Under the cover of night, in the center of the New Eridu urban district, on the top floor of a lavishly decorated skyscraper belonging to DGA Entertainment.
Red and gold hues were divided by minimalist lines, and the ornate patterns serving as decoration appeared graceful without feeling bloated. The crystal chandelier emitted a soft light, illuminating the entire conference room brightly yet perfectly.
More than a dozen men and women—some tall, some short, but mostly lean and sharp-looking—sat on both sides of a massive solid wood conference table, separated by a fixed distance.
In their hands, they held a document submitted by Evelyn.
In this conference room meticulously crafted by DGA Entertainment, every member of the Board of Directors was present.
The entire room was so quiet one could hear a pin drop, save for the occasional rustling of paper friction.
To be precise, this wasn't just a document.
It was a list of demands submitted to the Board by Evelyn, acting as Astra Yao's manager, following the accident at the concert.
Or, one could simply call it a threat.
The conclusion was blatantly marked with the fact that the Fugue Music Company was currently recruiting Astra Yao, seeking revenge for the poaching of Yulan back in the day.
However, right now, this had become a powerful tool for leverage.
The silence did not last long. The youngest man sitting at the round table slammed his hand onto the surface in a fit of rage. The force was so great that the teacup placed on the expensive solid wood table actually bounced up.
Clang!
Accompanying the sound of the pricey teacup landing back on its saucer and splashing water everywhere, his voice rang out simultaneously.
"She's nothing but company property, yet she dares to turn around and dictate terms to us?!"
He flipped through the list listed before him. Just seeing the conditions item by item made him feel a wave of irritation.
Forcibly suppressing his anger, he spoke through gritted teeth:
"After gaining a debut within the DGA Entertainment Group, she demands full autonomy over her participation in movies, variety shows, concerts, endorsements, and all other activities? And DGA Entertainment only gets advisory rights?!"
Anger and dissatisfaction surged continuously in his heart.
"Who the hell does she think she is?! She's just a rookie who held one concert!"
Ever since 'Odeon' was acquired by Gaozhi Finance and became DGA Entertainment, they had always been the ones looking down from above, bestowing charity upon others.
When did it become a bratty little girl's turn to dictate terms to him?
Burning with rage, he spoke ruthlessly:
"Even if she's evaluated as having the potential to become the next Yulan, a genius who hasn't converted talent into capital is, to DGA Entertainment, nothing more than just a genius. Why don't we just directly..."
Although he didn't finish his sentence, everyone present understood his meaning.
Hobson, sitting to the side, merely watched everything before him with cold eyes, having no intention of expressing an opinion.
After all, having been the Secretary General for so long and attending countless board meetings, he had long since seen through it.
These shrewd, ghost-like board members were actually very aware of the status quo.
Everyone present knew that the main factor allowing them to sit here and calmly discuss Astra Yao's demands was precisely Astra Yao herself.
After all, following the attack at the venue, DGA Entertainment inevitably had to pay the price for concealing the evacuation notice, which left everyone defenseless when the monster attacked.
Although they had already thrown a minor staff member under the bus to take the blame, the public wasn't stupid.
The most important reason DGA Entertainment's stock price hadn't plummeted, and had actually surged, was because Astra Yao was an idol affiliated with DGA Entertainment.
So, while everyone present looked extremely angry, not a single note of rejection was written by their hands.
The reason they didn't stop this man from speaking was purely because everyone seated had a fire in their hearts, and they could use his mouth to vent it.
It had become a tacit understanding.
However, after his final sentence ended, everyone's expressions changed slightly.
A middle-aged woman immediately stepped in to smooth things over.
"Enough. Her explosive popularity is confirmed now. Not to mention how many people are watching her, the man who dealt with that monster invading the venue is her friend. Do you want DGA Entertainment to go up against a monster like that?"
There were enterprises or groups within TOPS that possessed power, or rather, such enterprises were not few in number.
But at least DGA Entertainment did not possess such strength.
The special service guards affiliated with DGA Entertainment...
To be honest, only the name sounded nice.
Their primary duty was to stand at the door looking imposing. Their secondary duty was to be ready to stabilize the situation when the boss drank too much, or to put on a 'I've seen it all' expression in front of petty thieves—those were their important skills.
