That night, Michelle Xia had a dream.In her dream, she recalled the day she had taken a feverish Lizzy Xia to the Ye residence, seeking assistance. The Ye family had provided her with a significant sum of money, and she had left, with her child remaining behind. At the Ye residence, Lizzy grew up surrounded by warmth and affection, mainly from Alex Ye, Sebastian Ye, and Eleanor Ye. It was almost a carefree environment.As time passed and Lizzy grew older, Alex Ye entered into a marriage alliance with a prominent heiress from Rivenhold. This heiress was aware of Alex's child, Lizzy, and was accepting of her presence. In fact, she was quite fond of Lizzy, admiring her adorable features. However, Lizzy struggled to accept this stranger as her new "mother". The arrival of this unfamiliar figure made young Lizzy anxious and sensitive. She became prone to crying and showing temper tantrums.Haunted by memories of her mother leaving her behind, Lizzy began doubting the Ye family's intention
Alex Ye gazed calmly at Michelle Xia. In just three seconds, a whirlwind of emotions surged through him - from astonishment to confusion, and finally, disbelief. He was certain that Eleanor Ye had gossiped with Michelle Xia the previous night.Although he understood that Eleanor had only the best intentions, he wasn't fond of her approach and felt somewhat irritated."What did my mom tell you last night?" he inquired.Michelle studied Alex's unchanging expression, unsure of how to gauge his emotions. After a moment's hesitation, she nodded, "Yes, she did."Alex paused for a moment before sharing, "Marriage is inevitable for me, but it's not happening just yet."As long as he remained single, there was always a chance that the Ye family would arrange a union with another heiress. It was inescapable. Of course, such arrangements can be broken, much like how Nathan Ye had been in a hurry to marry Aria Cheng.For now, the Ye family wouldn’t be hasty in forcing a union on him, firstly due
Originally, ScribeSphere wasn't known by that name. Eleanor Ye had purchased the website and subsequently renamed it "ScribeSphere." By then, she had stepped away from the entertainment industry, passing her position to Alex Ye, essentially having him work for her. She relaxed at home, sipping tea and waiting for her dividends, relying on the shares she held.Eleanor's acquisition of ScribeSphere was mainly out of boredom, looking to foster her reading interest and find something to keep her occupied. She bought a struggling novel website, pumped money into it to revitalize it, and then handed the responsibility to Alex, making him work for her yet again.Eleanor held a significantly larger stake in ScribeSphere than Alex. However, she wasn't overly involved. Though she wasn't entirely detached, the troublesome and vital matters were handled by Alex.Seeing Michelle Xia's contract, Alex realized that Eleanor was well aware of the situation, possibly even hinting something to him.Alex
Initially, Brandon Su's editor was not "fafa". When Brandon first joined ScribeSphere, the website arranged for him to work under the editorial head, Victor Hale. However, only a few days passed before Brandon chose to switch to fafa's team.At that time, Brandon visited the company to hand in his copyright documents. Upon seeing the lady editor known as the face of ScribeSphere, he did not hesitate to leave Victor, the rugged man, and immediately joined fafa's side.Due to a shortage of staff, Victor Hale, also doubling up as the Chief of Operations, was about to switch roles. He planned to distribute his authors to other editors soon, including Brandon. Technically, Lulu, having seniority next to Victor in the editing department, should have been chosen for Brandon. Yet, Brandon proactively picked fafa.An editor's commission is tied to the subscription numbers of the articles written by their authors. Brandon, being a pillar of ScribeSphere, naturally had impressive subscription nu
Michelle Xia stared at the text displayed in the small browser window and silently closed it.She had already given Lulu, her editor, a heads up, but Lulu neither replied to her messages nor accepted her application. Instead, she outright rejected it.Michelle Xia sighed internally, wondering aloud, "Is this person out of their mind?"Michelle didn't need to share the news of the rejected application because Alyssa had already heard about it from Damien and Cola. If Alyssa had initially helped Michelle out of a genuine desire not to let Michelle's talent go to waste, now it was more out of disdain for Lulu. Alyssa was prepared to confront Lulu head-on. When Brandon Su disappeared without updating his work, Lulu had ridiculed Alyssa, even resorting to personal attacks. All the inside stories about Brandon Su were well-known within the editorial department. When Brandon dated a few internet celebrities, the nasty comments Lulu made about him had been hard to stomach.Alyssa had never h
At ScribeSphere, resources allocated to editors were relatively balanced. The best authors and prime resources wouldn’t all be concentrated under one editor. After all, editors need to earn their keep too.Each editor had a limited number of advertising slots, leaderboard spots, and so on. Thus, authors under the same editor could be considered competitors. The strategy was simple: allocate the best resources to the best-performing authors for maximum benefit.This very consideration was why Alex Ye didn’t want both Michelle Xia and Brandon Su under the same editor. Michelle's journey to make her mark amongst the myriad of established and emerging authors at ScribeSphere was challenging enough. There was no need to add a formidable obstacle in the form of Brandon at the end of her path.Of course, while authors under the same editor competed with one another, they also formed supportive groups. Taking this into consideration, Alex decided to assign Michelle to a different editor, not
Apart from Alyssa closely monitoring Michelle Xia's new work, Eleanor Ye and Alex Ye were also paying attention. However, their reasons varied. Eleanor would casually read it to pass the time, while Alex, always busy with important matters, would mostly focus on the superficial stats of Michelle's work.The data irregularities in Michelle's work were noticed not just by Alyssa but also by Eleanor and Alex. And, of course, Michelle herself, as an author, was no rookie. Even though she was publishing in a different world for a different audience, she could still discern whether the growth trend in the data was normal. She recalled that when she first published on a website, the statistics were excellent. At that time, even without being on any recommendation lists, her growth was better than some listed works. But back then, the data grew bit by bit, unlike now where it surged in bulk, in a very organized manner.It was only after Alyssa approached her that Michelle became aware of the
Ever since Michelle Xia debuted her work on ScribeSphere, Eleanor Ye was hooked, checking for updates religiously every single day. Eleanor, a novel enthusiast, couldn't get enough of Michelle's writing. Every chapter ended on such a cliffhanger, making readers eagerly anticipate what would come next. She wished she could delve straight into Michelle's backlog of drafts and quench her insatiable hunger for the story.Alex Ye didn't share Eleanor's luxury of immersing himself in novels daily, but he did keep a watchful eye on Michelle's rising stardom. Unlike Eleanor, who was engrossed in the plot, Alex was quick to notice something amiss with the data surrounding Michelle's work. His memory was sharp, and he recalled data trends of previously popular articles on ScribeSphere. Hence, when he saw Michelle's numbers, he couldn't help but furrow his brows.Using such underhanded tactics was a common practice, but for Michelle? She should be more concerned about her reputation. Alex had al