Chapter 49.

La La Land had been out for three weeks now, and it had already grossed more than $300 million. The hype kept increasing and there was no sign of it calming down soon. Which left all the participants singing a happy tune, and had also helped revive musical movies.

Ian Renner felt extra happy and felt like the entire world had become brighter and shinier. He greeted Mason's assistant and went inside with a huge smile. He was planning to start Lucifer as soon as possible due to the increasing hype all around the media. In fact, he came to meet Mason to talk about it.

"Good morning, uncle. Have you seen the numbers?" Ian asked with a huge smile.

"I don't know about numbers, but I see some letters," Mason said and huffed in disapproval.

"What?" Ian asked and got closer to him while trying to see what he was talking about.

'_Ian Renner is RACIST?_' The headlines read and Ian's eyes widened in horror. On the other hand, Mason was sweating and furious about the article. He has read every single word before coming to the studio in the morning, and in fact, every passing second ruined and worsened his day more and more. Mason was extra happy all these weeks, but the news came like a stab in the back from your closest friend, and that was how much it hurt.

_Ian Renner is a RACIST?_

Ian Renner, the famous young director who everyone calls a young wonderful director, was someone who should not be called wonderful and shouldn't be loved by anyone. Of course, his movies 'might' be good for the fans, but the Ian Renner who we found while digging into his old little dark past, is someone who should be in jail.

This story might change your perspective on him. Let's get into it.

"What the fuck is this, uncle?" Ian shouted without reading further.

"Stay right where you are and read everything, this is insane!" Mason was angry and disappointed, not with Ian but with what was written.

… Five years ago, in 2013, Ian Renner had gotten into a massive fight with a 'Black' American. It has been said and proved that Ian Renner punched the guy, and then kept throwing fists at him for no specific reason, but what more can we expect?

'Marine Divine' club is popular for the country's rich to have fun and enjoy themselves in. But what would happen when someone like Ian Renner joins in to fight and create racist fights out of nowhere. How would this affect his reputation?

Francis Malubi Boye is a 36 year old man with two daughters who came to live in the US seven years ago. The story he told us changed so many thoughts about Ian Renner and when he showed proof, it shocked us even more. At the side you will see the bruised Francis from Ian's punches. As the date goes back to 07.14.2013.

[A picture of Francis with a bloody nose and a broken jaw]

"Ian Renner punched me and tried to kill me. That day I was just serving at the nightclub, like any waiter would do and this man who was with a bunch of girls came towards me and punched my face. Everyone at that time said it was out of racism and it has been haunting me since back then.

This Ian Renner, who everyone loves, doesn't deserve any of the respect he has been getting recently. Talent and skill don't complete a human unless they also have good morals and inner-self. If he is someone who defines the worth of a human by their skin color, is he even worthy to be enjoying all these privileges?

I don't like to bad-mouth people, but that day, he didn't just insult my race, he also crushed my dignity and self-respect. I couldn't go anywhere around the club now knowing that incident happened, and on the same night, I couldn't answer my daughters questions about why I was hurt. I want nothing but for people like Ian to understand that… No matter how tall you stand, or how good you appeared to the public, if you're a monster inside, you are nothing but that."

Francis had teary eyes while talking to us about the incident. Is this how the US serves people's rights?

The lawyer, Marina Bonk once said that "In America, it is legal to hold any belief, and it is legal to discuss and promote any belief. That includes racism.

However, it is not necessarily legal to act on any belief you hold. Thus, in America, it is illegal to fire an employee or turn away a customer based on their race; even expressing racist ideas may be illegal in a workplace if it drives out employees of certain races. Something that is already a crime—like assault, terroristic threats, arson, rape, or murder—may be punished more severely if it is motivated by racism (this makes it a "hate crime"). And it is illegal for the government to deny legal rights based on race.

So being a racist is not a crime in the United States, but acting racist sometimes is."

If it is true… How would someone provide justice for something like that? The hidden got revealed. Now we would wait to see what the higher authorities do about this. Or at least, how the reaction of the public who adored Ian would be knowing all this.

—Written and Edited by Arthur MJ.

The 'PM TIMES' newspaper has this whole article written in black letters on the second page.

"Did you do something like that, Ian?" Mason asked but was looking much calmer now, seated in front of Ian. "Maybe when you were drunk?"

Ian stood up and walked to the corner of the room. Standing there, he tried to bring back the memories of the previous soul. Closing his eyes, he thought hard about it and his head started suddenly aching, bringing him so many memories from that day.

[Inside Ian's mind]

The day was July 14th, 2013. Ian was somewhat drunk yet it was still the afternoon. With a dizzy head, he went to the nightclub 'Marine Divine' knowing all the hot chicks he would need to end the day would be there. Going inside, the loud music and the steamy and sweaty aura filled his surroundings while he walked past several ladies who barely covered their body. Ian was complaining but was admiring.

Ian who went to the VIP section of the nightclub sat and enjoyed the view in front of him with all the dancing and grinding while taking sips from his drinks.

"Hey there," A brunette came to Ian while smiling and kept on touching Ian's hair. With no talk, they started making-out and Ian was fully engrossed in what he was doing.

"Are you Ian Renner?" A black guy who was muscular appeared in front of him and pulled the girl out of Ian's grasp.

"What is your deal, man?" Ian yelled in a blurred voice but Francis didn't let him talk more.

His fist connected to Ian's jaw in a milli-second and Ian fell down to the couch with a loud thud. Ian stood up almost immediately and punched the guy's jaw. He tripped on his steps a bit, but then the 'war' started.

The people who started gathering around had no idea what the fight was about. But, soon enough they were kicked out from the club by the security for causing unnecessary fights.

[Present]

"Urgh!" Ian held his head and shouted in agony.

"What happened, Ian? Are you alright?" Mason asked and walked towards him.

"Of course, I am not, uncle. That… What they accused me of, it's not true, I can explain." Ian said and took a huge breath in.

"Go on, I'm listening," Mason said.

"Yes, there was a fight. But that wasn't because that man is black. What really happened was I may have slept with his wife, but in my defense, he attacked me first. I was kind of drunk, yet I do remember what happened, uncle. And the craziest thing is, I remember how that chick was all over me, I wasn't even the one who 'tried'," Ian said and shook his head in annoyance.

"Are you sure that's what happened? Because, Ian, if you are not truly innocent, I mean not literally, but in this case, if you are the one lying I won't be able to help you," Mason said strictly.

"Hmm… I'm well aware of it. But, trust me, I have nothing against black people, just like the man said, I trust what's on the inside and common for all of us as humans, humanity. Skin color has nothing to do with it," Ian said in annoyance.

He couldn't even believe he was getting blamed at something like that. In fact, he never even thought about such differences in depth before.

"I think I know what this is all about," Mason said and narrowed his eyes. He truly knew something.

||__A word from me__||

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