The next day, the online trolls and malicious fans still haven't recovered from the revelation. It crushed them so hard it was difficult to get up. While they question their life choices, Sena awakens slowly at the sound of an alarm clock. 

The whole room is still dark but something shining in between the cracks of the curtain told her it was already morning. 

7:00 am as her alarm clock stated.

Out of habit, she grabbed the remote overhead and pressed open the curtains. Mellow morning light cut through the bleakness of the bedroom restoring it to its soft feminine colours.  

Outside, the skies are a grey telling her of the upcoming rain. 

The table was already prepared for breakfast when she came down on her pyjamas. April was busy in the kitchen stirring a pot of chicken congee while Layla sat nibbling on a piece of waffle.  

“Good morning.” she smiled and walked over to the dining table.

“Morning Sena.”

“Good morning Boss!”

April waited for her to be seated before ladling a thick congee on her bowl. Then she pulled the nearby chair and sat as well. 

Sena was blowing on her food when she noticed her assistant’s eager and happy face. 

“What’s up?”

April’s smile grew brighter, from under the table she pulled out a glossy piece of a fashion magazine she bought from the grocery store below. “Boss look doesn't this model look very much like…”

Sena gave a puzzled frown, her eyes fell on the jewellery ad on the magazine.

It came out, she thought wryly. 

“I knew it was you!” Layla exclaimed. She also read magazines at home. At first, she thought the model was similar to Sena by quite a lot. Who would have thought it would be her?

“It was my mom who wanted me to do it.” She explained shortly.  

Her first appearance was when she was nine. A friend of her mother took a fancy of her to pose in her summer collection in Spain. Ever since young, her features had been prominent and there was only a slight change, refining her looks even more when she reached adolescence. At fourteen she even walked on runways but not to the point that she would be recognizable to everybody. 

Paula knew that the career is very competitive. Though Sena has her own merits, people in the industry who sees her as an eyesore will pick on whatever fault they can see. Besides, the three old men did not want her to be exposed this way. 

“Do we have anything urgent on schedule?” 

April shook her head. “I already emailed Katya and Jue about the on-site inspection. Those two will collaborate in the new listing as instructed.”

Sena nodded her head and praised, “Good.”

Lately, she noticed that Katya and Jue get along very well. They closed contracts at the same time and share more of their experience with each other openly. Jue is a very extroverted and sunny person which matches Katya's sweet and reserved demeanour.   

Other agents have been teasing them a lot but there was a problem with Jue's childhood friend. Thinking of it, Sena lost her smile. 

Layla who was brushing her phone suddenly lit up, “Did you know that Entrepreneur Society released an issue?”

“No, why?” Sena was on her coffee when the kid shoved a phone to her face. 

“Why don't you open your page? It's getting exciting!”

Layla happily looked at her page and the magazine's quote on her. Hehe, being praised also feels good. She peeked at Sena and her foolish smile cracked. 

“Aren't you happy? This alone has cleared your name. I bet Maya Luz is going crazy with anger now. How dare she slander you? Humph.”

Kid, aren't you supposed to be upset because your big brother left home? How come you looked chipper than usual. 

Sena reached out and fluffed her hair. “There, there, eat your breakfast. We have a long day today.” 

Layla pouted looking at her.  

Today is another rest day so the three of them drove downtown to meet with Linda only to be dragged out in a shopping marathon until their toes hurt. 

Sena: I deeply regret it, I should have stayed in the office and diligently made more money. 

“Say, big sister. Did you do something?” Sena suddenly asked when she was being pushed and poked inside the boutique lounge. 

Linda did not look at her and continued to pick skirts and shoes, “What exactly?” 

Is she wrong? Then who made Entrepreneur Society release their current issue so soon? Linda clearly doesn’t understand what she is asking. If big brother Leo did it, there is no way she wouldn’t know as well.

“Lace?” Linda prompted her while pointing at a nice red blouse held by one of the personal shoppers.

Sena’s eyes went to the pile of shopping bags and boxes on the floor feeling a little helpless. According to Mrs Linda Tang, if her baby sister feels upset, shower her with gifts. So buy, buy, buy! 

Sena: Which part of me you see upset? 

Sena knew that if she did not put a stop to it, there is a tendency that she would be buried in this messy pile and suffocate. 

“All the new arrivals we fitted today, please put them in a box and send them to this address,” Linda instructed the manager amiably before handing out a black card.  

When it was time to leave the VIP lounge, she had already turned into a shrivelled eggplant. Linda seemed to feel her chagrin and dragged them to a private restaurant next. 

With a reservation of only five a day, the place boasts not only a tranquil and relaxing atmosphere to invigorate the senses but also its top-quality fresh products to grace their guests' palette.

Layla was sending a message to someone when Sena looked back at her, caught in the act, the poor girl almost dropped her phone. 

“Are you alright?” she asked worriedly.

Layla wiped the nonexistent cold sweat on her forehead. “I, I’m probably just too hungry.”

Sena looked at the untouched steak on her plate, curled her eyebrows but could not tell what’s odd about her suddenly. 

