pretty useless

"Lexi, dear…" Mother Yang gently called out and reached her soft hands to her precious daughter.

"Why would you do that...? Why would you..." Lillian Yang choked as she held her tears that were tempting to fall in the corner of her eyes. Her voice filled with self-blame and unbearable pain as the memory of her struggling dearest daughter hovered in her mind.

Lexi's heart clenched as remorse slowly creeps on her heart. "Mom… I-I'm --" her voice cracked, attempting to apologize for the heartache she caused to the person who raised her with love.

"Shhh… mommy understood." Mother Yang hushed her as a comforting smile formed on the side of her lips.

"I'm sorry... sorry..." Lexi who was originally a little girl at heart whenever she was in front of her parents, yet, because of what she had gone through— she remained secretive. But now, before her mother, she finally broke down, lowering all her defense walls and revealed her vulnerability.

The pain that Morris Liu caused felt forever engraved in her heart. Still, what made Lexi more emotional was the realization of being too blinded with her love towards the man that she neglected the love she was receiving from the very few people who really cared about her.

Lexi bawled until her eyes turned puffy and it can no longer produce more tears. Soon after, with Mother Yang's tender pats, Lexi's body relaxed as her eyes slowly shut closed.

After some time, when Mother Yang reassured that her daughter has gone back to sleep, she tucked her daughter in before leaving for a while to freshen herself up.

When Mother Yang left, hearing her room's door creaked closed, Lexi's puffy and almost swollen eyes unhurriedly opened.

"You're a good actress, chu~" Churu stated with her tiny hand cupping her cute squishy cheeks while lying on her squishy tummy.

Lexi didn't bother with Churu's sarcasm as she contemplated for a while. "Hey dumpling, what will happen if I completed every task on the system?"

"You will be granted a wish, chu~" Churu stated with her usual ever so merry high-pitch thin voice.

"How many?"

"Don't know, chu~"

"You're pretty useless." Rolling her eyes, Lexi heavily sighed as this guide was not just annoying but also oblivious with vital information she needed.

"I am, chu~ But every task you complete, my abilities will also increase and I'll evolve~!" Churu's eyes gleam with excitement with the thought of evolving; she flew in the air, meter away from Lexi's face.

Churu made sure that her distance was beyond the woman's reach— afraid of the possibility that the girl would suddenly snatch her away and eat her. Well, Lexi did threaten her and taking extra precautions would not hurt.

"Evolve? From dumpling to what? Siu Bao?" Lexi sarcastically spat out.

"Siu Bao? What is that, chu~?"

Lexi's brows arc as her eye rolled in disbelief. She didn't know whether Churu was being clever or just downright ignorant. Nonetheless, it would only be either Churu would adjust to her sassiness or Lexi would need to learn how to prolong her patience for the sake of her own. Either way, they had to figure out things from today onwards together.

Soon, dizziness finally struck Lexi as her body went into a deep slumber. On the other hand, Churu just stared at Lexi before shifting her gaze on the well-crafted ceiling. Churu's gazed seemed to wonder beyond the ceiling, on the roof and up to the sky.

A second later, Churu smiled brightly before she nodded. "Sure, chu~!"

------

Two weeks had passed after Lexi attempted to take her life— which she successfully did but was interrupted midway. She was recovering and attended home therapy since then.

Scrolling through her phone's browser, some of her alleged photos were still on the top search topics. Yet, reading some harsh comments and baseless articles about her, Lexi only scoffed in dismay.

"How tasteless."

"Isn't that true, chu?" Churu drew closer and landed on Lexi's shoulder. She looked at the article's exposé about Lexi's numerous ambiguous relationships.

"Of course not! Aside from brother Mo, I never threw myself to any man— eww." Lexi stated in a matter-of-factly tone and disgusted tone. She added, "There are a lot, maybe everyone in the entertainment industry are insecure b*tches so they won't let this chance to slip and put more oil to the flames."

"You're one of them, chu~?"

Lexi glared at Churu upon hearing her insensitive remark which ticked off her nerve. Alas, for some reason, Lexi ended up sighing heavily as she calmed herself down. Well, Churu was right, she was also one of those insecure b*tches as she would do the same if this happened to Mia Chen.

In retrospect, Lexi didn't want to enter the entertainment industry, but when she found out that Mia Chen was a small-time actress— trying to make her name known— Lexi wanted to compete with her even with that petty thing; wanting to trample Mia Chen in every way she could.

"Whatever… just another piece of big news or scandal, everyone will forget about this." Lexi tossed her phone on the desk and stood from her vanity chair before heading outside of her room for the first time in her own initiative.

'Churu, what's the initial task again?' Lexi telepathically inquired. Though she was unsure if Churu might hear her, it's still worth the shot.

"Seduce Ethan Lu, chu~!" Surprisingly, Churu's answer rang inside Lexi's head which slightly startled her as the little dumpling's voice was in a full volume mode.