After ending the call, David stood up from his chair and gazed out of the window at the night view. Although the president's office of the Winston Group wasn't on the top floor, the height still offered a decent view of Fairport as the city lights illuminated the night. David's mind drifted back to a night many years ago. Once, deep in the mountains, he had stargazed with Rebecca. Like tonight, a bright crescent moon adorned the sky, with only a distant star visible while others hid in the darkness. However, his current state of mind starkly contrasted with that serene night. Back then, the more he gazed, the calmer he felt. Now, without Rebecca by his side, the more he gazed, the more disturbed and uneasy he became. Especially when his thoughts delved into the contents of that email, he felt a sense of things slipping beyond his control. It was like trying to grasp sand; the harder he squeezed, the more slipped through his fingers. Regrettably, he had never taken a mom
David's message didn't seem out of the ordinary. He was just asking where Rebecca was and who she was with. However, the frequency of the messages made it feel like he was questioning her.Rebecca hesitated and wondered if she should call David back. But given their argument last night and this morning, she still had some reservations.If it were in the past, she would definitely not hesitate to return the call. But now, she hesitated and even felt a bit reluctant.Alex, who was driving, seemed to have eyes on the side of his head. He was looking ahead but seemed to see through Rebecca's thoughts.He said, "If you encounter something you don't want to do, as long as it's not absolutely necessary, there's no need to do it. If you meet someone you don't like but have to deal with, just perfunctorily get through it. Happiness is the most important thing in life. Don't let yourself be bound by trivial matters that disturb your peace of mind."Rebecca looked at Alex with surprise.She
Rebecca didn't dwell on this matter. In the past two days, whenever her mind tried to ponder over these things, she would feel a throbbing headache. Other matters were fine, but anything related to David and her past would inevitably make her feel uncomfortable.Moreover, she had come out to have fun. So, why bother thinking about those annoying things? If she was out to have fun, she wanted to enjoy it to the fullest. Thinking about those matters after coming out to play was no different from working overtime on the weekend. It was inefficient.After Rebecca thought it through, she put all these messy thoughts behind her. They had arrived at the hotel by now. The car stopped, and she followed Alex to get the various strange things they had bought in the evening.She didn't remember whether they were expensive or cheap. She left everything that needed to be brought back with them in the car. This way, they wouldn't have to carry things down from the hotel room later. The food and it
"We're all going to meet at the competition. What's with the cold shoulder? I was just showing some concern." BlueMushroom tried to smooth things over and spoke with a laugh as if he and Alex were close friends.Alex's expression remained unchanged. "If you'll excuse me."With that, he turned and walked away. He completely ignored BlueMushroom.Behind him, the ignored BlueMushroom had an extremely sour look on his face. He crossed his arms and squinted at Alex's retreating figure with a sneer. "What's he acting all high and mighty for? He's just a garbage player now. He doesn't even have the chance to enter the arena again. And he still thinks he's impressive? Fool!""BlueMushroom, why are you standing here alone? Weren't we supposed to gather downstairs for the reunion?" A person came out of a hotel room beside him. The person was the substitute player from the same team as BlueMushroom. His name was Jeff. He was a cheerful young man who had just come of age and was selected right
After hanging up the phone, Alex turned to his former teammates with a smile. "I won't be able to have lunch with you guys. I need to pick up my little sister first. And going back and forth is too troublesome. You guys go ahead and have your meal. Remember to analyze the games in the afternoon.""Picking up your little sister? Are there still people who call their girlfriend that in such a cliché way in this day and age?" Before anyone from the CalX responded, a sarcastic remark came from behind.Alex followed the sound and met the gaze of none other than the person he had bumped into in the hotel corridor last night–BlueMushroom.The smile on Alex's face faded into a cold expression. Ignoring the meddling person, he nodded at his friends from the CalX. "I'll be taking my leave."The CalX members nodded and ignored BlueMushroom's comment. "See you tonight, Alex."Although they also wanted to meet Alex's sister, Alex had already made it clear that he found it troublesome to fetch
The semi-final matches started at 2 p.m. They began with the resurrection round, where the winner faced the team from the winner's bracket. The team that lost in the match against the winner's bracket would then play the winner of the resurrection round. The team that won this second match would advance to the finals against CalX tomorrow.In other words, one team from the afternoon's matches would have to play two consecutive games.Blue Mushroom's Blindstrike was the first to play. Their club ranked sixth in the points round this time, and they fought their way through the matches until today. With no chance for resurrection, they represented the disadvantage of having fewer points.However, just making it to this stage had already surprised many people. After all, the teams in the winner's bracket had an extra chance for resurrection, but they had nothing.If they managed to win these two matches today, Blindstrike would create an impressive story, which was a comeback from the
