Yu Jia threw the phone onto the desk, her chest heaving with anger. Lixue’s words replayed in her mind, taunting her. Evidence? Of course, Lixue would say that—she was bluffing. She had to be. No way could she have actual proof of the lyrics Yu Jia had used. Lixue was always spineless, easy to manipulate. She wouldn’t dare take things further.
Would she?
The uncertainty planted a seed of doubt in Yu Jia’s mind, and her frustration grew. She couldn’t afford a scandal. Not with the media already beginning to question her recent work.
She slammed her hand on the desk, the sharp sound reverberating in the room. The panic she had been suppressing clawed its way to the surface. She had always been able to control Lixue, to keep her compliant. But now, things were unraveling.
A few days ago, in that suffocating studio, she’d felt the first cracks in her carefully crafted world. Now, with Lixue refusing to cooperate, those cracks were turning into gaping fissures. If she didn’t act fast, her career would collapse, taking everything she had worked so hard to build with it. Yu Jia couldn’t let that happen—not now, not ever.
She paced the room, her heels clicking against the hardwood floor as her mind raced. Every solution she thought of seemed to lead to a dead end. Her usual tactics—manipulation, veiled threats—weren’t working on Lixue anymore. She needed a new plan.
Yu Jia’s leg bounced restlessly as she sat at her desk, the phone sitting in front of her like it was taunting her. She had already made the call. The deal was done. All she could do now was wait.
The silence in the room felt unbearable. She glanced at the clock, then back at her phone, willing it to buzz. Every minute felt like an hour. The panic was starting to set in again, creeping in like a shadow at the edges of her mind.
Finally, the screen lit up. She grabbed the phone so quickly it nearly slipped from her hands.
"48 hours. Payment upfront. Don’t waste my time."
Yu Jia let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. Two days. It wasn’t as fast as she’d hoped, but it was better than nothing. At least now she had something to tell the producer—some kind of reassurance that she wasn’t completely out of options.
Her fingers hovered over the keyboard for a moment before she typed out a curt reply: "Done. Expect it tonight."
The moment she hit send, she tossed the phone onto the desk and leaned back in her chair, rubbing her temples. Her eyes drifted to the discarded lyrics scattered around her. It was pathetic, really, how hard she’d tried to make something work. She’d poured hours into those songs, only for every single one to be shot down.
"Useless," she muttered under her breath, swiping the papers off the desk in frustration.
She stared at the empty space in front of her, the weight of it all pressing down like a heavy blanket. Lixue’s refusal still stung, but she shoved the thought away. There was no point dwelling on it. Not now.
All she could do was wait.
The next morning, Lixue woke up to an empty bed, she glanced around the room searching for Mo Ran but there was no sign of him.
She heard a knock on the door not long after as she got up from the bed.
Taking brisk steps so as not to waste the time of the person behind the door.
She opened the door to see a dark skinned woman, in her mid 20’s, holding a phone in her hand.
"Good morning, madam, hope you slept well?"
She spoke in a fluent mandarin that made Lixue raise a room, her mandarin was impeccable, she spoke no different than the Chinese who had lived her their whole lives.
"Ah yes thank you, is the call for me?"
The woman nodded as she handed her the phone "It’s from the young master.."
Lixue nodded as she took the phone, bringing it to her ear, she leaned against the door.
"Lixue? Are you there?"
"Yes, I’m here...good morning, did you come back home last night?"
There was a pause at the other end before a quiet no came through "There’s a pile of work at the office, my internal team and I are working overtime. But I’ll be com today, all the deals will be secured today. That being send, I’m sending Yan your way, he’ll be in the mansion soon, your mother’s transfer is today, I’m sure you wouldn’t want to miss it.."
Lixue sighed as she stared at the staff, her intelligent eyes were drawing her attention to her, over and over again.
"Yes, yes, I understand.."
Mo Ran ran his hand through his hair, the fatigue was really getting to him, he would go home immediately once the deals were secured.
"Alright good, he would follow you to the Nangong estate and then back to the mansion.."
Lixue nodded and replied with a yes, had her mother transfer being shifted, the day came sooner than expected.
"Thank you....."
"Aster.." the woman replied, as Lixue nodded passing the phone back to her.
"Aster, I can see that you’re well read, why do a job like this?"
Aster smiled, their job was to guard Lixue though she didn’t know that, they got paid and got to lazy around.
Who wouldn’t want a job like this?
"Please be rest assured, madam, I love my job.."
Lixue nodded, there’s nothing more for her to say, but she had a feeling she would be needing more intelligent eyes like Aster.
"Would Aster be willing to work for me?"
Aster blinked, she was happy that the madam didn’t discriminate her for her color, like many had gone now she was curious about the kind of job she was planning to offer?
"What kind are you offering?"
Lixue crossed her arms, she wanted to put her hands in various kinds of business, ones that would help her corner the Yu family.
"How does a jewelry company sound?"