Whisky and Wine

"Cut! And that's a wrap!"

Despite Su Qiao's reservations, filming for the day went without a hitch. Xue Junxie was professional throughout and although she'd been keeping an eye out for any underhanded tactics, she hadn't caught him up to no good.

It was getting to the point where she was starting to feel guilty about suspecting him. Perhaps he was a gentleman and she was just once bitten twice shy? He didn't do anything to her in the past that she could recall. Sure, he hadn't stood up for her either but she didn't blame him for remaining silent when she was nothing more than an ex-colleague that he hadn't been close to.

But she couldn't afford to drop her defences.

[The price is too high to pay,] she reminded herself grimly as she headed back to her designated private booth to change out of her clothes.

Peng Lili was already there when she reached and waved her phone screen when Su Qiao approached. Su Qiao could see the bright orange social media logo on it.

"Nothing big," Peng Lili said with a confused shrug. Su Qiao hadn't elaborated on why she wanted Peng Lili to monitor her on Weibo but Peng Lili was good at following instructions. "A couple of regular haters brought up your attitude on the set of 'Legend of Yuhuan' but that was it.

Nothing but old news then. Su Qiao opened a bottle of water that Peng Lili handed to her from a plastic bag, proof that she'd gone downstairs and bought it herself from a convenience store rather than relied on the ones laying around the place that the catering team had ordered for the crew. It might be bordering on paranoia that she couldn't trust even unopened bottles of mineral water but the trauma from before made her imagine that enemies were lurking around unseen in every corner.

…perhaps it would be worth seeking help. But only if she could do so without the news of it somehow worming its way to the tabloid.

Weariness weighed down on Su Qiao. What kind of life was this, where she had to second-guess her every move and doubt everyone she met?

"Qiao Jie?" Peng Lili knocked on the door of the booth. "Is everything okay?"

Su Qiao didn't let herself overthink things anymore. She rushed to change back to her cosy oversized jumper and jeans, making sure to hang the costumes neatly back on the rack so that she didn't give the wardrobe department a chance to gossip about her.

"Sorry," she muttered. "My hair got caught in the buttons."

Peng Lili nodded sagely. "It's because you're not used to curls," she said like she was an expert in all things beauty-related. "But I love the way they look on you, Manager Zhao should have let you change your styling a long time ago."

Su Qiao hummed her assent. She wasn't feeling up to talking, unable to shake off a niggling feeling that something was about to happen. This listlessness accompanied her all the way back to the hotel. Peng Lili noticed too and worriedly asked if Su Qiao wanted her to stay for the additional company.

"I'll be fine," Su Qiao said, putting on a reassuring smile that she inwardly didn't feel, already resigned to a whole evening of monitoring Weibo for any juicy news about herself. Sometimes, the rubbish they wrote about her was so convincing she started to wonder whether she'd actually done the crap they accused her of doing.

Bullying newbies was just the tip of the iceberg. When she'd been at the height of her career, they'd also said that she'd used her father to pull strings, bribed her way into acting school, paid for a whole body of plastic surgery, even hired assassins to try and kill her little sister after Bai Meixin's drama turned out more popular than hers.

But compared to what they'd said about her after she'd fallen from grace, all that diatribe was nothing.

The suite that they'd booked for her had a lovely spa tub at least and she contented herself with relaxing into a hot bubble bath, a glass of white wine in one hand and phone in another as she contemplated her plans like a very pampered villain.

Just as she was starting to sink into a numb state of calm, a call from an unknown number broke her reverie.

Su Qiao's thumb hovered over the cancel button. A droplet of water trickled down her temple to splash on the screen. She had always been very careful with her number. It wasn't just fans who wanted to contact her but also others in the high society circles who wanted to network their way up the ladder.

Who could this be? She could ignore it and hope whoever was on the other line was benign or she could pick it up and see if they threatened her.

She sat up straighter and chose to answer in the end. Avoidance was more dangerous than facing any problems head-on.

"Hello?" Her voice echoed around the spacious washroom.

