Grace Sutton turned over and climbed down from the sofa, tidying up her clothes: "Master Durrell, since you can't sleep either, why don't we go out for a walk?"
He glanced at the time; it was two o'clock in the morning.
Oliver Gale wasn't asleep either at this moment. He stood by the window and saw a car driving out from the garage through the hazy moonlight.
There was a slight surprise on his otherwise calm face. He went to the surveillance room to check the monitors and was unexpectedly surprised to see the ones who went out at night were Durrell Landon and Quiana Sutton.
Honestly, he had never accurately guessed the thoughts of these two from the beginning to the end.
So he decided not to care.
The two of them arrived at a mountaintop, and Durrell Landon glanced around casually:
"Is this the fun place you were talking about?"
The surroundings were desolate, without even wild grass, except for that stretch of starry sky that caught the eye.
He spoke lightly:
"Do you want to look at the night sky in the middle of the night? There's no meteor shower today. Can't you watch the starry sky at Imperial View Manor?"
Quiana Sutton didn't reply, just pushed the car door open and got out on her own.
She stood beneath the silent night sky and walked slowly. Durrell Landon never thought there would come a day when, in this boundless darkness, someone would appear within his sight, making him inexplicably courageous to grasp everything before him.
His eyes deepened as he pushed the car door open and got out as well.
The two stood on the edge of the cliff in silence.
It's unclear how much time passed before the night faded, dawn breaking in the east, a ray of morning glow fell on them, and their originally blurry silhouettes began to clear. Quiana Sutton, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke:
"I'm not here to watch the stars; I want to see the sunrise."
It was Durrell Landon's first time coming to the mountaintop to watch the sunrise. It felt as if reaching out, he could touch the sun not far away.
The coolness was not the kind of scorching heat he imagined.
He turned his head to glance at Quiana Sutton, her entire being bathed in the soft light. Still, she did not become gentle, remaining indifferent and distant as ever, as if even the hottest sun couldn't melt her. Despite this, he still wanted to get close, subconsciously feeling that even becoming a moth drawn to a flame, perishing in the attempt, would be worth it.
He never thought that this dreamlike scene would never fade from memory from then on.
…
After watching the sunrise, the two returned to Imperial View Manor, where Oliver Gale was eating breakfast unceremoniously.
Seeing the two walk in together, he leisurely put down his teacup, a gentle smile playing on his lips:
"Did you two enjoy your time last night?"
Durrell Landon glanced at him, knowing exactly what kind of gossip he was thinking: "We just watched the sunrise; don't get the wrong idea."
Oliver Gale's smile stiffened slightly; indeed, the thoughts of these two were never guesses ordinary people could make.
Leaving at two in the morning to watch the sunrise on the mountain—one must have an exceptionally unusual mind.
Quiana Sutton ignored him and just sat down to start her breakfast.
Before she could take a few bites, the phone rang. She glanced at it; it was Grace Sutton calling, and she slowly wiped her hands before pressing the answer button.
As soon as the call connected, a roar came from the other end.
"Quiana Sutton, where did you go yesterday?"
She had been to many places yesterday, and couldn't figure out what exactly Grace meant at that moment.
"Grace, is something wrong?"
Grace replied irritably: "Check the trending searches yourself."
Quiana Sutton opened the trending searches and took a glance, seeing a photo of her smoking, accompanied by a prominent headline—
[Smoking in a nightclub, pure image overturned]
The photographer had good skills; even through the hazy smoke, it was clear that it was her.
She spoke nonchalantly:
"It's just smoking, no big deal; I haven't killed anyone or committed arson, nor evaded taxes. Why get so worked up?"
Grace felt perhaps her career as a manager had reached a dead-end, saying rather helplessly:
"That's because your previously pure and gentle image is hit hard now with a smoking photo suddenly coming out; isn't that slapping your own face? Haven't you seen people's comments? They're all cursing you?"
"I've seen them. It's not my first time being cursed, so why get so worked up? Besides, I was planning not to stick to my old image anymore."
"Then what image do you want?"
"Right now, I don't want any image; I just want to be willful for once and be myself."
Grace: "…"
She felt a bit toothache coming on.
Durrell Landon looked at the online insults directed at Quiana Sutton and felt a sense of absurdity in his expression.
[If the image is overturned, it's overturned. She's not the only celebrity in the entertainment circle whose image is overturned.]
[I saw it coming a long time ago. With a face like hers, how could she be so pure and innocent?]
[Perhaps not only smoking behind the scenes, but she might have many men. Despite being a terrible actress, she always gets roles. She must have slept with a sugar daddy.]
[The person above is going too far. She's only acted in a few idol dramas. Are her resources that great? Even if her acting is bad, she's really good at singing. Besides, aren't idol dramas about having the right look?]
This point couldn't even be opposed by her anti-fans.
Anti-fans could criticize everything about her, but they couldn't deny her looks.
Among a lineup of standout celebrities, her face could still dominate. People often joked that Quiana Sutton's face was a masterpiece of a goddess.
Perhaps because she was given such an unmatched face, her unsatisfactory acting occasionally made people equalize their feelings by digging for black material on her.
…
The argument culminated when someone posted a thread:
[Sister's smoking posture is so cool, mind if I date you?]
The poster themselves didn't expect that their casual post would make it to the trending list.
After seeing the post, everyone fell silent for a moment.
They had to admit, the posture really was cool.
With an air of defiance through the hazy smoke, she seemed like an immortal yet like a demon—two completely different temperaments which should not exist in one person. Strangely enough, Quiana Sutton embodied these contradictions perfectly.
Ultimately, the consensus among netizens was that this was a marketing ploy by Quiana Sutton's management to change her public image.
Ella Shaw almost threw her phone out of anger after reading the netizens' comments.
She had inadvertently given Quiana Sutton a wave of free publicity, failing to blacken her, while Quiana Sutton unexpectedly gained a following.
Many people were clamoring, "Sister, please marry me."
Grace Sutton had been keeping an eye on the online developments; Quiana Sutton's storm of scandal truly lived up to its reputation—just a photo of her smoking could trigger a massive online frenzy.
Yet unexpectedly, and somewhat unbelievably, netizens assumed the company orchestrated this scandal as a marketing strategy to alter Quiana Sutton's image.
After Quiana Sutton mentioned wanting to participate in an outdoor survival reality show, the company indeed considered rebranding her image, but before they could begin, this incident happened unexpectedly today.
She put down her phone and pinched her brow in frustration, trying to treat this unexpected event as a prelude to something greater.