DOS Ch-348

NovaKnight: While I totally hate that someone violated Troy’s privacy, you can’t deny his kids are way too cute. I want a set of my own.

SereneDreamer: I’m arguably Troy’s number one fan, but even I cringed when I heard him singing about Scarlett’s private parts. Some things should remain private.

LunaBliss: I don’t know, I kinda liked that song. It was a little crass, but Troy has such a clean, godly image that he almost feels human now that he’s messed things up with the pussy song. I think he should release a full, unedited version of it.

FireStarter12: Why, God, why? How is it possible that someone hacked Scarlett’s phone and there are no nudes of Troy in it? That’s just not fair.

PatAttack: Ikr! As soon as I heard about the leaks, I was hoping for something spicy, and all I got was a cringeworthy pussy song I could honestly do without.

TinFoilHatExpert: I have a strong suspicion that Troy or Scarlett deliberately leaked that content. They sprinkled in some cringey stuff to make us believe it wasn’t planned. But if you look at the bigger picture, it all seems orchestrated. [HP7] and [Black Swan] are both up for Oscars this year, and now they can portray themselves as victims.

VickyW76: Is there a way to block @TinFoilHatExpert from this community forever? Troy literally has like half a dozen Oscars. He doesn’t need anymore.

TinFoilHatExpert: @VickyW76 FYI, I’m a big Troy fan as well. He’s my king of entertainment. I watch all his films and listen to all his songs as soon as they’re out, and he’s yet to disappoint me. I just happen to be a skeptic. Just because I love Troy doesn’t make me blind to the fact that he’s a celeb, and celebs do these kinds of things. I’m totally fine with it as long as he doesn’t commit a crime.

VickyW76: I don’t believe that, but whatever helps you sleep at night.

TroyStan4ever: Holy shit! The hacker just released more stuff! It isn’t just Scarlett’s phone anymore; it looks like Troy’s personal emails are dating back years. I found this really juicy one where he tells Woody Allen that Phoenix won’t ever work with him.

SereneDreamer: What the fuck!? When will this man get a break? (BTW, I’m glad Troy isn’t just empty words and is actually following through on his beliefs.)

TroyStan4ever: There’s more! I’m 99% sure Troy had something to do with Harvey Weinstein’s downfall as well, because he exchanged emails with Rose McGowan before she spoke out. She also said she had a mysterious benefactor who funded her sting operations. And we all know Troy is LOADED. These are the only two worthwhile things I could find right now.

PatAttack: I’m speechless. I never imagined Troy would be involved in something this big and still choose to remain silent.

TinFoilHatExpert: But he didn’t remain silent eventually, did he? This just proves my point that Troy likely released these files himself. It gives him great PR.

LunaBliss: @TinFoilHatExpert If Troy wanted good PR so badly, why the hell would he hide these news items at all?

SereneDreamer: Holy shit! I can’t believe what I just read. According to this email, Troy and some unnamed insider seem to be behind the whole Honours Row as well, which led to the arrest of former Prince Andrew. I respect him for this, but there’s no way in hell he’d want this to come to light. This is a real leak for sure.

MidnightVerse: Just when I thought Troy couldn’t get any better, he turns out to be not the Joker, but a real-life Batman who fights the rich and corrupt from the shadows. Hats off to my man. #RealHeroesDontWearCapes.

(Break)

“We’re fucked, Troy!” William cursed on the other end of the phone. “We’re so fucked, it’s not even funny.”

“Calm down, will you?” I said firmly. “Everything’s under control. Your name hasn’t been revealed yet, and it won’t come out. I’ll take the full brunt of the reaction, good and bad.”

“It’s gonna be bad,” he muttered. “The Crown is planning to sue you for misuse of your power, money, and influence. They may cut you a deal if you give me up, the traitor in their midst.”

I shrugged, even though William couldn’t see me. “As I said before, don’t worry. I’ll handle it. They can’t incarcerate me without consequences for the people. I’ll threaten to move all of Phoenix’s subsidiaries out of the UK if they even think about prosecuting me. And I’ll inform the PM. The public is on my side. They won’t be able to do anything to me.”

“I hope that’s the case,” William muttered before ending the call.

I sighed deeply and threw my phone against the wall opposite me. Unfortunately for my anger, my custom phone was built tougher than a Nokia 3310, so it was mostly unharmed. The same couldn’t be said about the wall, though.

“That bad, huh?” Scarlett muttered before closing the distance between us and pulling me into a tight hug.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured against my neck. “It’s all because of me. If I had just listened to you and changed my phone, we wouldn’t be facing this right now.”

