138 At Jasper City 3 The Sinners's Queen

The death of a girl mutilated by bullets caused a bit of wave in the country. Those who knew her raised a fuss. Aggrieved, they pressured the authorities to search for whoever did this to her. Among these people, her family was naturally the most aggressive. Her friends and fans from the same school also joined the cause and began to plan how they'd petition for justice for their deceased campus beauty. Each of them badly wanted to know which heartless devil caused her to die like this and for what reason. Of course, even if there happens to be a reason, they would still badly want to make that devil rot in jail, if not in hell.

Unfortunately, no matter how well-known she was in HCA as a campus goddess or in the city as a musician, the wave caused by her death was still small. Aside from those who really knew her, the rest chose to move on in their lives and think of what would happen to their tomorrow. In other words, everyone not related to her only sighed and lit some imaginary candles in their brains which mysteriously only burnt for a few seconds and then threw the news out of their mind. They supposed that their sympathy was already the best they could give to someone they don't really know.

To be honest, there were many who also just didn't care. Death was commonplace in the world so the majority who were already desensitized by the numerous similar news and cases from before only thought that her matter was just another report, another tragic drama, something the newscasters dramatized to fill up their time slots.

That was it.

This was why inside a luxuriously decorated three bedroom apartment located near the heart of Jasper City, Aura's Second Young Miss only stared at the half wall-sized TV screen for a while and did not place any more attention to the news. In fact, she even made Aura shut it down because it was already time to read and study her scripts, and she didn't want any distraction. With the day of the filming gradually coming closer, she couldn't afford to slack off or else, she wouldn't be able to assure that she had given her all in her very first movie.

Some times later, after rehearsing six scenarios, the woman stopped and took a break. She stood up and walked towards the ref to get herself a glass of water. Her throat needed some moisture as it had become a bit dry due to all the vocal reading she just did.

After closing the refrigerator, she went back to the living room and took her seat in front of the coffee table again. While staring at the papers messily scattered here and there, she shook her head and sighed. Her free left hand moved to clear a space on the table-top so her glass of water could be placed down.

"Miss. Diaz has just sent me a file. I already printed it out for you."

It was her assistant, Aura, who arrived at her side and spoke, a stack of papers was in her hands. Aura did this because her boss preferred printed documents than soft copies.

"It's about that boy, right?"

"Yes."

"Ah, just left it on that couch. I'll read it later. I'll rest first because all the reading I did just now tired my eyes."

The assistant nodded and followed her instructions. After that, she began reporting some important events that took place in the country, specifically, within the business and the elite's world.

The girl casually reclined her body on the couch, her eyes closed. From time to time, she could be seen nodding or smiling. It depends on what kind of story Aura was telling her. She even had a good laugh when it got to the part where Marc Goldwin, heir to the gigantic Goldwin Corporation, was reported to be gay, one with a heavy taste in sexual activities at that.

Laughingly, she asked, "Miss Aura, is that really true? Why does it sound so funny and unbelievable to me? I mean, it's just so crazy! Why would a playboy young magnate like him suddenly involve himself in such a shameful and unspeakable matter?"

Aura replied, "It's a rumor, Miss. But many from Alina City claimed it as the truth and since it is about him, it traveled so fast and reached many ears."

The girl opened her eyes then shook her head, amusement was obviously dancing in her beautiful hazel eyes. A few seconds later, she waved at the other woman to continue.

Aura gladly obliged.

"Second Miss, the Abenson family can no longer hide the fact that Alina's City Mayor is in a coma. The higher-ups are most likely considering whether to have Vice Mayor Fred replace him."

"Victory Foods is delisted from the stock exchange."

"The Dawsons and the Abensons are still being ganged up by the other big families hence the stocks of any business related to them hit the lower floor limit these past few days. Five affiliates of the Abensons are even forced to declare termination of partnerships with them because they can no longer tolerate the attacks."

"The Madam of the Zhengs, a big shot from C Empire, is as crazy as ever, still stealing many clients, employees and even shareholders from the Hermosos. If my source is correct, just yesterday, she sabotaged an auction hosted by their family so she can damage them a little."

"The Albarez' Business Empire ended their ties with the Millers."

"And lastly... The First Miss is sighted this afternoon within Ever Victorious. There's a rumor that she is currently engaged in a discussion with Gio Albarez. It's about the acquisition of an entertainment and modeling agency."

