Chapter 3
At 8:50 a.m. sharp, I arrived at Lena Entertainment.
The lobby swarmed with reporters; flashes strobed like a storm.
“Ms. Selena, how do you respond to Lycan’s accusations from last night?”
“Do you admit to harassing him for ten years?”
“Rumor says you’re the true owner of Lena Entertainment—is that true?”
Expressionless behind sunglasses, I walked through the crowd with security and into the private elevator.
Just before the doors closed, I still heard someone outside yelling,
“Don’t let her escape! People like her deserve to be exposed!”
At nine o’clock, I pushed open the conference room door.
All senior staff were present, including Legal and PR heads.
My seat—the head chair—was empty.
Lycan sat right beside it with his agent Leo and Vivian, sprawled as if they owned the place.
The moment he saw me, Leo’s face soured.
“How did you get in here? Who let you in?”
Vivian squeaked theatrically and ducked behind Lycan.
“Lycan, how did she find the company? Is she here to hurt you?”
She pitched her voice sticky-sweet, as if I weren’t a person but a man-eating beast.
Lycan patted her back to soothe her, then lifted his gaze to me, full of disgust and impatience.
“You again. What do you want?”
“Wasn’t humiliating you in front of the whole nation enough? You had to come here too? Don’t you feel any shame?”
I ignored him and walked toward the head chair.
Leo sprang up to block me, posturing high and mighty.
“Ma’am, this is a senior leadership meeting. Outsiders must leave immediately—or we’ll call security!”
“That’s right, throw her out!” Vivian peered past Lycan to add venom.
“She’s crazy! Ms. Lena will be here any minute—having someone like this on the premises hurts our brand!”
“Ms. Lena?” I repeated softly, almost amused.
I scanned the faces at the table.
Some executives kept their heads down; others looked eager for drama.
They all knew who I was—but not one stood up.
Following profit and avoiding harm is human nature.
Lycan basked in star treatment and had long grown used to it.
He leaned back with his legs crossed and tossed his words down like alms.
“Since you did help me a few times back then, I won’t press charges for last night.”
“Take this.” He flicked a black card onto the table. “There’s one million on it. Take the money and disappear.
Don’t ever let me see you again.”
One million.
Back then, his sister’s bone marrow transplant cost more than that alone.
Vivian gasped dramatically. “Wow, Lycan, you’re too kind! She did that to you and you still give her money!
You’re just too nice!”
She snatched up the card, minced over, and tried to jam it into my hand.
“Heard that, Selena? A million—enough for someone like you for life. Take it and get out. Stop embarrassing yourself.”
I didn’t take it.
Her hand hung awkwardly in the air.
“What’s that supposed to mean? Too little? People like you should be grateful for a million—don’t you dare push it!”
Lycan’s patience snapped; his fists trembled.
“Security!” he barked. “Throw this woman out! I don’t want to see her for another second!”
Several guards rushed in, closing in on me.
Around the table, everyone watched coldly.
In their eyes, I was about to be tossed out of the building I had built—like a stray dog.
My gaze slid past them and settled on my assistant.
“Cora.”
My voice was calm.
She understood at once and lifted the internal phone.
“Ask Rebecca from Legal and Kevin from HR to come up. And notify Security: please escort those men—” I pointed at the charging guards “—out of this room.”
Silence slammed down, ringing in everyone’s ears.
The air went corpse-still.
All eyes fixed on me, confused and wary.
The guards looked at one another, unsure whose orders to follow.
Leo recovered first and jabbed a finger at me, laughing in fury.
“You? Who do you think you are—calling our company’s lawyers and directors? Who, Ms. Lena?”
Vivian broke into shrill giggles, shaking with mirth.
“Lycan, did you hear? She says she’s throwing security out! She’s delusional—stuck in a drama where she’s the heroine.”
She whirled on Cora with a viper’s face. “As for you! A little assistant daring to play along? Don’t want your job? One word from me and you’re gone!”
Cora blanched, but straightened behind me.
Only Lycan didn’t laugh.
His eyes narrowed, a wolf’s gold slitting his pupils as he searched my face for a crack.
“What are you playing at?”
I didn’t answer. I simply looked at the guards.
“Didn’t you hear me?”
I didn’t raise my voice, but there was no room in it for defiance.
They exchanged bleak looks. The leader took a step toward me anyway.
“Ma’am, please don’t make this hard—”
The door opened.
Rebecca, head of Legal, and Kevin, our HR director, entered—one after the other.
They both stopped short at the scene.
Leo sprang as if rescued. “Perfect timing! This crazy woman snuck in and is causing a scene.
She’s impersonating Ms. Lena and giving orders—deal with her!”
Vivian rushed Kevin. “And that little assistant—she’s in it too! Fire her immediately!”
Their eyes passed over them and came to rest on me.
In the next heartbeat, under everyone’s stunned stare, they bowed—deeply.
“Ms. Lena.”
The two syllables hit the room like thunder.
Leo’s mouth rounded into a perfect O.
Vivian’s glee froze to corpse-white horror.
And Lycan—disgust, impatience, scorn—drained from his face, leaving it blank with shock.
He stared at me, pupils contracting hard.
The world seemed to mute.
I walked, slowly, toward the head of the table—the seat that was mine.
Leo stood petrified.
I stopped before him and lifted my eyes.
“Move.”
My voice was calm and permitted no argument.
His legs buckled. He nearly fell to his knees and scrambled aside.
I touched the chair’s cool back with my fingertips, then sat.
I slid a prepared document across the table to Lycan.
In bold on the cover: ARTIST TERMINATION AGREEMENT.
His gaze snagged on the printed name on the signature line for Party B.
Selena.
His body began to shake.
Sweat dripped along his temple. His face turned the color of paper.
“Ms.…?” He forced the syllables past his throat, voice trembling. “You’re…Ms. Lena? The boss?”
I laced my fingers and regarded him like a stranger.
“Mr. Lycan, is there a problem?”
“No…no way…” He muttered, shaking his head like a madman. “Impossible…you were…”
“What was I?” I cut in, my voice devoid of warmth. “The woman you humiliated on live TV?
The ‘stalker’ you called disgusting? The one you tried to buy off with a million?”
With each sentence, his face leeched paler.
Vivian slumped boneless to the floor, lips quivering, speechless.
I turned from them to Kevin. “Announcements, please.”
Kevin cleared his throat and read in an even tone,
“Effective immediately, Leo is dismissed from his role as Director of Talent Agents.
Vivian’s entertainment contracts with our company are terminated.
For her conduct damaging the company’s reputation, we reserve the right to pursue liability.”
“As for Mr. Lycan—” He looked to me.
I tapped the agreement lightly.
“You said it yourself,” I smiled for the first time in days.
“You are what you are today all on your own. None of it has anything to do with me.”
“Excellent.” I smiled wider.
“Return every thing you took from me—with interest.”
