"Creak-"


    The door to the dance studio opened.


    The crowd of gossips snapped to attention, their eyes fixed on the person emerging.


    "It''s just Rachel. Where''s Mr. Tate?"


    "Rachel looks furious. She must be livid."


    "It looks like Rachel is holding a new contract." A sharp-eyed girl looked at Elvira, her excitement palpable. "Elvira, is that for you?"


    Elvira nced over, her heart pounding in her chest. It seemed Mr. Tate had really gotten rid of Lunar.


    "Go to the room upstairs," Elvira instructed Ynda as she stood up and smoothed out her clothes.


    Ynda wasn''t an employee of thepany, so it was against the rules for her to be in the dance studio.


    "Okay." Ynda slipped into a room, pacing back and forth with excitement.


    Juniper was going to be cklisted, wasn''t she? The thought made Ynda giddy with anticipation. She couldn''t wait to see her fall from grace.


    ...


    "Rachel." Elvira stepped forward, positioning herself at the head of the group of backup dancers, and greeted her respectfully.


    Rachel stopped, her icy gaze sweeping over the group beforending on Elvira''s face.


    She had handpicked this group of dancers herself; they were all at a simr skill level. But she''d heard whispers that Elvira, who came from a moderately wealthy family and had studied abroad, was arrogant and constantly tried to one-up the others. Thanks to her generosity with money, she had quickly be their de facto leader.


    It seemed this whole mess had something to do with her.


    "I heard you all had a disagreement with Master Lunar and walked out on her," Rachel said, her brow furrowed.


    "It wasn''t a disagreement," one of the dancers immediately retorted, unwilling to back down. "We''ve been training for this music video for years. No one wants it to be perfect more than we do."


    "But to choose someone with such a questionable character as the lead, and then expect us to be her backup..." The girl scoffed, her tone dripping with disdain. "I refuse."


    This music video was aiming for the Grammys. If Lunar''s scandals were exposed, all their hard work would be ruined by someone like her.


    "That''s right, we won''t stand for it," others chimed in, their voices rising in a chorus of protest. They were confident thepany wouldn''t dare rece all of them, which made them act all the more arrogant.


    Rachel took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. If Mr. Tate, who was still inside shelling pistachios for Master Lunar, heard this, he would probably twist their heads off.


    "This isn''t what you think..." Rachelposed herself, preparing to exin. "Master Lunar is "


    No matter what, they had put a lot of effort into this project, and they were talented. She was willing to give them one more chance.


    But before she could finish, Elvira cut her off.


    "Rachel," she said softly, "we''re doing this for Mr. Tate''s sake. We hope that when


    his sister sees the music video, it will remind her that he exists. Lunar is nothing but


    a maniptive, ungrateful, and morally corrupt person. Mr. Tate wouldn''t want someone like that as the lead, would he?"


    "You" Rachel was terrified by Elvira''s reckless words.


    Just then, Jimmie''s voice came from behind her. "Morally corrupt people are indeed unsuitable for this music video."


    In an instant, everyone looked toward the source of the sound. There stood the tall, handsome man, his eyes half-lidded, his expression indifferent as he stared at Elvira.


    What did Mr. Tate mean? Did he think she had a point?


    Elvira''s heart raced, and a joyful smile spread across her face.


    "Rachel," Jimmie said, his hands in his pockets, his voice as cold as a winter''s night,


    sending shivers down their spines, "terminate the contracts."