Chapter 193: What’s Your Relationship

Chapter 193: Chapter 193: What’s Your Relationship

Levi Prescott had never felt so stifled before. He took out his phone and called his secretary, instructing the company to form a planning team to prepare for the acquisition of Renee Morgan’s current company. He was determined to get his hands on Renee Morgan’s contract.

It was just a small company, so Mandy Sheffield didn’t take it seriously.

After returning to her apartment, Renee Morgan took out her phone and texted Ethan Sterling: "Thank you for today."

Ethan Sterling: "Did they give you trouble?"

Renee Morgan: "..."

This was the first time she’d met a man so perceptive.

Renee Morgan: "Yeah, Levi Prescott said he’s planning to acquire our company and wants to use a contract to keep me in check."

After sending the message, Renee quickly typed another line: "But, I’m not worried at all. If he actually buys our company, I’ll just go and acquire the Prescott Group!"

Ethan Sterling: "..."

He knew Renee Morgan had the black card provided by the base.

It’s just that...

Ethan Sterling quickly replied: "It’s a crappy little company, don’t waste your money."

Renee Morgan: "..."

Thinking about the Prescott Family’s high and mighty attitude, and then recalling Ethan Sterling’s usual stern and cold expression as he said that, Renee couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

The gloomy mood was instantly swept away. After replying, Renee went to take a shower.

The next few days passed peacefully, until the film festival approval came through and Warren asked her to come to the office.

"According to the requirements from the organizers, you need to perform with another male singer for this show, as the closing act," Warren said, handing over the contract.

Renee reached out to take it. It was an ancient-style song, and the male singer involved was famously known as The Pop King in the domestic music scene—a true A-lister.

The song was ready to go, and the dance wasn’t too complicated—they just hoped she could blend martial arts with dancing to bring out the story and emotion contained in the song.

The requirements weren’t complex, but being expected to finish the choreography and master the moves in just a few days was almost impossible.

Seeing her frown, Warren added, "It’s too late to choreograph a dance from scratch, so they want us to spend some money to purchase original choreography rights. As for getting the moves down, just practice hard these next few days."

By skipping the choreography process and having the dance instructor directly coach her on the moves, things were still rushed, but not impossible.

This job was something Renee had the company take; the schedule was tight to begin with, so she could only nod and agree.

In the following days, Renee spent almost all her time in the company’s dance studio. Luckily she had a martial arts background and was familiar with the basic movements, so it was mainly about integrating everything and getting fluid with the dance for the entire piece.

Because of the Prescott Group partnership, President Warren put a hold on Miller’s film investment, and Renee’s audition was postponed as well.

When Warren told Renee this, Renee hadn’t realized the situation had escalated to this point, so she quickly grabbed her phone to check the news.

Lately, the internet had been filled with news about the Prescott Group. First, their stocks hit limit down, then Levi Prescott splurged at a charity auction, buying a famous painting to cover up the market crash. But soon after, it was revealed that an investigation team had entered the Prescott Group. Levi Prescott played it smart by inviting journalists over, putting on a show of harmony with the investigators.

Everyone had sighed that with the Prescott Family’s power, the investigation was just window dressing, and that soon, like a dead tree coming back to life, the Prescott Group’s stocks would soar, and their strength would reach new heights. But before long the news broke that all of the Prescott Group’s executives, management, and leaders had been invited for "tea," with Timothy Prescott and Levi himself among those on the list.

They’d gone in and hadn’t come out since—not even out on bail—showing just how serious things were.

Renee Morgan finally understood what Ethan Sterling meant by, "It’s a crappy little company, don’t waste your money."

"I specially asked President Warren today. He said the Prescott Family clearly pissed off someone they shouldn’t have. Morgan, do you think it’s Officer Sterling?" Warren asked, eyes filled with mystery.

Renee thought for a moment before saying, "This has nothing to do with him."

Even if Ethan Sterling had reported the Prescott Group through his District J connections, she wouldn’t admit it. If the Prescott Family sought revenge on Ethan, it’d be bad.

Warren nodded and dropped the topic, asking instead about her progress with the performance. Once she confirmed everything was on track, Warren had her go public and respond to the film festival’s tagged performance list for publicity and buzz.

After leaving the dance studio, Lewis drove Renee back to her new apartment—a place Warren had recently rented for her, located right across from Ethan Sterling’s complex. While the price per square meter wasn’t quite as high as Sterling’s place, it wasn’t much cheaper either. To regular people, it was still insanely expensive.

Warren told her to live there for now and buy her own place once she’d made some money.

Renee had never told anyone about the unlimited black card she had. Her parents didn’t know—she figured they had no worries anyway and she didn’t want them fussing over her. She didn’t tell the company or Warren either, since their interests were tied to hers; once the balance of power shifted, no one could guarantee people wouldn’t change.

There was no rush to buy a house. It’d happen naturally, when the time was right.

After getting back to her apartment, Renee picked up all sorts of groceries at the complex’s supermarket, brought them home, and messaged Ethan Sterling.

She’d moved in but Ethan still hadn’t visited. She was planning to cook and finally invite him over for dinner.

These days, Linley Lincoln had been driving Ethan’s million-dollar sports car to work, causing a stir throughout District J. Management had gotten wind of it and summoned Linley for a "chat."

Linley Lincoln: "..."

Could he just say he was forced into driving a fancy car?

"Boss, you’ve got to defend me here! Sterling took my beloved car, so I had no choice but to drive his. You don’t know how much I miss my baby lately..." Linley sat across from the boss and began dramatically complaining about how Ethan had seized his car.

Manager: "..."

After leaving the manager’s office, Linley used an errand as an excuse to skip work and tracked down Ethan, ready to make him treat him to a meal for emotional compensation.

Ethan Sterling was just getting ready to head out.

"Sterling, where are you going?" Linley asked in surprise when he ran into Ethan stepping out as soon as the elevator doors opened.

"Going for dinner," he replied.

"Hey, can I join?" Linley asked tentatively.

Ethan glanced at him, sounding a bit reluctant: "I’ll have to ask if I can bring someone."

Linley immediately perked up in respect—if Sterling had to ask permission, who on earth was it?

Then he saw Ethan take out his phone and send a message.

Linley peeked over curiously and spotted the note: Renee Morgan?

Linley: "..."

The reply came quickly: "Sure."

Ethan looked up at him, pocketed his phone, and said, "Let’s go."

The elevator headed down, and Linley fidgeted for a while before finally blurting out, "Sterling, what exactly is your relationship with Ren—Renee Morgan now?"