The city roads remained bustling at night, lit by twinkling neon lights that resembled the veins of the metropolis, flowing steadily in the dark.

Half an hour later, Xia Chengcheng pulled over on a side road near the newly developed luxury flat complex by Xiahua Real Estate.

To the left stood luxury residences priced at over two hundred thousand yuan per square meter— each unit worth nearly fifty million yuan.

To the right lay a high-end commercial shopping center, with annual rent reaching five million yuan. It was occupied entirely by the world’s leading luxury brands.

This was a business model real estate developers favored. To obtain land from the government for residential construction, they would voluntarily build massive shopping centers for public use, thus earning the rights to the surrounding plots to develop residential projects.

Luxury housing combined with a premium business district instantly drove up property prices and rental rates in the area.

Both of these ultra-luxurious plots belonged to Xiahua Real Estate.

Three days ago, a rich woman had taken her own life in one of the upscale flats on the left.

Now, a massive advertisement still hung on the largest promotional wall of the commercial center on the right— a jewelry campaign endorsed by Ji Jinghan.

That advertisement had been put up four days ago.

“System, tell me, Hong Tao owns so many properties. Why did that rich lady choose the one with Ji Jinghan’s poster to kill herself?”

The system remained silent, offering no reply.

But it already knew the answer.

……

The Beetle crossed half of Jiang City and finally returned to the Xia family’s mansion in the south of the city.

It was now 9:00 p.m., three hours before Xia Chengcheng’s life would come to an end.

The Xia family’s mansion was brightly lit.

As soon as Xia Chengcheng walked into the hall, she saw Xia Yongde sitting on the sofa, his expression stern and clearly displeased.

Ye Liufeng sat elegantly beside him, adorned in glittering jewelry and with well-maintained skin. Next to her was the obedient Ye Shiwen— the female protagonist in this novel world and a top celebrity in the entertainment industry.

The whole family appeared neat and orderly.

Upon seeing Xia Chengcheng, Xia Yongde scowled and glared coldly at her. Without warning, he flung the teacup in his hand directly at her.

“Look at the mess you’ve made! I cut off your credit card so you’d reflect on yourself, and instead you’ve become even more outrageous!”

Xia Chengcheng tilted her head slightly, letting the teacup graze past her ear. It shattered on the floor into tiny shards.

“Chengcheng, I know you hate me.” Ye Shiwen said, looking at her with concern. “But that doesn’t mean you should bully my friends because of it!”

Ye Liufeng chimed in as well, “Chengcheng, you’re not a child anymore. Stop being so immature! Wenwen has gone through a lot to clean up your mess in the entertainment industry!”

Xia Chengcheng folded her arms and watched the three of them in the living room as if she were watching a play.

Her gaze made Xia Yongde increasingly uncomfortable. Pointing at her nose, he bellowed, “You’d better issue a statement and apologize to Wenwen and her friend right now! Otherwise, don’t bother coming back to this house!”

Xia Chengcheng let out a light, pleasant laugh. Leaning lazily against the low table behind her, she casually flicked her voluminous curls and didn’t spare the three of them a single glance.

“What’s that phrase again? Oh, right, ‘A cuckoo taking over a magpie’s nest.'” Xia Chengcheng said with a smile. “Xia Yongde, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten. This place bears the Xia family’s name. You’re just a live-in son-in-law who changed his surname, and now you think you’re the master of the house? And as for Ye Liufeng and Ye Shiwen, you two outsiders are lucky we even let you live here. Who gave you the right to run your mouths?”

“Xia Chengcheng! You’ve gone too far!” Xia Yongde was furious. He shot to his feet and rushed forward to slap her.

But before he could make contact, Xia Chengcheng swiftly pulled Ye Shiwen in front of her, and Xia Yongde’s slap landed squarely on Ye Shiwen’s face.

“Smack—!”

The crisp sound of the slap echoed throughout the mansion.

Everyone froze.

Ye Shiwen’s left cheek turned bright red, a distinct handprint forming on her skin, while blood appeared at the corner of her mouth.

Tears filled her eyes as she held her face, crying in grievance.

“Wenwen…… Dad didn’t mean it……” Xia Yongde and Ye Liufeng scrambled to comfort her. When they realized their attempts were in vain, Xia Yongde redirected his fury toward Xia Chengcheng.

“Xia Chengcheng! Look what you’ve done!”

Xia Chengcheng could practically hear the sound of Xia Yongde grinding his teeth in rage.

Yet she remained unshaken, raising her chin and looking directly into his eyes.

“Xia Yongde, remember this.” Xia Chengcheng enunciated each word clearly, “Only I, Xia Chengcheng, am the rightful heir to the Xia family. You lot, where do you get the nerve?”

With that, she turned crisply on her heel and ascended the stairs without looking back.

Xia Yongde was beside himself with helpless rage, nearly ready to tear Xia Chengcheng apart. But with his eldest daughter’s face now injured, he couldn’t afford to dwell on it. He quickly ran off to get the first-aid kit for Ye Shiwen.

