Revenge Begins: Reincarnated as a Hated Idol!-Chapter 72: The Quiet Counterstroke

While netizens questioned his acting ability and behavior on sets, Aren didn’t react in any fashion, only studying the ongoing tactics directed by Titan Crest Entertainment and its PR department.

As for Theon’s post, he simply found him childish.

His obvious remarks might have fooled his fans and other netizens; however, to Aren, his motives were clear. He was trying to get back at Aren.

Aren’s inbox was once again flooded with messages; however, he didn’t even open it to check, already knowing the pattern they would follow.

At this moment, a message from his bank attracted his attention.

Phoenix had transferred his penalty amount.

Now that it was public that Aren and Lisa had been replaced, Phoenix couldn’t delay paying the penalty amount; otherwise, Aren could take the matter to court, delaying the shooting process and ultimately harming Phoenix’s profits.

The crew couldn’t afford to delay shooting now that they had replaced the lead actors from the drama.

After all, there was a schedule set for the release of the drama, and it was supposed to release at the start of summer.

Still, the good news was that there were more than two months left until summer, giving the crew enough time to shoot.

However, if Aren took the matter to court, it would delay the shooting by at least a few weeks, costing the production crew and platform.

They would either need to be hasty in their shooting or would need to postpone the release.

However, postponing the release wasn’t an affordable option for Phoenix because they didn’t have any major show to air in summer other than Symphony of Shadows. If the shooting wasn’t finished on time, they would lose big time.

To not take the risk, Phoenix sent the entire penalty amount at once as mentioned in the contract.

Thus, Aren just received a whopping twenty-five million Siera. (1 Dollar = 10 Siera.)

Aren glanced in Lisa’s direction as she was looking at her phone screen with wide eyes.

"How much did you receive?" Aren inquired.

"Five Million," Lisa turned to Aren and replied, "as mentioned in my contract."

Aren nodded before Lisa asked, "What about you?"

"Twenty-five," Aren smiled humbly.

Lisa’s eyes widened upon hearing that amount.

Only top-tier drama actors charged that high of a salary. You could count on one hand the actors who charged more than that.

To earn this much for a single drama without even shooting for it was insane.

Well, since Livia had negotiated the terms of the contract, she had also added the penalty amount as twenty-five million.

For a lead, that penalty amount was appropriate.

After all, the penalty amount existed to scare the parties from breaking the terms in the contract. If the amount was low, what would even be the use?

For a moment, Aren had the idea of posting the screenshot of the compensation amount on his PulseX account just to disgust and mock Theon and his fans, who were busy lamenting him.

However, he dropped that idea for the bigger picture. He knew he would need the sympathy of getting kicked out of the drama in the near future.

Moreover, by posting the screenshot, Phoenix would get praise for being so fast in paying the penalty, and he didn’t wish for it.

At this moment, his phone rang, displaying Livia’s name on the screen.

Aren picked up the call and listened to Livia’s mature voice, "Aren, why am I hearing about your replacement from social media? Why didn’t you tell me yourself?"

"Hey, it was you who asked to spend some time with your children," Aren protested. "How is it my fault?"

There was silence on the phone for a while.

"Alright, leave it." Livia sighed, "I called you to tell you that Lucian Valcourt has been released."

"I expected that much." Aren glanced briefly in Lisa’s direction and said, "Don’t worry, he won’t be out for long."

"What do you plan on doing?" Livia asked, "From my point of view, the situation doesn’t appear to be in your favor. No one wants to sign you or Lisa; Linda has also left her job. Moreover, I don’t think any news network would air the news or the evidence against Lucian Valcourt. Now, I even think getting involved in Lisa’s mess was a bad decision. You could have had a peaceful rise as an actor in the industry. You had everything—talent, looks, and popularity—but you just had to act like a hero."

Aren knew why she was upset. She had left her job at Titan Crest Entertainment for Aren, thinking that she would have a peaceful time with him, but now Aren’s future looked dark.

If Aren fired her, she would have to join some unknown talent agency and start from the bottom.

Since she had offended Titan Crest Entertainment, she wouldn’t have a peaceful life either.

Therefore, she was more worried about herself than for Aren.

Moreover, since Linda had also lost her job and they were of similar age and friends, she couldn’t help but feel afraid for herself.

"Don’t worry," Aren assured, "I just received twenty-five million as the penalty amount."

Again, the call went silent.

"Uh, good then," Livia coughed. "Let me know if you need anything from me."

"Alr---"

The call ended before Aren could reply, and before he could even lower his phone, another call caused it to ring.

Aren looked at the name and hurriedly picked up the call, bringing the phone to his ear.

"Yes, Linda," he said, "What’s the update?"

He had asked her to arrange a meeting with the owner of Sun News Television yesterday.

"It’s done," Linda informed pridefully. "The meeting will take place tomorrow in the main office of Sun Platform."

The owner of Sun News Television was also the owner of Sun Platform; hence, her office was dedicated to the bigger service among the two aforementioned giants.

Even though Sun News Television was one of the major news networks in the country, it couldn’t compare to the revenue and size of Sun Platform.

"Alright," Aren said, "send me the timings."

As the call ended, his face revealed a victorious smile.

He couldn’t wait to see Iris’s and Neil’s reactions once they realized how deep they were trapped.

-----------------------------------

(A/N - Thanks for reading. ^..^)