There were already two cups of tea brewed on the coffee table. Emily Bennett sat down on one side of the sofa and gestured politely, “Miss Cooper, have a seat.”

The feeling of being led by Emily Bennett was too strange. Sarah Cooper tried hard to suppress her discomfort, sat down on the sofa, put on an air of authority, and tried to regain control. “Little Olivia, are you short of money lately?”

Emily Bennett looked at her with a bright smile, saying nothing.

Sarah Cooper took a bulging file bag out of her purse. “Take this money and use it. Just think of it as a gift from me.”

Emily Bennett took it, opened it, and glanced inside. “Twenty thousand?” She tossed the file bag back onto the coffee table. “Miss Cooper, are you trying to fob me off like a beggar?”

Sarah Cooper frowned. “Little Olivia, what do you mean by that?”

Emily Bennett patted the contract beside her. “I’ve suddenly come to my senses lately. Miss Cooper, this deal isn’t worth it. We all know how much money I make for the company every year. A monthly salary of twenty thousand—isn’t that a bit too much of a rip-off?”

Sarah Cooper stared at her for a while, then suddenly let out a laugh, as if she found it ridiculous. “Little Olivia, I didn’t force you to sign this contract.” She leaned forward. “You were the one begging me to sign it.”

Emily Bennett felt a jolt inside.

Sarah Cooper looked at her, still smiling. “Isn’t it a bit late to say you’re being bullied now?”

Emily Bennett reminded herself not to panic. She hadn’t inherited the original owner’s memories, so she could only probe slowly to find out why the original owner had signed such an unfair contract, and then figure out how to resolve it.

“Young and naive, I admit I got played by you. But Miss Cooper, if I make this contract public, who do you think public opinion online will side with?” Seeing Sarah Cooper’s face darken instantly, Emily Bennett smiled sweetly. “Who would dare sign with Xingyao again, or become one of your artists? Look at how miserable I am, working myself to death for the company, being pushed to the brink—what show or program would dare to hire me?”

“Emily Bennett!”

She sighed in frustration. “Why drag each other down?”

Sarah Cooper sneered coldly in anger. “Emily Bennett, do you really think you could still survive in this industry if you did that?”

Emily Bennett spread her hands. “At worst, I’ll just stop being a celebrity. The world is so big—am I really going to starve to death?”

Sarah Cooper stared at her, while Emily Bennett wore a nonchalant smile, not looking like she was joking at all. The two of them faced off for a long moment before Sarah Cooper suddenly smiled.

That smile was so venomous, like the cold trail left by a snake slithering by, sending chills down one’s spine.

Emily Bennett frowned.

Sarah Cooper took out her phone, tapped something, and held the screen out in front of her, smiling sweetly. “Little Olivia, even if you’re not a celebrity anymore, you still have to be a person, right?”

When she saw the photo on the phone, Emily Bennett’s pupils instantly dilated.

On the screen was a nude photo of Emily Bennett.

Chapter 5

Emily Bennett’s fingers trembled a little. She jerked her head up and glared fiercely.

Sarah Cooper was still smiling as she put away her phone and leaned back. “Don’t look at me like that. If I hadn’t spent three million to get you out of the loan sharks’ hands, those photos would have been all over the internet by now. If you want to blame someone, blame your gambling-addict father.”

She gritted her teeth, struggling to stay calm.

Sarah Cooper continued, “Yes, the contract is unfair. But if it weren’t for this contract, if it weren’t for me, you and your crippled mother would have joined your gambling-addict father a long time ago. Is twenty thousand a month too little? Not at all. Look at society now—how many working-class people work themselves to death every month and still can’t make that much?”

She picked up her teacup, took a sip, and sighed. “I gave you a stable, high-paying job and helped you escape your nightmares and shadows from the past. Little Olivia, you should be grateful to me. You shouldn’t spend all day comparing yourself to other celebrities. What do you have to compare with them? No background, no education, not even intelligence. I gave you the role of a delicate, sweet, naive princess, and you still managed to play it as a spoiled, uncultured brat. Other than your face, what else do you have?”

Emily Bennett sat rigidly on the sofa, her whole body trembling.

Sarah Cooper finished her tea and her speech, then tossed the file bag with twenty thousand back into her lap. “Take Miss Cooper’s advice: just keep things as they are. Be good, don’t think about flying away.” As if to comfort her, she gave a stick and then a sweet. “I know it’s not easy for you. How about this—next month I’ll apply for a raise for you. Thirty thousand a month. That’s pretty good.”

Emily Bennett clenched her fists, staring hard at the file bag in her lap.

Sarah Cooper waved at her, picked up her purse, and walked to the door. Remembering something, she turned back with a sweet smile. “Oh, by the way, about that BL drama, I’ve pushed your start date to tomorrow morning. Isn’t Miss Cooper good to you? Take the afternoon off, get some rest, adjust your mindset. Tomorrow morning I’ll have James Foster pick you up.”

The smile in her eyes gradually faded, and she became the powerful, domineering Sarah Cooper once again. “Emily Bennett, people who don’t listen never come to a good end.”

The door slammed shut.

The room returned to silence, with only Emily Bennett’s ragged breathing, one after another.

After a long while, she patted her own face and closed her eyes. “Olivia Carter, it’s okay. Stay calm. Only by staying calm can you find a solution. You have to stay calm. It’s okay.”