I left the investigation to the police and to my bodyguards. It might be weird to delegate the task to Alan Shou and Brad Biao, but they were ex-special forces. They had some experience in police work, or so they led me to believe. I had no reason to doubt them, after all.
What? Why wasn't I leading the investigation even though I was a CEO? Uh…what exactly do you think CEOs do? Why the fuck would they lead investigations? Just because they had money and power? Did you even know what was the job of a CEO?
Sometimes, these readers from beyond the fourth wall had unrealistic expectations because they read all sorts of CEO stories that featured the male lead being the head of some mafia family or the underworld, or because he simply threw money and expected his secretaries and business corporations to double as private investigators…or he has his own private army. Like…where the hell did the authors get these weird ideas from? I had never heard of Steve Jobs or Jeff Bezos owning a private army, ruling underground organizations or being the patriarchs of their respective families.
In any event, it was best to leave this to the professionals. Once I was sure they would do their job, I followed William to speak to the producers who wanted to discuss a new contract regarding sponsorship.
"We hope you can help us sponsor our new drama series, The Emperor's Pampered Concubine," the producer was telling me. I gaped at him.
"…say what?"
"Like I said, we are hoping your Shen Entertainment subsidiary can sponsor our new drama series, the Emperor's Pampered Concubine. The one where your fiancée is acting in."
"No, I heard you the first time. I meant to ask…what the fuck is that title?" I wanted to bury my face in my palm. The Emperor's Pampered Concubine? Seriously? Who the hell came up with such cringe-worthy titles? I was cringing just from hearing it. Come on, at least come up with a more natural title than that.
Already it screamed wish fulfilment and a Mary Sue female lead who would end up ruling over the harem and becoming the Emperor's sole woman somehow.
"Ms. Ling will be cast as the empress," the producer explained, as if he was hoping that was enough reason for me to pour a generous amount of cash into producing the drama series. "She has been looking forward to this."
"I'm sure she has," I said diplomatically. Come to think of it, I wasn't sure of Lily's tastes, but I remembered that she wasn't fond of such nonsensical CEO stories either. She probably had no choice but to accept the role because she couldn't afford to be picky this early in her acting career.
Until she built up her fame and reputation, she was in no position to refuse roles. Well, as long as it wasn't a role that required her to abandon her morals and do anything too…ugh, you know. But sometimes actresses simply didn't have a choice.
"All right. I'll get William to arrange something." I glanced at my vice-president, who nodded in agreement. He had no objections against this, which was good. No matter what my personal feelings were against this…cheesy title and the inevitable clichés, I was pretty sure it would prove to be popular, especially among a female audience.
At least we would make some money from this.
"But Shen Entertainment subsidiary is known more for producing science fiction films and series." I scratched my head. "Is it really appropriate for us to sponsor a historical romance drama?"
"Why not?" William shrugged. "Just think of it as us diversifying."
Right. Those business jargons that were meant to be broad enough to allow "flexibility" yet at the same time were actually pretty meaningless.
"I'll leave this to you then, William." I looked over the contract to ensure there wasn't anything suspicious in the damned document, and then signed along the dotted line. He nodded somewhat eagerly and I wondered if he had planned this.
"You can count on me!"
Oh, I would certainly count on him. That was for sure. I honestly didn't want to get involved in this acting business at all.
Before I left, though, William stopped me.
"Since you're already here, you might as well watch Lily Ling's performance. Give her emotional and moral support!"
"She doesn't need me to…"
"Just do it." William shoved me. "You need to learn to understand the heart of a woman. If she sees you at the set, supporting her from behind, she will be very happy."
"And you understand the heart of a woman?" I asked dryly. William smirked and smacked his chest.
"Of course. Have you forgotten that I've been dating Maya for a while now?"
Oh, right. William Wang and Maya Mo were a couple, and they were both living together in the same house. I guess it made sense that he had learned how to make women happy.
