It was already very late when he got home, and yet another unfamiliar number was calling his phone. William Carter answered it absentmindedly, only to realize that the caller was his stepmother.

At this hour, calling him—William Carter really couldn’t think of any convincing reason for it.

“Xiqing, you came back to the country and didn’t even say a word?”

The other person’s voice was as fake and affected as ever. William Carter put the phone on speaker and set it aside.

“If I’d known you were coming back from Florence, you should have told us in advance. Your father and I could have sent someone to pick you up. Now we have to find out from the TV news—it’s really not easy, you know.” Her voice was as slippery as a fish, leaving a sticky, fishy smell all over his hands. “You’re still a son of the Xia family, after all. It’s not good to always be out there, appearing on TV and all that. You should spend more time with your father…”

William Carter let out a cold snort, walked to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and grabbed a bottle of cold water for himself. He twisted it open and took several big gulps, the icy water chilling him to the core.

“Are you done? Mrs. Xia, the cuckoo in the magpie’s nest.”

The other side was clearly taken aback, and when she spoke again, her confidence had waned considerably. “Why do you have to be so aggressive? I’m just concerned about you…”

“Aggressive?” William Carter slammed the fridge door shut. “You’ve been putting on this fake act of kindness for so long—what do you really want? Let me guess, is my mother’s inheritance about to be transferred? Or is it that Andrew Carter is about to split up the family assets?”

“You!”

Looks like he hit the mark.

William Carter chuckled. “If you have time to put on this act with me, you’d be better off begging your husband to stop fooling around outside, so he doesn’t end up with more illegitimate children to split the inheritance with your son. That’s pretty sound advice, don’t you think?”

“You…” Everything she said and did was seen right through by William Carter, and she couldn’t help but fly into a rage. The loving gentleness she’d been faking was completely torn apart. “You shameless little bastard, just like your father! You—you two are always out there messing around!”

“If he didn’t mess around, how would you have gotten into the Xia family?” William Carter’s tone was almost gentle. “You should be grateful.”

She started cursing him out again, but it was just the same old lines: you and your father are both shameless scoundrels, you’ll never come to a good end. William Carter had heard these nasty words since he was a child—he was long used to it.

He waited quietly for her to finish showing her true shrewish colors, then set the bottle back on the table, turned around, and leaned against the counter before finally speaking again.

“No.”

The person on the other end was stunned. “What did you say?”

His breathing was a little unsteady, annoyed.

William Carter undid the top button of his shirt with one hand and repeated, “I said, I am not the same as Andrew Carter.”

That felt a bit better.

“He fools around with women. I fool around with men.”

Chapter 4: Fake Persona

Before going to bed, William Carter habitually checked his Weibo. At first, this account was just for sharing his artwork, but it eventually turned into a fan account.

Why are there so many notifications? He was startled. As the most well-known illustrator in the industry, he was used to some fan attention, but this time there were so many new messages that Weibo was almost lagging.

William Carter exited and restarted the app, which made things a bit more normal.

[xiaotu guaiguai]: Tsing! You’re that white-shirt guy, right!!

[Heng-zong please face up me]: Holy crap, is it really summer the big shot??? No way?

He’s been found out? William Carter frowned in confusion and scrolled through the comments. Sure enough, they were all messages from Heng’s fans, plus countless private messages, almost all about the press conference incident from a few days ago.

He really had been exposed. The internet truly is a place where you can’t hide.

Rather than let these fans keep guessing, he might as well just come clean.

With a “screw it” attitude, William Carter casually opened his camera, took a selfie of his face—he was too close, his hair still messy and damp from his shower, falling all over his face, and the angle from below was odd. He looked at it; it barely resembled him, but it would do. He quickly posted the photo to Weibo.

[Tsing_Summer]: Sharing a photo.

The moment he posted it, his phone wouldn’t stop vibrating. New messages poured in, and the fans’ excitement practically jumped out of the screen and hit him in the face.

[Number One A in the Universe]: Ahhhhh it really is S! So handsome! Heng’s fans are off-the-charts good-looking!

[It’s Watermelon, Not Wintermelon]: Oh my god, so good-looking, that beauty mark on your nose is killing me!

[xiaotu guaiguai]: Such good skin, such a nice nose, such long lashes—can even pull off such a tricky angle, truly a celestial fan【kneeling】

[Zhou Ziheng’s Number One Wife]: I always thought Summer was a god at drawing, now I know you’re a god in real life too. Coming down to earth must be hard for you【tears】

[The Only Real Heng Mom Fan on the Internet]: Mom, with looks like this, why even rely on talent!

……

Very quickly, William Carter’s Weibo went viral. His Weibo ID once again shot to the top of the trending list, making him the new internet celebrity everyone was talking about. His DMs were flooded with job offers, and even contract invitations.