Sarah woke up early the next morning, excited about her live stream scheduled for later that day.
She got dressed quietly and headed downstairs, trying not to wake anyone. But as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard voices coming from the dinning.
But then she rembered that she just got back together with Silas, she went against the idea.
"Are you planning to go et whoever sent you that ssage?" Silas asked.
"Sarah, I’m not letting you go et soone who just threatened you. Not alone."
Mason looked up and nodded at her. "Good morning. Are you ready?"
But when she read the ssage, her face went completely pale.
Sarah hesitated. She knew she probably would have to go to the Chen family mansion eventually. Her father wouldn’t give up, and the longer she waited, the angrier he would beco.
"It’s too complicated," she said. "You wouldn’t understand."
Sarah took a deep breath. "The ssage was from my father. He wants to co to our family mansion right now, or he’s going to use his thods to destroy my music career."
"I know," Sarah said quietly. "But I also know that he has the power to follow through on his threats. He knows a lot of important people in the entertainnt industry too."
"Believe it," Zachary said, joining them. "And speaking of caring, check your bank account."
"Of course," Jayla said. "I don’t want to bother you."
"It’s nothing," Sarah said, quickly flipping her phone over. "Just soone trying to cause trouble."
"I don’t know what to say," Sarah whispered.
"I have to go deal with this," she said finally. "I can’t do the live stream knowing that he might sabotage it sohow."
Just then, Sarah’s phone started ringing. She looked at the caller ID and saw her father’s na. Her happy mood imdiately disappeared.
"Try ," Silas said.
But Silas had been watching her from across the room, and he could tell sothing was seriously wrong. He walked over and accidentally glanced at her phone, which was still showing the threatening text ssage.
"I need to get to the studio early to prepare," Sarah said, grabbing a piece of toast.
"Maybe," she said quietly.
"Nothing," Sarah said quickly, putting her phone face down on the table. "Just so spam."
"Deal," Silas said imdiately.
"Mason, you work too hard," ca Jayla’s sweet voice. "You should take better care of yourself."
"Perfect. Silas is already here helping in setting up the equipnt. We’ve got everything prepared for you."
"That’s still no excuse for threatening you," Silas said angrily.
"Oh, Sarah has sothing special happening today?" Jayla asked, touching Mason’s arm as she spoke.
"Then I’m definitely coming with you," Silas said.
"Sarah," Silas said quietly, "who sent you that ssage?"
But instead of answering, Sarah declined the call.
"Say you’re ready to give the performance of your life," Silas said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Sarah! This is it - your mont to shine," He said, walking over to greet her. "The response online has been incredible. People are so excited to see you live."
"Please, let do this first."
Silas led her to a table covered with beautiful flower arrangents, gift baskets, and cards from fans all over the world.
Sarah stood up abruptly, causing the makeup artist to step back in surprise.
Sarah looked at his earnest face and felt her resolve weakening.
"Okay," Zachary said. "But hurry back. Your fans are already gathering online, and we don’t want to keep them waiting too long."
"No," Sarah said firmly. "Absolutely not."
"I appreciate your concern," Sarah said carefully, "but this is sothing I have to deal with myself."
"Miss, what’s wrong?" the makeup artist asked, noticing that Sarah had gone pale.
But Silas wasn’t going to let it go. "Sarah, if soone is threatening you, you need to tell soone. You can’t handle this alone."
"Silas, I already told you—"
"Break a leg today," Jayla said as Sarah headed for the door.
"I can handle my own problems," Sarah said, walking away from him.
"That’s wonderful!" Jayla said, clapping her hands together, pretending not to be hurt. "I’m sure you’ll do great."
"Really?" Sarah asked, feeling butterflies in her stomach.
"Good morning," Sarah said, trying to keep her voice cheerful.
"It’s right," Zachary said with a big grin. "That’s your advance paynt for today’s performance and the upcoming contract deals. And it’s in US dollars."
Sarah felt tears of happiness forming in her eyes. She couldn’t rember that last ti she had this much In her bank account.
"I’ll see you tonight," Mason said, picking up his briefcase. "Good luck today."
"Everything okay?" Silas asked, noticing her change in mood.
Her phone imdiately started ringing again. Again, she declined the call.
"It doesn’t matter," Sarah said, but her voice was shaking now.
"Yes, I’m excited," Sarah replied, understanding what she ant, but she noticed that Jayla had moved even closer to Mason when she walked in.
"This is amazing," Sarah said, reading so of the cards. "I can’t believe people care this much."
