After the interrogation, I was released. But before I left the police station, I made sure to get as much information as possible. The police willingly provided me with a lot of bits and pieces, but I still couldn't wrap my head around what was happening.
Apparently, I had unearthed a conspiracy with my actions. A very deep conspiracy that involved a lot of rich heirs, directors or managers, and celebrities. Yvonne Yang was just a…pimp, if you would. And Zachery Zhao was simply one of the many CEOs, heirs or directors who benefited from this arrangement. In fact, there was a mastermind by the name of Gregory Song.
Yeah, it was confusing. I guess I should start from the beginning.
Gregory Song handled a celebrity prostitution business by providing CEOs, director and managers – basically rich, powerful men – actresses for them to rape. He used Howard Hotel as a base for such illegal activities, silencing the poor actresses through blackmail and sometimes murder if necessary.
So men such as Zachery Zhao basically had their pick of unlucky female actresses, who were abducted and raped, and then forcibly silenced through blackmail. As for Yvonne Yang, she would pick out the celebrities – as I said, she was a pimp. She would target actresses who she thought was her rival or had the possibility of threatening her position in the entertainment industry, and then introduce them to the men in this conspiracy. They would abduct the targeted actress, and then used their wealth and influence to cover everything up.
As for the poor actresses, they were blackmailed and forced to continue sleeping with other men. Some of them retired from acting because they couldn't withstand the shame. Others were traumatized by the rape and suffered from depression.
All the while, Yvonne Yang benefited from eliminating her rivals.
Now she was dead, murdered because Gregory Song and the powerful people behind him were determined to silence her before she could reveal anything about their business. Unfortunately for them, Yvonne Yang had realized they were trying to murder her, and as one final act of spite, she took revenge by passing all the evidence to her agent and telling her to give it to the police. The terrified Victoria Lai submitted the evidence shortly after Yvonne Yang's death, near hysterical at what was going on. Apparently she was uninvolved in all this.
Oh, and Lily Bai? She was one of Yvonne Yang's victims. She was murdered by none other than Zachery Zhao, who kidnapped and tried to rape her…but accidentally strangled her to death because he was trying to do a sadomasochistic play or something like that. The powerful people behind him covered up her death as her being on drugs and indulging in sadomasochistic play, and destroyed her reputation. No wonder she wanted revenge.
"Wait, why the fuck does this sound so familiar?"
I couldn't believe what I had just heard. Shaking my head, I ran a search on Google through my smartphone and realized why. The whole thing was ripped off from a manhua titled Dream of Night Bloom. Jesus Christ…was the author running out of ideas or something? Seriously? What a farfetched plot. Admittedly, Dream of Night Bloom was a lot better written than almost all other CEO manhua, which often feature abusive CEOs, bullied and raped female leads, toxic relationships and nonsensical scenarios where almost every female character in the story was out to murder the female lead for no reason other than…I don't know. Jealousy?
At least the manhua that was being ripped off was Dream of Night Bloom. If it was CEO Above, Me Below (also known as Paranoid Lover), or My Super Hot Mom is an Assassin, Deserted Woman, an Exorbitant Wife or any of those nonsensical manhua where the female leads somehow fell in love with the CEOs who abused or raped them (or did both) because…I don't know, Stockholm Syndrome? Yeah, my blood pressure would rise. Jesus Christ, what was with these women and their attachment to such abusive male leads? So it's all right if he raped or abused her as long as he's rich and handsome? How the fuck did that work?
Well, whatever. I had better things to do than get angry over such toxic relationships and abusive rapist CEOs.
"Is Lily all right?" I asked over the smartphone. I couldn't get through to her, so I ended up calling Arnold Ang instead.
"She's fine. Resting right now. How about you? I've called a lawyer, he should be arriving in the police station any time now…"
"I'm already out. Thanks, though. But I'll need you to let the lawyer know that I've left, and that everything has already been resolved. I'll tell you the whole story later. Or maybe you should just binge read Dream of Night Bloom instead."
"Huh? Dream of Night Bloom?"
Arnold sounded puzzled. Well…he had every reason to be confused. I bet he had never read that particular manhua before.
"Yeah. It's a manhua. Just google it. Unfortunately, I don't think Webnovel has translated it, so you'll have to read it on Zinmanga instead."
"…huh?"
"Anyway, I'll head to the hospital now."
I quickly jumped into my Toyota electric car. Spinning the wheel about, I headed straight for the hospital. When I reached there, I spotted a few people milling about in the carpark. I raised an eyebrow at that. By now, it was about 3.30am, so why the hell were they hanging out in the hospital carpark at such ungodly hours?
