Chapter 86 - Dainasty Entertainment: Bella Chang

"Did… are we on the first name basis now?" Mike stammered, suppressing his excitement at taking a step closer to Devon. Surely, Mike didn't take Dion's warning into the heart.

"Well, I guess?" Devon raised her shoulders briefly, as she had already addressed him by his first name. "Call me Devon if that isn't a burden to you."

"You will never become a burden, Devi!" he exclaimed, nodding approvingly. 

Devon raised a brow and tilted her head to the side. "Devi?"

"Oh, sorry. I got too excited and… haha." Her reaction snapped him out of his cloud nine as he awkwardly laughed. "I got ahead of myself."

"It's alright." Devon smiled faintly and instinctively glanced at Avah. She almost forgot that Avah was there as she was too silent, but an idea rose in Devon's head upon noticing her.

"Are you alright, Miss Zhang?" Devon asked so Mike would divert his attention from her to Avah. 

"Ah, yes, of course." Avah smiled awkwardly, darting her eyes from Devon to Mike. "Please don't mind me. I'm…"

Avah trailed off when Devon simply cut her off with a worried, "How can I not mind when you look so pale?" 

"Oh? It's probably because I have been busy and didn't have proper rest." Avah's tone was low, almost muffled, as she hinted at how hardworking and passionate she was. "But I'm alright."

"You should eat plenty, Miss Zhang," Mike commented cluelessly. 

Devon glanced at him and then to Avah, and she could tell that Avah looked up and respected Mike. Obviously, Devon couldn't tell the level of her respect and how deep her feelings were, but she could tell that much. 

"Mike is right, take care of yourself no matter how passionate you are in your career." Devon nodded, and then turned her head to Mike. "Right?"

"Devi, I mean, Devon is right. The competition in the industry is tough, but you also need a source of energy to go on." Mike nodded, imparting his wisdom as Avah's senior.

"Thank you, Senior, Devon." Avah smiled weakly while nodding.

"Ay, you don't have to thank us. You and Devon are friends! Of course, as your senior and as her friend, we are concerned about you." 

Devon nodded, pleased at Mike's sincere words. "That's right."

"Mhm," Avah only hummed and gazed down.

Unlike Devon's intention to emphasize Avah's existence to Mike, Avah only assumed she was flexing. That Devon was practicing her dominance over Mike and he would treat her words as if they were written in the bible. 

As they continued to eat, with Mike constantly throwing questions at Devon, they heard a woman's voice. 

"There you are, Huang Michael."

The three of them turned their head in the voice's direction. A woman wearing huge glasses, covering almost half of her face, matched with her loose white blouse paired with beige slacks pranced her way towards them. Her curly hazel hair bounced with her every step, and her entire demeanor screamed confidence. Behind her were two beautiful ladies, but paled in comparison with the woman with them.

"Yo, Chang Bella!" Mike raised his head when Bella stood on the side of their table. "You're here too? Dion is also here today." 

"Is there something wrong if I am here or not?" Bella smirked as she slowly raised her sunglasses to her hair, revealing her long lashes and beautiful pair of ebony eyes. 

Bella scanned the other people around the table with Mike. As she did, Avah abruptly stood up and bowed.

"Hello, Senior Bella." Avah greeted politely, star-struck at the presence of the woman.

"Hi," Bella greeted back nonchalantly before her eyes fell on Devon. She tilted her head to the side as Devon stared at her for a moment.

"Greetings." Devon greeted with a faint smile, but didn't do as Avah did. 

Although Bella noticed Devon's nonchalance, she chose to ignore it as she turned her attention to Mike.

"Huang Mike, will you not introduce me to your new friends?" 

"Right!" Mike cleared his throat as he invited the three, so the table became more packed. Once they were seated, Mike introduced Bella to Devon and to Avah.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Lin, Miss Zhang." Bella smiled as she shot them a quick look.

Avah smiled humbly, looking a little nervous in front of Bella. "Senior Bella, I'm always a big fan of yours, so the pleasure is mine.

"I'm also pleased to meet you, Miss Chang," Devon replied with just the right tone — not overbearing nor too humble.

Bella only smiled in response before she turned to Mike, who was sitting beside him. 

"Michael, I heard the success of your comeback album. Aren't you going to throw a party?" 

"What do you mean, party? I can barely breathe right now with my hectic schedule."

"Hectic, yet you're here?" 

As Bella teased Mike, a brief smirk resurfaced on Avah's lips. Now that Bella was here, she was not the only one who would feel out of place.

'Did she think she's superior to Senior Chang as well?' Avah sneered internally as she snuck a glance at Devon. To her irritation, Devon heaved a sigh of relief, as if she was pleased that Bella arrived.

'Finally, some peace.' Devon muttered internally, and she continued to eat as she couldn't eat properly, with Mike constantly striking a conversation with her. 

"I can lend you a hand if you need to." Bella proposed, insisting that Mike should throw a party despite his hectic schedule. 

Mike let out a deep sigh. "Sure. Whatever."

"Don't forget to invite Dion." Bella slapped the table lightly as if what she said was a must. "Knowing him, he probably likes it if it's just a simple one with close friends."

"Hey, is this party you're going to arrange for me or for Dion?" Mike frowned as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her. "Even if you like…"

Just then, his expression turned pale as a realization came over him about Dion's current love life status, and Bella's unrequited feelings towards the man in question.

Bella noticed the gradual change in his reaction as she was friends with him for a long time. Her eyes squinted suspiciously as she knocked her knuckled against the table.

"Spill it."

"No, it's nothing." Mike immediately averted his gaze, but Bella tapped her finger against his shoulder.

"Huang Michael, what are you hiding?" 

"It's really…" Mike once again trailed off as loud yelling came from the entrance of the cafeteria.

"Dion! How can you say all that?! You really should attend the music award and also the competition you're going to judge! We already agreed to it!" 

Dion ground his teeth as he stopped in his strides and faced the man nagging him. "You agreed to it, so deal with it," Dion grumbled as his mood had made a huge 180 degree changed. 

"Dion!" His manager clung to his arm, almost on the verge of weeping. 

"Haist! Stop causing a scene!" Dion pulled his arm, but his manager clung to it tightly.

The people around the table Devon was seated all bore different reactions. Avah sported surprise as she never heard Dion setting his foot in the cafeteria, Mike shaking his head as if used to see what was unfolding before his eyes, while Bella checked herself as if conscious if she was presentable enough.

Meanwhile, Devon watched Dion and his manager catch everyone's attention

'Aren't they embarrassed?' Devon wondered as her disdain flickered across her eyes. She then noticed Ghost Lin floating right beside Dion and his manager.. Ghost Lin shook her head in disbelief, as if she was in utter dismay at what she was seeing.