Their faces went rigid, their eyes glued to the laminate in my hand, to the wor- ds ARTIST FAMILY printed in bold letters.
“How is that possible?” Leo sputtered, lurching forward to snatch the pass and
examine it.
Wang blocked him with a firm arm, his expression turning sharp. “Mr. Shen, please compose yourself.”
Kiki’s face cycled through shades of white and green, her eyes wide with disbe- lief and a twisting envy. Her mind raced, her lips trembling as she voiced the ugliest possibility she could conjure.
“Nina, how did you get that?”
“What… what is your relationship with this man?”
I couldn’t be bothered to explain. I just offered a light, airy reply: “A relationship you two could never hope to achieve.”
That single sentence seemed to ignite Leo’s fragile ego. His brain concocted a ridiculous explanation that, to him, made perfect sense. A tidal wave of fury washed over his face, mixed with disgust and the sting of betrayal.
“Nina, I get it now!” he snarled, pointing a trembling finger at me. “You’re so desperate to be a groupie, so obsessed with getting close to Asher Chang, that you’d go and sleep with his staff?”
“You make me sick!”
Kiki immediately seized on this line of attack, her expression shifting to one of profound disappointment. “Nina, how could you have so little self–respect? You have to be a rational fan!”
“How are you any different from those stalker fans who do anything to see their idol?” she continued, shooting a worried glance at Leo. “You’re Leo’s girlfr- iend! Have you thought about how this makes him look?”
I watched their faces, twisted and ugly with jealousy, and finally, I laughed.
“You two really don’t need to worry about me.” My smile vanished, my eyes turning cold. “You should be more concerned about yourselves.”
I turned and whispered something in Wang’s ear. He nodded, instantly unders- tanding, and made a quick phone call.
Less than a minute later, a member of the venue’s security team hurried over.
“Excuse me, you two,” he said politely. “Our system shows that due to a last- minute technical issue, your seats have been urgently reassigned. Please
come with me.”
Before they could even process what was happening, two towering security guards were escorting them away from the VIP entrance.
On Wang’s phone, I watched the security feed with great interest. I saw them being led from their front–row seats, all the way up to the most remote corner of the stadium’s top tier. A spot fans nicknamed “Listen–Only Lane” because of the giant support pillar that blocked most of the stage.
I paid the two clowns no more mind and followed Wang to the dressing room marked “ASHER CHANG – PRIVATE.”
The man who was a superstar on stage stood up the moment I walked in.
“There you are, you little brat. Finally decided to come see your big brother.” Asher pulled me into a huge hug. “You’ve lost weight again. Has that Shen kid not been taking care of you?”
Chapter 1
I told him everything that had just happened at the door.
“They think you slept your way in? Their imaginations are pathetically limited.” He ruffled my hair, his voice soothing, but with a hard, dangerous edge. “Don’t
worry. This is one Starlight Gala they will never forget.”
The show began. The music swelled, and Asher burst onto the stage from a rising platform. The entire stadium erupted, the screams threatening to tear
the roof off.
Out of habit, I scrolled through my social media. Sure enough, Kiki had posted again, gushing about being at the show while also taking subtle digs at me for
using “underhanded means” to get close to Asher.
Just then, Wang’s phone began to vibrate nonstop. He showed it to me. The core fan groups for Asher were exploding. Kiki’s post had been immediately
shared by her friend, one of the fan club admins.
A narrative was quickly forming. People were breathlessly describing how some industry plant had not only slept her way backstage but had also abused her connections to maliciously move a true, die–hard fan from a prime front-
row seat to the nosebleeds.
The rumors escalated, growing more vicious with each retelling. Someone had even dug up my university information and started attacking me personally.
“She uses her looks to seduce staff members, she has no shame!”
“Stalkers like her should be kicked out of the fandom!”
“My heart breaks for our angel Kiki. She had to suffer such a huge injustice and
still pretend to be strong.”
I stared at the vile comments on the screen, my expression growing colder by
the second.
Chapter 1
When Asher came backstage after his first set, he saw my face immediately. He glanced at the phone in Wang’s hand, and a dangerous glint appeared in his
eyes.
“Excellent.”
He wasn’t angry. He was smiling.
“They’ve built the stage themselves. It would be a shame not to give them a starring role.” He turned to Wang. “Tell the director to move up the fan interact-
ion segment.”
The host came back on stage, beaming. “We have a surprise for you all! It’s time for a special fan interaction!”
Asher took the microphone, his eyes scanning the massive crowd. He smiled.
“Tonight, I want to invite a very special fan to the stage,” he announced. “She’s holding a ticket that means the world to me.”