Rebecca chuckled at Alex's defeated expression before she elegantly continued with her meal. She refrained from bringing up the topic again. She only planned to playfully tease him. Naturally, she wouldn't press further and make things awkward.Alex also figured it out. The cheeky Rebecca would go to great lengths to gain an advantage even if she suffered a little setback. He reckoned that she still had the subway station incident from yesterday on her mind.Not wanting to continue the banter with her, Alex chuckled helplessly and continued to grill the meat for her.When they had eaten enough, Alex said to Rebecca, "Are you planning to go to the venue to watch the match in the afternoon, or do you want to go out for some fun?"Rebecca was almost full. But she was getting tired of the meat and decided to have some fruits provided by the restaurant instead. Hearing Alex's words, she looked up and asked, "You aren't staying with me this afternoon?"If they went out together, she wou
Unlike Alex's casualness, Caleb's actions and tone were much gentler in contrast. He gently patted Rebecca's head and lowered his gaze to look at Rebecca's surprised face. Amusement appeared in his eyes. "I saw your message online. Knowing that you and Alex are together, I thought I'd come and take a look. I've just finished my recent projects, and I can relax and have some fun.""What a coincidence!" Rebecca's eyes widened with excitement. She was thrilled and couldn't stop talking. She sneakily complained to Caleb, "Perfect! Alex said he had something to do this afternoon, so let's go have fun! You can even take his work ID. The security at the entrance won't be able to tell. Maybe some fans will even ask you for a photo and an autograph!"Rebecca found it amusing just by thinking about it.Caleb observed Rebecca's sparkling eyes. He whispered, "We'll see about that. But since we're impersonating Alex, we might need to go back to the hotel to change clothes. And Rebecca, please
Penny didn't have much free time over the past three years.As she had envisioned, during the first year, she honed her acting skills amidst criticism while also working as a translator.Later on, she felt that acting didn't hold much appeal anymore. Moreover, realizing that there weren't any roles left for her, she gradually gave up and moved toward working behind the scenes.She had some work during this period.It seemed that a daring reality show, not caring about potential risks, decided to capitalize on her controversial popularity and invited her to participate in one of their programs.The reason Penny agreed to participate was because the show's first season had a good reputation, and the payment offered was reasonable.Continuously doing translations could be quite tiring. After discussing with Cecilia and weighing the pros and cons, she eventually signed up for this TV show.Unfortunately, she had underestimated the darker side of human nature.The show's production
"Really?" Zane blurted out, staring incredulously at Sam, who nodded calmly. His unruly and carefree demeanor was restrained, and his composed attitude showed that he wasn't joking.Zane fell silent again, furrowing his brow as he intently observed Sam.It was as if he thought everything through in an instant, giving up without hesitation. He didn't even remind Zane of the request from years ago to take care of Penny. Instead, he said this would be the last time he would help out.Logically speaking, this should be a satisfactory outcome for Zane. After all, from any perspective, the Lowe family's scion would only be a burden to Sam.Looking again at Sam's attitude, it seemed he didn't want Penny to know he was the one quietly spending money to handle things behind the scenes.Since there was no plan to meet her, he didn't need to worry about anything after that. If that was the case, it would be better to just end it early.That way, if Sam saw Penny falling in love, getting mar
All those old scoundrels from the Lowe family undoubtedly ranked the highest. Then there was Jessica, the entertainment industry's national goddess, who also played a significant role.Besides them, there were a few minor celebrities who didn't really make the cut.However, as Sam's partner and someone who watched him grow up, Zane privately hoped Sam could find a better girl.So, he advised, "There are plenty of socialites in Riverwood, and Amdale has no shortage of beautiful young ladies, either, and Rookfort isn't much different."You and the Lowe family's daughter haven't even officially met…""Who said I haven't met her?" Sam interrupted him without a second thought.He had even seen her twice. How could Zane say they hadn't even met yet?The first time, she gave him all the money she had. The second time, he spoke up to help her get that role.After these interactions, they could be considered acquaintances.Zane choked up and couldn't find the words to refute.He was s
