I Betrayed the Aloof Movie Queen and Went Bankrupt - Chapter 1

The dimly lit bar was a haze of colorful, lazy spotlights crisscrossing through the air. It was a seductive, vibrant scene, yet it carried the stale, unpleasant stench of alcohol.

Patrons indifferently downed drink after drink, occasionally glancing with furrowed brows at the girl singing on the center stage. No one could have guessed that only two years ago, this girl was a carefree socialite born into wealth.

Following a bankruptcy, her father remained bedridden, and a mountain of debt loomed over her. She had lost count of how many part-time jobs she had taken on just to stay afloat.

When her set ended, Xu Youzhi retreated backstage.

“Youzhi,” the bar owner said, his expression awkward and apologetic. “The feedback from the guests hasn’t been great. Your style is too lyrical… and honestly, you dress too conservatively.”

Initially, the crowd had been drawn in by Xu Youzhi’s striking beauty, but as the novelty wore off and the performances remained subdued, their interest waned.

Xu Youzhi froze for a moment, looking down at her plain white T-shirt and long jeans. She glanced at the girl next to her—dressed in a tiny midriff-baring camisole and ultra-short hot pants that made her legs look like long, pale pillars.

It was conservative, but this was her only way of maintaining a shred of dignity.

“So, you didn’t pass the probation period. This is for your three days of work,” the owner said, handing her a thousand yuan.

As she passed through the inner lounge, a group of predatory men whistled at her.

“How much for a night?”

Xu Youzhi ignored them, acting as if she had merely been barked at by a stray dog.

Walking through the empty alleys, the shadows of tree branches swayed violently in the wind. She felt a sudden chill and hugged her arms, realizing only then that she had forgotten her coat.

Message from Mom

Wang Qiuhua: Zhizhi, are you home yet?

Xu Youzhi: Coming home now.

Xu Youzhi sighed. Her mother was likely at the hospital caring for her father. Due to her age, her mother couldn’t find proper work and had taken a job as a hospital cleaner just to be near him. It fell on Youzhi alone to shoulder the family’s living expenses and medical bills.

As the cold intensified, Youzhi stared at the orange glow of a streetlamp as if searching for hope. To her, that dim light felt like a distant North Star—visible, but utterly unreachable.

The subway had stopped running, and a ride-share was too expensive. When her best friend didn’t pick up the phone, she had no choice but to follow her GPS and walk.

Suddenly, a car pulled over and honked twice.

The rear window rolled down, revealing a face of stunning beauty framed by heavy makeup. It was a woman who looked to be in her early thirties.

Xu Youzhi froze. It was her.

They hadn’t seen each other in two years. At the rush of old memories, a wave of shame washed over her. Stunned and flustered, she could only stammer, “You…”

The fatigue in the woman’s eyes couldn’t hide her currently gentle gaze. She smiled lazily, her red lips parting slightly.

“Get in.”

The car’s air conditioning was running low.

Xu Youzhi sat in silence, shivering from the cold, occasionally stealing careful glances at the woman beside her.

Her name was Jiang Ruoxun. Once a top-tier TV star, she had transitioned to film and swept the “Triple Gold” Best Actress awards. She wasn’t just Youzhi’s senior from school; she was also the woman who used to tilt Youzhi’s chin up and whisper, calling her a “good little dog.”

It was a humiliating truth for Youzhi to admit: back then, she really had acted like a dog, barking on command just to please her. Thinking about it now made her flush with embarrassment.

“Is your family bankrupt?” Jiang Ruoxun asked languidly.

“Yes,” Youzhi whispered.

“No wonder you moved. I saw the news about the Xu family the very next day.” Jiang Ruoxun’s eyes were fixed on Youzhi’s hands. “Lately, I’ve noticed you appearing as a singer in various bars. Every time I ask about you, I find you’ve left after only a few days.”

“I even mocked myself, wondering if you were hiding from me. Turns out, you’re just not very good at your craft.”

“Why did you leave me?” Jiang Ruoxun’s voice was as cold as the winter wind, devoid of warmth.

Xu Youzhi kept her voice suppressed, too afraid to speak the truth.

“Zhizhi.” Jiang Ruoxun turned to look at her. She lowered her voice, layering it with a trace of forced emotion. “You used to be so obedient. But that night, after sleeping with me over and over, you just left. You even deleted all my contact info. Wouldn’t you call that playing with my feelings?”

The woman’s voice became husky and seductive, wrapping around Youzhi like a physical presence. The tension in the car turned thick and suffocating.

Just as Youzhi opened her mouth to speak, Jiang Ruoxun covered it with her hand. Her voice was like a breeze lifting a skirt—suggestive and dangerous.

“No one has ever played me like that before… sleeping with me and then vanishing. What did you take me for?”

Xu Youzhi took a deep breath. She had fallen from a pampered socialite to a laborer working multiple jobs just to survive. Her home had changed from a luxury villa to a cramped attic. She couldn’t afford to offend anyone—especially not the woman in front of her.

“I’m sorry.”

At the apology, Jiang Ruoxun didn’t let up. Instead, a hint of desire flickered in her eyes.

“Instead of saying sorry… why don’t you compensate me?”

Her voice rippled with a seductive charm that invited illicit thoughts. She stared at Youzhi with clear eyes that looked like a deep, bottomless pool, yet they held a hint of rose-colored temptation that was impossible to resist.

Xu Youzhi bit her lip. “I… I can’t afford to compensate you right now.”

Jiang Ruoxun grabbed her hand, her voice rising with playfulness.

