The drive back to the cottages was awfully quiet. The night breeze was chilly but they did not close the window and let it wash the air inside. Nicholas could sense her bad mood and politely ended teasing her. According to the conversation they heard, those ladies were aiming for Leo’s younger brother. The life story of the Tang family, though known to many, is still a very sensitive issue that very few would dare mention casually. Seeing that Sena is emotionally affected by it, he couldn’t help but be curious. 

“Sending them home was best.” He said after a stretch of silence. 

Sena was looking absently outside when she hummed a reply. 

“Don’t worry about it, Leo will certainly stand up for his brother. It’s a good thing that the plan was found out earlier.” 

“Thank you.” 

Nicholas sighed, “I haven’t done anything.”  

She tilted her head towards him and murmured. “I’m thanking you for restraining me before I could peel their skin off and boil them in a pot.”

“Just doing myself a favour, hon.” He winked. “What would I do if the girl I’m chasing ends up in prison then?”

“Flirt.” She rolled her eyes to evade that particularly charming smile. She hadn’t agreed to anything and he’s back to his usual rogue behaviour. 

Though in her opinion his method was a little bit clumsy, he hit a high score because he is still in tune with his emotions. Perhaps there is a little cynicism given his position in life but at least he wasn’t the hypocritical type. He didn’t seem the kind to treat people below him harshly and except for those blazing eyes, Nicholas is an ideal gentleman. Furthermore, the breath he exudes was comforting. 

Noticing her gaze, Nicholas said quietly. “If you want to help Chang'an, the problem should be taken straight to his family. You are an outsider, after all, I know you care about the Tang brothers a lot but in the end, the conflict should be resolved within their own as it involves his mother.” 

The best she can do is talk to Leo about this. He knows Sena means well but she doesn’t have to directly get herself involved. 

“Know it.” Sena nodded in agreement. She was only lamenting Chang’an’s fate for having that woman as his mother. If she’s not vain and greedy, she could have concentrated all that energy on giving him the maternal love he sought since young. Too bad she disappointed him. 

“Quit pouting.” To her surprise, Nicholas rumpled her already messed up hair. “It’s going to be alright.” 

Her tiny involvement with the movie has changed a lot of things for better and for worse and set off a course for many people. When they returned to Capital City, the movie entered an intense promotional campaign that the problem at Highland Lodge was gradually eclipsed. But then again, someone out there who didn’t want to give her a break was eager to put her on the chopping board to be dismembered. 

Scoop: [Sena Erde was kicked during the first elimination round of Challenge Me!]

Anonymous: [Hahahahaha good! Good! Good! I've been praying to every saint and magical creature to get the vixen out of the show.]

Anonymous: [The loser ran to another shooting location after she was removed from the first one. What could it be? A change of career?]

Anonymous: [I knew she would not last. The positive propaganda about her before did nothing to save her image. I still hate her!]

Sitting on the couch looking so appalled is Linda when she opened her phone right after breakfast. This kind of post again. Can these keyboard warriors take a rest for a bit? With too many things to do in the world, they choose to sit behind their computer and splash dirt on others. 

Linda smiled sarcastically and dialled Leo's phone. He's probably in the middle of a meeting right this instant but who cares?! Some idiot is bullying their baby sister. They need to pay!  

“Good morning, wife. Did you have a good sleep?” Leo’s deep indulgent voice sounded from the other line.

“Humph!” 

“What’s making my darling mad?”

“My back and legs hurt.”

“And?” He urged sweetly, smiling to himself as he recalled his handiwork from last night. 

Linda narrowed her eyes. This guy was thinking of something dirty again. She gritted her teeth and adjusted her tone, “Darling~ did you know what I saw when I opened my phone?” 

Noting from her sulky voice, there must be something very bad. Leo frowned and gestured for his secretary to check it. We cannot let the missus be angry for long. Soon the result came and it raised his eyebrow. 

“Have you seen it?” Linda asked anxiously. 

“Alright, you calm down first.” He said soothingly. He had no idea that Sena would gather this much attention and truthfully, CEO Tang was more curious than mad. “If we reply rashly, they will only grow bolder. You know these kinds of people are aiming to provoke their victims so that they can get the worst reaction out of them. We can’t add more oil to the fire, Sena will only suffer the brunt of it.”

