"I was just joking. Lily Sterling is in high demand right now; she obviously doesn’t need to resort to these kinds of stunts for publicity." Paige Parrish feigned innocence as she looked at Lily Sterling, her expression one of someone enjoying a good show. "Don’t mind me, Lily."
Others at the event were also eager to see Lily make a fool of herself. One of them chimed in, "Well, whatever the case, after this whole commotion, Lily Sterling is guaranteed to be trending. It’ll definitely be the top headline tomorrow."
Lily’s mind was in turmoil. She didn’t care whether she was trending or not; she just wanted to figure out what was going on.
A comforting weight settled on her shoulder. Lily turned her head and saw it was Yuna.
Yuna Sutton smiled faintly and whispered in a gentle voice, "This doesn’t seem like something your company would have arranged. But we can’t rule out the possibility that someone is deliberately using a look-alike to stir up trouble, or... that there’s some other hidden story."
"Don’t panic. Just get through the rest of the event as planned, and then you can deal with this."
Lily was far more mature and mentally resilient than when she had first started in the industry. And with her sister backing her up, she was no longer afraid of any unexpected crisis.
"I understand. Thank you, Yuna."
Outside the venue’s entrance, the two people claiming to be Lily Sterling’s father and sister had been removed by security, but they refused to give up and kept trying to push their way back inside.
"What do you think you’re doing? I’m Lily Sterling’s father! You can’t treat me like this!"
The man kept repeating his claim, but the guards paid him no mind—or if they heard, they didn’t believe him. They were just following their orders.
"It takes all kinds. Doesn’t even take a look at himself before running here to claim he’s related to a celebrity," one of the guards sneered. He then warned sternly, "Try to force your way in again and see what happens!"
"No, listen..."
"Dad!" The young woman beside him tugged on his arm and shook her head. "Forget it. There are too many of them. We can’t force our way in."
"Then what’s the plan? We came all this way."
The man was unwilling to give up. He had finally gotten so close to Lily; they were just one step away from reconnecting.
"Dad, is Lily Sterling really my sister?"
"Tch. Why are you still asking that at a time like this?" the man said with conviction. "She absolutely is. I looked it up. She grew up in Veridia. Back then, your mother and I abandoned her in a park in Veridia."
"You two were born one right after the other. You’re just ten minutes older. Your grandfather was disgusted that you were both girls and didn’t even bother to name you. Your mother and I aren’t educated, so in the end, the doctor gave you your names. You were named Tanya Hughes, and she was named Josephine Hughes."
Hearing this, Tanya Hughes held up a hand, gesturing for her father to stop. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard this story.
Her parents had wanted to try for a son, so they felt they had to give up one of the girls. Her younger sister had been born weighing less than six and a half pounds, tiny and frail. They assumed she would be sickly and difficult to raise, so they abandoned her.
If the two sisters hadn’t looked so alike, and if her younger sister hadn’t become a top celebrity, they probably would have gone their whole lives without ever knowing she was still alive.
The whole family had assumed she’d probably starved to death on a park bench long ago.
"Tanya, you saw her just now, didn’t you?" The man grabbed his daughter’s hand, his voice filled with excitement. "You two look even more alike in person, don’t you?"
"But what good does that do? She doesn’t recognize us at all."
"So what if she doesn’t? Blood is blood, that doesn’t change. Our family’s blood runs through her veins. Worst case, we’ll just get a DNA test!"
"So, did you find out where she lives in Lorcain?"
"No. Lorcain is huge. Where am I supposed to look?"
Tanya Hughes thought for a moment, then had an idea. "It doesn’t matter if we don’t know her address. We can easily find out where her management agency is. We can go look for her there."
"That’s my smart Tanya! We’ll go tomorrow, then!" After saying that, the man’s expression turned troubled. "But where are we going to stay tonight?"
"Let’s just stay at the station again. Hotels in Lorcain are so expensive. A single night costs a fortune!"
Cecilia Sterling was at home, cooking chicken breast for Yoda, when she found out.
"What?"
Connie was on the other end of the line. "That’s the situation. Since it was a live broadcast, it’ll be hard to suppress the trending topics. The story is already blowing up. Miss Sterling, do you know anything about this? About your father, and a twin sister who looks exactly like Lily?"
"How is that possible? That’s ridiculous!" Cecilia Sterling denied it instantly. "My dad died a long time ago, and Lily doesn’t have a twin sister. I’m her only sister. This is absolutely impossible."
"Then it’s likely a deliberate setup. The company will do everything in its power to handle this. Please don’t worry, Miss Sterling."
Cecilia Sterling thought the whole thing was utterly absurd. After hanging up, she immediately opened X.
Sure enough, related topics had already shot to the top of the trending list. And although fans from the support club organized by Jared Keaton were already flooding the comment sections to control the narrative, some users remained skeptical and believed Lily Sterling was lying.
But Cecilia, who had initially dismissed the whole affair, was stunned when she saw the livestream footage. The girl looked like she and Lily had been cast from the very same mold!
If she passed her on the street, she would have mistaken her for Lily without a second thought.
A strange feeling suddenly welled up inside her, but Cecilia Sterling quickly calmed herself and pushed it down.
’It has to be a coincidence,’ she thought. ’I won’t believe it. My own sister—the little sister I’ve taken care of for as long as I can remember—can’t possibly be someone else’s sister!’
The livestream was still going, and thanks to the trending topic, viewership for the brand’s event had skyrocketed. The live comments were flooded with users asking about the incident.
When Cecilia Sterling tuned into the livestream, it was already the final segment.
All the celebrity guests were about to take the stage for a group photo. The brand representative even made a point to run over and ask Lily Sterling, "Lily, do you still want to participate in the final segment? You don’t have to if you don’t want to."
The buzz she had brought to the event had already far exceeded their expectations, so considering the sudden turn of events, the brand representatives told her it was fine if she didn’t go on stage.
But Lily Sterling didn’t hesitate. "I’m fine. It’s okay. This whole thing was fabricated out of thin air anyway."
If she were to skip the final group photo, it would only make her look guiltier.
In the end, everyone took the stage together. Following the position Yuna had told her, Lily Sterling walked toward the spot to Yuna Sutton’s left. But unexpectedly, Paige Parrish, who was next to her, took a large step forward and snatched the spot, then feigned ignorance as she smiled for the cameras, completely ignoring Lily Sterling.
The other celebrities only paid attention to the person standing next to them, so everyone to Paige Parrish’s left stood in their assigned spots.
There were no other spots left for Lily Sterling. She could either move to the very edge of the group or push Paige Parrish aside in front of the cameras and everyone to reclaim her rightful place.