On the other side of the phone, in the corner of a dimly lit black van Nicholas squatted while flipping through the multiple photos he received. There was a busy crowd in front but all of it did not affect him. 

The backlight from the mobile phone illuminated his current appearance that is now stretched with a goofy grin.

His teammates who passed by seeing his wretched smile felt goosebumps crawling on their skin. Hell, don’t scare people like that! 

Nicholas cared for none of their opinions. The lady inside can be seen wearing a tight burgundy tube top dress, sometimes it's high-heeled shoes showing her cute pink toes and smooth round heels, there is also a voluminous floral skirt, others are casual but elegant looking clothes. 

He never really understood why women took a lot of time shopping. But after seeing her trying on clothes and didn’t get tired watching it he felt it was worth the hours of trouble. Wouldn’t it be more fun if he came and chose along? 

Nicholas looked at the photos one after another with a look of entanglement. As if unable to decide. Then slowly his fingers stilled, crept up and clicked the setting: Save as screen saver. 

A slow smile swept his solemn features. 

“Hey, stalker.” Michael bumped on his shoulder. “I never thought you’d stoop so low and ask my little sister to run errands for you!”

“She sent it to me.”

Meaning he did not instigate the little girl to sneak shots of Sena’s activity. Although he had nothing to do with it, Michael can see that he enjoyed receiving it. Humph hypocrite! 

“We’re leaving in ten minutes so get yourself ready Romeo.” 

Yang was badly wounded and is now under custody in one of their safehouses. After removing the tiger’s fangs, the next thing to do is to destroy its claws. The drug lab and every place where the Qilin gang nested in has to be taken down in cooperation with the new commissioner.  

 

In Capital City, when the clarification of Miss Erde and Miss Luz’s quarrel came out, not only did it push Sena’s name into the forefront but also harvested a lot of fans for her. She may not be an actress or an influencer but the number of followers that flooded her page rose to a staggering two million in just a few days. 

While she was idle, Linda poked on her social media page managing it right after she saw that baby sister is slowly emerging as a favourite among the netizens. She flicked everything from her collection of most-treasured photos sharing them to the public and let the baby sister’s cuteness blind these nasty people’s eyes. 

As for those who denounced her? Haha. 

Asha and Zhang Min’s fathers were seen in the seven o’clock news being arrested for embezzlement, Zhang Min’s family, in particular, suffered heavily because of the illegal casino he was running in the shantytown of the West District.

The police raided several illegally operated establishments, including the arcade run by a Mr Carol. These places were the ones marked as the Qilin gang’s base and secret facilities to pack and distribute the new drug.   

On the screens, the suspects lining up neatly for a mugshot look harmless. However, the conclusive evidence is there and no matter how they act innocent, their destination could only be the prison cells.

Zhang Min lost her sponsors when the arrest was broadcasted. During her live video, while opening a newly bought red bottom heel shoes, the comment area exploded. 

[Hey, Zhang Min have you watched the news?]

[No wonder she can fool people pretending to be rich and buying these kinds of expensive stuff.]

[Expensive restaurants, clothes, bag… where did the money come from? Only her conscience knows.]

[She boasted sometime ago that her father works with the Tang family. A mere employee dares to act like a boss and embezzle money!]

Zhang Min stared at the barrage foolishly. What news? What is going on? 

The mask was about to be pulled down but she was still fighting hard to defend herself until one of the sharp-eyed netizens noticed something wrong with Zhang Min’s other videos. As everyone knows, she portrays the image of a rich young lady who plays and travels around.

The thing about her videos lead to the reopening of Zhang Min’s old issue of buying fake footage of cars, high end hotels and travels. These things are said to be bought on a certain site that can be edited by the user to project a certain lifestyle they wanted. 

There, girls her age create an account to lure and encourage viewers in sending them money and buying expensive gifts. Not long after that the police raided a live streaming studio which was closely related to her and was added to the list of events the prime time news has to report.  

Asha is in no better shape as well. At home, her mother could not stop crying when her father was taken by the authorities. She hatefully ran into Leo’s secretary and asked why her father could be dismissed so coldly and face a lawsuit. 

“After all he had been part of the Tang Group for so many years.” Asha cried, her make up melted, making her look messy. 

The secretary looked at her as if he was looking at an idiot, “Do you think that after betraying the company the chairman will send him off grandly for a retirement? What about the losses and damages your father incurred? The people he harmed? Miss, if one dares act then one must know how to take responsibility, yes?”  

A lot of surprises came and the people in front of the television screens relished watching the drama while chewing popcorn.

Asha is in no better shape as well. At home, her mother could not stop crying when her father was taken by the authorities. She hatefully ran into Leo’s secretary and asked why her father could be dismissed so coldly and face a lawsuit. 

“After all he had been part of the Tang Group for so many years.” Asha cried her make up melted making her look messy. 

The secretary looked at her as if he was looking at an idiot, “Do you think that after betraying the company the chairman will send him off grandly for a retirement? What about the losses and damages your father incurred? The people he harmed? Miss, if one dares act then one must know how to take responsibility, yes?”  

A lot of surprises came and the people in front of the television screens relished watching the drama while chewing popcorn.