What they can do is to remain neutral and show results. It’s not the time to fight head-on with a bunch of trolls and paid keyboard warriors. 

“But it’s really infuriating! Once I find out who started this I will slap them with a cactus!”  

Leo chuckled. 

“I mean it. They’re too much!” Linda huffed, pinching the pillow on her lap. 

“I know you are upset but let’s talk to Sena about it first, ok? I’ll have the cyber security team check who wrote this article and solve it sooner.”

While the couple worried for her sake, the person in question was happily eating ice cream while watching the 4th season of Challenge Me. She wasn’t worried about this so-called scoop because the audience was already attached to the show since it aired and many liked her performance.

She couldn’t believe it when she first left the shooting location and learned that her window had the highest concentration of the live audience. In the beginning, some came to ridicule and throw insults but those people eventually vanished and people claiming to be fans emerged one after another.

Who would expect that she would clean the pigsty, climb roofs, cook and not shed a tear about it? 

Now that it’s broadcasted nationwide on television her fans continue to grow! Exploding her elimination will only make the viewers curious, and the more curious they are the more eager they will anticipate the show resulting in higher ratings. 

 

Mrs Luz called President Bo and rained curses on him again. The prime time show is very popular but she just learned that the new head of Rainbow Media and the program team will no longer transact with them. 

“You have to fix this!” She shouted when she met President Bo outside Capital City. 

“The decision came from Rainbow Media and our people inside were fired from their job. It was a good thing I kept an anonymous name when negotiating with them or else…”

Mrs Luz frowned, though she lacks technical knowledge in most fields she is not stupid. She understood what he meant. If those people speak up about being paid to tweak on the program and their name surfaced, Maya will bear the humiliation. Not to mention what her husband would do once he finds out what she had been doing behind his back. 

“Don’t worry, I will honour our agreement. It was thanks to the capital you injected that I still hold this position, naturally I will take care of your daughter while she's under my company.”  

To make up for breaking his promise, President Bo pulled out many resources from the top artists as compensation for Maya. Imagine is a famous training and management industry for several popular and aspiring talents, they do not lack these offers but giving most of it to a starlet who hasn’t proved herself yet will cause a lot of discord. Mrs Luz didn’t care, she wanted the return of her investment so her child was offered a supporting role in a movie, several endorsements and guestings. 

When Maya returns from the shooting location plenty of work will be waiting for her. This kind of treatment wasn’t like any other newbie artist but simply serving a queen! 

 

Work resumed normally, and in the following days, Sena stayed in the office reviewing and approving contracts for the luxury properties they won for the quarter of October to December. The groundbreaking ceremony for the East District was finished and attended by many high-level politicians, elite businessmen and celebrities. The construction has commenced requiring her full attention. This time, she will be working closely with Michael and Nicholas for their Metro Hub project.

It’s an ambitious construction on a 10.5-hectare of land for a luxury-oriented mall, hotels and casino. There will rise the amalgamation of high-end lifestyle and entertainment. 

“Boss!” Elia rushed to her office in her 6-inch nude Louboutins. “Have you seen this?”   

Sena’s eyelid twitched seeing her huff, almost diving headfirst on her table. 

“Aren’t you uncomfortable in those shoes?” She asked.

Elia smiled. “Shoes below 6 inches doesn’t make me happy.”

Ah, this one is willing to suffer for beauty. What a loyalist. 

Sena took her phone and brushed over the page she wanted to show her. It was the same microblog about her coming to the movie set, there was a sneak shot of her walking around the filming site. She wasn’t alone that time but the demon who took her picture made sure to focus the lens solely on her. Sena silently thanked whoever the demon was for not choosing to capture the moment where she was picking her nose for the photo. Fortunately, not all comments were scathing. 

[Wait, is Sena going to enter the entertainment industry? I will definitely stan that face!]

[I don’t think that’s possible. We at the real estate circle will not allow our ace to fly on another branch.]

