Chapter 3

Constellation had endured for generations partly because every head of the company practiced self-examination.

By remembering every mistake, finding its cause, and improving, one remained clearheaded.

After my relationship with Duan Yujing reached this point, I briefly asked whether I had done something wrong.

Perhaps I had allowed him to believe that ending things with me would result in blacklisting. Perhaps that was why he had become involved with someone else behind my back, creeping about like a rat.

But I had never enjoyed taking people by force.

As president of Constellation, I encountered an endless stream of people trying to please me, many of whom offered themselves outright. I was too busy to waste time fighting over one man.

Duan Yujing had been a good companion, and our past together had been pleasant.

I had seen him obedient, coquettish, angry, sad, and joyful. Once, after traveling thousands of miles, he set off fireworks in the snow simply to make me happy. He accompanied me to countless formal events and, with my tacit approval, became my only male companion.

At our most intimate, he touched his nose to mine, murmured my name, and called me “Xianyue-jie.”

And then there was the image in today’s secret photographs: Duan Yujing, naked and lost in passion, entwined with a girl whose face could not be seen.

That was a side of him I had never known.

He used to be a poor liar. Whenever he deceived me, even over something trivial, color rose to his cheeks and I saw through him at once.

Years later, he could lie to my face without blinking.

Today, while telling me he was sick, he had actually been in a hotel room with someone else.

Constellation dominated the industry. I knew every move he made, and even those indecent photographs reached me immediately.

Calmly, I suppressed them and cleaned up his mess. Not for his sake, but because he remained one of my artists, and his scandal could damage the company.

I knew that his promotional romance with Meng Ling, the leading actress in his last drama, had become real. I had noticed his occasional distraction.

Hearts changed. I had no great reaction and simply planned to treat him as an ordinary employee.

He had sought a place at my side; I had accepted when it suited me, and I did not mind ending it now.

I had not expected his affair with Meng Ling to have gone so far.

My visit to the set had been spontaneous. I had only recently returned to the country and settled my affairs. Finding him absent and learning what he had done surprised and displeased me.

Nothing more.

Breaking a contract deserved consequences.

I never begged anyone to stay. If he no longer wanted me, I would replace him.

Bian Xun watched me in silence for several seconds.

Some unreadable emotion filled his gentle dark eyes, like a sunlit lake rippling with brilliance.

His eyes were beautifully shaped and intensely focused. He was probably the kind my employees described as “looking lovingly even at a dog.”

Very beautiful.

After a pause, I made a rare effort to explain. “If you choose the first contract, you will still have excellent prospects at Constellation.”

He suddenly laughed—not mockingly, but with genuine happiness.

“President Lou, you would be the one losing out if I became yours.” From a man so handsome, even flattery sounded pleasant, and his clear gaze made his sincerity impossible to doubt. “Lou Xianyue is the legendary Crown of Constellation, the jewel of the business world.”

He was better than Duan Yujing at making me happy.

Perhaps he suited my taste even more.

After a few quiet seconds, I pushed the black folder toward him.

It held an S+ contract, with benefits equal to Duan Yujing’s. What he gave would determine what he received. Given my previous experience, I had also added many restrictive clauses.

Bian Xun did not read them. He flipped straight to the final page and signed.

“You may want a lawyer to review it.”

“No need. I don’t own anything worth deceiving me over.” He smiled with perfect ease. “And President Lou would never deceive me.”

It felt as though a feather brushed my heart.

I admitted it: he had pleased me again.