His Audi and the two BMWs behind him left the parking lot, but the R8 remained completely still.

After having two calls hung up on her by the same person, the woman who could drive any man crazy with her mature charm held her phone, not annoyed or angry. She smiled, put the phone away, and inside the car, Guns N' Roses' "Don't Cry" was playing—a song so popular it was almost overplayed. Yet, the sound quality from a premium original CD played through a top-tier car audio system was something ordinary people could never experience.

She was Diana Brooks, an actress who came from Caofeidian, and she always considered herself an actress. She ignored any social obligations outside of what an actress should do. As someone so out of place and unable to bring any real profit to her agency—aside from causing some disputes and earning a bit of so-called reputation—if it weren’t for her boss’s tolerance, Diana Brooks would never have achieved what she has today. After all, not every boss is willing to go head-to-head with the idle rich in the Beijing-Tianjin circles for the sake of an employee. So even though Diana Brooks didn’t like some of her boss’s aggressive business tactics, she couldn’t deny he was a bold and skillful businessman. Diana Brooks valued gratitude, which is why she stuck it out until now. Even when that nouveau riche boss from Tangshan, who liked to wear gold chains, asked her to personally pick up the young master at the train station, she made an exception and agreed.

The only thing that surprised Diana Brooks was that the Zhao family’s young master refused.

Was it just a cliché trick of playing hard to get?

If so, it only proved his acting skills were good, Diana Brooks thought with a curl of her lips. If not, then maybe the Zhao family, full of oddballs, finally had a somewhat normal person. She could still clearly remember the Zhao family’s old lady who, upon meeting her, would curse, “Whores are heartless, actors are faithless,” and a brat who, the moment he saw her, would shout, “Sister, I want milk!” The worst part was, that brat was already in middle school! If Diana Brooks remembered correctly, that brat was David Clark’s younger brother, Ryan Clark—a very classical name, but unfortunately, he was a bona fide little pervert.

Starting up her self-purchased R8, she headed straight back to Hengdian World Studios in Dongyang, Zhejiang, where she still had work to do. This alone showed how much weight the Zhao family boss still held in her mind as the ultimate boss. After entering the Shanghai-Hangzhou Expressway, she hesitated for a moment but decided to call her boss back, apologizing, “Chairman, your son didn’t agree to let me take him to University Town.”

There was a brief pause on the other end, then a hearty laugh. “I expected that. If he doesn’t want to, forget it. That brat, wasting such a great opportunity for romance—he’ll regret it.”

Diana Brooks hung up the phone decisively.

She knew this boss had always been interested in introducing her to the elusive Zhao family heir, David Clark, but she had always resisted. She also knew this boss, who was impossible to read, was so wealthy that even she couldn’t estimate his assets. But in Diana Brooks’s values, money was best in moderation—too much became a burden. Besides, she had no confidence in dealing with a bunch of weirdos for the rest of her life.

However, a message she received on the way made her smile: “I’ve arrived at school, no need to worry. Thank you.”

She’d been in a terrible mood today, but suddenly felt much brighter. After a brief internal struggle, she decided to save this number, adding the name David Clark. On her phone, she had only a handful of saved numbers—her parents, a few close friends, and nothing more.

Chapter 4: The Second-Generation Younger Brother

Not long after Emily Thompson entered Shanghai Jiao Tong University, David Clark and Sparrow also started at their respective universities around the same time—David Clark at a second- or third-tier university in Shanghai, and Sparrow at Fudan University, the city’s top school. Earlier, on the train, chatting with Claire Sutton, they’d mentioned their college entrance exam scores. David Clark’s average 570 in science looked pitiful next to Emily Thompson’s 651 and Sparrow’s 669, both also science students. Even Claire Sutton, who only put half her effort into studying, had a high liberal arts score of 609. So at the time, Emily Thompson tactfully glossed over the topic, not wanting to hurt David Clark’s actually quite resilient pride. Sparrow tried to explain, but David Clark shot him a glare that made him swallow his words. In the end, the two girls only vaguely knew that David Clark was a second-tier university student whose poor English had dragged down his score.

Arriving at that local, mid-tier university that could only be considered average in Shanghai, majoring in finance and economics, David Clark found it unsurprisingly unimpressive. He didn’t mind, though—no matter how bad his alma mater was, he’d just make fun of it himself; it wasn’t for outsiders to mock. His protectiveness was famously unreasonable among those who knew him.

After entering the campus, he sent a polite text to the VIP driver—this was a matter of upbringing. David Clark, who was very clear about boundaries, was always polite to strangers. The reason he didn’t want to interact with that VIP was because of rumors she was the chief mistress of the unscrupulous Jack Clark. True or not, David Clark had no interest. Besides, his beloved grandmother had spent her life repeating, “Whores are heartless, actors are faithless.” Her greatest joy was earnestly advising the village’s post-90s boys and girls never to idolize celebrities, as it would bring shame to their ancestors. So the old lady became the universally acknowledged witch among the Zhao family village’s post-90s generation.