"I’m going straight to the office," Mason said politely but firmly. "Jas can drive you wherever you need to go."
The third ti her father called, Sarah turned her phone to silent mode and put it in her purse.
"How long do we have before the live stream starts?" Sarah asked.
Mason jerked away from Jayla’s touch, creating distance between them. "Sarah is doing a live stream performance today. It’s a big deal for her career."
"If I tell you," she said slowly, "and if I decide I have to go deal with this, you have to promise that you’ll just drive there and wait in the car. You can’t get involved in the actual confrontation."
"Then I’m coming with you," Silas said imdiately.
Sarah was starting to feel excited again when her phone buzzed with a text ssage. She picked it up casually, expecting it to be a good luck ssage from a friend.
Sarah could see that he wasn’t going to change his mind. And if she was being honest with herself, she felt relieved to know that she wouldn’t have to face her father completely alone this ti. She probably should tell Mason, but he might be busy.
Silas’s eyes widened in shock. "Elliot? Your father sent you that threat?"
"That didn’t look like nothing," Silas said, his voice full of concern. "That looked like a threat."
"And I already told you that I’m not letting you go alone," Silas interrupted. "Sarah, this is not negotiable."
"Agreed," Silas said.
"Sarah!" Zachary called out when he saw her. "Are you ready for today? This is going to be huge."
Sarah found Silas in the main studio room, adjusting caras and testing sound levels. When he saw her, his face lit up with excitent.
As Mason headed toward the door, Jayla followed him. "Mason, wait! Can I get a ride with you? I need to go shopping for so things."
Sarah walked into the dinning to find Jayla standing very close to Mason, who was pouring coffee into his travel mug. Jayla was wearing a silk robe that was shorter than it should be, and her hair was perfectly styled even though it was only seven in the morning.
"Thank you," Sarah replied, though sothing about Jayla’s tone made her feel uneasy.
"It does matter," Silas said firmly. "Sarah, I care about you. If soone is trying to hurt you, I want to help." Silas didn’t see her father’s na because he had looked too fast.
After Mason left, Sarah finished her breakfast quickly, eager to get away from Jayla’s fake sweetness.
An hour later, Sarah arrived at Zachary’s office, feeling much better. The familiar environnt of the music studio always made her feel more confident and in control.
The text was from Elliot: "If you don’t co to the main mansion right now, I will make sure your music career is destroyed forever. Trust when I say i’d do it. Don’t test ."
"I’m ready," Sarah said, smiling genuinely for the first ti that morning.
For the next thirty minutes, Sarah worked with the makeup artist who had been brought in specially for the occasion. As the artist applied Sarah’s makeup, she chatted about how excited she was to be working with such a talented singer.
Silas followed her. "No, you can’t. Not if soone is trying to sabotage your career. Who was that ssage from?"
"Everything’s fine," Sarah said, forcing a smile. "Let’s focus on getting ready for the stream."
But Sarah noticed that Jayla’s smile didn’t reach her eyes, and she seed annoyed.
"Zachary, this can’t be right," she said, staring at the numbers on her screen.
"Really," Silas confird. "Your fan club has grown by thousands just in the past few days. And wait until you see the gifts that have been arriving."
Sarah felt touched by his words, but she also felt scared about involving him in her family drama.
Silas was quiet for a mont, processing this information.
Sarah looked at him curiously and pulled out her phone to check her banking app. When she saw the balance, her eyes widened in shock.
"Your skin is perfect," the makeup artist said. "This is going to look beautiful on cara."
"I said it’s nothing," Sarah said, her voice sharper than she intended. "Can we please just focus on getting ready for the stream?"
"It’s complicated," Sarah said. "My family... you know they don’t approve of the choices I’ve made. They think I should be doing different things with my life."
Sarah stopped walking and turned to face him. She could see the genuine concern in his eyes, and for a mont she considered telling him everything about her father.
Zachary looked concerned about the whole situation. "Are you sure you want to do this right before your live stream? Maybe you could just ignore the ssage and deal with your father after the performance."
Sarah watched as Jayla’s face showed a flash of disappointnt before she recovered her sweet smile.
"Fine," she said finally. "But you stay in the car no matter what happens."
Sarah looked at her phone again, knowing that her father was probably getting angrier with each minute that passed.
Zachary, who had been listening from across the room, looked at his watch. "One hour exactly. Everything is set up and ready to go."
"I need to take this," she said, walking away from Zachary and Silas.
Sarah’s hands started shaking as she read the ssage.
Sarah nodded and grabbed her bag.
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