“Oh, you can.” She reached out and tilted Youzhi’s chin, her tone velvety. “Good little dog, come sleep with me one more time.”

“Good little dog” was Jiang Ruoxun’s private nickname for Xu Youzhi. She didn’t use it often, except when they were intimate—a habit she artistically labeled as “foreplay.”

Having been raised in luxury, Youzhi naturally hated being called a “dog,” but when the Movie Queen said it, she found herself unable to refuse. At first, she thought she went along with it because she liked her senior; later, the more Jiang Ruoxun called her that, the more “enthusiastic” Youzhi became in her response.

When they arrived at a familiar residential complex, Youzhi took a sharp breath. Unit 901 on the ninth floor—it was her former home.

A pair of festive red couplets hung on the door. Youzhi stared at the entrance for a long time until Jiang Ruoxun impatiently grabbed her hand and guided it toward the fingerprint scanner. Youzhi froze.

“Go ahead,” Jiang Ruoxun said lazily.

Youzhi remembered that two years ago, her fingerprint had been registered to the Movie Queen’s smart lock.

“I can’t believe you still have it saved.”

Jiang Ruoxun tilted her head. “I never changed it. I thought… what if you suddenly wanted to come back and found yourself locked out?”

Youzhi bit her lip and pressed her finger down. Click.

“Less than two months after you moved out, a new tenant moved in,” Jiang Ruoxun remarked. Once inside, she tossed her Hermès bag onto the sofa and kicked off her heels at the entrance.

Only then did Youzhi notice she was wearing nothing but a simple black blazer. “Were you at an event?”

Nowadays, Jiang Ruoxun was at a level where she didn’t have to follow trends; she chose what she wore. She often chose suits, perfectly maintaining her public persona of “cold and abstinent.”

Jiang Ruoxun washed her hands. “I was.”

She removed the blazer, leaving only a thin, cream-colored wool base layer that traced the perfect curves of her body. Youzhi’s gaze drifted, accidentally meeting the woman’s cold, glamorous eyes.

“You’re only wearing a short-sleeve layer? Aren’t you cold?” Youzhi asked, crossing her arms.

“I am,” Jiang Ruoxun admitted. “Sit down.”

As Youzhi sat, a cool fragrance filled her senses. Jiang Ruoxun pinched her chin and leaned in close. Youzhi’s breath hitched; the scent of a mature woman’s perfume—a scent she hadn’t smelled in years—made her heart race.

“How have you been?” Jiang Ruoxun asked, a trace of pity in her eyes.

“Fine,” Youzhi said stiffly.

“I thought you were so obedient, so why did you leave right after sleeping with me?”

Youzhi remained silent.

“Are you short on money?”

Of course, I am. But Youzhi kept her mouth shut. The shame of her current situation was too much to bear, especially after she had been the one to cut ties so harshly.

“I’m not!”

Liars, Jiang Ruoxun thought with a fond, indulgent smile. She didn’t press further and instead told her to go shower.

Youzhi quickly messaged her mother, lying that she was home. Wang Qiuhua replied instantly, telling her to get some rest. Even at midnight, her mother was still watching over her father. Youzhi’s nose stung with unshed tears.

Her parents had built a company from nothing, only to see it collapse. Her father’s life felt like it had been caught in a net he couldn’t break, eventually leading him into an abyss. He was lucky to have survived the fall with only broken ribs and a fractured leg. If only…

In the bathroom, water droplets splashed against the smooth floor. The steam quickly filled the room, soon followed by the scent of expensive body wash—a brand Jiang Ruoxun favored that cost thousands of yuan per bottle. It was a luxury the current Youzhi couldn’t even fathom.

Suddenly feeling a presence, Youzhi spun around like a startled bird. Jiang Ruoxun was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed. The Movie Queen’s signature coldness seemed even more pronounced in the mist.

Youzhi instinctively covered her chest, but failed to cover everything. The shame returned twofold.

“Why did you come in?” Youzhi stammered, looking down.

“To bring you a towel,” Jiang Ruoxun smiled. She hung the towel on the rack and added one last comment before leaving: “You seem to have grown taller.”

By the time Jiang Ruoxun finished her own shower, Xu Youzhi was huddled under the blankets, wrapped so tightly she looked like a steaming bun.

Jiang Ruoxun chuckled. “Aren’t you afraid of suffocating, wrapping yourself like that?”

Youzhi’s muffled voice came from under the covers. “I’m cold.”

Jiang Ruoxun unceremoniously yanked the blanket back, revealing a pale, “good little dog.” Two years had stripped away Youzhi’s youthful innocence, replacing it with the weariness of a working professional.

Jiang Ruoxun stared, unable to look away. She leaned down, brushing a stray hair away from Youzhi’s ear. Her voice was tender, yet possessed an undeniable authority.

“It seems you’re still quite obedient, since you came back with me.”

Youzhi’s face flushed. “What happened before… it was my fault. I know you must have been angry about being blocked. I felt guilty.”

“Yes… I was slept with, and then I was deleted,” Jiang Ruoxun said coldly, though her eyes held no hatred—only a deep, lingering desire.

Youzhi bit back a retort. She was the one who had been slept with. Even if she had been the one “serving”…

They locked eyes, the atmosphere thick with tension. Jiang Ruoxun gently placed a finger over Youzhi’s lips. Her almond-shaped eyes were tinged with a reddish hue, blending her cold exterior with an alluring warmth.

A wave-like smile spread across her red lips.

“But it doesn’t matter. You can serve me just the same tonight… Good little dog, bark for me?”