Chapter 97: Betrayed?
Three hours ago…
At the top floor of the Gu Corporation headquarters, Gu Hanling sat behind his desk, sending a message to Assistant Liu.
After that, his gaze fell upon Shen Xi's chat window, which was pinned to the very top.
Almost instinctively, he tapped into her profile.
Still empty.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
Shouldn’t most women at least post something about their daily lives once a day? Yet, an entire month had passed, and she hadn’t sent a single message.
There could only be one explanation, the phone he gave her had been stolen.
He casually typed “Are you there?” into the chat.
Before he could send it, the newly updated messaging system automatically suggested some stickers.
“Knock knock.”
“Come in.”
Hearing the knock, Gu Hanling instinctively flipped his phone face-down on the desk.
It was Assistant Liu, bringing the documents he needed. By the time he finished signing them, more than ten minutes had passed.
Picking up his phone again, his expression changed slightly. He had accidentally sent a sticker. And it was too late to delete it.
It wasn’t just any sticker either. It was a crying capybara, with text that read:
[Are you there? I miss you.]
Gu Hanling stared at the screen, his brows furrowing as his fingers tapped lightly on the desk.
This wasn’t something he would ever say. But since it was already sent, he might as well see how Shen Xi would respond.
One hour later… No reply.
His expression darkened.
Two hours later… Still nothing.
Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, he silently pondered.
Three hours later…
Back at his desk, he leaned forward, interlacing his fingers in front of his nose, his posture like a commander deep in thought.
Then— “Ding.”
His phone screen lit up.
As expected, it was a message from Shen Xi.
Gu Hanling gave a soft snort, the corners of his lips curving up slightly.
[Big brother, did you send this to the wrong person?]
Picking up his phone to check, the man’s eyes narrowed slightly, his smile vanishing instantly. He only replied with one word:
[Yes.]
On the other end, Shen Xi had a "just as I expected" look on her face.
Then, she suddenly remembered her jewelry design payment! The man had only paid a one million yuan deposit, but the rest of the payment was still outstanding. That wasn’t even enough to buy a house!
[Um… President Gu, what about my remaining payment…?]
[Father-in-law hasn’t paid yet. Cash flow is tight.]
Reading his message, Shen Xi was stunned for a moment before silently rolling her eyes.
Yeah, right. Like Gu Hanling would ever have a cash flow problem.
Even without her omniscient perspective, no one in this world would believe that.
Wait a minute… could it be that he thinks they're legally married now and is trying to dodge the payment?!
Grinding her teeth in frustration, Shen Xi completely ignored the way he had referred to her biological father as "father-in-law." Instead, she started thinking about how she could get back at this capitalist villain, just a little.
[There's a guy in the crew who's even more handsome than you. Everyone really likes him.]
She hit send. Pressing her lips together, Shen Xi smirked.
Gu Hanling had everything, but if he heard that someone was better-looking than him, it would probably annoy him for at least a moment.
Or maybe not.
Ugh, forget it. If she pisses off the big boss, he’ll probably dock her salary again. Not worth it.
Hurriedly, she snapped a photo of herself dressed as a man for her role and sent it instead.
There, that should smooth things over.
Unfortunately, due to the weak mountain signal, the message failed to send after a thirty-second delay, with a red exclamation mark appearing.
Just then, the assistant director called out:
"Mu Xue! You're up!"
"Coming!"
Shen Xi responded quickly, stuffing her phone back into her bag and running back to the set. Halfway through the shoot, a thought suddenly struck her.
Wait… That message Gu Hanling sent at the beginning...
Did she just… get cheated on?! Had she really lost her man in just one month?!
The woman, her mind wandering, was struggling to get focused.
"Cut!"
Director Feng frowned and called for a stop.
"Mu Xue, what's going on? Why are you spacing out?"
"Sorry, Director, let’s do it again."
Shen Xi quickly apologized.
Her co-actor, Zhong Wei, a professional and well-respected A-list actor, was actually a pretty decent person. Seeing that Shen Xi was just a young actress with no background and not even an assistant, he figured she might just be exhausted. Concerned, he kindly asked,
"Do you want to take a break? They can shoot my solo scenes first."
Shen Xi smiled politely and shook her head. "No need, I’m good."