[Huh? What did you say?! You can’t be too selfish. Let the goddess expand her career.]

[Absolutely not! My lady boss is born for business, not acting!]

The comment made her chuckle, “He’s right, you know.” 

“You’re not mad?” Elia dropped her jaw then recovered her composure. “I’m almost convinced that the person behind this post has personal grudges on you.”

Sena played with her silver pen, “Who knows…” 

She once believed that to hate someone, there has to be a deeper reason but later she learned that, whether you do something or not there will always be a person out there who will hold negative opinions about you. You can’t please everybody.   

During lunch, Sena still stays in the office dealing with the company she inherited. She needs to focus on one of their industries that had trouble during this period. December of this year, the diamond mine in Country R will face a catastrophe that killed several miners. She wanted to do it better this time and save those people and also… Sena paused, took a deep breath and looked at the document with cold eyes. She also needs to clean up those arrogant parasites nesting on her family’s legacy.

Swamped with work, April decided to send her lunch. For two days the routine of sending food warm and taking it out of her office cold continued until an unexpected visitor came. 

*knock knock* 

“Busy?”

Sena looked up and saw Nicholas walking in with a food box on hand. She couldn’t hide the surprise in her eyes, making him feel satisfied for some reason. 

“Hey.” She murmured a greeting. 

Nicholas sighed helplessly. He learned she hadn't gone out to eat for several days. When he entered, she was engrossed with a document with her eyebrows pinched slightly. Her hair was gathered in a neat bun showing that smooth and slender neck over a silk beige blouse. The black lace choker with sapphire pendant wrapping her neck only made her skin fairer. In just a few days, she already lost a bit of flesh. 

Her responsibility was several times heavier than those people her age but she carried them without complaint. She should be out there enjoying her youth, playing wildly and laughing freely with her friends. Added by the project in the East District, work has taken a lot of her leisure time.  

Sena signed the last document and drew in a deep breath. She visibly relaxed as soon as she put down her pen. “Finally done…” She groaned.

He felt soft somewhere in his chest when looking at her like this. 

“I brought you something from Mrs Muller’s house.” 

Sena tilted her head, blinked her eyes a few times moving those eyelashes like fans then pursed her mouth. “Food?”

Nicholas put the package on the coffee table and took out the food boxes one by one. Her dead eyes lit when the familiar scent caressed her nose. 

“This is made by her chef. She said that you like eating them.”

There is tartiflette, lamb tagine and steaming hot soup. 

“Yes!” Sena stretched her back lazily, stood up and moved to the sitting area. “Thank you for bringing these and sorry for the trouble. Let’s have lunch?”

Nicholas shook his head regretfully and patted his stomach, “I already had mine at her place, she said that I have to watch you finish this before leaving.” 

She looked at the serving enough to feed three people feeling intimidated. Does granny Elle think she eats like an elephant? 

“The truth is, she is also watching the program you joined and felt sorry for you and figured you needed enough feeding to recover from the hardships you suffered in the mountains.”

Grandpa Ye also thought she suffered up there and stuffed her with all her favourite dishes. Do old people always think the younger ones eat too little and want to fatten them? No wonder… but this serving is scary. Eating all of it will make her stomach burst. 

“Half?” She bargained biting her finger pitifully. She loved eating this food but her food tank has average capacity.  

“Alright.” Nicholas agreed. 

As promised, he watched her eat half of her meal before leaving. Sena thought it was only a one-time incident, who knew that it was just the beginning. Nicholas came to her office almost every day like a mama eagle watching its fledgling eat properly. Fortunately, he took note of last time so granny Elle prepared only half of the previous ample serving. 

Seeing that she gradually recovered and her clavicle no longer looked so deep and sharp, Nicholas reluctantly ended her mandatory feeding program.

He had no idea that Sena had lingering fears about lunch in these past few days that she happily jumped with joy when he stopped bringing those food boxes.  

At night in her apartment, she and April followed the show as a soap opera. Their posters for Challenge Me are still hanging on billboards and highlighted on large LED screens downtown. Fans have also picked their favourite so it’s inevitable not to have heated discussions on the internet especially when Maya refused to help Luan clean the fish.

