"Are you sure we don't need to inform them in advance?" One of the legal team members asked the team leader as they pulled in front of a small house.The team leader shook his head. "Even if we did, they wouldn't agree to meet us. The victim's father is quite arrogant. Otherwise, why would I bring you to discuss the compensation and settlement at their home and not at the company."In the car, Max looked out of the window, and his gaze briefly surveyed the house ahead. After a couple of seconds, he took out his phone to take a picture, which attracted the attention of the rest of the people in the car. Several of them nudged one another uncomfortably, and someone even asked the team leader in a low voice, "Team leader, why is he here with us?""Yes. Why did a manager tag along with us to discuss the settlement?"The team leader looked Max's way before shrugging. "Maybe he's just curious about how we'll handle things.""If he's curious, he'll find out when we're done. What's with the t
Silence enveloped the entire team, and they seemed at a loss as they looked at one another for suggestions. In the end, the youngest piped up, "Team leader, what do we do?"The team leader sighed. "Let's just go back for now and discuss an increase in the compensation.""Okay."And so, they all turned to return to the car whilst Max followed behind them languidly. But just then, out of the corner of his eyes, he sighted someone peeking out a window of the house directly beside it. He stopped walking instantly and looked that way. When the person realized that they were noticed, they quickly pulled the window blinds and retreated into the house.Max suddenly realized something - the neighbors seemed to be the gossipy type. Maybe they saw something?He directly turned to the group he came with and said languidly, "You can go ahead. I'm meeting up with a friend close by."They didn't seem to care whatever he did with himself anyway and merely gave noncommittal responses before leaving in
Meanwhile, at the Thompsons.... Another car pulled into the driveway after Max left, and a man appeared wearing a long trench coat and his whole face covered with a mask. He strode up to Thompson's apartment and knocked. Inside, Richard's gruff voice echoed, "Who’s there?" Whatever the man said in response was too low to hear, but the door swung open almost immediately. Richard’s eyes widened for a brief second before he bowed deeply, stepping aside to let the man enter. The masked man didn’t waste time on pleasantries. He settled into the couch as if he owned the place, while Richard stood, hands behind his back, respectfully. “Why are you here, sir?” Richard asked, his voice cautious. The man ignored the question, his tone calm and direct. “There’s been a change in the plan. You won’t need to take the lead anymore. We’ll arrange for a reporter to ask you the right questions. You just need to answer them properly.” Richard blinked, taken aback. “I see. What about the balance pa
Max strode out of his office, twirling a pen between his fingers as he passed by two other familiar agents. But to his surprise, they suddenly turned and called out to him, "Agent Norman.""Good afternoon. Are you going down to the cafeteria too?" One of them asked, and he looked at them in mild confusion. Usually, no one paid attention to him, and he was beginning to get used to thinking only him who worked in the company, but they actually took the initiative to talk to him today? What a surprise!So he didn't ignore them like he normally would and nodded, walking over to them. "Good morning. Yes, I am.""Oh!" He laughed and nudged his partner. "Let's go, together then."So they entered the elevator together, and Max stood at the bag, leaning on the elevator wall casually while the other two discussed amongst themselves. Eventually, they seemed to recall he was with them, and one of them turned to him and sheepishly introduced himself, "By the way, I'm Jason, and this is my friend
Day of the livecast … Apex Villa Noah was slouched on the sofa staring intently at the remote in his hand while his assistant, Jasper, was at a far corner of the room, peeking at him while on a call. “Lauren, he has been staring at the remote for thirty minutes straight,” He muttered into the phone. “The live cast won’t begin until thirty minutes later, and the way he’s acting already made the atmosphere strange. Even I feel as though I’m the one on trial.” “Stop joking around and collect the remote from him. Take away everything he could use to get on the internet and leave only the lights on. I’ll be there in like thirty minutes.” Lauren responded. Jasper seemed taken aback when he heard that, and he murmured, “But, you promised him that you’ll let him listen in.” “I’d rather he doesn’t die of heart attack than keep such a lousy promise.” She retorted. “Just do as I say. With what happened last night, I don’t think we can recover from this.” “Okay, Lauren.” He had no choice b
In Apex Villa, Lauren and Jasper were on the verge of coughing up blood in anger, seeing this show of righteousness. They were shamelessly framing him and manipulating the public. Now, not only Richard was speaking but a reporter well known for digging entertainment scandals.They had not expected the other party to hire such a troublemaker. He had acted the same way the day he said Noah apparently beat him up, appearing out of nowhere, pestering him and calling him names. What finally broke the camels back for Noah was when he made an explicit statement regarding Noah's late mother, and the latter smashed his camera in anger. But even that was Photoshopped like he was beaten up. And Noah kept being dragged into their frame up. It seemed they were bent on ruining him and Dawn Entertainment.Lauren looked toward Noah to see his reaction, but to her surprise, he didn't seem really bothered by the accusation. Instead, his gaze was searching through the faces of everyone as though he was
