the diamond. Compared to Laila, that small stone is truly insignificant and can't be compared."
"Yeah, if I were Roy, I wouldn't give up Laila for that woman, right? What does she have that can match Laila? Age? Appearance? Figure? Family background? Talent?"
"Nothing can compare. How could he possibly abandon a diamond and treat a common pebble as a treasure?"
"But how do you explain the photos and the recording?"
"Roy is just a liar! He was caught red-handed, and he still denies it. I'll never watch any movies or shows he acts in again!"
In a short period, the comments were divided into two factions. One side agreed with Roy's statement, and many of them were Laila's fans supporting him. In their eyes, Laila was undoubtedly the most perfect person on this planet.
The other side, as expected, were those die-hard Roy haters. Among them were likely a lot of water army members, and many were simply hating on him. Their goal was simple: to insult him severely! To curse him! To ruin his reputation and make him fall from the dazzling starry path!
Elisa, on the other hand, was closely watching the development of the situation and suddenly had a bad premonition. She wondered, "He doesn't seem nervous at all?" For some reason, Elisa felt that something was not right.
"He's just pretending." The Agent was confident in his plan, "Now that the photos and recording are out, those who believed it was a misunderstanding last time now believe that there is a relationship between you two. It's perfect. We'll soon be able to hype it up, and then you can go on various shows! Aren't you happy? I've arranged several interviews and talk shows for you!"
Tomorrow, it should be almost over.