The tranquility Lin Qingwan had finally found was short-lived. Although she had spent days in peaceful reflection, there was always that lurking sense of unease—the feeling that something was just out of reach, a storm gathering on the horizon, waiting to strike. She had learned to manage her emotions over the years, but the fear of what was coming still clung to her like a shadow.
It was late afternoon when she received the phone call that would shatter the calm she had so carefully cultivated.
She had been sitting by the window, her hands wrapped around a steaming cup of tea, her gaze lost in the view of the city below. The golden hue of the setting sun bathed the buildings in a soft, amber glow, a stark contrast to the storm brewing inside her. As her phone vibrated on the table beside her, she glanced at the screen and saw Zhao Ming's name.
Frowning, she answered the call immediately.
"Zhao Ming?" she said, her voice a little more anxious than usual. "What's wrong?"
There was a brief pause on the other end, and then his voice came through, low and tense. "Qingwan, you need to come to the office right away. There's something you need to see. It's... it's urgent."
Her heart skipped a beat. The urgency in his tone was unlike anything she had ever heard from him before. "What's going on?" she asked, a knot tightening in her stomach.
"Just get here. I'll explain when you arrive," Zhao Ming replied, his voice firm yet tinged with an unmistakable sense of concern.
The line went dead before she could say anything else.
A cold shiver ran down her spine as she stood up, her tea forgotten. She had always prided herself on staying composed, but in that moment, all the practiced calmness she had worked so hard to cultivate seemed to evaporate. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
When Lin Qingwan arrived at the agency's office, Zhao Ming was already waiting for her, his face grim, his usual easygoing demeanor completely absent. He motioned for her to follow him, leading her down the hallway to his private office. As they walked, Lin Qingwan couldn't shake the feeling that she was walking into a trap—everything in her body was screaming that something was terribly off.
Once inside the office, Zhao Ming closed the door behind them and gestured toward the desk, where a laptop sat open. He looked at her, his expression serious, before he spoke.
"Sit down," he said, his voice unusually gentle. "I need you to see something."
Lin Qingwan's nerves were on edge as she sat down in the chair, her eyes never leaving his face. Zhao Ming clicked a few keys on the laptop, bringing up a video on the screen. Lin Qingwan leaned forward, her breath catching in her throat as she saw what was playing before her eyes.
It was a video of her—her from years ago, walking onto a red carpet, surrounded by flashing cameras, reporters shouting her name. At first, it seemed like a typical video from one of her past events, but then her heart sank as the video began to show something more. In the footage, someone in the crowd—unseen by most—had been filming her from a distance. And as the camera zoomed in, Lin Qingwan's heart dropped.
The video showed a conversation between two men, their faces hidden in the shadows. The audio was clear, though, and as she listened, her blood ran cold.
"She's becoming too much of a threat," one of the voices said. "The industry's been talking. People are starting to notice her. We need to take her down before she gets any higher."
The second voice responded, colder and more calculated. "We'll need to make it look like an accident, something the public will believe. A scandal. But we need to wait for the right moment."
Lin Qingwan's mind reeled as she processed the words. She could barely understand what was happening. Who were these men? Why were they talking about her like this? Her pulse quickened, and her hand instinctively clenched into a fist.
"I—" she stammered, trying to make sense of the video, but her mind felt clouded with disbelief. "What is this? What does this mean?"
Zhao Ming's face was a mix of concern and determination as he turned to her. "This was sent to us by an anonymous source, but there's no doubt about it. They've been planning this for a long time. Someone in the industry, someone with power, is targeting you. And they're not going to stop until they've destroyed everything you've built."
Her stomach churned, and for a moment, she felt as if the room was spinning. The video had been shot years ago, but what it suggested was clear: there were people out there who had been manipulating events from the shadows, pulling strings in an attempt to ruin her. The realization hit her like a wave, and the weight of it pressed down on her chest, making it hard to breathe.
"Who are they?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.
"I don't know yet," Zhao Ming replied, his expression tight with frustration. "But I'm working on finding out. Whoever they are, they have a lot of influence. This is bigger than we thought."
Lin Qingwan felt the room closing in on her, but she refused to let the panic overwhelm her. She had to think. She had to remain calm. This wasn't the first time someone had tried to bring her down—she had weathered storms before, and she would weather this one too.
"I need to find out more," she said, her voice gaining strength. "I can't let them do this. I won't be their pawn."
Zhao Ming nodded. "I'll dig into it. We'll find who's behind this, and we'll make sure they don't get away with it."
There was a brief silence as Lin Qingwan absorbed the gravity of the situation. Then she spoke, her voice low but resolute. "No matter who it is, we will expose them. I'll take them down—one way or another."
Zhao Ming looked at her with a mixture of pride and worry. He knew the fire that burned within her, and he also knew that Lin Qingwan wasn't the type of person to back down from a fight. But this was different. This wasn't just about her career—it was about her life.
"We'll be careful," he warned. "But I'll stand by you every step of the way."
Lin Qingwan gave him a small smile, grateful for his unwavering loyalty. Together, they would fight back. She wouldn't let anyone take away what she had worked so hard to achieve—not without a fight.
As she left the office later that evening, her mind was filled with a million thoughts, each one more tangled than the last. The world she had once loved, the glamorous world of fame and fortune, now felt like a battleground. The industry that had once embraced her with open arms now felt like a cage, and she couldn't help but wonder: How many others had fallen victim to the same dark forces lurking in the shadows?
Her thoughts were interrupted when her phone buzzed once again. This time, it was a message from Gu Yan.
"Qingwan, I've heard something strange. Be careful. There are people watching you. Don't trust anyone."
Her blood ran cold, and the knot in her stomach tightened once more. This wasn't just a coincidence. Someone was targeting her—someone with power, influence, and the ability to make her life a living hell.
The game had changed. And Lin Qingwan was about to find out just how far these shadows were willing to go to see her fall.
In this chapter, Lin Qingwan is confronted with the first major challenge since her rebirth—someone in the industry has been plotting against her for years. The threat is serious, and the stakes are high. As she begins to uncover the dark forces at play, she must decide how to fight back, knowing that her battle will be more dangerous than she could have ever imagined.