……

Under the system’s guidance, Xia Chengcheng returned to the original owner’s bedroom.

〖Host! That was awesome!〗

As soon as the door closed, the system popped up in her mind, giving her a thumbs-up. 〖That whole scene just now was so satisfying! You really shouldn’t have spared Xia Yongde even a glance!〗

Xia Chengcheng sighed. “The original owner had no problem challenging anyone outside, but when it came to Xia Yongde, she remained obedient and respectful. After all, in her eyes, Xia Yongde is her father.”

She gently placed a hand over her heart.

What a pity. The original owner was dead.

Xia Chengcheng wasn’t her. She couldn’t possibly act all filial and reverent like the original owner did.

To her, a scumbag who cheated during his marriage, had a mistress and an illegitimate daughter, and then brought them into the house right after his wife died— such a person deserved to be nailed to the pillar of shame for eternity.

A rotten old cucumber of a scumbag. Tch!

“It’s time to get down to business.”

Xia Chengcheng’s gaze turned sharp in an instant.

She opened the laptop on the desk and stretched lazily.

“The weather’s getting cold. Looks like someone in the entertainment industry is due for a fall~”

────ρя


Meanwhile, Ye Shiwen had also returned to her room.

A thin layer of gauze covered her face, and she had spent the better part of the night crying.

She wanted Xia Yongde to stand up for her and slap Xia Chengcheng hard in retaliation.

But Xia Yongde didn’t do it.

Xia Chengcheng had spoken the truth— Xia Yongde, at best, was an adopted son of the Xia family, and to put it more bluntly, a live-in son-in-law.

Everything the Xia family owned ultimately belonged to Xia Chengcheng.

Xia Yongde had only dared to cut off her credit cards by virtue of his identity as her father, but if Xia Chengcheng complained to her uncles, he’d be the one to suffer.

Besides, Xia Chengcheng was now 23 years old. When she turned 25, Xia Yongde would be legally required to return all of the Xia family shares he held to her.

At that point, Xia Chengcheng would officially become the heiress of the Xia family!

Ye Shiwen clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug deep into her palms.

She couldn’t allow that to happen. Everything in the Xia family had to be hers!

She opened her laptop. The internet was flooded with news about Xia Chengcheng slapping Ji Jinghan.

Ye Shiwen let out a cold snort. So what if Xia Chengcheng could inherit the Xia family’s assets? She was just another brainless second-generation rich kid. Now, with all of the internet cursing her out, she wouldn’t last long in the industry!

……

At 10:00 p.m., the production team of the film 《Immortal Vow》 released the main cast list.

As a top young actress, Ye Shiwen caught the eye of the assistant director, Chen Mingjie, and landed the female lead role in the film.

But what Ye Shiwen hadn’t expected was that, after such a bloody storm that day, 《Immortal Vow》 still dared to cast Xia Chengcheng as the second female lead!

What the hell was going on with the production team? Did they no longer care about their reputation? How were they supposed to explain this to investors and audiences?

【What’s wrong with the producers of 《Immortal Vow》? Why cast Xia Chengcheng as the second female lead?】

【I feel really bad for Ji Jinghan. Not only did she lose the role, she even got slapped by Xia Chengcheng!】

【Can that b*tch Xia Chengcheng just get out of the entertainment industry already?!】

【There must be some shady deal between Xia Chengcheng and 《Immortal Vow》! Otherwise, why would they pick her? She doesn’t look anything like the role of Wu Huan!】

Ye Shiwen thought for a moment, then quietly liked a post from a marketing account titled, 【Why Do Good Actors Never Get the Exposure They Deserve?】

Fans soon swarmed in to offer comfort.

【What’s wrong, Wenwen?】

【Upstairs, haven’t you seen the trending searches? The slapgate is still up after a whole day! And now the shady behind-the-scenes dealings with 《Immortal Vow》 are probably going to hit the hot list too!】

【Wenwen’s clearly upset that Ji Jinghan lost her role to Xia Chengcheng! Ji Jinghan is the better actress anyway! What right does Xia Chengcheng have? Just because she’s rich?】

【Wenwen is the best, always standing up for her friends!】

【Wenwen is so kindhearted. Love ~ Love~】

With Ye Shiwen fanning the flames, several of Xia Chengcheng’s scandals quickly shot up the trending topics list.

#XiaChengchengActingLikeADiva

#XiaChengchengSlapsJiJinghan

#XiaChengchengBackdoorDealWithImmortalVow

#XiaChengchengGetOutOfTheIndustry

Ye Shiwen looked at the trending list with smug satisfaction.

The gossip-hungry netizens all assumed Xia Chengcheng had the backing of a powerful family, but they didn’t know that Xia Yongde was completely against her being in the entertainment industry. He would never help her clear her name.

These scandals would cling to Xia Chengcheng forever!