C14 Drunk

"The advertisers are sorted out. When are you coming by the office?" Han Ning's voice sounded upbeat, clearly in a good mood.

"What's up?" Liang Han replied, her tone heavy with frustration.

"What's wrong? You sound off. Did you have another fight with Qisheng?" Han Ning always felt uneasy at the thought of Liang Han and Qisheng arguing. The studio relied heavily on Qisheng's support. Without his backing, it would be tough to land good gigs for their models, and there was even a risk of being blacklisted. Just thinking about it gave her a headache.

"Nothing much, just in a bad mood. Why don't you come over here?" Liang Han was still unsettled, the memory of Qisheng's anger from the night before fresh in her mind. Feeling agitated, she casually suggested it and hung up.

Han Ning rushed over, and as soon as she saw Liang Han, her heart sank.

"Han, I've got something to tell you, but you need to stay calm and not get upset."

Liang Han showed no reaction.

Han Ning hesitated, unsure if she should speak up.

Before she could say anything, Liang Han's phone buzzed a few times at her feet, displaying a notification.

She glanced over, paused slightly, and couldn't resist taking another look. Finally, she grabbed her phone excitedly, unlocked it, and opened the notification.

She usually followed design-related content, so most of her notifications were about that. But this time, it was a piece of entertainment news.

A story that had just broken and already had millions of views.

"Shocking! City's top bachelor, Alex Gu, spotted with popular actress Angie Liang!"

Below was a photo of the two entering a hotel, arms around each other.

Lily's mind went blank for a moment.

"Nina?"

"I'm fine. This just made me realize that everything Alex told me before was a lie. I'm okay. Give me a moment; I'm going upstairs to pack a few things. I'll stay at your place starting tonight."

Lily's emotions came and went quickly. She soon calmed down, slipped her phone into her pocket, and headed upstairs to her room.

She didn't have much luggage, just packed a few changes of clothes and left everything else behind.

Nina had a lot she wanted to ask but seeing Lily like that, she swallowed her words and said nothing.

Leaving Alex's villa, Nina drove Lily back to her place.

"Make sure to stock up on some drinks in the fridge. And, Nina, if things go south with Alex, our studio might be in trouble again."

As soon as Han walked in, she made a beeline for the fridge and grabbed a beer.

"Are you really going to divorce him this time? Is it serious, not just talk?"

"What's there to joke about? You saw it yourself. If he and Anqi aren't involved, no one would believe it." Han popped the tab and took a swig of beer.

"Isn't this just another argument between you two?" Ning tried to say something in Qisheng's defense.

Han didn't reply, curling up on the couch and downing her beer. Her tolerance wasn't great; after just two cans, she was already out cold.

Ning was about to drag her to bed when Han's phone started buzzing like crazy. She glanced at it; the caller ID read "The Big Bad Wolf."

Ning hesitated a moment before answering.

Before she could speak, an enraged male voice erupted from the phone, seething with fury, "Han, do you have any conscience at all? I'm telling you, you better come back the way you left! Do you hear me?"

Ning winced at the volume, her eardrums throbbing from Qisheng's furious shouting. She paused, then cautiously responded, "Um, Director Gu, Han's drunk."

The phone call ended with a sharp click.

In less than ten seconds, it rang again. This time, Gu Qisheng's voice was much calmer, yet it carried an unmistakable chill. "The address."