She rembered clearly how she had stolen him from Hua Jing. How she had flaunted him, paraded him around at banquets and red carpets, watched Hua Jing’s silent expression with satisfaction. Back then, Xu Ming had been ambitious, eager to attach himself to her rising fa. He had whispered promises, sworn loyalty.
Now he claid they were nothing.
Her nails dug into her palm.
"Coward," she hissed. "All of you are cowards."
She scrolled through the comnts under his statent.
"So he finally escaped." "Good thing the Xu family pulled out." "Birds of a feather flock together." "He must have known sothing."
Each word felt like acid on her skin.
Her breathing grew shallow again, but this ti her expression slowly changed. The wildness in her eyes sharpened into sothing colder. More calculating.
If the world wanted to abandon her, then she would stop begging for its approval.
If she was already ruined, what more did she have to lose?
She lowered the phone and stood still in the middle of the room.
Then she opened her contacts.
Most of the numbers were useless now—blocked, disconnected, unwilling to respond. She scrolled further down, past industry acquaintances, past stylists and assistants who had stopped replying.
Her thumb paused.
Mao Li.
Blue Entertainnt’s golden strategist.
Even if the company was in chaos, Mao Li was not a man who would go down easily. He was pragmatic. Opportunistic. And above all, he valued survival.
Hua Ling’s lips curved into a thin, unsettling smile.
If she was going to strike back, she needed soone who understood damage control... and damage creation.
She pressed the call button.
The line rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three tis.
Her heartbeat thudded in her ears.
Finally, the call connected.
The voice on the other end sounded strained, exhausted. "Who is this?"
Hua Ling leaned back against the peeling wall, her eyes dark and feverish.
"It’s ," she said softly.
There was a long pause on the other end.
Then Mao Li’s breathing shifted slightly. "Hua Ling?" His voice dropped to a whisper. "Do you have any idea what’s happening right now? The police have been asking questions. The company is under investigation. Where are you?"
She ignored the question.
"Mao Li," she said slowly, her tone unnervingly calm compared to her earlier hysteria. "Tell ... if soone destroys everything you’ve built, what would you do?"
The line did not go dead after Hua Ling’s soft question. For a mont, there was only the faint sound of breathing from the other end.
"Tell ," she repeated slowly, her voice low and dangerous, "if soone destroys everything you’ve built... what would you do?"
Silence stretched.
Then Mao Li exhaled sharply. When he spoke again, the exhaustion in his voice had been replaced by irritation. "Are you out of your mind? Thinking about revenge at a ti like this? Hua Ling, have you completely lost your senses?"
Her eyes darkened.
"Revenge?" he continued harshly. "You should be thinking about how to save yourself! The police are sniffing around the company. Investors are threatening to pull out. Blue Entertainnt is on the verge of collapse! And you’re hiding sowhere plotting like a lunatic!"
Hua Ling’s grip on the phone tightened. "You’re blaming for everything?"
"Yes!" Mao Li snapped without hesitation. "Who else should I bla? That scandal with businessman Zhou—did I tell you to behave like that? Did I tell you to get caught on cara? And now your mother—life imprisonnt! Life! Do you know what that does to the company’s image? The public thinks Blue Entertainnt breeds criminals!"
As the owner of Blue Entertainnt, Mao Li had not slept properly in days. He had been running from eting to eting, sitting in front of furious investors, bowing his head, promising damage control. He had issued statents, pulled connections, begged platforms to remove footage. But the heat was too strong. The public anger was like wildfire.
Blue Entertainnt had built its empire around Hua Ling.
And now that empire was crumbling.
On the other end of the line, Hua Ling’s breathing grew heavier. "You think this is only my fault?" she shouted suddenly. "It was your arrangent that led us here! Rember? Back then, you were the one who tampered with—"
"Shut up!!!" Mao Li roared, his voice so sharp it seed to cut through the crackling line.
The sudden silence that followed was suffocating.
Hua Ling’s lips curled slowly into a cold smile. "Why are you so nervous? Scared now?"
"Watch your mouth," Mao Li warned darkly.
"Back then, when I gave you the offer, you agreed without hesitation!" she shot back. "You said it was a win-win situation! You said we would crush her completely! And now that things have gone wrong, you want to leave to carry everything alone? How dare you!!!"
Mao Li’s voice dropped to a deadly calm. "Listen carefully. From today onward, you are no longer part of Blue Entertainnt. We will release a statent if necessary. Our contract—forget about the breakage fees. I don’t want a single cent. Just disappear. Leave the country if you have to. Don’t contact again."
For a second, Hua Ling said nothing.
Then she laughed.
It was not a pleasant sound.
"You think it’s that easy to get rid of ?" she asked softly. "You used to build your company. You milked my popularity. You squeezed every ounce of value out of . And now you want to discard like trash?"
Her voice suddenly rose. "No way, Mao Li!!! If I go down, you are coming down with !!!"
Mao Li’s jaw tightened. "Don’t be ridiculous."
"Ridiculous?" she echoed mockingly. "Then let tell you sothing that isn’t ridiculous. If you refuse to help ... I will tell the entire world that Hua Jing’s accident back then was orchestrated by you!!!"
The words fell like a bomb.
The air on the other end seed to freeze.
"You wouldn’t dare," Mao Li said, but this ti, his confidence was gone.
Hua Ling’s eyes glead with madness. "Try !!! See if I dare!!! You think I have anything left to lose? My career is gone! My mother is in prison! My fiancé publicly disowned ! What do you think I’m afraid of now?!"
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