The Rise of the White Lotus

Coming to a decision, Lexi decided not to answer her former manager's call. Indeed, when her career was ruined, Lexi's agency including her manager didn't exerted much effort and watched on the sidelines. 

When she rose to fame, all they did was curry favor from her. But when her name was being tainted with malicious accusations, everyone around her dispersed.

She might have said that Lexi wanted to have a peaceful life, however, she could forgive everyone but she would never forget how they treated her in return.

"Ohhh… chu~" nodding her little head in understanding, Churu awed. Looking at Lexi's uninterested expression, the adorable dumpling was certain that Lexi wasn't faking it.

Recalling the other angle of Lexi's behaviour from the beginning, Churu had overlooked Lexi's leniency towards others since she treated her very differently.

From her encounter with Che Diayu, the odd glances and ridiculing whispers from the Liu employees, and her first treatment towards Ethan Lu. All these three examples showed Lexi's determination and mature choice of keeping her head cool.

She only snapped at Ethan Lu back at the banquet because she was at her limit but after that, Lexi was back into treating everyone the same. 

"Though… I hadn't heard from them but, why would she suddenly call me?" 

Suddenly, instead of a call, Lexi received a message from the same number.

[ From: Manager Abi

Lexi dear, please answer the call. I know you are mad at me or probably hate me but, you have to answer my call. This is important.]

Skimming through Abigail Fan's email, Lexi arched her brows. For her former manager to say such stuff, Lexi's interest was piqued.

"Sissy, should I degrade my IQ?" Lexi glanced at the reposing dumpling on the side who on the other hand lost interest regarding Abigail Fan's intention.

"Whatever chu~ Can you put facial mask to me chu~? It will make you smart chu~" With a shimmering eyes, Churu almost melted just the thought of her reunion with her beloved facial masks.

Lexi chuckled by the sight of Churu before she reached for her phone and returned Abigail's call. The first ring had not yet stopped as it was answered immediately.

"Oh, thank God you called! Lexi, how are you?" Soon, without waiting for Lexi's voice to welcome her, Abigail's relieved tone came in line.

"How am I? Are you really asking me that? You know me, I hate going in circles… tell me, what it is about." Unlike how she interact with Churu and Ethan, Lexi's tone was dry and was oozing with sassiness. 

Though Abigail had been a nice and reliable manager, however, Lexi didn't appreciated that she stayed on the sidelines to fix whatever she needed to fix as a manager.

On the line, Lexi heard the woman on the line let out a heavy sigh before speaking, "I quit at the agency."

"So?" Unmoved, Lexi rolled her eyes as she doesn't care about Abigail Fan's personal affair. She didn't want to get ahead of herself nor did she want to know the reason behind the woman's reasoning. 

"There would be an audition two days from now. It would be Director Arnold Shen's last movie to direct before retiring -- Lexi, I signed your name to audition for a certain role." Abigail Fan informed in one go with every courage she had.

Meanwhile, Lexi was shook to the core hearing her former manager's news. Did she just signed up for her? Why? And why would she forced herself to the entertainment industry again?

Sure, if this was back then, she would be the first person to sign up to get herself into one of his movies. After all, Arnold Shen is one of the best directors in the industry.

Also, what she heard about the said director was, he was too meticulous and would always judge based on a person's talent not by their visuals.

"How dare you…" Grinding her teeth, Lexi scoffed in disgust by Abigail Fan's audacity. One thing that Lexi despises the most was being put into a situation she didn't decided herself. Hence, one of the reasons why she didn't accepted the system in the first place.

"I know, I know! You might kill me for this but… this is the only way I know I could do! What happened back then, I -- I also hated myself for being a mere manager who had no power to defend you from the people higher than me! That is why I sent my resignation letter since your contract will be ending next week!" Abigail Fan panicked hearing the words she expected Lexi would say.

Indeed, she did nothing back when Lexi's career was falling apart right before her eyes. God knows how she begged for the bosses to fix everything, but to no avail, everyone's hands were tight as they don't want to tangled themselves to the bad side of the CEO of the Liu Empire.

Lexi never knew this but for Abigail Fan who admired her for being a natural talent albeit a true diva, she had always believed that she could redeem herself from scratch.

"Please, even if you don't believe me, please just please reconsider this once in a lifetime opportunity." Abigail Fan's voice faded as she pleaded for Lexi to come and show them what she got.

As expected, silence was the response she received from the other line. Abigail Fan already anticipated that Lexi wouldn't agree, hence, she would have to show her sincerity for the next to days.

The next second, Lexi finally responded with a calm tone, "I'll think about it." She then cut the line short without waiting for her former manager's reply. 

"Wow, that's quite a revelation chu~! Churu commented after hearing the confession of Lexi's former manager.