"You are slandering me. I have no personal dealings with Director Kang Li," Zhao Zhen immediately retorted.
Wei Tao chuckled and pointed at the suddenly changing projector. "But judging by this evidence, you seem to be quite close."
The press conference was immediately filled with a clamor, cameras clicking incessantly.
Zhao Zhen turned back and her face turned deathly pale.
On the big screen were her call records with Kang Li. The call times were from 2 PM to 2:30 PM yesterday afternoon, 2:40 PM to 2:45 PM, and 10:10 PM to 10:18 PM that night.
Wei Tao pointed at the two phone numbers on the screen. "Coincidentally, I know both these numbers. One is Zhao Bian, and the other is Kang Li. I wonder if Zhao Bian can explain how Kang Li was talking to Director Wang and Nine about the script yesterday afternoon, and yet he was on the phone with you for half an hour?"
A reporter immediately questioned, "During Director Wang and Nine's script discussion, was Kang Li on the phone with you, allowing you to hear the script outline?"
"No," Zhao Zhen retorted sharply. "This... this is not my call record. If you don't believe me, look. I never talked to Kang Li. This is fabricated to frame me deliberately. How could anyone get my call records? This is completely fake."
However, her words lacked conviction. The reporters present were skilled at finding all sorts of hidden evidence and knew the methods involved.
Wei Tao chuckled and stood up. "Since you deny having a personal relationship with Kang Li, I hope the following information won't shock you."
He walked onto the stage, connected the projector to his laptop, and first played a video. It was a video of Zhao Zhen and Kang Li embracing as they entered a hotel.
Zhao Zhen was shocked and furious, immediately trying to pull out the projector.
But Wei Tao was prepared. He dodged Zhao Zhen while continuing to play the video.
The rest were photos, but all were very clear, showing Zhao Zhen and Kang Li in various settings.
The reporters below frantically pressed their shutters, never expecting that the person holding the press conference would be exposed on the spot. Such a reversal was incredibly rare.
Some had already guessed what was happening. "It must be that Director Wang Can and Nine discovered the script was stolen, so they released the news overnight. Zhao Zhen, seeing her plan fail, tried to smear them, but she ran into Wei Tao, her nemesis."
"Wei Tao is truly amazing. Who else's gossip can he not get? He even catches so much drama between a screenwriter and a director. Where does he get so much time and energy to pay attention to these people? They aren't even major celebrities."
"There must be some connection we don't know about. Anyway, let's catch the hot topic. I've discovered that Nine has a knack for trending topics. Anything she's involved in is bound to trend."
And so, soon, many similar news items climbed the trending list.
#Screenwriter Zhao Zhen plagiarizes Nine's new script and retaliates, Wei Tao exposes her on the spot#, #Screenwriter Zhao Zhen's affair, her affair partner is Kang Li#, #Director Kang Li's affair, his affair partner is Zhao Zhen#, #Kang Li helps Zhao Zhen steal Nine's script outline#...
Zhao Zhen couldn't stop Wei Tao, and the cameras below flashed at her unreservedly. She angrily cursed, "Stop filming! I'll sue you for infringing my portrait rights."
"Zhao Bian, you called for this press conference yourself. Now that the truth is out, you want to bite back at us? You're truly bizarre."
Zhao Zhen covered her face with her sleeve. There were too many reporters, and she had no choice but to flee the scene like a rat crossing the street.
Outside the live broadcast, Quan Jiu and her two children finally felt a weight lifted from their hearts seeing the outcome.
Tutu triumphantly shouted at the live broadcast screen, "Dare to offend our Ms. Quan, and you'll taste what it means to be infamous!"
Mimi confirmed the trending topics and said, "The discussion volume for 'Guilty' has exceeded 100 million. Mom, this is another sign of a pre-release hit."
Quan Jiu stroked the faces of her two adorable children. Just then, her phone rang. Seeing it was Wang Can, Quan Jiu sent the two children to go read.
As soon as the call was connected, Wang Can's excited voice came through, "That's great! Zhao Zhen and Kang Li's affair has been exposed to the public. Nine God is indeed Nine God. You still have a way to deal with this."
"Self-inflicted suffering is hard to escape. I'm just making the truth public," Quan Jiu said with a slight smile.
"I've prepared the contract. The electronic version has been sent to your email. Take a look, and if there are no issues, we'll sign it." Wang Can said.
Quan Jiu hung up the phone. After confirming the contract was fine, she immediately finalized a time to sign it with Wang Can.
...
After Zhao Zhen fled the scene in disgrace, she received a call from her assistant.
"Teacher Zhao, it's bad! Director Tan, Director Su, and the others want to terminate their contracts and cancel your chief editor position, citing our prior breach of contract."
Zhao Zhen cursed angrily, "Idiot! That's my script! Why should they cancel my chief editor position?"
The assistant dared not speak after being scolded. Zhao Zhen cursed for a few more minutes in frustration before hanging up. She then quickly checked the news about herself online.
Affair, plagiarism, framing. She never imagined she would be known to the entire internet, but why were those ugly words attached to her name?
Zhao Zhen was unwilling. She dialed Kang Li's number, but a woman answered. Before she could speak, she heard the woman on the other end say, "Zhao Zhen, is it? We'll see you in court."
The call was hung up. Zhao Zhen cursed "fat old woman" and was about to make another call when a contact labeled "Husband" called her.
Only then did Zhao Zhen fully come to her senses. Her affair had been exposed, and her family and friends now knew everything.
At this moment, Zhao Zhen truly felt a chill run through her. She felt as if she had instantly fallen into an abyss. Family, career, loved ones, friends... her life was completely over.
And she wasn't the only one who felt her life was over. Kang Li, being scolded by his wife at home, felt the same.
Kang Li could no longer hear the sounds around him. He looked at his toes in confusion. How could this have happened? Where did it go wrong? Everything was fine, so why was he suddenly left with nothing and his reputation ruined?
But he would never know the answer. He only knew that he would never have a chance in this industry again.
...
Wei Lan, who was preparing to leave after breakfast, suddenly saw the trending searches about Nine all over the internet and happily cheered for Nine in her heart.
She held her phone, concealing her inner joy, and approached Zhao Ziwen with a worried expression. "Ziwen, I'm afraid your plan will fall through. The matter of Zhao Zhen and Kang Li eavesdropping on Nine's script outline has already been exposed."
Zhao Ziwen was still sleeping in. He sat up with sleepy eyes, looked at the news, and then suddenly smiled. "Interesting. I underestimated her. This move of hers, eliminating enemies without a sound, is quite clever."
Wei Lan's alarm bells rang. She chuckled and asked, "How do you know it was her?"
"Wei Tao only targets popular artists. How could he possibly focus on a director and a screenwriter? This information must have been given to him by Nine."
Zhao Ziwen got out of bed and went into the bathroom. "Find me an outfit. I'm going to meet a beauty."