Chapter 84: Return Your Innocence
The competition was still ongoing, but the internet had already exploded into chaos.
"Voice of Heaven" was already hugely popular with tons of followers.
The live stream viewers were just one part - there were even more people who didn't have time to watch live and only saw the edited clips, so their impression of contestant Lika had been that her first performance was great but the second one was just average.
Now, because of the trending topics online and the high-definition videos of the first two performances posted on the Adams Group's official website, everyone was rushing to check them out.
If the discussions sparked by the live stream were the first wave of buzz, this was the second wave.
And this wave spread even wider.
After all, not many people had the time to keep watching the live stream - most had their own things to do, so more people waited for the edited versions.
The more people watched, the bigger the buzz grew—
"This is insane!"
"Right? I've only been watching the edited versions. All the contestants improved in the second round, and I thought back then that everyone had been holding back in the first round so she got lucky. Turns out she was being suppressed."
"Especially in the second round, her song wasn't as technically flashy as the other contestants', plus with the suppression, it seemed really average."
"I only voted for her because the composition and lyrics were decent, gave all my other votes to others. Who would've thought!"
"So who did this? I don't buy this 'technical malfunction' excuse for a second. Investigate thoroughly, they must investigate!"
"Support a thorough investigation!"
...
Isabella immediately came under attack from internet users.
Countless people questioned her, demanding a reasonable explanation.
All of this left Isabella completely overwhelmed.
Luckily she could use the excuse of still being on live stream and too busy to respond, which bought her some time.
Meanwhile.
In the apartment complex.
Soren and Mia high-fived each other.
"Hahaha, this feels amazing, I finally got to let it all out!" Soren jumped up and said, "Before, a whole bunch of people were attacking me, and look, now they're all apologizing to me!"
"Yeah, some people even screenshotted your original comments and are posting them now, hahaha, it's hilarious." Mia nodded in agreement.
Soren was also surprised - his comments had been quickly reported and deleted back then, but some quick-fingered people had still managed to screenshot them.
Now it had all become evidence.
"But I bet most of the people who bashed me before and the ones supporting me now aren't the same crowd." Soren said suspiciously.
Mia just laughed: "Anyway, clearing your name now is what matters most."
"Exactly!" Soren stood up and started dancing around the living room.
Mia was laughing so hard she couldn't stop.
Hawk, who had somehow ended up sitting in another chair, was also smiling.
At the "Voice of Heaven" venue.
In Amelia's personal lounge, Jeffrey watched the situation turning favorable and was very satisfied.
But Amelia remained calm.
She looked thoughtfully at Isabella, who had returned to her seat in the live stream.
Since she was already back, it meant they had worked out a strategy.
Next, it would be interesting to see how Isabella would respond.
After all, the marketing team behind Isabella was no joke.
Sure enough, after a while, Amelia saw another voice emerging online.
"Why is everyone targeting Isabella? Isabella isn't even a contestant, how does this have anything to do with her?"
"Right, Isabella is a judge. Aren't people getting their targets mixed up?"
"And saying Isabella has William backing her so she could target Lika - why doesn't anyone think about it: William and the Adams Group... if Isabella really used William's influence, Lika could've been kicked out directly without leaving any trace."
"It must be someone else who did it and is pinning it on Isabella."
This was a direct rebuttal from a logical standpoint.
Since many internet users didn't know more of the inside story, for a moment this argument seemed to make sense.
Soren and Mia actively responded, listing various points.
They had all thought this through beforehand, and soon the public opinion was pulled back.
After all, besides Isabella, no one else had any reason to target Lika from the very beginning.
Music industry experts were already analyzing contestant Lika's performances from a more professional angle online.
All of them were full of praise.
The buzz online grew even louder.
Isabella saw all this and was furious.
Since Carl's team started working with her, she had never been this frustrated.
Even when dealing with Amelia before, she had always handled it easily.
This was just a small-time Lika, yet she was causing her so much trouble!
But in front of the cameras, she couldn't show it, so she just signaled with her eyes not to film her, then lowered her head and quickly messaged Zaid and Carl.
But Zaid was having his own troubles now and couldn't be bothered with her.
Carl suggested she expose some negative information about Lika.
Like her relationship with Jeffrey, the miscarriage she had for Jeffrey.
But Isabella rejected it.
"This is a fatal card to play, I need to save it to control her."
"Plus, with her being accused like this, releasing this information now would greatly reduce the impact of this killer move. Internet users would think we're deliberately releasing it to frame Lika. Not only would they not believe it, wasting this card, but it might even backfire on me."
Carl agreed, but what should they do now?
"First I need to clear myself of suspicion, then we can continue." Isabella quickly replied.
"Let me think of something, wait for my signal." Isabella thought for a moment and replied to Carl.
Isabella glanced at Lika's personal lounge, her eyes full of hatred.
Then she opened her chat with Zaid again, but he still hadn't replied.
Angry, Isabella left her seat and went to the staff corridor to call Rhys.
Soon, Rhys picked up.
"Ms. Taylor?" Rhys's voice came through.
"Rhys, I need your help with something." Isabella said weakly, "I don't know if you've seen what's happening online."
Rhys said he had.
"...I don't know who did it either." Isabella said falsely, "But now everyone's blaming me."
"I remember the Brown Group is also involved in the entertainment industry, right? You should have connections in this area. Could you, maybe, lend me some help?"
Before, Isabella had only used William's name to get things done, actually using Carl's team. This was the first time she was asking the Brown Group for help.
After all, once they got involved together, her image would be compromised, and many things couldn't be foolproof - she also worried about her secrets being exposed.
But this time, she had no choice.
It was all Lika's fault!
Lika was the one who pushed her to this point!