She took a deep breath, shook off her distractions, and refocused on the role.
Meanwhile, at Gu Corporation’s headquarters, the atmosphere in the CEO’s office was unusually tense.
A few secretaries whispered among themselves.
"Boss Liu said President Gu is in a terrible mood today. We better be extra careful."
"I knew it! The moment I stepped into the office earlier, I could feel the pressure in the air."
"Do you think he had a fight with his wife?"
Just then, Assistant Liu suddenly appeared behind them, his voice serious.
"Get back to work. No gossiping."
The secretaries instantly shut up and hurried back to their desks.
Assistant Liu glanced at the tightly shut CEO’s office door and sighed to himself.
As the sky darkened, Shen Xi finished filming earlier than expected. After removing her makeup, she hopped into the production team’s business van and returned to the hotel where all the cast members were staying.
"Miss Shen, come here, I need to talk to you."
Just as she got off the van, she was stopped by Producer Wu Liang, who was standing beside a tall, thin middle-aged man in a suit.
Shen Xi’s brows instinctively furrowed.
This Producer Wu had been trying to ask her out multiple times during the closed training sessions. She had turned him down every time.
As a former man herself, she knew exactly what kind of "business" men like him had in mind.
Thankfully, Director Feng was a renowned figure in the domestic film industry, so even though Wu was the producer, he didn’t dare to force anything openly.
But now, seeing Wu bring along an unfamiliar man, Shen Xi immediately felt on guard.
"Producer Wu, what is it?"
Wu Liang smiled in a way that made her skin crawl and rubbed his hands together.
"Oh, nothing serious. I’m just here to let all the actors know that there’s a dinner gathering."
Wu Liang seemed worried that Shen Xi might misunderstand, so he quickly added,
"This is my boss, Mr. Chen, the main investor of this drama. He’s the one hosting the dinner for the production team. Xiaoxiao and the others will be there too, so you can’t decline."
Hearing that other people would be attending, Shen Xi relaxed a little. She nodded politely at Mr. Chen, keeping a calm and composed attitude.
"Hello, Mr. Chen."
Then, she turned to Wu Liang, her tone indifferent.
"Got it, Producer Wu. I’ll be there."
Upon hearing that, Wu Liang’s eyes lit up and he nodded enthusiastically.
"Good, good! Miss Shen, make sure to dress nicely. We’ll be taking pictures for promotion."
Shen Xi gave a slight nod before turning around and entering the hotel.
As Mr. Chen watched her disappear around the corner, he narrowed his eyes slightly and asked Wu Liang,
"She’s this beautiful even without makeup, and her aura is remarkable. Does she have any background?"
Wu Liang quickly replied,
"Boss, she’s just a newcomer. I looked into her background, just an adopted daughter of the declining Shen family. She’s only a ‘young lady’ in name."
Mr. Chen nodded, looking thoughtful.
Back in her hotel room, Shen Xi was drenched in sweat from filming. She took a nice, refreshing shower, then pulled out a 'Dolce & Gabbana' little black dress.
She had prepared it for semi-formal events like this. Normally, she stuck to her usual neutral outfits and rarely wore dresses.
Standing in front of the mirror, she checked her reflection. The dress was perfectly tailored, accentuating her curves without being too revealing. She looked like a graceful and elegant black swan.
She only applied a bit of lipstick, checked the time, and then left for the dinner.
The dining venue was luxurious.
Following the waiter, she walked toward a private room, where she saw Xiaoxiao waiting at the entrance.
Xiaoxiao mysteriously leaned in and handed her a small black metal object. Shen Xi took a closer look, it turned out to be a self-defense stun gun??
"Xixi, it’s just us two girls tonight. This is just in case. Don’t worry."
Shen Xi was momentarily stunned. She had been in the industry for too short a time to fully understand all the hidden rules, unlike Xiaoxiao, who was more experienced.
"Thanks."
She quickly hid the stun gun and walked inside.
Inside the room, seven or eight men were already seated. Aside from her and Xiaoxiao, there were no other actresses.
The moment she stepped in, her gaze unexpectedly locked onto a man sitting in the main seat, his face dark and expression unreadable. Her footsteps instinctively halted.