Whether they could win against Astra Yao or Evelyn was hard to say, but if you put them up against that man...
Saying they were there for comic relief wouldn't be an exaggeration.
And actually, even if they went to hire mercenaries...
The Vanishing Wolves, one of the biggest gangs in the Outer Ring, had just been tossed around by Astra Yao's side. It hadn't even been seven days; if they ran to the Outer Ring now saying they wanted to commission someone to target Astra Yao...
Anyone who heard it would only look at them like they were idiots.
They might even strike first and report it directly to Public Security; maybe they could even earn a whistleblower fee.
Subsequently, the middle-aged woman continued to remind them:
"Moreover, we need her right now to help us stabilize the financial report. Because the overall trend is growth, we can still cover things up. Otherwise, if Gaozhi Finance holds us accountable, none of us will be able to keep our positions."
What the woman said was indeed the truth, and the young man actually understood this very well.
So, taking the hint, he decisively took the out offered to him and fell silent.
Seeing him stop, the middle-aged woman nodded with satisfaction. The words spoken earlier were tacitly glossed over just like that.
To the board members of DGA Entertainment, the current Astra Yao was an invincible person with no weaknesses.
Within the rules, because of the recent concert, she had become an important resource for DGA Entertainment and should be well protected. And outside the rules...
The existence willing to protect her made them unable to muster even the slightest courage to reach out their hands.
This made everyone present unable to resist silently cursing her dogshit luck, that she could directly encounter such a completely unreasonable powerhouse who had almost never shown himself before.
And their relationship was even very intimate.
However, this didn't mean they would admit defeat so thoroughly.
The woman revealed a trace of a sneer and said:
"Don't forget, no matter what, unless there are resources finding her directly, the channels through which she can acquire resources all come from DGA Entertainment."
Evelyn had calmly pointed out every word in the demands submitted earlier, but the woman countered:
"Since we only possess advisory rights, then we just ensure that she only gets the resources we have pre-selected for her. Wouldn't that work?"
For these board members who had become old foxes, with just a slight mention, everyone instantly understood.
Such a plan had been tested in practice many times; they had subjects they had already experimented on.
With Yulan, whom they poached from Fugue Music Company, they used this exact method after initially luring her over with so-called creative freedom.
And looking at the final result, their behavior had been very successful.
But no matter how they calculated in their hearts, the first priority was to stabilize Astra Yao while waiting for the current public opinion storm to pass.
After the storm passed, if Astra Yao could maintain her current momentum, what would be the harm in truly letting her have full autonomy?
After all, for the company, as long as they could make money, let her be independent. With such a powerhouse as a friend, who would dare to truly pull any petty tricks?
So, even if there was much unwillingness in their hearts right now, the reply of total agreement was sent out at the fastest speed.
In the kitchen of Astra Yao's home, Andrew was placing fresh Diablos leg steaks onto an iron plate, beginning the barbecue.
And just nearby.
Astra Yao was lying prone on the dining table. Beneath her sparkling eyes was a trail of drool stretching long from her mouth, and a stomach that was already rumbling frantically.
After all, she had only eaten some porridge before the concert. Meanwhile, with Astra Yao's high-intensity exercise during the concert and the long period of Ether resonance, even if she had eaten until she was full back then, it would have long been consumed completely clean by now.
Not to mention the press conference she had to attend afterwards due to the Diablos attack.
To deal with those troublesome reporters, the mealtime that was originally planned long ago was directly pushed back by two or three hours.
Under such circumstances, Astra Yao was already so hungry she wanted to grab anything and take a bite.
On the balcony, Evelyn was on a call with someone of unknown identity. The expression on her face was incomparably determined, and she was saying something with a serious face.
Earlier, Astra Yao had tried to get close to eavesdrop a few times, but she was keenly discovered by Evelyn and rejected.
This was the first time for Astra Yao.
Watching Astra Yao turn her head to look at Evelyn with a worried expression, Andrew, who had roughly guessed what Evelyn was doing based on her previous questions, revealed a smile and comforted her:
"Rest assured, she just made up her mind to make a clean break with certain things. She'll be fine."