I sighed again and gently pulled away. “It’s not your fault, Scar. We can’t blame the victim for something bad happening to them. Sure, it could’ve been avoided, but you didn’t know how far things could go. Neither did I. When I asked you to change phones, I just didn’t want you using an iPhone.”

She still didn’t meet my eyes when she asked, “Would you get arrested if you went to the UK now?”

I scoffed at the idea. “A single email chain doesn’t prove anything. I was very careful with my wording. While it’s obvious what really happened, if you read the messages, it mostly sounds like speculation. And no one knows who my source is. Not even you. And they’ll never find out. At most, they’ll act like they’re trying to arrest me for appearances before my lawyers get me out.”

I may be displaying a calm exterior, but deep down, I was worried. No one could say for sure how things would turn out in the end. When I realized my email ID was compromised, it became clear that this was a real possibility, that the man would release all my emails for the world to see. Now more than ever, it was imperative that I find him and make his life a living hell.

“What about all the other news about you?” Scarlett asked after a few moments. “Like Weinstein or Woody?”

I shook my head. “My best defense right now is to flat-out refuse to answer any questions about my involvement in these ‘scandals.’ The more people doubt the story, the less time it’ll stay in the news.”

Scarlett looked skeptical, but didn’t argue, which I was very thankful for. I wasn’t entirely sure myself if what I was saying was true, but that’s what my lawyers strongly believed, so I was inclined to trust them.

(Break)

~Now, I know we said things, did things that we didn’t mean
And we fall back into the same patterns, same routine
But your temper’s just as bad as mine is, you’re the same as me
When it comes to love, you’re just as blinded, baby, please
Come back, it wasn’t you, baby, it was me
Maybe our relationship isn’t as crazy as it seems
Maybe that’s what happens when a tornado meets a volcano
All I know is I love you too much to walk away though
Come inside, pick up your bags off the sidewalk
Don’t you hear sincerity in my voice when I talk?
Told you this is my fault, look me in the eyeball
Next time I’m pissed, I’ll aim my fist at the drywall
Next time? There won’t be no next time
I apologize, even though I know it’s lies
I’m tired of the games, I just want her back, I know I’m a liar
If she ever tries to fuckin’ leave again, I’ma tie her
To the bed and set this house on fire~

The moment I stopped singing/rapping, cheers filled the recording booth.

“Bravo!” Douglas, my record producer, said happily. “That was undoubtedly some of your finest work, Troy.”

“Thanks, Doug.” I inclined my head in acknowledgment before turning to the girl I hadn’t properly seen in a while. Rihanna looked as radiant and beautiful as ever in the studio, dressed in a casual T-shirt and jeans. “Thanks, Ri, for doing this.”

“The pleasure’s all mine,” Rihanna waved off my gratitude. “In fact, thank you for agreeing to do this with me despite everything…”

“It’s ancient history now. Forget about it. But there’s one thing I need to talk to you about. The music video.”

“What about it?”

“We can’t shoot the video together. Only one of us can be present in it at any given time. I had this great idea for the song. Since it’s about a toxic relationship, I want the relationship between the couple to be physically toxic. I can’t do that with you.”

She laughed. “Oh, come on. We shot ‘We Found Love,’ didn’t we? That was so much fun.”

It was. I remembered those times. Unfortunately, I remembered them a little too well. While I wouldn’t cheat on Scarlett, I didn’t even want to risk the temptation. Making out with a stranger for a role was one thing, but my ex-girlfriend was different. Now, how to tell that to her without hurting her feelings?

“I don’t want people to think our relationship was toxic. We may not have ended things on the best terms, but I really appreciate what we had because it helped me grow as a person.”

“Me too,” she said with a smile.

I heaved a sigh of relief internally before saying, “We have three options now. One, you shoot it with another actor. Two, I shoot it with another actress. Or three, we let two different actors shoot it and stay out of the video altogether.”

She thought for a moment. “I’m not a very good actress, so you should shoot it with someone else. Heck, you can even do it with Scarlett if you want. It would be kind of cool.”

That wasn’t a bad idea. If I had to portray a physically passionate relationship with someone, I’d rather do it with the one woman I wouldn’t mind sharing those moments with.

“I’ll talk to her about it,” I promised. “If she agrees, I’ll shoot it with her.”

Rihanna nodded, and for a minute, we had nothing to say. The rest of the group had slowly left by then, leaving me alone with her.

“Are you okay, Troy?” she finally asked, her voice quiet. “With the leaks and everything.”