[Look at Luan, she also has no idea what to do but she still participates. Unlike someone in there who’s only good at crying.]

[The innkeeper’s wife was right, if she behaves like this in real life she will get fired.]

[What do you know? Maya has never touched this kind of dirty job before. Why can’t you give her a break?]

[Girl, what do you think of Luan? Born from an average household? Her family runs the oldest and one of the largest restaurants in the country! She was born pampered as well but she knows how to adapt to the situation.]

This is the second time April saw Sena’s half-sister. The girl also has a small and delicate face but she had little to no resemblance to her boss’s striking and distinctive features. Moreover, their personalities are also miles apart. One is like a princess, soft and cute the other is like a fallen angel full of decadent allure. 

It’s just that the so-called fallen angel in her eyes is currently screaming, dragging down the tall image she had in her mind. She and her companion Nancy suddenly turned into pro marathoners when spiders broke out from the area they were about to clean. 

[Wahahahaha I never thought I’d see the day these girls would lose their composure.]

[Sena was hesitating whether to carry Nancy like a bride or make a dash straight to the door.]

[If it were me, I would have probably forgotten the door in a panic and jumped out of the window.]

[Gosh, I feel sorry for them but the situation was hilarious at the same time. Am I bad?] 

[Fuck, I’ve never seen anyone who can still look beautiful with all that dirt all over their faces. Please clean our chimney too!]

[Friend, does your family have a chimney?]

[No, but I can build one for them to clean *blush*]

[Speaking of chimneys, Yuni throwing a tantrum when they picked the job was infuriating!] 

[Saw it as well. She thinks everyone has to wait on her.]

[I don’t like Yuni, she always picks on Nancy on her vlog. As Nancy’s die-hard mommy fan, I approve of Sena Erde and this strong sisterly bond. Our loli was lucky to have her by her side.]

[Tonight’s episode is going to be even more fun~]

“Boss, people like you a lot so why were you the first to go home?” April frowned, brushing her phone. 

“This is showbiz. You don’t get to ask ‘why’ and ‘how’.” She answered blithely while hugging her green dinosaur plushie. 

“Hey, it’s Daisy.” April looked at the faded little toy and smiled. Sena seems to particularly love this one, always keeping it by her side and squeezing it. It must have been given by her late mother. She even brought it to the mountain and showed it in front of the camera! 

“Hello.” Sena pulled the dino’s tiny green hand to wave at April. 

In one of the segments, the late-night diary when Sena was getting ready to sleep. Little Daisy first showed up. On her first night, she sat on the bed talking to the camera hugging it. “The crickets are noisy, it’s different when you are in the city.”

It made the audience feel sorry for her. They thought that maybe she was too afraid of her new place and decided to talk to the camera. She was squishing the plushie so tightly the program group had to put tears gushing out from its eyes. 

[Hahaha the poor thing can’t breathe.]

[Leave the poor dino alone!!!]

Sena wriggled on the bed and continued in a low voice. “In the morning you will hear cars honking then everything turns quiet in the evening. Here, it’s peaceful during the day but the buzzings at night can be scary. It’s a perfect place to unwind...” 

Audience: Why does it feel like she’s promoting tourism? Go to sleep girl! 

Sena yawned and dove in the covers waiting for sleepiness to kick in. Her daily regimen was peaceful compared to the other cast who were yelling about mosquitoes and mice. She had a pleasant rest, woke up to clean up, cook and prepare for activities. 

Audience: You came here to suffer, not to have a vacation! 

Also the audience: This is a reincarnation of an ancient peasant woman! 

It was relaxing watching her routine despite the clumsiness of her movements. In another late-night diary, she brought Daisy again, talking to it about the chimney activity. Her whole body was sore and she was using a warm compress to pat her legs and shoulders like an old lady.

Sena leisurely took the audience on a tour of ancient life from the comforts of their homes. And although her moments were short-lived, most of her scenes were not cut because the crew discovered that she is popular with the viewers. Her departure meant their loss so to remedy this, they included everything since she came to the Eddings home. 

The rating swelled.  

