After Being Targeted by the Gloomy and Obsessive Movie Queen - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Trap and Marriage Agreement with Xu Yinyu

The long-unheard, familiar address only made Xu Yinyu freeze for a second. After recovering, she managed to force out a smile before decisively opening the private room door and then closing it.

The breeze at the doorway gently arrived, then cautiously departed.

Yu Shujin was trembling with anger, yet utterly helpless. Her tightly clenched hand slowly loosened.

After leaving the private room, when Xu Yinyu returned, she found that Su Baili had already gone. Deep weariness flooded her entire body, so she found a soft couch, leaned back, and allowed herself a ten-minute reprieve from the exhaustion.

Bypassing the pool in the loft, the blinding lights always illuminated the surrounding clamor. Everyone present had witnessed various forms of excitement, but they were seeing Xu Yinyu for the first time—quiet as a water lily blooming in clear water.

Cold enough, stubborn enough, and fearless enough.

Upstairs, the naturally seductive, red-haired Chi Xia held a glass of fine Lafite, swirling it slowly. Her gaze gradually drifted down to Xu Yinyu’s waist. The shirt, the latest design by Roy Belle, highlighted the waist with its distinctive feature.

The small V-neck design extended to the hem, which cinched the waistline, clinging to her form and outlining her taut curves. From her long, pale neck down to her waist, Chi Xia clicked her tongue and turned to Yu Shujin, shaking her wine glass. “My dear Miss, what are you planning now?”

“Who was it who boasted they wouldn’t even look up at someone, even if they knelt before them? Huh, Miss Yu?”

Yu Shujin’s face was dark, her eyes obscure and shifting. “You don’t need to probe. Since she betrayed me like that in the past, I am determined to make her pay the price to get my satisfaction.”

Chi Xia was speechless. “Eight years have passed. You’re not a child anymore; you’re still pulling this revenge stunt? How immature.”

Yu Shujin shot back a cold, threatening look.

Chi Xia, who usually couldn’t stand being pressured, waved her hands in surrender. “Fine, fine, I’ll concede. Then, may I ask, how do you plan to take revenge on your ex-first love?”

Yu Shujin’s gaze followed Xu Yinyu as she stood up and shifted, until she left. Only then did Chi Xia’s final remark reach her ears, “I heard she recently got saddled with millions in liquidated damages because of Su Baili. I guess that’s karma for doing bad things…”

Xu Yinyu dragged her soul-weary body back to her mother’s hospital room. Mother Xu lay isolated on the sickbed, still in a coma. Her frail body was already fractured, and her face was so pale it lacked any hint of color.

Xu Yinyu plugged in her phone, which had long since powered off from low battery. A flurry of messages popped up one after another.

After reading every single message, Xu Yinyu glanced at her mother’s thin face, quickly walked out of the room, and closed the door.

She pulled the voice recorder from her black suit trousers, pressed play, and listened from start to finish. There was almost nothing in it that could prove her innocence.

However, she still used a social media account not controlled by her company to release the recording in its entirety, along with an appended plagiarism identification report from a professional artist. It was pushed onto the trending list in just half an hour.

Xu Yinyu’s phone rang incessantly. She answered a call from an editor.

“Xu Yinyu, have you gone mad? Do you know who is standing behind Su Baili! Do you understand the consequences of completely offending Su Baili?” Zhang Manru’s furious voice screamed through the phone.

Xu Yinyu lifted her eyes, replying coldly, “Of course, I know. But you all have already pushed me to a dead end, Sister Zhang.”

Zhang Manru naturally understood Xu Yinyu’s predicament. “Previously, it was only a few million in debt. If you had kept a low profile, humbled yourself, gone to Su Baili to apologize and plead for mercy, you might still have had a chance to turn things around. But now, you’re doing this—forcing Su Baili to apologize to you. Do you think anyone in the industry will still dare to hire you? You still have to pay the liquidated damages, and not only that, the industry will impose an overwhelming ban and cold storage on you.”

This recording and the identification report, even if they cleared her name in the eyes of passersby, had effectively destroyed Xu Yinyu’s opportunity to pick up a paintbrush again.

Xu Yinyu didn’t even twitch her eyebrow. “I know.”

Even if she never touched a paintbrush for the rest of her life, she would not permit others to smear ink upon her name.

Zhang Manru was absolutely enraged. “You know that and you still did it! Is self-destruction so satisfying?”

Xu Yinyu’s tone sounded indifferent. “Since the company wants to terminate the contract voluntarily, Sister Zhang, then please draft a reasonable dismissal contract for me.”

Xu Yinyu knew that before the plagiarism report came out, her liquidated damages were judged under the category of a “tainted artist,” requiring her to bear the full cost herself. But after Xu Yinyu’s disruption, the netizens’ attitude shifted from firm negative resistance to skeptical observation.

Once she proved her innocence, the company would have to compensate for more than half of those liquidated damages.

This was precisely why the company had been ignoring Xu Yinyu and even pressuring her not to make a statement.

Zhang Manru was astonished.

“You’ve made me sign so many unequal contracts over the years. I wonder if your editor qualification will be revoked, and if the company will be implicated in a thorough investigation once they are exposed,” Xu Yinyu said quietly.

“What are you talking about? You are an employee of Manyu Company. How could the company stand by and watch you sink into the mud? Just based on our relationship over these years, how could I refuse to help you?” Zhang Manru said indignantly.

Xu Yinyu responded with silence.

Just as Zhang Manru was about to say more, the sound of the other party hanging up came from the phone. Her bright red lips were particularly vicious at that moment, continuously spitting out malicious curses.