"All right then." I sighed heavily and headed to the set. Apparently they were filming an action movie right now, and there was this one scene where Lily was driving a car. That explained the explosives from earlier. They were blowing up a few of the cars while Lily drove through a congested road, chased by a gang of hi-tech criminals with missile launchers.
Apparently she was playing the role of a secret agent. Right now, her character had been caught trying to infiltrate a shadowy organization and they were pursuing her in an attempt to silence her.
The studio had rented out a road, part of a district nearby. I mean, how else were you going to film a car chase scene? You couldn't do it indoors. You had to film it outdoors. Otherwise there wouldn't be any space inside for the cars to move around.
I had to stand outside, watching Lily weave her car about the road, which had been filled with obstacles. Explosions rang across the road as fake missiles connected with abandoned cars, while timed explosives packed inside the vehicles earlier went off at the touch of a button, the special effects crew wielding remote controls.
Lily remained unfazed, calmly navigating the road. While she drove her car, another car swerved right in front of her, almost causing her to crash into it.
"Wait, wait! Cut!" the director was shouting. He rounded on the staff, waving his loud hailer in anger. "How did that car get in here? Didn't we rent out the entire district?! There shouldn't be any random vehicles passing through here at this hour!"
"I have no idea, sir." One of the staff was flustered, checking his smartphone. "We placed barricades around the roads. It shouldn't have…"
"Wait…!" My eyes widened when I noticed something strange about the vehicle. The driver and the guy in the passenger seat looked a bit odd, their expressions frantic and furious. My glasses were picking up dangerous readings from the both of them. I hastened to check, using the sensors installed within my lenses to scan them.
Just like the assassin from earlier today, these guys were armed with guns. Were they after Lily as well?
"Bloody hell!"
I was already rushing forward before I knew it, drawing my plasma pistol. The director noticed what I was doing, and a grin spread across his face.
"Continue filming!" he yelled at the cameraman, who looked confused.
"Huh?"
"Just do it! Switch the camera back on! Capture everything!"
While the filming staff fumbled about with the equipment to get the camera rolling once more, I ignored them and leaped over a hurdle, clearing a burning wreck. Lily braked, swerving her car in an awesome drift that would make any stuntwoman proud, and prevented a collision.
Even so, the passenger in the other car stuck the upper half of his body out of the window and raised his gun to fire at her.
He never got a chance to. His body vanished in a blinding spray of light, my plasma burst vaporizing him and his weapon. The rest of his body crumpled back into the car, sliding back into the seat. The driver yelped and yanked the wheel to the side, fazed from the sheer heat and brilliant flash of light.
Just like in an action movie, the whole car somehow tumbled over and flipped to its side, crashing into another car. The driver jerked about in his seat before slamming his forehead against the steering wheel and losing consciousness.
"Ouch," I muttered, wincing from the sight. That looked like it hurt.
"What was all that about?" Lily demanded, scrambling out of her car to check. I shrugged, just as clueless as she was. Nonetheless, I kept my plasma pistol trained on the stray car, particularly the driver. If he recovered consciousness, he might still be a threat.
"We'll find out. Security! Capture this guy and bring him for interrogation."
"Yes, sir!"
My security staff were already hurrying forward, looking guilty. For the second time today, I ended up beating them to it – to eliminating the security threats, I mean.
"Eh? Did you hear that?" Lily asked.
"Huh? Hear what?" I asked. As a precaution, I scanned the car with the sensors in my glasses while my staff yanked the unconscious driver out of the car. Then I froze, my gaze settling on the back of the car. "There's someone in the car boot!"
"What?! We have to get him out!"
I had no idea how Lily did it, but she somehow unlocked the car boot and flung it open. To her astonishment (not mine, because I already saw the occupant with the x-ray function of my glasses), there was a little boy tied up and shoved into the car boot.
"He's hurt!" Lily cried out.
No wonder. Given the rough driving of the driver (though that was partly my fault) when he sent the car flipping over…I was surprised he wasn't dead. Nonetheless, I had to do something.
"Medic!"
Helping the boy out of the trunk and undoing his restraints, I gestured for the medical staff to hurry over.