Chapter 194: Employment Relationship

Chapter 194: Chapter 194: Employment Relationship

Ethan Sterling was silent for a few seconds before replying with just four words: "Employment relationship."

Linley Lincoln: "Is she now signed under a subsidiary of Apex Conglomerate?"

Ethan Sterling answered crisply this time: "She’s my boss."

Linley Lincoln: "..."

The address Renee Morgan gave seemed nearby, just across from Ethan Sterling’s community, but once inside, you still had to walk more than a dozen blocks to get there.

Linley Lincoln watched Ethan Sterling, carrying two big bags and striding briskly ahead, bit his teeth and jogged after him, carrying the goods himself.

Renee Morgan had just about finished preparing the meal; only the final step of thickening the abalone sauce remained.

Hearing the doorbell, she ran out holding a spoon to open the door.

"Mr. Sterling, Lincoln, come on in! The food will be ready soon." Renee Morgan saw them both carrying bags of gifts and quickly invited them inside to set them down and catch their breath.

After Ethan Sterling changed his shoes and entered, he glanced at the sweaty Linley Lincoln, handed him a napkin, and poured him a glass of plain water.

Linley Lincoln was flattered: "Sterling..."

Ethan Sterling had already gotten up and walked toward the kitchen.

Linley Lincoln awkwardly wiped the sweat from his forehead, sneaking forward.

The kitchen table was already laid out with a spread of dishes, all unmistakably Cantonese cuisine.

After washing his hands, Ethan Sterling went to the sterilizer and took out bowls and chopsticks for three, saw Renee Morgan preparing to cut fruit, and went to help wash it.

The two worked seamlessly together, slicing up a plate of fruit, and then Ethan Sterling returned to the living room, pulling out two bottles of wine—one red, the other a fruit wine with a lower alcohol content.

Seeing this, Renee Morgan turned back to find a couple of wine glasses and a corkscrew, quickly opening both bottles.

Linley Lincoln watched the two pouring each other wine and started to feel confused.

Was Sterling’s intentions not about the wine, or was he overthinking it?

Renee Morgan poured a glass of red for Linley Lincoln, another for Ethan Sterling; Ethan took the fruit wine and poured a glass for her: "There’s work these days, don’t drink too much."

Renee Morgan naturally reached out, thanked him, and invited them to sit down for dinner.

Ethan Sterling and Linley Lincoln sat opposite each other, with Renee Morgan at the head of the table, occasionally using serving chopsticks to dish food for them.

Linley Lincoln was shoveling down rice with effort. To be honest, Renee Morgan’s cooking really shattered all his assumptions about female celebrities—he’d thought they only knew how to buy bags and clothes, never expected she could make such good food.

Ethan Sterling had recently been going to Apex Conglomerate every evening, so when the time came, he excused himself.

Renee Morgan looked at the table full of gift boxes, not knowing how to reciprocate, wanting them to take some back instead.

Seeing her looking somewhat anxious, Linley Lincoln couldn’t help but explain, "Sterling bought all these, nothing expensive, just some snacks girls usually like."

Renee Morgan finally relaxed, walked them downstairs, and Linley Lincoln took out his phone to exchange contact info with her. He’d wanted to ask about the employment relationship between her and Sterling, but in the end didn’t dare.

The day after tomorrow was the film festival; needing to go a day early for rehearsals, Renee Morgan woke up early for two hours of morning training. When Ethan Sterling arrived with breakfast, she was already tidied up, and seeing the breakfast box he carried, her gaze awkwardly drifted away.

Ethan Sterling seemed to sense her dilemma, let out a low chuckle: "I didn’t bring much, just some coconut chicken soup."

Renee Morgan: "..."

So he really didn’t bring a lot...

In the end, she drank the coconut chicken soup, not touching the meat. She had to wear performance attire for rehearsal today, so couldn’t eat anything hard to digest.

The company sent Lewis to drive them over. Warren didn’t trust Lewis and Sterling—both grown men—so sent a junior assistant along too.

Lewis drove, Sterling sat up front, Renee Morgan and the junior assistant took the back seats.

When the car arrived at the festival venue, the long rehearsal began—Renee Morgan was originally scheduled as the finale, but because the male singer had an emergency, she got bumped up earlier.

For rehearsal, they were using a simple version of the dance costume, not the actual stage outfit; her makeup matched the dance style, and led by staff, she met The Pop King.

The Pop King’s manner was polite yet distant. After a handshake, he sat at the piano and signaled to the musicians they could begin.

Renee Morgan took her place on stage. She was performing a dance choreographed by an original dancer, with the copyright held by the company.

From an outsider’s perspective, the dance suited Renee Morgan well—a fusion of dance and martial arts, both graceful and powerful, which was likely why the company favored it.

Renee Morgan truly executed it beautifully. Holding a ribbon, she tossed it as she spun, the ribbon winding around her supple waist. She slowly squatted down, the ribbon falling away, her legs splitting into a full straddle, leaning backward until her waist touched the floor. In the next instant, she flipped upright in midair...

Many staffers on site were initially fixated on The Pop King’s performance, watching his fingers ripple across the piano keys. As exclamations swept through, more and more eyes shifted to Renee Morgan.

As the music played, every move of hers seemed to dance on their hearts—making them exhilarated, mesmerized, sorrowful—until finally she lay stretched on the floor, as if saying goodbye, moving them to tears.

The Pop King had many songs in an ancient style; this song was a haunting love story—not some sticky romance, but the helpless sorrow of national and family tragedy.

The dance’s interpretation contrasted with the song—it felt more like a short film, unfolding slowly; the words were few, the feelings long, abruptly pulled apart, and when you looked back, everything had changed, flowers withered and faded.

This was broadcast with a live stream, and the organizers used this rehearsal clip for promotion. Along with a brief interview with Renee Morgan, as soon as the video went live, it shot onto trending searches.

The variety show’s streaming buzz continued, and many media outlets pushed the video internationally on Global Web.

Z-country films don’t have much standing internationally, and few on Global Web paid attention, except for Renee Morgan’s name—her presence covered Global Web. Her sniper videos were almost universally owned.

Sure enough, as soon as the video dropped, clicks broke a hundred million in an instant.

The video showed Renee Morgan blessing Z-country cinema, then sharing her insights into the performance, ending with that rehearsal split: with a ribbon in her hand, her body arched back, waist to the floor, revealing beautiful, captivating features—then she flipped upright midair, and the clip ended.

An hour later, the festival organizers got a last-minute invitation from Global Web, requesting the film festival’s broadcast be simulcast on Global Web.

Global Web is a tough market for domestic platforms to penetrate; unless you’re invited, they don’t care if you throw money at them. Their userbase is massive, annual profits tens of thousands of times that of the domestic web, so money means nothing. They’re only accountable to their users’ preferences—whatever their users like, they’ll provide it as best they can.