She had completely failed to anticipate that the person she usually found easiest to manipulate—the soft persimmon—would turn out to be harder than steel when faced with trouble. She quickly dialed a number, her tone instantly becoming gentle as water. “Hello, Miss Su, it’s me, yes, Manru. Don’t worry, leave this matter to me. I absolutely won’t let her get through this smoothly. Yes, how could a person like her possibly climb up to the Yu family…”

In the cold, desolate hospital, a chill wind suddenly blew past Xu Yinyu, causing her to uncontrollably sneeze.

After hanging up the phone, a red dot suddenly flashed in her text message inbox. She opened the message, her expression freezing. She abruptly looked up and around, feeling confused, then lowered her head and opened the photo in the message.

It was the photo of her being splashed with wine by Su Qingqing at Xingyu Company today.

Xu Yinyu’s eyes paused for a moment.

“Yu Shujin?”

“Yu Shujin!” Chi Xia’s anger flared, and she asked, practically shouting, “Must you get involved in this mess?!”

Yu Shujin didn’t utter a word, but the determination in her eyes never wavered. Once she decided to do something, she immediately began to act.

“Didn’t you say she’s miserable right now? I’ll step in and help.”

“You have so many ways to help her, why choose this most extreme one?” Chi Xia didn’t believe Yu Shujin’s explanation. “If Third Uncle finds out you’re marrying some insignificant artist, see if he doesn’t break your legs!”

Yu Shujin frowned and corrected her, “Xu Yinyu is already a professional artist. You even recommended her work to me before.”

At that time, Xu Yinyu used the pseudonym ‘Feng Yin’ and had not revealed her true name.

Now, Chi Xia was like a fan who had turned into a hateful anti-fan. “That’s because I didn’t know she was your ex, and I certainly didn’t know she could still drive you crazy.”

Yu Shujin truly didn’t understand Chi Xia’s point of frustration. Her plan was very simple:

Enter into a marriage agreement with Xu Yinyu. Pretend she hadn’t moved on, that her old feelings lingered, and make the other person fall for her again. Then, at the moment Xu Yinyu was least guarded, neglect her, betray her, and redirect the dagger of youthful grievances into her heart, making her taste the bitter fruit she had sown.

However, she preferred not to dissect her plan for revenge against Xu Yinyu for Chi Xia. “Chi Xia, everything else aside, I’m just asking you, are you going to help me with this matter or not?”

Chi Xia felt like she was about to explode. She rubbed her flame-like hair with her hand, instantly turning her exquisite hairstyle into a mess. She massaged her temples, still unwilling to give up, trying to touch Yu Shujin’s forehead, but was harshly struck away by Yu Shujin.

Chi Xia angrily walked two circles, gritting her teeth as she looked at Yu Shujin’s stubborn demeanor, yet she was powerless against her.

The sole heir of the Yu family, a treasure held in the palm of their hand—no one dared to act without considering Yu Shujin’s mood. Her treatment was completely different from that of the Yu family’s illegitimate daughter back then.

The more Chi Xia thought about it, the angrier she got, and the hand she had reached out softened in fear once more. She opened the small door on the top floor and walked out to clear her head.

As soon as she stepped into the restroom, she heard a hushed female voice, sounding like she was plotting something wicked.

Chi Xia narrowed her eyes, gently opened the door to the nearest stall, and leaned in to listen.

“I’m going to make her pay the price today, no matter what method I use.” The confident female voice did not conceal the unique pampered arrogance and ruthlessness belonging to her.

Before Chi Xia could clearly hear who the conversation was targeting, a loud “bang” of a door slamming echoed in her ears.

Good heavens, her ears were truly having bad luck.

Chi Xia mused to herself that conspiracies were truly frequent lately. Everywhere she went, she ended up watching a palace scheme unfold. She just didn’t know which character was being targeted this time to make Su Qingqing so furious.

Chi Xia circled around and returned to Yu Shujin’s manager’s office. She was surprised to find Yu Shujin still sitting on her leather sofa, holding a tablet, and seriously watching…

Uh…

She was watching a comic that had been taken down by the authorities.

Chi Xia said in a bored tone, bringing up some trivial topics, “Do you know who I ran into when I went to the restroom just now?”

The room remained silent.

Chi Xia continued to talk to herself, “Su Qingqing. I ran into Su Qingqing in the restroom. She was like she had eaten dynamite, saying she was going to deal with someone. I really don’t know who offended this tyrant.”

“Look at the two Su sisters. The older one looks gentle and charming, beautiful as a fairy, but is privately as shady as her father. What happened a few days ago has been played out on many formerly famous artists. She has forced countless professional artists to despair. Xu Yinyu was just terribly unlucky to cross paths with her. The younger Su sister is also quick to anger, picking fights with this person today and that person tomorrow, always trying to arrange a marriage, yet not a single young master in the capital dares to marry her.”

Chi Xia shared the gossip as she consumed it.

Yu Shujin looked up. “Su Qingqing?”

Chi Xia nodded. “The girl who splashed Xu Yinyu with wine last time. You saw her. The notoriously spicy one.”

“She’s going to deal with someone.” Yu Shujin’s eyes slightly narrowed. “Who else has she recently clashed with?”

“Recently,” wouldn’t that be the slap Xu Yinyu gave her yesterday?

Chi Xia suddenly realized, “No way, she wouldn’t be targeting Xu Yinyu, would she?”

Given Su Qingqing’s nature, not getting back at Xu Yinyu tenfold or hundredfold for that slap truly wasn’t her style. Chi Xia thought.

Yu Shujin glanced at the time displayed on the tablet: 8 PM.

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