Since Shang Jue suddenly showed up and messed up her whole plan for the day, wasting her precious time, honestly—
It was just straight-up unlucky.
Shang Jue's eyes were sharp like he wanted to stab right through her fake mask and figure out if her heart was still red or already turned black.
Qin Cha figured he probably heard her loud and clear.
"I hope we never see each other again, unless it's the day we go sign the divorce papers," she said, then left like she couldn't care less.
Shang Jue just stood there, replaying her words over and over: "I don't care about you, I don't love you anymore."
She didn't care? She didn't love him?
Then who did she love now?
"Mr. Shang."
Li, Shang Jue's assistant, who had overheard everything from outside, walked over nervously.
How did the soft, gentle wife turn into someone this cold and scary? The change was seriously insane.
Shang Jue's face was ice-cold, and the air around him dropped like the temperature in a freezer.
After a few seconds, he said in a low voice, "Have someone follow her."
"Yes, Mr. Shang, I'll handle it right away."
Li rushed to make arrangements.
Meanwhile, Qin Cha had already left the party and muttered to herself, "Seriously, this is so unlucky!"
Aren't exes supposed to act like they're dead or something?
Shang Jue wasn't just a terrible husband—he was still a minus two hundred even after the divorce!
She checked her phone. All the contacts were from her old phone three years ago, and every single one of them was worth keeping.
As she scrolled, her finger stopped on one name: Mu Qing.
He directed a documentary that won Best New Director at Cannes and basically blew up overnight.
Even though Mu Qing had a weird personality, he was seriously talented and actually knew what he wanted, bot like those shallow, clout-chasing directors in the entertainment world.
That's exactly why Qin Cha respected him.
She had saved his number, planning to invest in him one day. Wasn't this the perfect time?
Qin Cha tapped his number and called.
"Hello?" came a gloomy voice on the other end.
"Hello, Director Mu. I heard you're planning a new project. Did you find your cast yet? If not, I'd really like to recommend myself for your next work," Qin Cha said said directly, without any hesitation.
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment, and it was hard to tell if Mu Qing was trying to remember who Qin Cha even was.
"I can give you an audition. Come over now," Mu Qing said calmly, not asking anything extra or wasting words.
"Okay, thank you, Director Mu," Qin Cha replied with a smile. Mu Qing's offer helped take some weight off her bad mood tonight.
At least the night wasn't totally pointless.
Even though it came out of nowhere, she never let any opportunity slip past her. Following the address Mu Qing gave, Qin Cha went straight to the hotel.
Not too far behind, the bodyguards that had been sent to follow her quickly caught footage of her walking into the hotel.
Almost immediately, Li, the assistant still at the party, got a message from the bodyguards. After reading it, his face turned serious and uneasy.
"Boss Shang."
Li handed his phone to Shang Jue.
Shang Jue still had a polite smile from chatting with someone else, but the moment his eyes landed on the photo in Li's phone, that smile disappeared in a second.
The message also said that his wife had made a phone call to someone and looked like she was meeting them at the hotel.
She went straight up without even checking in at the front desk, so clearly, the room had already been booked.
Was Qin Cha really that desperate for money? Desperate enough to go to a hotel just to find a man? Had she really stooped that low?
Or... did she already know he had people following her and did it on purpose just to piss him off?
Feeling the cold anger building up around Shang Jue, Li let out a small sigh in his head.
Qin Cha had really crossed the line this time.
Wherever she goes, he follows.
Hotel.
Qin Cha knocked on the door.
"Come in."
Mu Qing's calm voice came from inside.
Qin Cha noticed the door was already open, so she pushed it gently and walked in.
Mu Qing didn't even bother to look up, just casually pointed at the script on the sofa. "Scene three."
Qin Cha didn't waste time with small talk either. She walked over, sat down, picked up the script, and started reading. She was playing the role of a betrayed and heartbroken woman.
She had to become a powerful and cherished princess whose whole family was destroyed by the person she loved most.
Just overnight, she fell from the top to nothing, completely alone, with the people she cared about gone forever.
After a while, Qin Cha got a solid grasp of the character. She looked up at Mu Qing and said, "I'm ready, Director Mu."
Mu Qing raised an eyebrow, kind of surprised she got ready so fast. He nodded. "Let's begin."
Qin Cha cleared her throat and instantly got into character.
Her eyes looked empty, and her face showed fear and confusion. Slowly, tears started falling, one by one, but behind them was a deep sorrow mixed with hatred.
"Why? Why did you do this to me? I loved you my whole life, and my parents never treated you badly. Why did you have to kill them? Why?"
Qin Cha's emotions, full of grief and sadness, shifted into something sharper, each word became more painful, more intense.
Her expression changed from watery sadness to clear, piercing hatred in an instant.
During the entire scene, Mu Qing didn't say a word. He quietly watched Qin Cha's performance, how she controlled her anger and pain all the way until the very end.
Honestly, he had to admit, she was seriously talented.