Zhao Lifei was about to walk up the grand staircase leading into the entrance of the banquet hall, when even more shouting could be heard. She gritted her teeth at the irritable questions, but kept her face blank.

Silence is a virtue. She reminded herself of the words her grandfather once drilled into her. When she was younger and a lot more naive, constantly acting on impulse and anger, her grandfather told her that sometimes, the best comeback was not replying at all.

"Miss Zhao, please make a comment! Are you truly cheating on President Yang or not?"

"Is one man not enough? Why have two?"

"Who came first? CEO Yang or the mysterious man?!"

"The media has branded you a reckless wh*re who dared to cheat on President Yang, any responses to that?"

"Why are you cheating when you already have the nation's husband in your clutches?"

"Does your grandfather know about this?"

Zhao Lifei pressed her lips together and took a step up the stairs, but her path was blocked by a B-list model who was so insignificant to her, Zhao Lifei didn't even bother remembering her name.

"Oops, I apologize for getting in your way Miss Zhao. But I just thought you should settle the uproar." The model sneered, her eyes scanning the socialite's feature. Tch, what did President Yang see in this woman? She was just like the other pretty flowers in the garden, perhaps blooming a bit more than the rest, but there was nothing special about her features.

"It's not fair you know. So many celebrities are here and you're stealing their spotlight with your ridiculous scandal." The woman rambled on, placing her hands on her hips, revealing a silver charm bracelet.

Zhao Lifei's eyes sharpened upon seeing it. She recognized it. Zhao Linhua was given this very type of bracelet, though with different charms, by Xia Mengxi. Was this model sent by Xia Mengxi? But why? Why was the shining female lead targeting her, the antagonist of her Cinderella story? Was it for the cuffs? Shouldn't it be the villain plotting against the female lead and not the other way around?

Zhao Lifei thought this was highly suspicious. Is Xia Mengxi not as innocent as she portrayed herself to be? Or was she smart enough to fool everyone? Her eyes flickered. That's right, in most romance novels she read, the female lead was the shining heroine, but her poor background often had dark secrets attached. How could she forget this crucial detail? Perhaps there was more than what meets the eyes.

"Such a shameless sl*t…" The woman snorted.

Zhao Lifei didn't bother to address the insult and was about to side-step the woman when she suddenly blurted out, "What? Are you pretending to be deaf now that you're confronted?" The model added on. "You should apologize to the celebrities who actually need the attention on them to earn money. They're not freeloaders like you, leeching off of your parents' success—"

"Like you're one to talk." Zhao Lifei smiled, finally remembering where she had seen this woman before. Yang Ruqin had frustratedly ranted to her a few months ago about a B-list model that was bold enough to step out of line and attempt to snatch her ambassador title from another company. But this model had overestimated her abilities and was not only humiliated with rejection, but was also embarrassed by Yang Ruqin who was known to hold a grudge.

So this pesky model was too scared of directly attacking the Queen... Did she think attacking the adviser would be easier?

"If I remember correctly, there was a recent scandal about you climbing into the bed of a judge just to win a competition, which by the way, you still lost." Zhao Lifei's words cut deep, a harsh slap to the model who was fumbling to respond.

The crowd made an "ooooh" as they snickered at the shameless model. How thick-skinned does one have to be to call someone else a shameless sl*t when she was one herself? Tsk, she was a hypocrite.

"I suppose you should apologize to your parents as well." Zhao Lifei sneered. "They spent so many resources on you, only for it all to go to waste."

The people understood her message very clearly. She was calling this woman an unfilial daughter. The crowd cheered her on, enjoying the live entertainment. As expected of a scorned ex-Queen, her words were still ruthless even when under pressure!

"Don't try to push all the attention back onto me just because you want to divert the topic from your scandal—"

"Oh my, I apologize. Wasn't attention what you wanted in the first place?" Zhao Lifei innocently tilted her head.

Zhao Lifei was not going to let this woman go. For daring to insult Yang Ruqin and even attempting to steal a job from her, Zhao Lifei was willing to be petty for Qinqin. An attack on her friend was an attack on Zhao Lifei.

The woman became red with anger, irrationally screeching, "Is it fun insulting me, you two-timing wh*re!"

Upon having the topic brought back again, talks about the scandal was about to arise again. Yang Ruqin knew it was time for her to come out and distract the crowd. Yang Feng paid her very well to come here and even promised her that if she succeeded in protecting Feifei until he personally arrived, she will not be bullied by him anymore.

"AHH! It's the supermodel Yang Ruqin!" Her fans went crazy upon seeing their Goddess climb out of the car. Men and women alike attempted to push their way to the front of the gates, in hopes of showing off the posters they made for her. A few waved around hand-made fan signs with Yang Ruqin's faces. Many of them were trying to get her autograph and a few luckily did.

The reporters went wild as well, their fingers clicking their cameras so much, it was a wonder none of the fingers were heavily injured by the swiftness. Despite her soaring fame, Yang Ruqin rarely attended social gatherings — mainly because of her hectic schedule, hence whenever she did, it was always an uproar.

There were virtually no bad scandals about her, thus she was in almost everyone's good graces. Even if a bad rumor was about to arise, they would instantly be squashed before it even reached the public.

Unlike the supermodels who relied on an outstanding lover to back them up, Yang Ruqin relied on herself. The people thought she used her family's money to climb to where she was right now, but that idea was quickly crushed away when her pictures were published. She was flawless in all of them, perfectly showing the right emotions in different outfits and backgrounds. Every time she posed, there were no visible flaws.

Her professionalism and behavior were always complimented by photographers and people in the fashion industry. Unlike many of the bratty divas in the industry who also had reputable families backing them up, Yang Ruqin's gentle and aloof behavior was a refreshing sight to many.

"Yang Ruqin, please smile here!"

"How about a pose for Buntro Magazines?"

"Look this way Yang Ruqin!"

"Good, good, that's the perfect pose!"

"A smile in this direction as well please!"

The paparazzi hounded her, greedy to take more and more pictures of the stunning woman. Reporters swarmed to the front, desperate to ask questions.

"Yang Ruqin, to what do you owe your success?"

"Any comment about the scandal involving your brother and Zhao Lifei?"

"I heard you're great friends with the woman in question. You guys even arrived in the same car! Does that mean the problem is already soothed?"

"Has President Yang reconciled with Zhao Lifei?"

"Do you know the mysterious man in the photo?"

"Please leave us a reply!"

Yang Ruqin's smile nearly wavered upon the question. She nervously made eye-contact with Zhao Lifei. Her plan of keeping Feifei safe was desperately failing and she blamed no one else but herself.

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