A Billion Dollar Exchange

Outside, Wang Feng took the luggage from Liu Wei and put it into the car trunk. 

''Your flight is in the next thirty minutes, Sir…''

He said almost in a whisper seeing the way Liling held unto his arm, not wanting to let go. But his words slowly got cut off by the glare that emanated from her eyes.

''Alright, you need to go prepare for work; you wouldn't want me missing my flight would you?''

Liu Wei said soothingly, drawing her in for a hug. It was brief and Liling nodded in agreement, not wanting to be grumpy again. 

''Call me once you arrive, Okay?''

''I will, now go in and get ready; you don't want to be late on your first day of work. That reminds me, I got a chauffeur for you, he'll be here soon, I don't want you stressing yourself, okay?''

''Baby, you shouldn't have, I can…''

''Sweetheart, I won't have my girlfriend walking about waiting for taxis; when I get back, you'll go for driving lessons and then get your license, okay?''

Liling wanted to argue but she didn't want him to worry unnecessarily, they would argue about that when he got back. Nodding, she forced a smile to her cheeks and let him kiss her for the last time. She waited for him to get into the car and bade him farewell until the car was out of sight. 

Hurrying back inside, she took a quick shower and dressed in an office wear from the collection Liu Wei had gotten her. She had to look good, given that it was her first day of work. Checking herself out in the mirror, she took in a deep breath, not wanting to remember that she was not going to see him when she returned.

She wasn't feeling hungry one bit, so she just took her bag and rushed downstairs.

Her legs stopped in its tracks when she saw a man in his forties standing beside a Porsche car. It was at that moment she remembered what Liu Wei had said earlier that morning. 

''Miss Liling, I'm Chu Bin, your new chauffeur, nice to meet you.'' 

The man smiled and opened the car door for her, bowing down a little. 

''It's nice to meet you too''

She said toothily and walked slowly to the car then hopped in. The Chauffeur closed the door and sat down on the driver's seat. 

''Can we go now?''

He asked when he saw that she was settled, Liling nodded almost at the same time, before he started the ignition and drove off.

The car had not fully left the estate when Liling's phone began to ring. She quickly took it out of her bag and swiped across the screen, picking up the call. 

''LILING, OH MY GOD! HAVE YOU CHECKED THE HEADLINES!!! YOU ARE EVERYWHERE!!! YOU'VE MADE IT BESTFRIEND. Hope you aren't coming to X on foot, 'cause the reporters would get a picture and you know this celebrity stuff, they would not hesitate to…'' 

Liling put her phone away from her ear to save her eardrums, until she was sure that Xin Yong was no longer screaming.

''You're not joking, are you?'' Liling asked with eyes wide open. She couldn't believe that this was happening and so fast.

''I don't want to spoil the fun, you know what, go check it out yourself, we'll meet in the company, don't be late!.''

Xin Yong disconnected the call almost immediately, leaving Liling more confused than ever. Liling took in a deep breath, trying to control her racing heart. 

'What if she was lying?' 

There was only one way to find out

She nervously tapped on her entertainment news icon, and the first thing she saw was a picture of her on the stage with her trophy in her hand. 

Her face bore a priceless smile and her eyes curved into a crescent moon.

Although she knew the dress was beautiful, looking at the picture of herself wearing it, she could only gape in astonishment. It dazzled from top to bottom.

 Liling, for a brief moment, couldn't believe that it was her that was standing there.

''UPCOMING ARTIST RECEIVES AWARD, X-DYNASY WELCOME PARTY A BLAST!''

Liling scrolled down, reading the news line after line. She couldn't explain how joyful she felt, seeing her dreams and aspirations just a stone throw away.

''Ma'am, we're here.''

She stumbled out of her thoughts hearing her Chauffeur's voice.

Peeping outside the window, she saw that they were already in front of X. She checked her time and saw that it was few minutes past 8. Thanking the chauffeur, she quietly stepped out of the car.

She didn't move an inch until the car was fully out of sight. As she turned around, her eyes met with the biggest clown of the year.

She never expected that the first person she would set her eyes on was Richen, who had emphatically made herself a laughing stock that fateful night. 

Liling imagined the look on her face when they called her out as the winner. Not only was she among the artists selected, she was also the best among them. That was surely a heavy blow on her face.

Richen sighted a familiar figure coming out of a latest Porsche car, she concluded that her eyes must be seeing things, so she waited to confirm that it was really not her.

That became a deathly mistake, because as soon as the Liling turned around, their eyes met.

Richen felt like burying herself into the ground. 

When they called Liling's name that Saturday night, she nearly collapsed. She couldn't believe that all her efforts of trying to get rid of her were all in vain. To think that she warmed the bed of a fat ugly man, who made her do all sorts of dirty stuffs?

She couldn't believe her eyes as she watched Liling walk up to the stage and climb up slowly. She still felt that she was dreaming until she saw her receive the award and smile like the rising sun.

That was not the only heart rending event of that night. She remembered that she showed off her upmost stupidity by going to insult her just before the party started.

That answered the question why she just kept quiet and watched her as though she was a fool. Ha!