The Fallen Film Queen’s Possessive Alpha - Chapter 26

Was it because Li Nian had revealed the information about artificial pheromones to her?

Song Haoyin stood frozen in place, her mind racing, yet her instincts drove her to look at Zhou Qiwei. Even Song Haoyin herself didn’t know whether she was seeking answers, pleading for help, or simply in this unsafe environment yielding to the influence of pheromones to find someone she could trust.

Zhou Zhao gestured politely, preparing to escort Song Haoyin away. Before she could take half a step, Zhou Qiwei blocked her path and extended a hand. “Arrest warrant.”

“I said it’s just assisting with the investigation,” Zhou Zhao replied with a slight frown, motioning for Zhou Qiwei to step aside. But Zhou Qiwei didn’t budge.

Qu Yuanzhi noticed that everyone present was staring at Zhou Qiwei. Her instincts told her there was something she didn’t know. As a friend of both Zhou Qiwei and Song Haoyin, Qu Yuanzhi couldn’t just stand by. Before she could intervene, Zhou Qiwei spoke again.

“Fine. Then Ms. Song needs a lawyer. Oh, isn’t Ms. Li here a lawyer?” Zhou Qiwei smiled at Li You and asked, “Would you be willing to accompany Ms. Song to ‘assist with the investigation’?”

“No!” Zhou Mu refused without hesitation. She didn’t want her fiancée getting involved. Based on personal experience, she knew better than to provoke either of her sisters.

Compared to her unconventional elder sister and her downright unpredictable younger sister, Zhou Mu was the most well-behaved child in the Zhou family:

Zhou Zhao, an Omega, had voluntarily entered the military, serving in a high-risk department and narrowly escaping death multiple times to earn her current high-ranking position. Meanwhile, Zhou Qiwei had never involved herself with Jiuzhou’s affairs, maintaining the same distance from the family as she did from the business. Despite being a beneficiary of the Jiuzhou Trust, she had outright rejected her mother’s suggestion to consider business studies when applying to university.

With both her elder and younger sisters effectively relinquishing their inheritance rights, Zhou Mu, the middle child, had smoothly become the only member of the Zhou family’s main branch aside from her mother, working within Jiuzhou Enterprises. Naturally, she was seen both inside and outside the company as the heir apparent.

From childhood to adulthood, Zhou Mu had been the good girl, the obedient one, her life progressing smoothly and shaping a temperament entirely different from her sisters’. Yet now, even this well-behaved girl was at her limit. Was her elder sister doing this on purpose today?

First taking away Youyou’s sister, now trying to take Ms. Song,there were better ways to handle this, yet she insisted on making a scene in public. Zhou Mu feared a violent confrontation between Zhou Qiwei and Zhou Zhao, but she also didn’t want to openly oppose her elder sister. The only thing she could do was hold her fiancée back, keeping Youyou out of this mess.

Li You’s delicate face twisted in disbelief, her usual stern, schoolteacher-like demeanor shattered. She couldn’t believe Zhou Mu would say such a thing. “That’s my sister,” she retorted, voice trembling with shock. “My twin sister. You expect me to just abandon her?”

Setting aside her grudge against Zhou Qiwei and whether Zhou Qiwei had ulterior motives.Li You immediately turned to Song Haoyin. “Ms. Song, would you allow me to act as your legal representative?”

“Ms. Li!”

Zhou Zhao’s brow furrowed as she cut Li You off, ignoring Zhou Mu’s frantic attempts to signal her. Instead, she fixed her gaze on Zhou Qiwei. The youngest of their family was the real problem today. But with both mothers remaining silent, and with Xu Bai and Eldon waiting outside, Zhou Zhao had to tread carefully.

“I merely invited Miss Song to assist with the investigation, and Li Nian is only here as a witness. There’s no need for concern,” Zhou Zhao spoke while keeping her gaze fixed on Zhou Qiwei.

The eldest Zhou daughter’s eyes were like tempered blades, yet Zhou Qiwei remained unfazed, even leaning against the doorframe to play with her phone. Only after Zhou Zhao finished speaking did she smile and leisurely mutter to herself: “Of course there’s nothing to worry about. Though, if you take Li Nian away, it’s no big deal, she’s not famous. But if Miss Song gets taken away with all those reporters outside, what if someone snaps a photo…”

“That would be a scandal!”

Zhou Qiwei’s smile turned flirtatious as she leaned against the doorframe, the very picture of a rakish Alpha: “I’ve invested quite a bit in Miss Song’s studio, you know. If this blows up and affects the movie, who’s going to compensate me for the tangible and intangible losses?”

This was pure troublemaking, her disruptive intent plain to see. Zhou Qing finally couldn’t take it anymore and intervened: “Weiwei, this is official business after all.”

“And what I’m saying isn’t official business?” Zhou Qiwei feigned surprise, countering innocently: “That’s real money we’re talking about, not hell banknotes.”

At this point, Song Haoyin felt she needed to speak up. She didn’t want Zhou Qiwei to clash with the entire room full of Jiuzhou faction members on her behalf. Stepping forward, she addressed Zhou Zhao: “I’m willing to assist with the investigation, but please clarify what case I’m involved in. If this isn’t the appropriate place, we can relocate.”

Before Zhou Zhao could respond, her phone rang as did Li You’s.

“It’s about Zuo Xingyu’s case,” Li You murmured after hanging up, looking up with barely contained fury to tell Zhou Mu: “Our negotiations with TopProfit are probably ruined.”

Zhou Mu whirled to look at her sister, at a loss for words… No wonder her eldest sister, who normally avoided such gatherings, had come tonight. For something this massive negotiations involving billions she hadn’t dropped a single hint!

