Stella was looking at Caroline's picture on her phone.
On the side, her brother was drooling. "She's so hot. I bet sleeping with her will feel amazing."
Stella bellowed, "You're useless! I told you to find out her relationship with the old fool, but all you can think about is sleeping with her!"
Luke indifferently took a puff of his cigarette. "Isn't that what women are for? How many directors did you sleep with to get to where you are now? You're no different than me."
"You…" Stella jumped to her feet in frustration, but her sister stopped her.
"That's enough! We can't be fighting each other all the time! Someone found out who that woman is. She's Caroline Soan of IF Security. I bet she's protecting that old fool for free because she wants the attention! Let's bombard her online and make her hand over the old bastard."
It was a feasible plan. Stella immediately contacted her studio, who called her back five minutes later.
Stella was excited when she picked up the call. "Are you done already? Dinner's on me tonight."
The person on the other end said indifferently, "I'm sorry, Miss Shane, but for a reason that I'm not at liberty to reveal, the studio has been shut down. We won't be providing you with any services in the future. Goodbye."
The call ended, leaving Stella dumbfounded still holding her phone.
She was one competition away from making her debut. Once she became popular, her studio would have a lot to gain. She couldn't understand why those people would leave her now. She wondered if they had lost their minds.
She couldn't help but curse loudly a moment later. "Screw them. So be it! I didn't like that dim-wit studio anyway. I can now work with my agent directly."
She then called her agent's number.
Her agent was in a mess as well. They received a notice half an hour ago, telling them that the company was canceled. They immediately contacted the TV station and found out that the latter had also been told to shut down.
Websites could shut down at any time, but shutting down a TV station was unheard of. This unprecedented move gave everyone an ominous feeling, and they all speculated that Himmel Soan, the demented old man, was the reason behind everything.
To keep his channel running, the head of the TV station pulled a lot of strings. He made investigations while trying to keep his job. Soon, the news reached the state administration of television.
"Shutting down a TV station is a major move, and it can raise a lot of questions. Just cancel the talent show for now. We'll take care of the rest."
The state administration held a special meeting, trying to find out who was powerful enough to do such a thing. It was something that shouldn't have been allowed. As for Stella's agent, they decided that it wasn't their business. There was nothing they could do.
The agent didn't want to go down without a fight, though. They tried to get help from the chamber of commerce but only received a resolute no.
They were told to shut down their company, or the company would be compelled to shut down. They would then have to face the consequences.
The company couldn't let all the investment they had put in go to waste. When they traced it back to Stella, they asked her for a huge sum of money as compensation. Stella was shocked when she received the phone call.
Her bad luck didn't stop there. Both her sister's and brother's companies were notified as well. All the properties the companies owned were confiscated, and the companies were closed.
Not only was Stella's dream of becoming a star finished, but her siblings' dreams had also been ended. They were back to zero.
The Shanes were in a panic. They couldn't understand why dealing with a demented old man would trigger such a chain reaction.
"Who the hell is he? I won't have it! Luna, hire some more paid posters for me and let them tell everyone what has happened! I'm not going down alone! If I'm going to die, I'll take him with me!"
She was getting frantic, so were her siblings. All their effort was going down the drain, and the loss was so big that they could never live with it.
Luke rose to his feet. "Damn it! I have to find out who's doing this to me!"
After receiving the affirmative reply, Luna was howling on the floor and cursing everyone. The way she smacked her thighs and cried made her look like a shrew from the countryside.
"Screw the chamber of commerce! They have no right to shut down my business! I've put all my money in it!"
Something was happening to the online community as well. Everyone who had criticized Himmel Soan received an email with the title "Kneel" at the same time.
The email required them to record a video of them kneeling on the floor and apologizing to the old man. Otherwise, all their social media accounts would be disabled forever.
Some of them panicked, but some didn't think much of it.
"Shut down my accounts? Why? Does that mean I can't use Whatsapp or Twitter from now on?"
"Please don't! I didn't do anything. Don't shut down my accounts!"
"I NEED my social media accounts. Fine, I'll apologize, but please don't make me kneel or record myself."
"What am I going to tell my parents if they see the video? Please don't make me do it. I promise I won't do it again!"
Many more people refused to give in. They believed that they could remain anonymous in the online world.
"Who the hell are you? I didn't break any law. You have no right to close my account! Touch me, and I'll make you pay!"
"I don't buy it. This is a free world! No one can shut down my account unless I want to. You're breaking the law!"
"I'm not apologizing! What can you possibly do?"
"Screw you! You messed with Miss Stella. I'm going to teach you a lesson!"
In a few hours, all hell broke loose in the online community.
Warren was busy as well because another bigshot of the Soan family had arrived at Bywater.
Hayden Soan, the head of the Traditional Medicine Association, was here.
One should never offend a doctor because all mortal men would fall ill and die one day. Having a competent doctor around could significantly improve one's quality of life.
Hayden was practically a god among doctors. His name alone could make one's heart race. He had postponed all his research and came here just for the Patriarch.
He would cure Himmel Soan at any cost.
"Where is he? Take me to him."
Ten minutes later, they arrived at Caroline's villa, but Warren received some bad news.
"We're having trouble shutting down the TV station."
Warren was experienced enough to immediately realize who was interfering.
Hayden was displeased. "The Patriarch has dedicated his life to this country and its people. He can shut down all the TV stations if he wants to, let alone one of them! Tim, go to Katown now…"