"Alright then, I’ll head back first."
Picking up her cane, Aurelia Shaw turned to leave, and Hadrian Turner, in a rush, called out anxiously, "Wait, wait a minute! I..."
Aurelia turned back, looking at him in confusion.
Hadrian’s delicate face blushed red with his emotions, but his eyes were firm and resolute behind the broken lenses. He said earnestly, "If that Mason Nightshade bullies you, you don’t need to be afraid, might doesn’t conquer justice! Even if he’s an investor, a producer, you shouldn’t have to wrong yourself and let such a lecherous man take advantage of you! You... you don’t have to be afraid, I’ll stand by you, we can report him to the business association. I-I-I can even post on the internet to denounce him, you don’t have to be scared."
A silence as still as time itself.
Suddenly, a chuckle rang out.
The clear, pleasant laughter welled from the girl’s mouth, starting as a soft giggle before she couldn’t hold it back and burst into laughter, clutching her belly that ached from laughing too hard.
Hahaha... If Mason Nightshade knew he’d been misunderstood as a lecherous man who takes advantage of female artists, how would he react?
That proud, indifferent face would surely turn livid, and he’d probably want to kill the person spreading such rumors.
"You... you really are... too cute."
Aurelia laughed until she was out of breath.
Hadrian scratched his head in puzzlement. It was the first time someone called him cute; everyone usually said he was old-fashioned or described him as stoically reserved. Some female artists would even try to tease him with dirty jokes just to see him squirm, but no one had ever called him cute.
He couldn’t understand how he gave Aurelia such an impression.
"Don’t worry." Aurelia suppressed her laughter, her face returning to its usual radiance, with her brows arching lightly. "He won’t be able to take advantage of me. If anyone’s doing the taking, it’ll be me taking advantage of him."
The latter sentence was meant as a joke by Aurelia. Unexpectedly, Hadrian’s face changed upon hearing it, and he sternly "educated" her, "Th-this isn’t good!"
Aurelia couldn’t help but want to laugh again.
This man was just too cute, clearly having not experienced much of the harsh realities. Living this purely must be nice.
A flicker of envy passed through Aurelia’s eyes. She waved her hand, turned, and headed in the direction of her accommodation, her enchanting voice carried by the night breeze: "Don’t worry!"
Hadrian watched her walk away, dazed, without recovering his gaze for a long time.
The leg injury truly made everything inconvenient; even the mere ten-minute walk back to the hotel took her nearly half an hour as she slowly trudged along. As she passed by the wardrobe room, Aurelia heard sinister voices speaking:
"Is this her costume? Quick, sprinkle everything on it, huh~ let’s see how she makes a fool of herself in front of everyone tomorrow!"
"But..." a second voice hesitated warily, "this stuff is pretty toxic. What if something happens after we sprinkle it all, will we be held responsible?"
"She’s just a minor, insignificant star. Even if something happens, who would stand up for her? There are plenty of accidents in the entertainment industry. Didn’t she fall from high tension just a while ago too?"
"What if Director Jiang investigates?"
"He’s barely holding his own right now, where would he find the time to deal with us? Didn’t you see how Mr. Night was treating him at the dinner table... Besides, if you don’t say, and I don’t say, who would know? They won’t trace it back to us. Hurry up, someone will be coming soon."
Aurelia watched as those two sneaky figures walked away, her galactic eyes narrowed with a sharp glint, as a cold gleam flashed through the depths of her eyes.