After seeing Austin off, Cherry bounced onto the couch, looking excited as if she had just taken a stimulant. "Mommy, are you really going to sign Charlie?""Do you also like Charlie?" Startled by her daughter's enthusiasm, Sophie took the documents to the study.The little girl jumped off the couch and instantly followed her, her hands clasped against her left cheek, her face full of longing for her idol. "Yes, I really, really like him! Mommy, sign him! I want his autograph."Originally, she was not a fan of idols, but her deskmate kept talking about Charlie's TV dramas, saying he was extremely good. She only watched one episode out of curiosity and found it really addictive.The thought of having the opportunity to seize a moment with her idol made Cherry throw all caution to the wind. She wrapped her arms around Sophie's thigh, exclaiming, "Mommy, you must sign him!"Looking at her daughter's excited expression, Sophie was unsure whether to feel helpless or grateful. It was to

Cedric glanced at the open bottles of whisky on the table, his cold gaze shot toward Charlie across from him.The waitress was already trembling with fear, yet she could only force herself to fill Cedric's glass to the brim.Lifting the glass, he downed it in one gulp. The hard liquor burned his esophagus and stomach lining like fire, but what was even more uncomfortable was his lungs. He struggled to suppress the urge to cough and signaled with his eyes for the waitress to continue pouring.One glass after another, one bottle after another, three bottles of whisky were emptied into his stomach within just a few minutes.Cedric's expression remained unchanged, but the chill in his eyes had already terrified the waitress to the point where her face paled. 'This is bad, Charlie has offended Mr. Carlson. Will I still see him after this?'Charlie fearlessly met his gaze, frowning only briefly. He then stood up. "Mr. Carlson, you do have an excellent tolerance for alcohol, and you must

This was the part Sean could not afford to lose the most—not only for himself but also for his precious Jean. How could he let anyone harm it?Just as they were joking around, Dr. Zegler walked in.Sean immediately adjusted his frivolous demeanor. "Dr. Zegler, can Cedric be discharged already?""You young folks are always acting so recklessly," Dr. Zegler said with a slightly reproachful tone. He then turned to look at Cedric lying on the hospital bed. "Mr. Carlson, as your attending physician, I have the responsibility to remind you that your body needs time to recuperate. If something like this happens again, it might leave behind a chronic illness for the rest of your life."When one was still young, one could tough it out with some medication when illness struck. But as one aged, one would understand how foolish it was not to care for the body.Knowing that Dr. Zegler was looking out for his well-being, Cedric replied, "I'll try my best to avoid any recurrence.""That's good.

"You should take a closer look. This contract has been carefully revised after our last discussion, and it's much more favorable to you than the previous version.""Revised? But I promised Mr. Carls—" Before the last name Carlson could fully be uttered, Charlie seemed to realize something and quickly shut his mouth.However, Sophie had already heard it, and her previously relaxed brows immediately furrowed.With just the mention of the last name Carlson, she could roughly guess whom Charlie was referring to. "Have you met Cedric before? What did he say to you?""Mrs. Carlson, now that the contract has been signed, I'm your company's employee. I'll do my best to answer your questions, but only to a certain extent. Before you signed me, you must've seen plenty of information about me and heard about what a difficult artist I can be. So, please bear with me in the future."It was clear that the question was beyond the extent Charlie was willing to answer. After saying that, he stood

Cedric had always admired her hard work, but he felt even more concerned about her. If he had not intervened, who knew how much longer Charlie would continue to play hard to get?Listening to him admit to meeting Charlie, Sophie could not help but let off a self-deprecating smile. "So, you turned to coercion and inducement to make him agree to sign with Paramount Inc.?" She had been so presumptuous to think she could discern what kind of person Charlie was. "I thought Charlie signed with Paramount because of the company's strength, but it turns out it was because of your help.""Soph, you wanted to sign Charlie, and now you have. Isn't that great? What does it matter if I helped a little?" Cedric felt uneasy due to the change in her expression and reached out to grab her shoulder.However, she shrugged off his hand, igniting the simmering anger within her. "Yes, it's done, but Cedric Carlson, it wasn't me who did it. I thought you were making an effort to understand me, but now I