Other issues are not major problems; tax issues are the biggest problem.

Mr. Wang is the direct handler of these matters. If something goes wrong with him, the taxes their company evaded will definitely come to light. Hundreds of millions in taxes—if they can't pay them back, he'll be in jail for life!

The agent wiped his face and looked at Mu Yuanchen helplessly: "Brother Chen, if we could find Miss Ji, she could lend a hand, and I wouldn't have had time to come here today."

With such a huge public opinion storm these past few days, if Mu Yuanchen still had even the slightest chance of getting back on his feet, he would be busy online, rallying his fans to clear his name.

Mu Yuanchen paused for a moment, his voice hoarse: "You contacted An'an, and she... she's unwilling to help me?"

The agent shook his head, and before Mu Yuanchen could even breathe a sigh of relief, he continued, "We can't get in touch with Miss Ji at all. The people around her say she's very upset right now, and she cried all night. We don't want her to continue being upset."

The agent sighed, a hint of helplessness in his eyes: "Brother Mu, things have come to this point, what are you still thinking about? If she really wants to help you, who can stop her?"

"Wake up, she's not the innocent, naive princess you imagine. She'll run away faster than anyone else if something happens."

The agent looked at Mu Yuanchen and said, "Brother Mu... sometimes I feel sorry for you. When you met Ji An'an, you were already successful and had everything you needed. If you hadn't been paving the way for her, you wouldn't have made one mistake after another."

"You always said that women in the entertainment industry aren't innocent, and that Ji An'an was like a breath of fresh air. Do you still think that way now?"

Mu Yuanchen's face turned pale, and his expression gradually changed from shock to silence... He wasn't stupid; he knew that Ji An'an had given up on him.

Because he's finished.

At the same time, the agent said one last thing: "Brother Mu, we're finished."

After saying this, the agent got up and left, and Mu Yuanchen was taken back to prison.

After realizing there was no way to turn things around, he remained silent for a long time. Many scenes flashed through his mind: he and his agent were both from ordinary families in a small city, and they had slowly climbed their way up in Beijing through auditions.

He thought of Fang Yuan again, the woman he thought had long since faded from his memory, but now she was vividly alive in his recollections…

Actually, he and Fang Yuan didn't get together after he became famous; they were dating before he became a big star.

Mu Yuanchen couldn't deny that she was a good woman and treated him very well. When he was living in a basement during his most difficult time, she would sell her only ring and eat instant noodles with him.

The glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry, having witnessed too much of it, led him to believe he would always be the high and mighty movie star, unwilling to recall his past hardships. He met Ji An'an and became infatuated with her simplicity and innocence…

Thinking about this, her mind became clearer than ever before. Was she really so naive and innocent? Did she know nothing about Fang Yuan's affairs?

And there's Bai Yan.

Mu Yuanchen felt a headache coming on, and he was filled with regret. If he hadn't met Ji An'an, he might have ended up with Fang Yuan. That woman would never have left him under these circumstances...

When he was abandoned by the person he truly loved during his lowest point, Mu Yuanchen recalled the sincerity he had once had and couldn't help but cry softly, whether for Fang Yuan or for his glorious but now collapsed past.

The public trial ended quickly, but the pressure from public opinion remained, and Mu Yuanchen and his company had indeed evaded a huge amount of taxes. He was convicted of multiple crimes, and when he was released from prison, he was not only over fifty years old but also burdened with enormous debt.

Mu Yuanchen didn't say a word in court. That's it. He should repent.

Before he could even settle into his cell again, a prison guard opened the door and said, "Mu Yuanchen, someone has come to visit you."

As Mu Yuanchen reached the door, he was still wondering if it would be Ji An'an...

Then the person inside turned around, and it was her.

She looked at him with a smile: "You've got nothing left, don't you want to drag a few people down with you?"

...

Bai Yan returned home late at night and was about to go upstairs when she encountered Ji An'an coming down from upstairs.

Ji An'an bit her lip and looked at her: "It's you, isn't it?"

"Yes, I said I would make sure Mu Yuanchen was finished," she admitted directly.

He raised an eyebrow at Ji An'an and asked, "And you, Ji An'an, what else can you do?"

"I doubt anyone would want to cast a risky artist like you in a film."

Bai Yan smiled and walked away from Ji An'an. As she passed her, she whispered, "Unless they acquire Xingyu for your sake, you'll never catch up with me in this lifetime."

Ji An'an clenched her fists and stared intently at Bai Yan's back: Who said she couldn't?

Ji An'an quickly released a video of herself crying and apologizing without makeup. In the video, she claimed that she was unaware of Fang Yuan's existence during her relationship with Mu Yuanchen and was willing to apologize to Fang Yuan's family.

She was sobbing uncontrollably when Bai Ruohan and his son Lin Mingjing emerged from the corner and patted Ji An'an on one shoulder each: "An'an, this has nothing to do with you. You were deceived too."

“Brother…” Ji An’an looked up with her tear-reddened eyes: “Don’t say that, he’s already…”

"Oh, you're always so kind."

Ji An'an apologized, but few netizens accepted it.

Ji An'an and Mu Yuanchen are too closely linked. Not long ago, before Mu Yuanchen got into trouble, Ji An'an even called on her fans to believe in Mu Yuanchen with her.

Now they've become the deceived victims who know nothing about it.

Some netizens didn't believe it, and some of Mu Yuanchen's die-hard fans became Ji An'an's haters, tearing each other apart on the real-time public square with her name on it.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!