Aura stopped for a moment, aware that her boss would surely comment something about this. Her boss was alert to anything remotely related to her half-sister. This was why the assistant gave the girl some time to digest this information.

The girl's reaction came out fast. Wide-eyed, she asked, "My sister wants to acquire the company previously owned by the Cruzes?"

"Our sources said yes," the assistant replied.

The girl sucked in a cold breath. She tried to conceal it, but worry flooded her eyes as she thought of why her sister wanted to acquire Starlight Entertainment. That woman was already very rich and accomplished so getting this company would not really matter much to her. At most, it would just be another trophy listed under her name, something lesser than the ones she already owned and had brought to the peak.

"... She doesn't want to give me any room for survival? Is that it?"

Because the girl could only think of one other reason behind her sister's move, she said this in a grim tone. Her expression also darkened at the thoughts that crossed her mind.

Aura hesitated, but still answered honestly, "That seems to be the case. Second Miss, First Miss is surely aware that you've just recently signed with Starlight. If she becomes its owner, it's already foreseeable that she will allocate the resources meant for you to others, suppressing you so you won't have any good project." She didn't have to continue for her boss to get that this First Miss wanted to bury the Second Miss' ambition and future career.

"How did their talk go?" the girl asked without showing other emotions on her face. However, her eyes did shine differently, strangely brighter, but colder. It was as if saying that she was ready for the worst but would fight and wouldn't accept defeat right away.

Aura thought for a moment, then euphemistically said, "We can assume that they haven't finalized anything yet."

The girl almost sighed, 'In other words, there's still no announcement about Starlight's transfer of ownership. The acquisition has yet to happen.'

As for how long this situation would last, it depends on whether her sibling would be successful in her endeavor. And she would be praying fervently against it.

The beautiful girl pursed her lips then nodded. She made her assistant continue giving her news feeds, acting as though what her sister was trying to do did not make her feel troubled or concerned. After this, Aura excused herself, saying she would go to the kitchen to make some snacks for her.

As for the other girl, she went back to reading her scripts. Ten minutes after, she picked up the thin stacks of paper on the couch adjacent to hers. Sadly when she finished reading the information there, she became a bit frustrated, learning that the subject was just a nobody. This made her shake her head and sigh. It was unfortunate but the person who saw through what she would be using to fight her way to stardom and freedom was just a normal high-schooler who immigrated from Alina to Jasper.

'Is he a talent or not?' she asked herself after thinking things through.

She couldn't completely get him off her mind because aside from her sister, he was the very first person to make her feel that she was easy to see through. She honestly didn't like the idea, so she wanted to make herself feel a bit better by investigating whether he was an industry insider or not. Unfortunately, he turned out to be the latter. There was nothing in the documents which states that he knew acting or was related to an actress or director.

Shortly after, she moved on from this by deciding to test that young man tomorrow. Her rationale behind this was to see if he could be someone she could invest on. She pondered about his matter for quite some time and realized that if he really turned out to be someone with keen eyes for acting, then he was definitely more talented than most people their age who only managed to grow their insights and career through exposure.

'If I will be fighting her in this industry, I can't only be the one from my side. I have to nurture others too, and send spies to her entertainment companies,' she told herself.

'Will this boy be the first talent under my wings?'

'Can he be of any help to me?'

'I'm actually hoping so, because now that I thought about it more seriously, he could actually be the perfect ally for me. No background. No possible connections with Amelia Morgan.'

She stared at the documents again, her eyes resting on the picture attached on it. For someone like her who had grown up surrounded by beautiful people, the person looked okay. He was undeniably good-looking, but not very impressive. He was just like any other handsome guy next door which could not be found anywhere but was still not as rare as those who fall under the national husband type. To be honest, only his eyes which seemed deeper and expressive than the night could be said notable and attractive.

'...A nobody can be a somebody someday... and it's that witch who said this...'

'I'll test him tomorrow. I want to see if I really found a gem in this city.'

Fighting spirit seemingly returned to the girl's eyes. Now, there were no more traces of disappointment or frustration in them. Only hope. A direction to go was revealed to her and now she knew what to do.

She could counterattack as long as she has the means and the people to do her bidding!

'I'll have my assistants search for talents then.'

'This way, even if I get trapped in Starlight, things will still be okay as long as I have people who would do the work for me.'

'But of course, if there's a way, I prefer not to be trapped by the contract I signed.'

'If there's only a way to make sure that worrisome acquisition won't happen...'

...

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