"…" The person on the other line didn't speak for a long while.

Su Qiao assumed that it was a prank call and was just about to hang up when she heard a soft huff of laughter.

"Am I interrupting Young Mistress Su in her…important business?"

"…"

It was a good thing that Su Qiao was alone. Not that she had a habit of appearing naked in public, but still. The blush that erupted across her cheeks spread rapidly down her neck and to her chest. She knew that she had a propensity for this and had always worked on cultivating an unflappable personality to make up for it.

But to pick up a call from Lin Zixun, of all people, and have him guess—well, she wasn't sure what exactly it was that he'd guessed but the least embarrassing option was already excruciating.

"Lin Zong," she replied perfunctorily. "How did you get my number?"

Lin Zixun laughed. With the receiver pressed against her ear, his voice was closer than she was comfortable with, like he was standing right next to her, his aggravating whispers derailing her train of thought just like it had back in Club Apex.

She really didn't want anything to do with this guy. After that nightmare that was her relationship with his younger brother, she'd decided that the Lins just weren't for her.

"NJ Corporation's CEO traded it to me for a sweet deal," he confessed without a shred of guilt in his cheerful voice.

NJ Corporation's CEO. NJ Corporation's CEO?!

Yao Xun that bastard!

As though he could envision her fuming, Lin Zixun laughed again. The sound was smooth and pleasant like the warm afternotes of a good peaty whisky. It made her shiver despite the hot humidity of the air that surrounded her.

"Don't blame Yao Xun, I made him an offer he couldn't refuse," he said with playful mournfulness. "If it's any comfort, Young Mistress Su, I paid a hefty sum for it. My worst business venture yet."

She raised an eyebrow. She wasn't under any illusion that Lin Zixun would go out of his way to contact her just to exchange pleasantries and shower her with shameless flattery.

"Oh? And to what do I owe such a clichéd honour?" An offer that that git Yao Xun couldn't refuse? Who did Lin Zixun think he was? A boss of one of H City's notorious triads?

"You mean apart from being your fabulous self?" There was some rustling on the end of the receiver. Her mind flew unbidden to the thought that he could be undressing too, perhaps removing that tie of his, which was never fastened properly anyway, completely. Not that it would make much of a difference besides to reveal a little more of the sliver of the tanned chest that he had hidden underneath—

Stop right there.

What was she doing? Why was she thinking about Lin Zixun like that? Sure, the man was hot but he was also dangerous and she'd already made herself an enemy of his brother—

Wait. Hold that thought.

"Is this about Lin Zizhou?" she asked with a cold edge to her tone. "If so, you needn't bother, Lin Zong. My relationship with your brother is over and I have no intentions to reconcile. It is a pity that I won't be able to play a part in strengthening the relationship between our families but now that I have a convenient new stepsister, I am sure that she would be more than happy to fill my shoes."

She expected him to protest or perhaps negotiate her into softening her stance using the wily demeanour of his that made him a real shark at the deal table. But all he said was a simple, "Okay." She heard the click of a decanter and the trickle of liquid into a glass.

…was he pouring himself a nightcap?

She looked at her half-empty glass, then at the scented candle she'd lit at the end of the tub, then at the full roundness of her breasts that were half-peeking out of the bubbles.

This felt like way too intimate a situation for her to be having with her ex's brother.

"…is there anything else?" she pressed finally when it became clear that Lin Zixun was far more interested in savouring whatever drink he was having on his end instead of cutting to the chase. She had half a mind to slam down and block his number but she knew that it would bother her for the rest of the night if she didn't figure out what his intentions were.

"How's the hotel suite?" he said, out of the blue.

Su Qiao froze. "You mean, the one I'm in right now?" Her eyes narrowed. Was this his subtle way of letting her know that he had people watching her every move? "How do you even know which hotel my production team picked? If you're intending to cause me trouble for breaking off the engagement—"

"Au contraire, Ms Su," Lin Zixun interrupted. "I couldn't be more pleased that you dumped my brother dear."