In a regular neighborhood in Eastwick.
Taxi driver Mr. Evans finished his day shift, returned his cab, and walked into his house to see his daughter sitting on the couch watching TV. The channel was Eastwick TV, it was 7:55 PM, and commercials were playing on the screen.
His daughter, Lynn Evans, was wearing pajamas, her legs folded on the sofa, head down, playing on her phone.
Mr. Evans, changing his shoes, said to his daughter, "Lynn, why are you watching TV tonight?" Young people nowadays were always on their phones or computers; the TV at home was rarely on, so Mr. Evans found it strange.
"Tonight is the first episode of The Voice of America! Amelia Quinn is on it!" Lynn looked up, said a sentence, then bent her head back down to tap on her phone.
"Oh, that show. So it's on tonight!" Mr. Evans had often heard his daughter mention her idol Amelia Quinn was on a very popular show, and something about how fans were going to boost ratings once it aired. The middle-aged man didn't understand all that, but remembering meeting Frank Castle earlier in the day, Mr. Evans sat down next to his daughter.
"Lynn, today I met Amelia Quinn's ex-husband."
"What?!" Lynn was currently in Amelia Quinn's fan group, bashing Frank. Hearing this, she suddenly looked up: "You met that abusive husband? Dad, are you okay?"
Mr. Evans chuckled: "What could happen to me? Frank, that guy, seemed pretty good to me. Not as bad as they say online."
Lynn immediately flared up indignantly: "Dad, what are you talking about? Frank cheated and was abusive! Our Amelia was hurt so badly by him! How can you actually speak up for someone like that?"
Mr. Evans quickly explained: "Didn't I tell you a few days ago I saw a car run a red light at a crosswalk and almost hit a kid, and someone saved the kid? That person was Frank Castle!"
"Impossible!" Lynn absolutely didn't believe it: "A jerk like Frank is more likely to hit a kid, how could he save one?"
Mr. Evans said helplessly: "Daughter, your dad wouldn't lie to you for some stranger, would he? It really was Frank. I happened to give him a ride today. No way I could be mistaken!"
"No way?" Lynn was incredulous: "Frank Castle actually did a good deed?"
Mr. Evans said: "Lynn, everyone makes mistakes, but most people aren't inherently bad. And from the way Frank seemed, he didn't look like someone who would hit his wife." He added: "Besides, didn't you say last time that Diva Queen Celeste even clarified that Frank didn't cheat?"
Lynn scoffed coldly: "That's because Diva Queen Celeste was deceived by Frank! Someone leaked today that besides taking Celeste Monroe to the hotel that one time, Frank has been seen entering hotels with different women multiple times! That dirtbag, his cheating is confirmed!" She then showed Mr. Evans some photos leaked by a paparazzi online.
Mr. Evans took the phone and looked closely, stunned: "How can you tell that's Frank?" The photos showed a man embracing different women as he entered hotels. But the man was wearing a hat and mask, and his face was turned away. You couldn't see his features clearly at all. At least, Mr. Evans couldn't tell it was Frank.
"You can't tell?! That man has the exact same build as Frank Castle! Who else could it be? That scum, he didn't just cheat once!" Lynn was furious, already convinced that the man in the photos was Frank.
Mr. Evans thought back carefully. Frank Castle's build did bear some resemblance to the man in the photos, but it didn't feel like the same person. He tried to defend Frank: "Lynn, last time someone posted a recording of your idol Amelia Quinn swearing, and didn't you say it was fake? You can't believe everything online."
"Is that the same thing?!" Lynn's voice immediately got louder: "Our Amelia would never swear! Of course that was fake! But that scum Frank Castle, what wouldn't he do? He definitely cheated!" She added: "Dad, you're defending that jerk so much, did you do something bad too?"
"What bad things could I do? I'm just talking." Mr. Evans quickly waved his hands, thinking, Sorry, Frank, I can only help you this much. Any more and my daughter will disown me!
Just then, the opening screen of The Voice of America appeared on the TV. Lynn stopped arguing with her dad and cheered: "It's starting! I'm going to boost Amelia's ratings!" She held her phone, opened the online streaming platform for The Voice of America, and rapidly typed out several comments:
"Here for Amelia Quinn!"
"Amelia Quinn, the beautiful!"
"Pop Princess Amelia Quinn, shining across America!"
Mr. Evans leaned over to look, seeing that the screen was almost entirely flooded with comments mentioning Amelia Quinn and Liam Reed. He couldn't help but shake his head. Frank, your ex-wife seems pretty famous.
Mr. Evans didn't know that the show's producers actually prohibited the early release of guest and contestant information. The other guests had all adhered to the confidentiality agreement, but Amelia Quinn and Liam Reed had covertly hired people to pose as The Voice of America insiders, pretending to accidentally post a few behind-the-scenes photos featuring the two of them. Thus, the news of the "LiA ship" jointly appearing on The Voice of America spread like wildfire, and the internet had been abuzz with discussions about it for the past two days. Amelia Quinn and Liam Reed had also used this to gain a massive wave of publicity. That's why the show started with their fans flooding the comments. It wasn't that they were more popular than the other guests; it was that the other guests' fans simply didn't know their idols were also on the show.
The program quickly began. The beautiful host, Dana Yu, took the stage. After an introduction, the guests began to appear. First was Liam Reed, and Lynn cheered: "It really is Liam Reed! So handsome!"
Mr. Evans asked curiously: "Is that person a man or a woman?"
Lynn glared at him, annoyed: "Of course that's a man!"
Mr. Evans was stunned: "Are male celebrities this effeminate nowadays?"
"Dad, you don't know anything, don't talk nonsense! This is called new-age masculinity!"
"..." Mr. Evans was speechless, thinking, Frank, your ex-wife's taste really isn't good!
"Ahhh!!!" Lynn suddenly shrieked. Mr. Evans's eardrums almost burst. His daughter was excitedly pointing at the TV screen: "Amelia! It's really Amelia! So beautiful!!!"
Mr. Evans covered his ears, looking at the beautiful woman in the pale pink dress on the TV. He thought, She looks good, but why does her smile seem a little fake? Perhaps it was his bias towards Frank, but Mr. Evans just couldn't quite warm up to Amelia Quinn.
Amelia Quinn's appearance made the live audience shriek and cheer, especially when she sat down and shared a knowing smile with Liam Reed, which sent the shippers into a frenzy. The on-screen comments on the online platform were filled with remarks like "LiA is real!" and "I'm obsessed!" Lynn's cheeks were flushed with excitement, and her throat was almost hoarse from screaming.
Mr. Evans saw Amelia Quinn and Liam Reed's intimate interaction and couldn't help but ask: "Didn't Amelia Quinn and Frank just get divorced? How did she get together with another man so quickly?"
Lynn immediately said: "Dad, don't talk nonsense! Amelia and Liam are good friends! Amelia has absolutely never done anything to betray Frank!"
Mr. Evans looked confused: "Then why do you keep saying Amelia and Liam are a couple? Aren't you guys spreading rumors about your own idol cheating?"
Lynn shouted angrily: "It's our business if we want to ship them! It has nothing to do with Amelia!"
"?" Mr. Evans was greatly shocked, but his vocabulary wasn't extensive enough to describe his daughter's current words and actions. Just then, the program screen suddenly cut to the contestant's backstage. The camera panned across a group of contestants and landed on a man sitting in the corner.
Lynn immediately jumped up, pointing at the TV screen, her face full of fury: "Frank Castle? Why is he here?!"