Chapter 71 Lily Exposed
Because she was entering the program the next day, Kendall went to sleep very early that night. Therefore, she had no idea that in the early hours of the morning, all social media platforms were rocked by an explosive piece of gossip!
[Lily Reportedly Evaded 98.6 Million in Taxes—Report Filed Under Real Name!]
No one knew who discovered the matter and spread it. Tax evasion has always been scorned by the public. Born under the land of Astoria, paying taxes on time is the duty and obligation of every citizen. Moreover, the profession of a celebrity in Astoria has always been one of high income!
Her deliberate tax evasion was a calculated attempt to steal the nation's money!
After the news broke, it quickly became a top search trend.
Countless netizens, like a school of fish, rushed to Lily's accounts, demanding confirmation of the matter. Many netizens were there for the gossip, but many fans chose to believe Lily. The comments in Lily's section increased at a breakneck speed.
user @MyIdolLily: "Lily is a rich heiress, how could she evade taxes!"
user @LoveLily: "Our Lily owns several villas and bought a luxury car worth over four million last month. How could she possibly do such a thing."
user @DelusionalFan: "Don't be afraid, Lily! We believe you!"
user @SensiblePasserby: "Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter. The screenshot of the tax evasion report has already come out, and you're still defending her here?"
user @CheapMind: "That screenshot is just the report, it doesn't mean anything. Maybe it's a competitor of Lily's deliberately reporting her to smear her! We won't believe it!"
user @TiredOfLife: "Wake up, you brainless fans. This matter has already hit the top search. If Lily really hadn't evaded taxes, she would have issued a statement long ago to clear her name. But look... since the news broke, has you idol said a single word?"
user @CuteBunny: "Exactly, exactly. Who doesn't check their phone when they're not busy? Even if Lily is busy and not checking her phone, what about the rest of her studio staff? Don't they look?"
user @ChasingWinds: "If she really didn't do it, she would have issued a statement by now to sue the rumour-mongers for defamation. Silence = admission!"
user @StreetLight: "Hahahahaha, let some time pass. I believe the truth will come out soon."
As Lily's team remained silent, the situation escalated. Moreover, media outlets worked overnight to interview staff at the tax bureau, who stated that they had indeed received the report recently and were currently reviewing and verifying the information.
The hashtag for Lily's tax evasion reached over two hundred million views that night, skyrocketing to the number one spot on the entire network's trending list! When Lily heard the news, she was practically in tears. How could something she had done so perfectly be reported!
Lily and her studio's phones rang non-stop all night. Lily's face was ashen. She knew that this time, she was truly finished. Lily did not respond. The tax bureau also did not definitively confirm that Lily had evaded taxes.
However, keen-eyed netizens noticed that all the brands Lily endorsed had sequentially deleted all content related to her. They also removed the products she previously endorsed and cleared out all the official announcement images featuring Lily as a collaborative spokesperson.
The brand's actions seemed to silently signal a confirmation. Even though Lily had not responded to the matter, the tax evasion seemed to be a firm conclusion in everyone's minds.
That night, it wasn't just Lily, many artists in the entertainment industry couldn't sleep soundly. The next day, tax bureau staff would discover that in just one night, the amount of taxes these celebrities voluntarily paid amounted to over a billion! Of course, that's a story for another time.
The next morning, Kendall woke up feeling refreshed. It wasn't until she saw the phone notification that she realized the news of her reporting Lily's tax evasion had been exposed.
Although Kendall had filed the report using her real name, the state keeps her information confidential, so the screenshot of the report shared by netizens contained nothing related to her.
Kendall scrolled through her phone while eating breakfast and noticed that the matter was first exposed by several entertainment accounts with a decent number of followers, all posting simultaneously.
It was clearly premeditated. Kendall was amused.
Lily was the quintessential two-faced person, often acting one way in front of people and another behind their backs. Kendall had always thought Lily might suffer a scandal, but she never imagined that a part of the reason for her fall would be herself.
Honestly speaking... this feeling of bringing the truth to light from behind the scenes, it seemed rather nice?
After finishing breakfast, Kendall picked up her already packed luggage and headed out.
The program team had booked Kendall's flight ticket in advance and sent the meeting time and location to her phone.
Kendall now needed to go to the airport and fly to Cronos City to meet up with the program team.
(End of Chapter)