Chapter 17


    Was it all just a joke?


    She had pleaded with him for so long, and it was all just forughs?


    And no wonder the Martinez Group’s bid proposal was rejected first thing in the morning. It turned out


    Xan never actually spoke to Samuel on his behalf.


    Matthew stared at Xanthea, who was all smiles just like usual, yet somehowpletely different.


    Before, he could read her like an open book, but now, standing so close, he couldn’t decipher her


    thoughts at all.


    “I’m tired, I think I’ll head up to bed early, Matt. Drive safe, huh~”


    Xanthea-stretchedzily and made her way upstairs.


    Her change in demeanor left the family stunned.


    Christopher set down his tea, thinking back to how thrilled Xan used to be when Matthew would ask her


    out. But today, she coldly turned him down, and from their conversation, it was clear that she hadn’t


    interceded for the Martinez Grou


    Having witnessed Xan’s change of attitude the night before, Samuel, catching his parents’ surprised


    looks, smiled proudly.


    Xan had grown up, no longer the little girl who constantly followed Matthew around.


    Miranda frowned, puzzled by Xanthea’s cold demeanor towards Matt. Were they having a falling out?


    “Xan!” Matthew called after her, “So what have you been up totely? I heard you’ve already submitted


    your thesis.”


    Xanthea paused on the stairs, then turned around with a secretive smile, “Lately I’ve been preparing a


    surprise for Matt and Miranda.”


    Miranda and Matthew met her gaze and smiled faintly.


    “Thanks, Xan.”


    So, she was nning a surprise, no wonder she was so secretive.


    On the way home, Matthew put the concert tickets back in his bag and tried to calm his troubled


    thoughts. It must be the stress from work, he thought. Xan has liked him since. they were kids, and


    there’s no way she’d suddenly be distant.


    Suddenly, his phone chimed with a news alert Eighteen-year-old girl strikes a million-dor gem at the


    event!’ He expected it to be just another clickbait, but his finger


    1/3


    14.56


    identally scrolled to a very familiar photo.


    Property ? of N?velDrama.Org.


    Xan?


    How could it be her?!


    Feeling shocked, he opened the article and waspletely dumbfounded.


    How was Xan at a gemstone gambling event, helping someone named Orion strike a gem? When did


    she get so close to Orion? And why would she deceive him? What was she thinking? A sense of


    unprecedented nervousness and caution washed over him as he clenched his phone and opened


    Xanthea’s chat window.


    Meanwhile, Xanthea had reached her room and immediately found the old Canon camera, then dialed


    her Uncle Oliver Lopez.


    “Well, well, if it isn’t my long-lost niece remembering her old uncle. Did that mutant iris seed I gave you


    finally sprout?”


    “Not yet~” Xanthea cooed, “I always miss you, Uncle. Just need a little favor today.”


    “I knew it, you never call unless you need something. What is it, princess?”


    “Well, I want topete in the finals of The Masked Singer.”


    “The Masked Singer? Since when are you interested in that?”


    “Haven’t you always said I have a good voice? want to give it a try.”


    “You’ve got more than a good voice – but also charm, poise and intellect – you’d be a star in the


    entertainment world. You want to join The Masked Singer, huh? The finals are on this weekend; it’s too


    late to enter normally but you can go as a surprise contestant in th final challenge. You’ll battle against


    the season’s top three contestants. If you win, the championship is yours! You up for it?”


    Absolutely.


    If she could make Miranda an overnight sensation with one song, she could certainly again.


    “Just wait and see, Uncle!”


    After setting up her camera, Xanthea began writing her song. After appearing on The Masked Singer,


    she nned to sneak into the hotel to catch Matthew and Miranda in apromising situation – killing


    two birds with one stone. She really was a genius!


    As she worked, messages from Matthew popped up like spam, which Xanthea swiped away


    impatiently. How had she ever fallen for such a man in her past life?


    Just before turning off her phone, she saw a financial headline ‘Curtain Call! Timothy unexpectedly


    deceased, the Lockwood Group board announces Orion as the official. sessor of Twin Towers’ third


    generation leader!”


    2/3


    Chapter 1/


    They announced it so quickly? Xanthea chuckled to herself. Although the oue was the same, the


    public opinion this time was vastly different.


    In her past life, after he lost a gemstone bet and survived a car crash with Timothy, the inte had


    suspected him of murder. This time, however, he was celebrated as a “national treasure’ and ‘life’s


    winner.’ He must be throwing a party now, she mused, wondering if he remembered to apply his scar


    treatment.


    That night, in a sleek and minimally decorated three-story mansion in Sunset Hills Estates, the


    moonlight scattered through therge bedroom windows, casting a dappled glow on the man clutching


    a pink handkerchief, whose robust silhouette was heaving.


    As the room heated up, the air filled with a potent mix of male hormones, apanied by a series of


    husky, maic voices, making the stars outside shimmer with an extra hint of romance.


    “Xan, Xan, Xan.”