I waved off her concern. “Everything will be fine. It’s just a minor hiccup, all things considered.”

She gave me a teasing grin at my confident tone. “You’ve turned into a real knight in shining armor. Epstein, Weinstein, Woody Allen, Prince Andrew… which other predator have you made life difficult for?”

I laughed at the joke before saying, “Well, there was this gang operating out of the UK made up of Pakistani men who used to groom young girls and then do unspeakable things to them. Sooner or later, when people go through all my emails, they’ll find out I was the one who gave directions to my foundation on how to handle it.”

Rihanna’s eyes widened. “You were behind that? That was in the news for so long, even in the States!” Her brows furrowed. “This could cause serious backlash. People could call you out for racism against brown people.”

“Not all brown people. Only those who were raping young girls,” I added as a reminder. “The race, gender, sexuality, all those are irrelevant here. If you are a criminal, you should be treated like one. I don’t fucking care about my image in the middle of something this big.”

I might’ve said that, but deep down I knew she was right, and I’d have to do some damage control. Ideologically, I know I’m correct, but people wouldn’t see it that way. Those against me would latch onto anything to paint me as a villain, even when I was doing the right thing. Racism was the easiest way to destroy someone’s image. As soon as I’m done with [Hacksaw Ridge], I’ll think of something to rectify that.

“I’ll have to go,” I said as the thought struck me. “I have a war film to shoot soon, and I’m prepping for it with a proper army boot camp.”

“All the best,” she said as I left her behind.

This was something I was doing partly to get into the character’s head, and partly because I wanted to think about anything other than the leaks.

(Break)

BrokenHalo88: Till yesterday, I respected Troy Armitage a lot as an actor and singer. A small part of me even resented him for making so much money out of the subprime crisis and monopolizing entertainment with Phoenix. But after reading his emails, I’ve come to admire him not just as a celebrity, but as a human being. To those of you unaware of his contributions to our society, here’s a small list:

• He caught predators like Weinstein, Epstein, and Prince Andrew
• He runs an organization that goes after other unknown predators and child grooming gangs
• He hosts huge charity dinners for the homeless at every big occasion, be it Thanksgiving, Christmas, or St. Patrick’s.
• He personally donated more than $3 billion to build houses and create jobs, something no other billionaire has ever done
• All this while never overtly advertising what he does for society

We don’t deserve people like Troy Armitage. I really hope the Nobel Prize committee considers him for next year’s award ceremony.

NovaKnight: If all this had been done by anyone other than Troy, they would’ve gladly taken all the credit. Troy actively told others to take credit for his deeds, which makes me respect him a lot. Hats off to him for being a decent human being, not just a very rich person.

LunaBliss: I still can’t get over the fact that Troy sang such a perverted song for Scarlett, but apart from that, he’s just perfect. Scarlett has hit the jackpot with him. *sigh* Why is there only one of him in the world?

(Break)

“Please don’t sue Troy,” William implored his father. “Dad, please tell them not to do it. It’ll be very bad press for the Crown and the British government.”

Prince Charles shook his head. “My hands are tied, son. I may be the Crown Prince, but only your grandmother has a say in how to handle this.”

“Then talk to her!” William raised his voice more than he usually did. “I’m not saying this just because I’m on friendly terms with Troy. Go on the internet, and you’ll find that most people are rallying behind his actions. If the government or the Crown sues him, it’ll be a catastrophe. And Troy isn’t someone you can handle quietly. He’ll make a lot of noise going down.”

Charles sighed. “This doesn’t concern us, Will, so let things play out on their own. And they do need to find that traitor who’s been feeding information to Troy.”

William took a deep breath before saying, “What if I were that traitor?”

The moment he said it, he regretted it, but he knew he couldn’t take his words back now.

Charles’s eyes widened when he heard that. “Are you really?”

“I couldn’t let that rapist be associated with the Crown that you’ll inherit one day. I had to do something when no one else would.”

Charles remained silent for a long time after hearing that revelation, showing no outward reaction at all. William absolutely hated it when his father became like that. After a full minute, he finally spoke again.

“I’ll talk to Mother,” he said quietly. “You will not speak of what you’ve just told me in front of anyone. Ever. Is that clear?”

William felt like a small child again as he nodded. “Yes, Father.”

“Good.”

With that said, Charles turned around and left the room.

Only then did William heave a sigh of relief. Troy may have assured him that he wouldn’t out William’s involvement in the scandal, and he knew Troy wouldn’t backstab him, but he wanted to help, even if just a little.