Recalling the so-called mysterious organization Evelyn had mentioned back then, Andrew's eyes instantly narrowed slightly, subconsciously exuding a trace of a dangerous aura.
But it was quickly retracted by Andrew as he reacted. Subsequently, he said gently:
"If it really doesn't work out, there's still me. It's okay."
Hearing this, Astra Yao also subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, and the worry in her heart instantly dissipated a lot.
At this moment, Astra Yao suddenly realized that although it had only been a short two days, she seemed to have started subconsciously relying on Andrew without realizing it.
Feeling the reassuring aura radiating from Andrew, she suddenly felt that this... seemed pretty nice?
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
Time passed quietly like this, second by second. Accompanied by the sizzling sound, Andrew was patiently and carefully pan-frying the Diablos leg steaks for the trio's dinner.
And Astra Yao was observing Andrew in minute detail.
Her gaze swept over Andrew's side profile again and again, as if wanting to carve it deeply into her mind. It was as if she were unknowingly attracted; she felt her eyes seemed to be glued to him.
Again and again, for some reason, she wouldn't feel bored no matter how much she looked.
If only I could keep looking like this forever.
Involuntarily, such a feeling arose spontaneously in Astra Yao's heart.
However, not much time had passed like this when Evelyn, having put down the phone, let out a long sigh of relief. Simultaneously, she discovered that DGA Entertainment's reply had also arrived.
A double blessing.
Involuntarily revealing a trace of a smile, Evelyn pushed the door open directly from the balcony and entered.
Whoosh!
With the sound of the balcony sliding door, the atmosphere in the room was suddenly broken.
Astra Yao was like she had been startled awake. Her eyes refocused, and her originally wildly flying thoughts instantly returned to her body.
And Evelyn, who pushed open the door, could hardly conceal the happy emotions in her heart. She took out the reply from the DGA Entertainment Board of Directors, handed it to Astra Yao, and said:
"Success, Young Miss! From now on, you have obtained independent autonomy. You can refuse arrangements you dislike or find unreasonable!"
Hearing this, Astra Yao instantly jumped up in excitement, hugging Evelyn's arm jubilantly.
"That's great!!!"
Yes, refusing arrangements that DGA Entertainment made that were disliked or unreasonable.
Actually, from beginning to end, the two had never considered independence in the true sense. For a rookie idol, even with high popularity, that was not quite realistic.
And successfully obtaining the so-called right of independence was, in the final analysis, to have the right to refuse.
After all, in a company formed by capital, wanting to possess such a right was simply a luxury.
Even Yulan back in the day hadn't achieved it.
As for the so-called true autonomy, achieving the ability to decide one's own choices...
That would depend on whether Astra Yao could go a step further during this period.
And Astra Yao had ample confidence in herself.
Andrew, who had already cut the steaks from one large whole piece into large individual slices, looked up at Evelyn and instantly, keenly discovered something different about her.
Looking at Evelyn, whose brows and eyes were full of relaxation, Andrew smiled and asked:
"Have you made the break, Eve?"
Finding the topic suddenly shifted to herself, Evelyn subconsciously wanted to deny and cover it up.
But upon seeing Andrew's gentle eyes, she instantly realized she had actually already been exposed.
But in fact, when she asked those questions that were almost explicit hints before, she had already mentally prepared herself to be exposed.
So, adjusting back very quickly, Evelyn nodded firmly and said:
"Mm. I am Evelyn, and only Evelyn."
As her voice fell, the two looked at each other and couldn't help but reveal a smile simultaneously.
However, this left Astra Yao on the side looking blank. She looked left, then right, suddenly feeling a sense of being excluded.
Before she could press for answers, Evelyn took the lead and spoke:
"But when all is said and done, the fact that Young Miss and I could succeed so easily... you take at least eighty percent of the credit. Without you, this matter wouldn't have been accomplished so easily."
After all, in such a world, only when you possess the strength to forcibly press the other party onto the negotiating table to talk properly, is there a possibility of facilitating all of this right now.
Otherwise, no matter what, at least Evelyn couldn't have retreated unscathed so easily.
Instead, she would have certainly paid some price.
____
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