"Doesn't your boyfriend mind?"
[Clara]: This one is acceptable.
Clara found the compliment too tepid, too pale. Dissatisfied, she copied a cascade of florid praises from the comment sections of popular male streamers and hurled them at him all at once.
[Clara]: Ordinary, really. I only replayed it fifty times.
[Clara]: It isn't that I'm wanton, merely that such a blossom in full bloom deserves admiration. To ignore it would be graceless.
[Clara]: You have one minute to retract, otherwise tonight my left eye will be filled with thoughts of you, while my right will be censored into a blur of static.
[Clara]: Who gave you permission to send such indecent videos? I must punish you according to law. The sentence: you shall serve as my paramour.
After a minute of silence, a reply arrived, languid and deliberate.
[Tsuki]: Doesn't your boyfriend mind?
[Clara]: You mind less that I have a boyfriend, but he would mind if I had a lover. Who loves me more? Do you think I cannot tell?
[Tsuki]: I am the lover?
[Clara]: In China, there is a proverb: From the Dao comes the One, from the One comes Two, from the Two comes Three, and from the Three, all creation. Thus, only with a third may perfection be implied.
[Tsuki]: I'm going to shower.
[Clara]: May tickets be purchased for admission?
---
At Haverford University, in the men's dormitory—
Sebastian Kane returned to the room, only to find his roommate Adrian Whitmore staring at his phone with unnerving intensity, as if awaiting a message of grave importance. A suffocating aura clung to him, cold enough to lower the temperature of the room by two degrees.
By the time Sebastian had showered and emerged again, Adrian's expression had softened; he now held his phone close, the faintest smile at the corner of his lips.
"Girlfriend?" Sebastian asked, forgetting entirely that they had quarreled that afternoon.
Adrian inclined his head, mood evidently lifted. "Mm."
The phone tilted ever so slightly, and Sebastian's quick eyes caught a glimpse of the messages before his mind could stop his lips from reading them aloud.
"Your waist is not a waist, but a blade meant to kill."
"Brother, aren't you sweltering beneath all those clothes? I long to become your shirt."
"???" Sebastian blinked, but before he could recite another, Adrian had already darkened the screen.
"Those messages," Sebastian asked in shock, "they came from your girlfriend?"
A quiet yes was all Adrian gave, but his tone revealed his satisfaction.
"Unbelievable. Who could possibly tame the high and distant Adrian Whitmore? I must meet this girlfriend of yours. What's her name?"
Adrian stilled. Truth was, he had not yet learned it. Only earlier, during a video call, he had overheard her family call her Lily.
Across the room, Lucas Vane's eyes flickered like a cornered panther, secrets straining to burst from him. His lips parted—"I kn—"
But before the words could escape, Marcus Zhao, who had foreseen this moment, shoved a packet of crisps into Lucas's mouth.
The atmosphere grew heavy, awkward, strange.
"What were you going to say?" Sebastian asked suspiciously.
Lucas, chewing furiously, mumbled, "I was going to say… this problem set is impossible."
"No," Sebastian narrowed his eyes. "Why are you not even slightly surprised Adrian has a girlfriend? Did you know already? Lucas, you betrayed me—you knew and never told me?"
Lucas looked stricken. The truth—that Adrian's girlfriend was none other than Sebastian's own fiancée—he dared not utter. He stuffed his mouth with more crisps.
Sebastian, energized by the mystery, leaned closer. "So? Is she beautiful?"
"V-very," Lucas stammered.
"She's at our university?"
"Y-yes… I suppose."
Sebastian pressed on, but Marcus intervened, saying calmly, "I saw her once. It was dark. I couldn't see her face clearly."
"You too?" Sebastian's jaw dropped. "So the entire dormitory knows—everyone but me? Adrian, you must bring her to next week's camping trip. I insist."
"Very well," Adrian agreed.
"Settled, then!" Sebastian grinned. "I'll invite Clara too. They're both girls—they'll surely get along."
At this, Marcus's hand froze over his book, while Lucas buried himself deeper into his crisps.
On Monday morning, before dawn had fully broken, Clara arrived at the company.
"Lily, you're here so early?" a colleague from the Algorithms Department greeted her.
"I thought I'd come ahead of time to prepare for the morning's presentation," Clara replied.
She was interning in the Planning Division of the Jiang Corporation, where employees were required to address one another by nicknames.
"Young and promising!" The colleague patted her shoulder approvingly, before lowering his voice conspiratorially. "I heard the heir of the Fu family will be sitting in today. The new product is under his sole charge—his first real step into Fu Enterprises. If you secure the promotional contract for their launch, your permanent position here is guaranteed. The bonus alone would be…" He raised six fingers.
"Six thousand?" Clara guessed.
"No, six figures."
Her eyes brightened. That much?
She had long been planning to buy an apartment, to move her household registration away from the Ruan family. Property in Haicheng was painfully expensive. Though she had some savings, it was still short of a down payment. If she could land this order—
She took a long gulp of coffee, determination blazing.
Her phone buzzed. Bzzzz. Manager Chen was calling. Clara's stomach tightened.
This was the very man who had been withholding her internship certificate, refusing to sign it.
She answered, only to be met with a sharp voice:
"What took you so long to pick up? You're at the company, aren't you? I'll send you my location—drive here at once and then head to Haicheng University to collect someone."