XL Grand HotelThe event had reached its climax, and several reporters were asking questions while Tom Harris took the liberty to respond. He was also a reporter but had taken the chance to represent the victim, so it was inevitable that he would benefit the most. He was pleased and looked Richard's way, winking at him. Richard was also swelling with joy, seeing the numerous reporters and audience siding with them. Not to mention the views that had shot up to a million on several social platforms.Whilst the reporters were still asking questions, one reporter in an old plaid shirt stood up inconspicuously and raised a hand. "I have a question!""Yes, go on. We are always ready to answer your questions." Tom Harris responded without looking at the person's face. But when he did, his face lit up with recognition and obvious disdain. This person was his former senior in Sunset Daily, who quit when he was told to fake a news report and went to another broadcasting station. But now that
Mark didn't respond to that and merely sighed. But his silence was loud, and everyone immediately assumed it really was Noah. Their hatred for him spiked even more, and several people began to post the screenshots online, boycotting him. In a matter of seconds, the keyword [#NoahExposed] had become the top trending search words."It must be him," several people commented."How low could he get? I mean, I already know he's a vile pedophile, but this?""From the timestamp of the screenshots, it looks like they were posted five years ago. It turns out he didn't just become such a person overnight."Everyone was talking heatedly, and it wasn't hard to imagine that if Noah was to appear in front of them at that moment, he would definitely be mobbed. Just when they had reached the heights of their speculations, Mark's voice resounded again, "I'd like to tell you that these comments were not written by Noah."Everyone immediately went silent, and they began to murmur in puzzlement, "If it's
"This is the list for available artists," Ivan muttered, throwing the file in his hand on the desk casually. "Take your pick." His attitude was full of arrogance, and it was obvious he was throwing his weight around now that he was in charge of Max’s affairs. But the latter did not seem bothered by his attitude and simply picked it up, flipping the pages open to take a look. After some time, he looked up again and pointed to a name amongst the list. When Ivan looked down and saw who it was, his face instantly changed. "What? Marianne? Who put her on the list? She's my artist. Choose someone else." Max gave him a scrutinizing look and retorted simply, "She's the one I want." "What do you mean she's the one you want!?" Ivan was about to blow his top in anger. Just then, the door of his office opened, and Marianne entered right in time. She stood by the door, hesitant, and faced Ivan. "You wanted to see me." Ivan nodded, beckoning to her. "Yeah. Come over here." She looked towar
"Claire?" Max called out in surprise, and she spun around immediately when she heard his name. She looked surprised to see him standing there, but it was only for a moment before she looked at herself and the drunk man hankering about her, and a look of utter mortification crossed her face. The man who grabbed her didn't seem to care that there was a third party and continued to hanker, "Why the attitude, huh? Chris already gave his approval. You think you can last in this industry without pleasing us directors?" Claire’s lips curled in disgust, and she yanked her arm away from his grip. "So what if I can, you slimy old geezer? Do I look like some young girl you can prey on? Do I look like some naive starlet you can toy with? Take your filthy hands off me, you creep!" "You bitch-" The director looked even more furious when he heard that, and he reached out to grab her again. But Max was faster and directly pulled Claire over to his side, giving him a backhand slap. Probably, it w
Blue Lagoon Bar Max swung his car into the bar's garage, the quiet purr of the engine cutting out as he stepped out. The cool evening breeze tugged at the black-on-black outfit he wore—a tailored shirt and slim-fit trousers - simple yet unmistakably expensive. He adjusted his cuffs, a faint smirk playing on his lips as he strolled toward the bar entrance. When he entered, he found his former boss, Sam, waiting by the door for him with two assistant managers beside him. When Max entered, they all stared at him in a mix of shock and awe - Max had really hit a jackpot. He went from an ordinary bartender to a noveau riche out of nowhere. Even though he wore a simple black on black attire, it wasn't hard to tell that they couldn't have been cheap out of the market. "Eh, Max. It's really you!" One of the two managers leaned forward, blinking hard. "You've really changed." The second manager chimed in, still trying to process the sight in front of him. “Man, you’ve changed. If I didn’t