It was only after I had gotten out of my car and headed toward the hospital entrance that I recognized a couple of them. Lily and Arnold were being accosted by a few dudes in expensive suits.
"You should let us send you home!"
"Yeah, we are worried about you!"
"It's dangerous to go home by yourself! I know you have your agent with you, but he doesn't look that reliable. I'll give you a lift."
"No, I will!"
Both Lily and Arnold were looking very troubled until they spotted me approaching. Lily immediately brightened up and rushed over to me.
"Thanks, but my fiancé is here to bring me home. I appreciate your offer, but I would prefer to rely on him instead."
"That guy is your fiancé?" The rich-looking guys scoffed. One of them voiced the thought that all of them was harboring. "That poor-looking beggar?"
What? They thought I was a beggar?
They must have caught my expression, for one of them pointed at my car and sneered. "We saw the car you arrived in. A Toyota that costs less than 100,000 yuan! Are you really that poor that you can't afford a branded car? And you want to marry Lily Ling, one of the richest heiress?"
"Know your place!"
"A toad lusting after a swan! Hah! I never seen anyone so deluded!"
"Do you guys even know who Trevor Shen is?" Arnold asked, astonished. "Are you seriously calling him poor and insulting him?"
"Huh? Should we know him?"
"But why does the name sound so familiar?" One of them scratched their heads. The rest ignored him and stomped toward me furiously.
"You should break your engagement with Ms. Lily if you know what's good for you."
"Yeah, my dear Lily! You will never be happy with a guy as poor as him, someone who can only afford a Toyota! You should marry me instead!"
"Are you seriously saying that in front of my fiancé?" Lily's voice was filled with disbelief. I understood her outrage. They were basically disrespecting me and insulting me in my face with their dismissive attitudes. "You do know I'm already engaged to him, right?"
"So what? It's not as if you're married. You can just break the engagement and marry me instead. Accept my proposal!"
"That's right! Even if you are already married, it doesn't matter! You can just divorce him and marry me instead!"
"Are these guys for real?" I blurted out, also unable to believe what I was hearing.
This was getting ridiculous. Real people didn't behave like this. If I wasn't mistaken, these were rich, influential and powerful guys. They could chase any women they wanted and was more likely to succeed winning their affections, but they chose to pursue a lady who was already engaged/married? What the fuck? Just how desperate could they be? It wasn't as if Lily Ling was the only lady in the world. This made no bloody fucking sense whatsoever.
Also, were they even listening to themselves? What kind of woman divorces and then marries another man immediately after that? Only a gold digger would do that. Also, Lily would be subject to all sort of uncomfortable rumors, malicious gossip and unwanted attention. Her reputation would be ruined – most people would think she was loose or changed husbands just like swapping dresses whenever her attires went out of fashion.
No, seriously, these men sounded like one-dimensional characters created for a cliché story by an author who had no idea how real people behaved, just so she could have her female lead be a special snowflake Mary Sue who was loved by everybody without actually deserving it. Honestly, as much as I liked Lily Ling, I was pretty sure she wasn't such an idealistic wife to the extent where every rich and influential young bachelor in the world was fighting to get her to divorce me just so they could marry her instead.
Who the hell came up with this script?
"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
Arnold was unable to hold back his laughter any longer. Everyone turned to stare at him. Clutching his stomach, Arnold wiped the tears from his eyes and shook his head.
"Do you guys really not know who Trevor Shen is? The CEO of Shen Industries, the inventor of energy shields and war walkers? The hero of our nation, who helped developed a new armada of shield boats and shielded battleships? Seriously? Did you bury your heads in the sand or something?"
"What?! He's that Trevor Shen?!"
"C…come to think of it…didn't we hear rumors? About Ms. Lily being engaged to the CEO of Shen Industries. Wasn't it big news a few months back?"
"Don't tell me it's true…!"
"Impossible! Why would the CEO of Shen Industries be driving a Toyota?"
"What the hell is wrong with owning a Toyota?" I bellowed. "I like Toyota Cars! Toyota is a reliable brand! And environmentally friendly too! It's the biggest car company in the world! Why do you guys keep making fun of it? What do you want me to drive, huh?"
"A…Lamborghini or Ferrari or Rolls Royce. Maybe a Jaguar."
"For what?! Those are a colossal waste of money! I just need a car to so that I can drive from point A to point B. a reliable Toyota is all I need. Why the fuck would I waste so much money on high maintenance branded cars? Just to show off like you guys?"
Shaking my head, I took Lily's arm and led her away. Showing them the middle finger before I left, I got into my Toyota, and once both Lily and Arnold were buckled in, I drove off, leaving the bunch of arrogant, rich, young bachelors gaping after my trusty car.