Chapter 1366 - 1362: That Controlling, Perverse Man—Who Wants Him Can Have Him
Chloe Winston ran all the way out of the private residence on Fulham Road; the blast of cold wind sobered her up a bit. She turned back to glance at the luxurious villa on the quiet street, then walked away without looking back again.
Whoever wants him can have him—she, for one, has zero intention of walking the same old path again. Back when she was underage, with no financial freedom and being someone’s ward, she’d always been under someone’s thumb. Everything that used to be beautiful shattered. Starting over from scratch, she actually felt a kind of rebirth.
That damned villa, and that control-freak lunatic of a man—whoever wants them can take them. She doesn’t want even a shred of it.
The next morning, while Chloe was still fast asleep, she was jolted awake by Kyla Zamora’s frantic knocking on the door.
"Chloe, did you sleep well last night?" Kyla was full of energy now. After Chloe’s Weibo went live yesterday, in one night her follower count blew past ten million, leaving Luo Yiran eighteen streets behind. In the six months since Luo Yiran entered the industry, even with Starshine Media burning money like crazy on her, she only had a bit over five million followers.
Although at least half of Chloe’s followers were game fans, that only proved she had even greater potential going forward. And when the studio posted on Weibo yesterday to publicly back Chloe, several directors they’d worked with immediately called her, not to mention the reporters and variety shows. With Chloe’s popularity sky-high now, everyone wanted to ride her wave.
Kyla felt she might be on the verge of managing a second ultra-popular Actress, so first thing in the morning she was wired like she’d just had a shot of adrenaline.
"Mm, pretty good. Kyla, how come you’re here this early?" Chloe was still a bit groggy. She’d spent the first half of the night dreaming of Constantine Stewart doing all kinds of shameless things to her, her anger boiling over as she was forced down. Then she got up and gave Constantine a brutal beatdown; after that she slept straight through the second half of the night like a baby.
"I came to move you out. The neighborhood you’re in right now is a bit messy, way too far out, and the security level is too low. The company’s rented another apartment for you—200 square meters, with a master bedroom, guest room, study, plus a dance studio and gym. They’ll also get you a nutritionist and an assistant. Think about it—anything else you want?"
"Isn’t that kind of...wasteful?" Chloe’s eyes flew wide open. A 200-square-meter place just for her alone?
Kyla rolled her eyes, poked her in the forehead, and said in exasperation, "Look at your tiny ambitions. Do you know Luo Yiran lives alone in an entire villa? What the company arranged for you is completely within a reasonable range."
"Besides helping you move today, we also need to talk about your future direction, see which way you want to develop."
"I don’t even know." Chloe bit her thin lips, her dark eyes slightly misty, looking a bit at a loss. She honestly didn’t know what she was good at.
Seeing her so adorably clueless, Kyla, as a fellow woman, had the urge to reach out and ruffle her hair and pull her into a hug. She really didn’t get how a straight guy like Constantine could have something wrong with his eyes, to actually be willing to let go of such a soft little thing.
"Right now your physical condition isn’t great. My suggestion is that during the variety show shoot, you don’t take any other jobs. Shoot the variety show while you work on your health, and finish your coursework too. After that, go straight into film and TV. You have a very strong variety-show sense, so we can put you on some shows to draw fans." Kyla gave her a rough outline of the development plan going forward.
"I’ve watched your previous livestreams too—they’re very down-to-earth. But now that your popularity’s blown up, if you go back to regular streaming, you’ll attract a tidal wave of haters and paid trolls. Artists also need to maintain some distance from their fans, keep a sense of mystery. So we can do game streams; as for daily-life streaming, keep it to an absolute minimum." Kyla had seen Chloe’s game streams: professional, ruthless, icy-cool, wildly addicting; the contrast with her own sweet appearance was a huge charm point.
"But I heard this game’s detailed mechanics were never fully released by the official team. How do you know so much?" Kyla asked, a little surprised. Chloe’s sudden explosion in popularity was inseparable from the twisted operations of the game’s official side.
"I’ve played this game for a year. I went from a newbie to a level-150 god-tier account and I’m familiar with all the internal mechanics and playstyles." Chloe paused, then said lightly, "This game was developed by Constantine Stewart."
Kyla’s eyes went wide, then she laughed. "Perfect. Chloe, if you’re feeling pissed off, just start a game stream."
Riding Constantine’s game to pull in fans and dragging the game’s official team through the mud was basically the same as slapping Constantine in the face. Not only would she not stop Chloe—she’d actively support her.
Chloe smiled faintly and said nothing. The two of them quickly tidied up the room. Chloe didn’t have many things; everything fit into two suitcases. They loaded them into Kyla’s car and left the tiny apartment she’d lived in for about half a year.
After Chloe moved to her new place, she didn’t know how Desmond Wood and Charles Taylor found out, but both said they wanted to come celebrate her housewarming. Since Wendy Starling was also coming, she simply asked Kyla to stay, and planned a small party at the apartment that night.
"Chloe, I’m a little music prince, going out in a mask and a hat, and when I went to the convenience store to buy booze for you, I almost got mistaken for a thief and beaten up." Desmond was the first to arrive and got roped into buying all kinds of alcohol. As soon as he came back, he played the victim dramatically.
"That’s because that jerk aura on you can’t be covered even with a mask. Who are you blaming?" Kyla scolded him with a laugh. "Where’s the gift you brought for Chloe?"
"I brought it, I brought it. I brought a guardian Pixiu statue for the house, half as tall as a person." Desmond said excitedly, signaling for the movers to bring the jade Pixiu up.
Chloe: "..."
Kyla: "..."
Charles Taylor and Wendy Starling arrived one after another. Wendy had picked a platinum necklace and skincare set from a brand she endorses. The girl was naturally beautiful, but her whole body care routine was barebones to the extreme. After living with her for three nights, Wendy discovered she only used baby cream, and was both jealous and sighing that youth really is a blessing.
Charles’s gift was quite unique: a custom-built desktop setup with a flashy keyboard and mouse, plus full streaming equipment—a whole set worth over a hundred thousand. He had people carry it in and even helped install it.
Chloe was instantly smitten with the new computer, her eyes lighting up, and she couldn’t help feeling a bit closer to Charles.
"This is a little too expensive," Chloe said, watching the usually untouchable national male god bending over to set up her computer. She bit her lip, a bit at a loss.
"I ordered two custom setups back when I was gaming a lot. This one was just sitting idle at home, so I dragged it over. As long as you don’t mind." Charles smiled casually. "I like watching you play. Hope we get the chance to team up sometime."
In fact, they’d already teamed up before, but Charles thought the username "The Underwear Upstairs Fell Down" was way too cringe, so he was embarrassed to admit it. He decided to start a new alt account to team up with Chloe properly.
"Sure, sure," Chloe said with a smile and a nod. Having someone to play with was more than welcome.