Because Penny declined his offer, Zane didn't insist. After a bit of small talk, he ended the call.He politely mentioned that if she needed any help, she could call this number again. If he could assist in any way, he certainly would.However, Zanw knew very well that, given Penny's temperament, she would rather give up what she had than actively seek help from a stranger.Yes, to Penny, Zane was just a stranger. He was a person she had met once but didn't really know.This time, Penny didn't respond as coldly as she did when she was 18. Instead, she exchanged a couple of polite pleasantries, mentioned that she would reach out if needed, and then hung up the phone.After that, she let out a long sigh of relief and lay on the lounge chair on the balcony, gazing at the view outside the window.There were fluffy white clouds in the azure sky and the greenery visible in the neighborhood. Sparrows were chirping persistently as they darted through the forest, and the cicadas loudly bu
Although the other person said only one word, Penny could still tell he didn't have any ill intentions.Because of that faint sense of familiarity, Penny didn't hang up the phone immediately. "Hello? May I ask what this is about?"The unfamiliar and distant tone probably made the man on the other end of the phone pause for a moment. It was only after a brief silence that he responded."Young lady, don't you remember me? It's Zane Moran."His voice carried a laugh, with a hint of teasing.Only then did Penny remember who he was, but she wasn't happy at all.Zane meant no harm when that incident happened back then. But despite that, over the years that had passed, he became one of the people and things Penny would rather not recall.Whether it was the exam she missed, the incident where Spencer took her to the hotel against her will, or Zane, who gave her 30 dollars for a taxi ride.She just wanted to hide all of them deep in her memories.The recent events had particularly made
"I'm fine. You all don't have to look so worried. You're making it seem as if something bad is going to happen to me."Penny looked at the two people at the door who were showing a range of expressions, feeling speechless.Cecilia was provoked by her words, and her eyes turned red."We're worried about you. You have no idea what you look like right now. You're almost like one of those disheartened protagonists in novels who hated the world."Penny clicked her tongue twice and said, "Aren't you exaggerating?"She didn't believe it. She was just worried about money. It wasn't like she had become disillusioned with life.Besides, she didn't dislike this world at all. On the contrary, she really liked it.Whenever Penny came across posts online suggesting that all humans should just die, she always felt like rolling her eyes. If they wanted to die, they shouldn't drag others with them.When searching for her own role in movies, TV dramas, and novels, Penny particularly preferred re
Penny's way of clarifying things was to simply tell the truth.Sometimes, trying to cover things up would just lead to needing 100 more lies to continue the cover-up. That would often end up making things worse and more ridiculous.It was better to tell the truth about the situation.To answer the question of why she lashed out at the Lowe family, she briefly explained her experiences over the years.Why didn't she attend the final paper of the college entrance examinations? She personally reopened that old wound.As for that man in the hotel, Penny didn't have much of an impression of him anymore. She only remembered not taking his business card and accepting 30 dollars from him.Why did she show up at that man's hotel room? She wrote it down truthfully—it was her father who personally took her and left her at the hotel, wanting to trade her like a commodity.Every single word was carefully considered and written by Penny.She didn't share much of these things with Cecilia. Th
Once the official statements were released, Penny's career being ruined became a certainty.The only surprising thing was probably that after the film crew issued their statement, the largest investor also requested to withdraw.The film crew was completely shocked, but there was nothing they could do. The scion was willing to lose money just to withdraw his investment, so what could they do?The amount of money in the compensation was nothing compared to the amount that the scion planned to invest. The production team would incur a significant loss.With one less investor, the project's status was essentially downgraded. They had much less room to manipulate their gains now, too.One would understand why the scion was doing this if they used their brain a little.However, the protests from the audience couldn't be ignored, and compared to the investors, it was clearly more important to keep the show going.After all, they could always attract more sponsors, even if the amount o
In addition to the widespread backlash caused by the phone recording, Penny's academic credentials were also scrutinized and exposed.Before the college entrance exam, she had always been the top student in her school and had never ranked anything else.However, in the college entrance exam, she barely passed the minimum mark for key institutions, far below her usual performance.Some people speculated that she had been cheating during regular exams and that her actual abilities were much worse.However, the exam results could be checked online, and the fact that Penny scored zero on the last exam was surprising.It was even more shocking that she was admitted to a top-tier university despite missing an exam. It was truly exceptional.But few people paid attention to this information.After all, the achievements attained through hard work couldn't be faked. Even if the results weren't as expected, it was undeniable that she was stronger than many others.Regarding this topic, t