Possessed No More: The True Star Returns to Claim Her Throne-Chapter 43: Waking Up

Samuel Hughes’s hands were still outstretched, his voice trembling. "Don’t touch her! Don’t touch her, you might injure her further! Quick, quick, call 911!"

"Where’s the on-set medic? Get over here and take a look!"

"Riley, Riley, can you hear me?"

Riley Perry continued to feign unconsciousness. ’I just fell from five or six meters up. It would be weird if I was totally fine.’ 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Just then, the crew had lowered Felix Sherman to the ground. His voice was laced with ice. "Director, call the police. Both of the steel cables on Riley’s wire harness show signs of being deliberately cut. We can’t let the culprit get away with this."

The set was in chaos. As soon as he was down, he went to inspect the wire harness Riley had used. The steel cables hadn’t been completely severed, but it was clear they had been sliced with a sharp tool. ’This was premeditated murder!’

A fall from five or six meters... if she had landed on her head, not even a Daluo Golden Immortal could have saved her.

Director Miles looked miserable. ’What have I done to deserve this?’ This movie, *Immortal Demon Tribulation*, was truly his own personal tribulation. It had barely started filming after countless setbacks. Then, once production began, Starmaker Entertainment had its scandal, leading to a casting shake-up. Just when it seemed like they were finally getting back on schedule, this had to happen!

But what else could he do? Call the police!

Someone on set had already called 911 right after Riley’s accident. The hospital wasn’t far, and the ambulance was already pulling up.

Riley Perry was lifted onto a stretcher by the paramedics and taken away in the ambulance. Rocco went with her to the hospital. The police arrived as well, and after inspecting the scene, they took the relevant personnel in for questioning.

With sirens wailing, two emergency vehicles had arrived. This couldn’t be kept under wraps. Rocco quickly recounted the events to Justin Locke, whose face fell upon hearing the news. "How is she?"

Rocco replied, "She’s undergoing tests. She’s still unconscious. The doctor said there are no broken bones, but she might have a concussion. Gary Lewis should have a recording of it. You can contact him if you need the video."

Justin Locke frowned at the news she was still unconscious, but he also felt a flicker of relief that she hadn’t broken any bones and only had a concussion. "Stay there and keep a close eye on her. Contact me immediately if anything changes."

After hanging up, Justin Locke immediately contacted Gary Lewis, who sent the video over. "Boss, what’s the plan?"

"We’re going to blow this thing wide open, of course."

Her harness wires were cut. This was attempted murder!

The production team may have called the police, but they’d probably try to hush it up—just go through the motions at the station and let it die down. It wouldn’t be the first time something like this has happened.

Hanging up, he opened a group chat for industry whistleblowers and sent the video. He typed: "Latest scoop. Trouble on Samuel Hughes’s set. You all know what to do, right?"

Of course, the whistleblowers knew what to do. Samuel Hughes was at the absolute top of the entertainment industry pyramid. His Weibo follower count was well over a hundred million. Any hashtag related to him would shoot to the top of the trending list in minutes!

For major media accounts like theirs, that meant money!

’The boss is incredible, getting his hands on such a juicy scoop. He’s going to make a killing!’

After that, Justin Locke switched to his "water army" group chat. "Got a job for you. Riley Perry’s wire harness was cut while she was filming an action scene. I need all of you to flood the comments later, demanding the culprit be severely punished."

A string of two-word replies filled the chat below: "Got it."

Next, he opened a group chat for the heads of Riley Perry’s fan clubs. This group consisted of her most dedicated fans, each of whom managed several other fan groups. Justin Locke had long since paid his way to the top and was now a major fan leader himself.

Riley’s The Best: Our Little Fairy Riley had an accident on set! Her harness was tampered with—both steel cables snapped, and she fell from high up. She’s been taken to the hospital. Everyone, go to the show’s official blog and demand an explanation for our Little Fairy!

[What? Someone tried to hurt our Riley? I curse their entire family line!]

Riley’s The Best: Everyone, watch your wording. We’re only demanding an explanation, not attacking the production team. Our Riley still has to go back and finish filming, so we can’t burn any bridges!

A stream of "Got it" messages followed.

And so, less than an hour after the incident, four hashtags shot to the top of the trending list: #RileyPerryInjuredOnSet, #ImmortalDemonTribulationProductionCallsPolice, #RileyPerryFallAccidentOrFoulPlay?, and #WhoCutTheWires?.

The official blog for *Immortal Demon Tribulation* was flooded with comments asking about Riley Perry’s condition.

The fans were very level-headed. All they wanted was a response from the production team, asking questions like, "How is she?" "Is the injury serious?" and "Have they caught the person who did this?"

These fans were remarkably well-behaved, which left a great impression on the general public. After years of being disgusted by the typically rabid behavior of other fanbases, encountering such a rational group was a breath of fresh air in the world of fandom.

With fans this reasonable, people thought, the celebrity herself couldn’t be too bad.

And just like that, Riley Perry gained another wave of fans.

...

By now, Riley’s phone had been ringing so much that the battery died. Fortunately, after all her tests were complete, she finally "woke up." She put on a show of being nauseous and gagging, which led the doctors to confirm their diagnosis: soft tissue contusions and a concussion. The doctors were all amazed. To fall from that height and only suffer a mild concussion was nothing short of a miracle!

Riley had Rocco buy a charger. As soon as she plugged her phone in and it powered on, it erupted in a cacophony of dings and chimes. Once it finally fell silent, she picked it up for a look.

She had missed calls from her family and a few people from the cast and crew she was friendly with. She decided to just post on Weibo: "Thank you to all my friends and fans for your concern. I’m okay now, I just need a few days of rest before I can leave the hospital."

After posting, she finally called home.

The call connected quickly. The woman on the other end spoke in a low, restrained voice. "Hello, Riley."

"Mom, why are you speaking so quietly?"

The voice on the other end turned passive-aggressive. "Isn’t it because you told us we were too coarse and that we shouldn’t contact you, lest we embarrass you? If I hadn’t seen online that you’d been in an accident, I wouldn’t have bothered calling you!"

Riley gritted her teeth. ’This is all that impostor’s fault. She completely broke my mother’s heart.’

Right now, she wanted nothing more than to drag that fake out and rip her to shreds. This was exactly why she hadn’t dared to contact her family first. The impostor had shattered the hearts of all three of them. They had sacrificed so much for her, yet the fake hadn’t given them a second thought. Who wouldn’t hold a grudge after that?

"Mom... I was wrong," she said, her voice turning sweet and pleading. "You’re the bigger person, please don’t be mad at me. From now on, you can call me whenever you want. I’d love for you to nag me every single day."

On the other end of the line, Ruby Marshall, who had just finished dressing and was about to rush to the airport, froze mid-motion. Her daughter sounded... different today. It was as if she had become a different person, changing back to the daughter she used to be.

’Or maybe,’ she thought, ’I’m just imagining things?’