Remembering how this dear sister had previously warned her to be careful of Zhou Qiwei… Ha! Turns out the one who dealt the crushing blow to Panyan Culture and TopProfit Group was her all along.

Zhou Zhao knew perfectly well that news of an arrest at Cloud Peak Manor couldn’t stay hidden for long. Capturing Zuo Xingyu tonight had been planned well in advance, but she hadn’t anticipated Li Nian’s involvement in his case or her presence here tonight.

At this elite gathering, only Zhou Zhao could leverage the Zhou family’s influence and her status as quasi-in-law to the Li family, to discreetly remove Li Nian without alerting Li You or Zhou Mu. This would allow interrogation of all involved before Zuo Xingyu’s arrest went public.

Two things had caught her off guard. First was unexpectedly encountering Ji Xubai here, though fortunately it hadn’t interfered with official business.

But after taking Li Nian away, the terrified woman had quickly confessed during preliminary questioning she’d told Song Haoyin about the synthetic pheromones. This meant Song Haoyin also needed to be brought in for questioning. Zhou Zhao needed to determine exactly how much they knew, and whether all those aware of this matter were truly only marginally informed.

The second surprise was Zhou Qiwei’s interference, which ultimately stalled things until news of Zuo Xingyu’s arrest broke.

Zhou Zhaowei slightly closed her eyes, the fire in her heart burning ever fiercer. Just as she was about to erupt, Du Ning stood up and said with a smile to Qu Yuanzhi, “Yuanzhi, why don’t you go ahead to the auction first? Didn’t you say there’s something you wanted today?”

Then she turned to Song Haoyin with a gentle smile: “Haoyin, don’t worry either. How about this let Zhou Zhao’s assistant accompany you to the next room for now. Does that work for everyone?”

“I’ll go with Haoyin to the next room,” Qu Yuanzhi suggested after looking around. “I won’t discuss any sensitive topics with her, just keep her company for a while.”

“I think that’s fine.” Zhou Qiwei opened the door and pointed to the room at the end of the hallway. “That one there.” After Song Haoyin left, Zhou Qiwei pulled Qu Yuanzhi aside to exchange a few words. With their departure, only six people remained in the room.

Six people in one room could somehow form seven separate factions at least that’s how Zhou Qiwei saw it.

No one spoke first. After answering a phone call, Li You entered a cycle of making and receiving calls, completely ignoring Zhou Mu. Zhou Mu tried to placate her fiancée while also being angry with her sister, yet too afraid to say it outright, could only cast pleading glances at her mother.

As for the two elder women, Zhou Qing and Du Ning stood behind the television screen discussing something unknown, occasionally glancing at Zhou Qiwei and Zhou Zhao. Zhou Qiwei sprawled on the sofa playing with her phone, while Zhou Zhao stood by the door, also on a call.

Thank goodness for technological advancement allowing them to handle affairs without leaving otherwise today’s scene would be even more chaotic. Oh wait, Zhou Qiwei thought as she heard approaching footsteps, perhaps the real chaos hadn’t even arrived yet.

“Alright, everyone here is family,” Du Ning said, leading Zhou Qing back to the central seating. Surveying the silent group, she began calling names: “Zhou Zhao, you first.”

“Nothing to say. Classified information no comment.”

Zhou Zhao’s shrug provoked Li You, but surprisingly it was usually unflappable Zhou Mu who reacted most violently. The second young lady had reached her breaking point: “I’m not asking you to violate professional ethics or break rules! But what you’re doing is using us all! There are no secrets that don’t leak, what happens to our business with the Zuo family? What are me and Youyou in all this?”

“Stepping stones, obviously.” Zhou Qiwei commented from her sofa perch, legs crossed, thoroughly enjoying the drama.

“And I haven’t even addressed you yet!”

Zhou Mu redirected her fury toward Zhou Qiwei. In her rage, she completely forgot how difficult her youngest sister could be, spewing reckless accusations: “You think I didn’t notice how you protected Song Haoyin today? You’re just using her to sabotage the negotiations between Jiuzhou and Dingyi!”

“Correct. I do hope your negotiations fail got a problem with that?”

Such attacks barely registered with Zhou Qiwei. Far from being angered, she sat up proudly and doubled down: “I absolutely want your deal to collapse. This business isn’t exclusive to Jiuzhou,can’t my Magic Cube venture into media distribution too?”

“Panyan Culture has already entered the film and media industry. What can a biopharmaceutical company like Magic Cube possibly offer compared to us?”

Li You’s attention was drawn over, only to be hit with Zhou Qiwei’s blunt remark: “We all know that in the current domestic film distribution industry, an IQ above 70 is sufficient. I may lack experience with Magic Cube, but Ms. Song, whom I’ve invested in, has plenty! Does your Panyan Culture have any heavyweight with more industry experience than Song Haoyin? By the way, Qu Yuanzhi has been working at her studio all along.”

“Additionally, Ms. Qu Jinghan has already signed a joint action agreement with Ms. Elden. Even without Zuo Xingyu’s mess, your negotiations with Top Benefit would have faced board scrutiny next week. If the board fails to deliver satisfactory results, Ms. Qu and her joint action partners will convene a shareholders’ meeting.”

Zhou Qiwei sent a fireworks.jpg via phone, cheerfully informing the other five: Congratulations, you’ve entered a new era.

Li You made one last desperate attempt: Your Magic Cube doesn’t have that much liquid capital!

“No, she does.” The speaker was Zhou Qing, who looked at her youngest daughter with complex emotions, suddenly realizing many things. Zhou Qiwei’s trip to Fuleide was probably to secure funding.

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