The rest of the cast who have returned to their own homes also followed the prime time broadcast and were shocked by the enthusiasm of the viewers for the 4th season. TK leaned on the couch looking all smug and proud when he and Arthur were called out as winners on the first task. Even his father who was skeptical had to admit that his stupid son with volatile temper indeed changed a little. He saw his efforts in the show despite the unwillingness and the look of rebellion in those eyebrows. 

Perhaps putting him in the right crowd was the best method to curb his waywardness. Arthur Min, Sena Erde and Nancy Tennoji particularly made his little hedgehog behave. 

“Good, I will return your credit cards and the key to the garage to you.” TK’s father said. “I hope you finally learned that what you have right now is a privilege not many people can have. For every luxury, an equal amount of labour and hard work has to be given. You should learn to cherish things and not treat them as disposable, easily replaced just because you have money.”

On a normal occasion, TK would answer back to his old man and ridicule him for his preaching. He always felt that the older generation was too noisy, roundabout and would take every opportunity to guilt-trip him. But not anymore. He realized that although his dad was long-winded he was speaking facts. He had been so proud and comfortable with his life that he would whine and get angry the moment he didn't get what he wanted. He felt that since they can afford it, his parents should give it to him because it was their responsibility, he didn’t even consider the amount of hard work they have to put through to give him the comfortable lifestyle he was squandering. 

When the audience was skeptical whether the program would become another vanity show, the cast proved it was not. They endured days without glamorous makeup, modern gadgets and clothes, getting bitten by mosquitoes, eating simple food and getting their hands dirty. Not to mention wealthy kids, even kids of average households would loose their marbles when thrown in this place! 

Over time they were enamoured by TK’s endless energy, Arthur’s dedication to the task, Nancy’s diligence and Sena’s resourcefulness. What’s more, their little interactions gave a funny taste to the supposed to be a serious show. In one of their idle talks, Nancy was complaining that the vlogs she saw were not as hellish as they are experiencing. 

Sena jokingly answered, “You see, people are sick and tired of seeing many too perfect social media portrayals. The whole thing has become a big envy feast and it just feels so satisfying to tear down that facade.”

It hit a cord to those who were watching. 

Them performing as poor guinea pigs gave people a fresh perspective. After all, it’s ten times the fun when watching pampered children howl and beg when they roll in the mud. However, just when they expected they would pack up and throw tantrums, they were hit by a huge surprise. Playing well in the program has earned the audience love and seeing discordant comments floating here and there seem ridiculous considering how the cast did their best. 

While Nancy’s side felt that the program finally found their conscience and showed honest content, the other half who were left on the unfavourable side were dissatisfied. Gan’s vanity was in full display, Eron’s performance was lacklustre, the cousins Yuni and Maya did not manage to grab people’s attention.   

Later, Sena’s unfair scoring was severely criticized and the director became afraid to open his social media page. With the audience watching vigilantly and learning from his previous mistakes, he dared not make any more sly moves until Nancy bagged the first place. 

As Nancy returned home, she called Sena for a get together with their new friends. She missed her the entire time and always kept her tips in mind. She believed that it was because of Sena’s push that she was able to break out of her cocoon and fight for the things she wanted. But no, Sena knew she deserved to win because of her perseverance, she only failed because Maya used underhanded means to win before. Dragging those judges along with her elimination was her main aim, without them the show turned for the better.

Arthur and TK cared none for the prize money nor fame and they leisurely did their own thing, Luan was a neutral player who only came to test the waters. However, because she played fair, the show magnified her positive traits. As for the rest, Sena didn’t care. 

The issues erupting about her were soon drowned out and redirected by her supporters. On a positive note, it helped push the ratings of Challenge Me and the movie she invested into the top trends. 

While the horror movie slowly vaccinated its audience on what kind of terror they are going to witness in the theatres, Sena also received a different kind of scare. The Tang couple took time to visit her home!

 

This is the first time since the wedding that they came to Paragon again. Afraid to see the same situation as last year Linda was apprehensive to approach at first. The last time they came here was to bring her back after getting drunk in a bar. They were appalled to see Sena’s messy surroundings.  

“Big sis?” Sena called when she was lost in thought. 