The secretarial section was empty when Max got to the top floor of the company, so he knocked on the door of the presidential office directly. “Come in,” Lawson’s voice echoed from inside. Max twisted the handle and strolled in, shutting the door behind him with a soft click. The secretary standing before Lawson paused mid-report, glancing briefly at Max, who made himself comfortable on the sleek leather sofa in the middle of the room. Lawson barely looked up, simply brushing over the secretary’s report, and it was obvious he didn’t want Max to hear what was being said. “That’ll be all. Leave it here.” The secretary nodded, placing a folder on the desk before making his quiet exit. Once the door clicked shut, Lawson turned his attention to Max, an exaggerated look of surprise washing over his features. He stood up and took a seat opposite Max, throwing his coat over the second sofa. “Well, well! If it isn’t our rising star,” he chuckled, slapping his thigh theatrically. “I sho
"I didn't expect that this new manager is quite skilled," Max heard one of the members of the legal team mumble as he approached the meeting room. "Yeah, I simply thought he was fooling around that time he followed us. Who knew he was actually scheming?" "Yeah. So much evidence. Who knows how long he has been tailing that man to have found out so much? He even dug so deep that he found things that Richard himself would have forgotten." "Better be wary of such scheming people." Max merely chuckled to himself when he heard that and strode into the meeting room. His gaze found the speaker, and he muttered, "Don't worry, I'm not a rabid dog who goes around biting other people. As long as you don't cross my path, don't be too wary of me." The man instantly gave an awkward laugh when he heard that, and the rest of the room chuckled, except Ivan, of course. "Just saying..." Max took a seat and looked toward Ivan, who sat with his legs crossed and folded his arms. He was giving Max a p
In Apex Villa, Somewhere in between the livecast, Noah had sat up again and was now watching intently. Once it eventually came to close and the Thompsons were escorted away by the police, he leaned back, folding his arms and stared at the figure in black shirt and white pants languidly striding out of the hall without a word. Meanwhile, Lauren and Jasper were still speechless at the sudden turn of events and everything that just happened. "What a dramatic turn of events!" Jasper finally broke the silence, slapping his thighs as he leaned back in his seat. “Richard was a full-on creep this whole time? He was the one behind everything, and yet he went around blaming you, Noah. Crying in front of the cameras like he was some victim. I swear, I didn’t see that coming.” Lauren’s eyes darted toward Noah, brows furrowing. "Did you know about it? That he was the culprit?" Noah sighed, shaking his head slowly. "No. Not the full story." He thought it had been a simple case of Richard
Max's smile didn’t falter even though she had hit the jackpot just like that. It seemed everyone knew what was going on with Oliver but just pretended not to.He calmly responded, “Yes, we’re here to discuss Oliver’s role and—”She cut him off, a cold laugh escaping her lips. “Dream on. Just because he got a few fans overnight doesn’t mean we owe him anything. In fact,” her gaze hardened as she glanced at Oliver, “he should be grateful we haven’t shown him the door yet. Zero revenue, zero worth. Do you understand what that means?”Oliver swallowed when he heard that, his shoulders tensing, and he looked at Max, whispering, “Maybe we should just go. I don’t want to make this worse.”Max didn't seem bothered at all. Instead, he gave a small smirk as he turned back to the HR head. “No need to worry, Oliver.” He took out his phone, his fingers moving swiftly as he typed. “If you think we’re not worth your time, then I’ll let the committee decide.”The HR head was stunned at first, but sh
Max rubbed his eyes, still processing Oliver’s shocking news. “You’re telling me that your insta went viral? Like, overnight?”“Yes!” Oliver practically shouted through the phone. “A friend sent me a screenshot, and people are talking about me. And it’s not just the followers! Fans are sharing posts about Blades of Honor. They’re reminiscing about my old stunts!”Max couldn’t help but smile. “That’s incredible! Did you check to see if you got hacked?”“I’m worried I did! What if I can’t get my account back?” Oliver’s voice was tinged with panic.“Relax, Oliver. Let me check it out.” Max flipped open his phone, but before he could dive into the app, Oliver sounded panicked again.“Wait! What if someone posted something embarrassing?”“Hang on, I’ll find out right now,” Max assured him, swiping the screen. “But I think you’re just experiencing an overnight fame surge.”“Seriously? Do you think my stunts are that good?”“I don’t know, man,” Max said, stifling a chuckle. “But let’s not wo
Max sat on his bed, phone in hand, eyes narrowed in concentration as he scrolled through the footage he'd captured of Oliver’s stunts earlier. He watched as Oliver’s punches and kicks cut through the air, his movements swift and precise. A smirk tugged at Max’s lips.“Not bad, Oliver,” he murmured to himself. “Not bad at all.”A soft knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. He glanced up, giving a brief sigh. “Come in.”The door creaked open, and a young maid entered, head bowed. “Sir, a package just arrived for you,” she said politely.Max gestured to the bedside table without looking away from his phone. “Leave it there. Thanks.”With a quick bow, she set the package down and slipped out, leaving Max alone once more. He didn’t give the box a second glance, too engrossed in sorting the video clips. Finally, after a few minutes, he saved the best parts, satisfied with the shots.His gaze shifted to his laptop, curiosity sparking as he opened the browser. A quick search brought up c