Some of the fans from the rivals were inferring that Taylor had come to a point where he couldnât even afford ten million. She didnât know where they found it, but they managed to find the photos taken on the set when he was filming âDoctor Invincibleâ where he seemed extremely depressed with messy hair, dirty clothes, and his slightly protruding belly.
The photo was used in the article to make a fuss, saying that after offending most of the entertainment industry, the former middle-aged superstar had become devastated with no roles to play.
And youâre telling me that people actually believed all these? she thought. That was the sad truth however, because as soon as the materials came out, Taylorâs ranking had dropped to the twentieth place. Harry was almost the same. He was barely hanging at the tenth place, and he might fall out any time.
This just went to show how terrifying online slandering could be for Michaelâs ranking to drop so much overnight.
These people wanted to become famous, so they tried to sabotage Taylorâs popularity.
As Michaelâs fan, Sophia was getting so anxious as she scrolled around the discussion section on Twitter. She really wanted to tell everyone that she was Taylorâs wife and Tay Tay had been living a very good life.
She was so anxious that she was seething with anger. On the other hand, Michael was leisurely looking at the mirror, adjusting his hair.
The universityâs professional skills competitions would be held on this day. Many parents would be attending and as Sophiaâs husband, Michael felt he was obliged to attend as her only âparentâ.
Bayside University always had a tradition of wearing school uniforms. Recently, the uniforms were distributed.
Michael had donned Bayside Universityâs uniform, and with his inch long hair, a black satchel and white sport shoes, he looked just like any ordinary student.
When Michael played Doctor Invincible, he was completely unburdened with the need of maintaining his good looks. He was fine with shaving his head, âdisfiguringâ his face, and gaining weight, because the roleâs image during his depressed days was a fat middle-age man. In order to ensure a realistic effect where his belly was hanging over the belt, not only did he get a tan, he ate a bunch of junk food to grow his belly.
However, after the filming was done, he quickly lost weight and his eight-pack abs were visible again. He even became fairer, and his chiselled facial features were completely different from the fat middle-aged men whose features were miserable-looking in the film.
This was the quality of a true actor. In reality, Michael was very handsome, but in the movies, he was able to portray the image of any role. If he was requested to be a depressed middle-aged man, he could become that very being.
Meanwhile, there were also other so-called âpopular artistsâ who couldnât get into character.
Thus, this was the difference between a true actor and a so-called popular artist.
However, Michael normally kept a really low-profile. He usually didnât reveal his private life online.
Occasionally, he would post a photo on set without him in it, causing people to think he had really offended the bigshots in the industry. This was the reason why his image as an male idol had started to decline, and many fans had stopped supporting him all of a sudden.
While reading about the fansâ rivalry on the Internet with her phone, Sophia peeked at Michael, who was sitting beside her.
Each time Sophia peeked at him, she would exclaim silently, Ah, my Tay Tay is so handsome! How in the world could anyone be so handsome?! He is so handsome and charming, so why would anyone want to slander him?! Even if he was a pervert, he doesnât deserve to be slandered. After all, he is so handsome!
Michael wore a black wig. Some of his original hair was poking out and the colors appeared as embellishments for his look. It made him look really young, and he even seemed to be younger than Stanley.
After he was satisfied with his looks, he turned on his phone and started taking selfies.
Upon seeing that, Sophia leaned over quietly and sneaked herself into the frame. In a while, more than a dozen photos were taken.
Meanwhile, Nathan, who had been sitting quietly in front of them, couldnât bear to watch. What an eyesore! Thereâs a kid here, mind you guys! he thought.
As the car arrived at Bayside University, Sophia put away her phone and got out of the car along with Michael. Somehow, he found a bicycle and waved to Sophia. âChica, get on.â
Sophia hopped on the back of the bicycle elegantly, then Michael rode away, blending into a group of young couples cycling in the campus; he didnât look out of place at all.
Meanwhile, Nathan was left behind, looking like a resentful child, and he was escorted by Gary to the School of Computer Science.
Sophia was sitting on the bicycle, while Michael cycled through the schoolâs boulevard. The trees were green and new branches were growing; even the breeze smelled nice.
Wherever Sophiaâs idol was, the air would be nice and sweet!
The competition on this day was about a variety of professional skills, such as cash-counting, abacus arithmetics, identifying counterfeit money and so on. Sophia could only participate in one of them, which was the cash-counting competition.
The competition was held in an amphitheater, and over ten tables were arranged on the stage for the competition.
At the moment, the hall that could accommodate over a hundred people was already full. Parents, students, and people from other departments were there to watch the competition.
Sophia and Michael walked in hand in hand. Initially, she was worried that someone would recognize her idol and cause a commotion, but upon entering the hall, she realized she had been thinking too much.
Michael had a pair of big sunglasses on, so he did not seem to have caused any commotion, and no one recognized him at all. Who would have expected that the tanned, depressed, outdated and middle-aged actor, Taylor would actually be wearing a school uniform and sitting in Bayside Universityâs lecture hall?
All these years, Michael had maintained his looks, so he didnât look old. On this day, he was full of youth and vigor, looking no different from other students.
This was a school-wide event, so Sophia bumped into many of her classmates upon entering the hall.
Seeing Sophia and a boy entering hand in hand, everyone acted as if they had discovered a big news, and they began to gather round her.
âSophia! Who is this?â A group of girls was extremely curious.
Michael was wearing sunglasses and a school uniform. On his neck was a pendant that was similar to Sophiaâs. The two looked like a perfect match, and they were obviously a young couple.
Michael introduced himself freely. âNice to meet you. My name is Michael. I am Sophiaâs boyfriend.â
The girls didnât even doubt him. Everyone in class knew Stanley was pursuing Sophia, but they didnât expect Sophia to have a boyfriend already.
Everyone was very curious about Sophiaâs âfamily memberâ. âWow, you look like Taylor Murray!â
âWhat major are you studying?â
âWhy are you wearing sunglasses?â
Michael answered the questions skillfully, âI am from the School of Cinematography, and I am colorblind.â
Sophia was incredibly worried that Michael would be recognized, but throughout the process, he was actually hiding it very well and he managed to answer all the questions perfectly.
Before the competition began, everyone was chatting together. Many of Sophiaâs classmates were Taylorâs fans, and they had been paying attention to his news lately. The focus of the conversations had turned toward the huge scale of slander materials that were circulating on the Internet recently.
A student exclaimed, âI donât know who Taylor offended, but it seems like everyone is taking advantage of his downfall. Today, I saw someone saying that he is refusing to return the money he borrowed. I heard there will be more insights coming in.â
âReally, I didnât expect that he is actually that kind of person. He even molested female actresses. We might know him on the outside, but not on the inside! What a disgusting scumbag he is!â
âThe male idol of the past has eventually met his downfall.â
âBeauty fades, I guess⦠On the other hand, I think Nicholas Yates is pretty handsome. He has the looks of Taylor Murray when he was young!â