“Sorry, I was distracted.” Linda blinked and refreshed her eyes. Last year might have been hers and Leo’s illusion. Sena is back to her usual cheerful self and reorganized her life. 

Sena sensed her tension and reached out for her hand. “I promise what happened before will never happen again. I was wrong to worry you and big brother, I’m very sorry. I don’t want to be that pathetic and childish girl, I’m changing my ways. Please believe in me.” 

“I believe in you, kid. I do.” Linda said gently and hugged her. “It’s just that Sophie Qin and the people around her have such an influence on you.”

Sena flinched hearing the name. 

“We have fallen out and I have learned my lesson.” 

Linda waved her hand, “Thank God for that. Speaking of her, I can’t believe that woman managed to get in the Che sisters’ circle. I had a good impression of Rachel Che. Unfortunately, her sister was so blind she would trust Sophie Qin this time.” 

Sena bobbed her head, aghast. “Can you say that again, sis?” 

“You didn’t know?”

That’s it! Sena slapped her forehead. It’s been more than a couple of weeks since they left the Highland Lodge but she forgot to keep track of Alexis Che. There was no news of her pestering Chang’an. 

Linda snorted and went about the latest gossip she caught while attending events. “Alexis Che is pregnant with Lyndon Miles' child. A friend disclosed that the two met out of town and you know…” 

Sena’s eyelid twitched. Yeah, I know. I was there eavesdropping. But pregnant with Lyndon this time?! It's a very welcome plot deviation. 

She did not expect that her action would create a chance for two unrelated people to meet. The room she cancelled for Chang’an that night was the one Lyndon booked when he arrived. By chance, Alexis who bore ill-intentions pounced right in thinking it was Chang’an whom she ate. What a sad and hilarious twist. 

Leo quietly sat on the side pretending to read a financial magazine while listening to the two’s gossip. Spending his rest day letting his girls roast people is also kinda fun. 

“The Che family who hinted to support the mayoral candidacy of Lyndon’s uncle withdrew because of the scandal and his refusal to take responsibility. Truth be told, the story was quite bloody; it seems Rachel is forcing Lyndon to marry her sister but he refused so she threatened to withdraw the Che family’s support.”

Linda was engrossed in the gossip that she neglected to see Sena’s green face. The Che family is very used to forcing people to marry, aren’t they? They did it before and they’re doing it again. 

A while later, April came with a plate of muffins and lemonade.  

“Anyway, unknown to Rachel, Alexis and the dog Lyndon already agreed to shed the child and she only knew about it when Alexis nearly bled to death when they went to a shady clinic for abortion.”

April gasped in horror. 

Linda looked at her and nodded. “Yes! Now the whole Che family is raising their knives and guns against the Miles. Oh, I almost forgot, Rachel was also on a manhunt for Sophie for some unknown reason.”  

By this time, Sena is already calm listening to Sophie, Che and Miles’ affair. Sis, that cockroach is the main brain behind this botched up scheme. Rachel is wise to go after her. 

Linda suddenly poked her forehead. “Sophie is a hot potato right now so stay away. Ah, I almost forgot, Lyndon was Chang’an’s classmate.” She added with a click of her tongue. Leo reached for a plate, put a muffin and fork on it then poured her a lemonade. “I’m glad Chang’an no longer associates with him. These people have a very messy circle of friends. It’s best not to get involved. Our company also had little dealings with Delta Brokerage, so I want you to be extra careful with this person if you ever run into him.” 

“Yes ma’am,” Sena replied playfully while admiring how Linda mercilessly demolished the fist-sized muffin in two bites.  

Honestly, she had completely thrown Lyndon Miles out of her mind. She didn’t feel the need to interact with him nor did she judge that further communicating with him would have any positive outcome. He was just an old classmate who happens to be in the same line of business. But Linda’s warning reminded her to be cautious. Having worked in the same city Lyndon will create an opportunity one way or another. 

The couple had lunch with her and April then added another reminder about the premiere night of the four eggheads’ movie. Sena was happy and waved the couple goodbye with an emotional smile. 

That day, she learned that the Tang mistress was completely kicked out by the family.