In the corporate world, rank crushed reason.
As she pulled up to the university gates, she saw a young woman dressed in an immaculate Chanel-inspired suit—An Shengnan. Clara's suspicion was confirmed.
Meanwhile, live comments flooded An Shengnan's streaming window:
[Baby Sis looks stunning!]
[She's such a tomboy usually—her face scrunched up like a sour gourd when she learned she had to wear this outfit!]
[No wonder she looks uncomfortable in such a girlish dress—poor thing!]
[Haha, isn't this the very outfit she wore in that office scene with the male lead? Skirt torn and everything~]
Clara: "…"
Sometimes she felt utterly powerless before these unsolicited barrages.
"Miss An, forgive us for keeping you waiting!"
The once caustic Manager Chen leapt from the car, wagging like a spaniel before a favored guest. Clara, unwilling to witness the display, raised the divider.
An Shengnan, phone in hand, waved sweetly at her screen. "Babies, today's my first day as an intern. The company even sent a car for me—I can't be late! See you tonight~"
"Miss An, are you an influencer?" Manager Chen probed once they were on the road.
"Not really. I simply record snippets of my life. Some people happen to enjoy watching."
His eyes darted to her phone, widening. "Three million followers? This platform monetizes well. That must mean you earn tens of millions annually?"
"Hardly. But a seven-figure income, yes."
Clara, listening from the driver's seat, could not help but wonder: Do influencers truly earn so much?
At a long red light, she quickly searched An Shengnan's profile:
A Day in the Life of a Well-Off Girl
Unboxing! Cozy Days at Home with a Little Luxury
Every post brimmed with likes and glowing comments.
The light turned green, and she drove on.
"Tell me, Miss An, how did you come to know our young master Jiang?"
"We were childhood friends. Same international classes through middle and high school, even deskmates for years."
"No wonder he's assigned you to this project. It shows the depth of his regard! I've reserved a private dining club for lunch—perhaps you could help me gauge his preferences?"
"Of course. A'Si and I share similar tastes. He's always said, one must find a partner whose palate matches, otherwise marriage invites discord."
"You and he—surely you mean…"
"Manager Chen," she laughed lightly, "that hardly counts as work talk."
"Quite right! Forgive my loose tongue."
But in the backseat, the live comments bristled:
[Why does she speak so strangely?]
[Didn't the comments say she was only acting with the male lead, not a real mistress? Yet now she's so suggestive—doesn't she know Clara is driving?]
[A little manipulative, isn't she?]
[Manipulative? Your whole family's manipulative!]
The meeting was set for ten o'clock.
At the next junction, the traffic lights malfunctioned, cars piling up into chaos.
"Step on it!" Manager Chen barked. "Do you realize what time it is? If we're late and jeopardize the Fu project, don't think I'll sign your certificate."
"Manager, the signals are down," Clara said evenly, lowering the divider. Her face, luminous and calm, appeared in the rearview mirror. "What a coincidence, Miss An."
An Shengnan's expression faltered. She knew her earlier words—hinting at being Jiang Siyian's girlfriend—had been overheard by the man's actual fiancée. No one could face that without a pang of guilt.
But Manager Chen was relentless. "Why didn't you check the route earlier? Today of all days, when the Fu heir himself is attending! They're expecting the drone presentation—are you deliberately sabotaging us?"
The Fu heir. The words had become all too frequent in Clara's world.
She offered a solution: "We have the prototype drone in the trunk. I can deploy it to broadcast instructions and clear a passage."
"Absolutely not! The 'SkyView' model hasn't been unveiled. If anything goes wrong under your command and we spark a PR crisis, who will shoulder the blame?"
"I will," Clara said firmly. "This presentation is crucial to me."
"Unacceptable," Chen snapped. "Miss An and I will take a side street and hail a cab. As for the Fu briefing—" He hesitated, torn.
"I can present it," An Shengnan interjected.
"I'm a content creator; that might even appeal to the client."
"No!" Clara's eyes hardened.
"Senior Clara, I understand girls can be petty, but this isn't the time for childish jealousy. If it benefits the company, you must put aside pride. Don't you agree, Manager Chen?"
"Indeed. That's the spirit we need!" Chen declared. "Lily, observe Miss An's vision. Learn from her!"
He reached for the door.
But it did not open. Clara had locked it. Calmly, she drew out her unsigned internship certificate and handed it over.
"Manager, I can yield the presentation to Miss An. But I'll need your signature first."
"You're doing this on purpose!"
"There are thirty minutes until the meeting," Clara replied, voice like steel. "I am an intern—at worst, I lose my certificate. But if you fumble this contract with Fu Enterprises, will you keep your position?"
Silence thickened in the car.
With clenched jaw, Chen signed.
The comment stream erupted:
[The second lead fought for this project for months, only to have it snatched away? Even with the certificate signed, I can't help but feel bitter for her.]
[Who cares? The thought of Baby Sis seizing that spotlight in front of the male lead and client—delicious!]
[You actually root for smug little villains?]
[The second lead is strong, tragic, and beautiful. She deserves better.]
[She's gorgeous—let her marry the Fu heir. Only the Fu family could rein in this lunatic main couple.]
[Now that is a pairing I could get behind!]