A single, brilliant spotlight shot out, controlled by the director, and landed prec- isely on the front row. On the now–empty seats where Leo and Kiki were supp-
osed to be.
The light lingered there for three long seconds, building the suspense.
Then, slowly, dramatically, the beam began to travel upwards, climbing past row after row of cheering fans, a solitary beacon sweeping across a sea of
people.
Finally, under the watchful eyes of thousands, it came to a stop in the highest, most remote corner of the stadium, and landed squarely on Kiki.
Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Kiki froze, as if she’d been turned to stone. Then, in a split second, her stunned expression morphed into one of pure, unadulterated ecstasy.
She thought this was it. Her idol, having heard of her plight, was giving her, his most loyal fan, this incredible public validation.
Leo jumped to his feet, clapping Kiki on the shoulder, his face alight with vicarious triumph.
Tens of thousands of eyes, along with every camera in the stadium, were now fixed on her. Trembling with excitement, she frantically smoothed her hair and clothes. With Leo’s proud, encouraging gaze upon her, she straightened her back and strode confidently towards the stage.
“Hello there,” Asher’s voice boomed through the arena, amplified and clear, laced with a playful curiosity. “I’m so glad you could make it to the gala tonight. But I have to ask…”
He paused, looking at Kiki, who was now standing center stage, her face flushed with excitement.
“Where exactly did you get that front–row ticket?”
Kiki’s heart was pounding. She saw the question as a fun test, part of the show. She launched into the perfo- rmance she had been mentally rehearsing.
“I worked hard and got it myself!” she exclaimed, her voice trembling with manufactured sincerity as she gazed at him. “I watched the ticketing site for days and set a million alarms. I pulled so many all–nighters, but I was fast and lucky, and I got it! I just… I love you so much!”
She finished her speech with tears welling in her eyes, a performance worthy of an Oscar.
From the cheap seats, Leo, lost in the glory of the moment, was shouting his support at the top of his lungs. “She didn’t sleep for days trying to get that ticket! She’s your biggest fan!”
The crowd, moved by this display of devotion, began to applaud.
Asher’s smile never faltered, but his eyes turned to ice.
“Is that so?” he asked softly, his voice carrying to every corner of the stadium. “Because, you see, I specially prepared that ticket for someone very important to me.”
The applause began to die down as the audience sensed the shift in tone.
“To surprise her, I had a unique, one–of–a–kind mark put on it. There’s only one like it in the entire world.”
He looked at Kiki, whose face had begun to pale, and delivered the final, fatal blow.
“It’s supposed to have my sister’s name on it.”
The words hit the silent arena like a thunderclap, striking both Kiki and Leo speechless. The triumphant
776
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Chapter
smile on Kiki’s face froze and shattered, the color draining from her cheeks, in the rafters, Leo was stuck
mid–cheer, his arm still raised in the air.
“Sister? Asher Chang has a sister?”
“Then what’s going on with that ticket?”
A murmur rippled through the crowd as the atmosphere turned electric.
Asher’s gaze went right through the shell–shocked girl on stage, landing on the entrance. He turned to the main camera, to the millions watching the livestream, and spoke, his voice perfectly clear.
“And now, I’d like to ask the true owner of this ticket, my sister, to please join me on stage.”
At a signal from Wang, I stepped out from the shadows of the wings. The spotlight instantly swung from a petrified Kiki and onto me. In that moment, the entire world was watching.
I walked calmly to the center of the stage, poised and confident in my black velvet gown and understated, elegant makeup.
After three seconds of stunned silence, the stadium and the internet exploded.
“SISTER? HOLY CRAP! ASHER CHANG HAS A SISTER?!”
“SO THE GIRL ON STAGE IS A LIAR? SHE DIDN’T JUST LIE, SHE STOLE THE TICKET FROM HIS ACTUAL
SISTER?”
“OH MY GOD, THIS IS THE DRAMA OF THE YEAR! BETTER THAN ANY TV SHOW!”
‘POOR SISTER! WHAT KIND OF AWFUL PEOPLE DOES SHE KNOW?!”
Up in the nosebleeds, Leo was completely catatonic. He stood like a weathered statue, his mind a total blank, utterly unable to process a reality that had just shattered his entire worldview.
Nina Chang… was Asher Chang’s sister? The quiet, boring, slightly–beneath–him girlfriend he’d always taken for granted was the sister of the superstar he’d idolized for years?
mpossible.
On stage, Kiki was swaying on her feet. She watched me approach, her expression shifting from shock to panic to a bottomless, soul–crushing despair. She knew it was over.
I reached Asher’s side. He put a natural, protective arm around my shoulder and addressed the crowd, his voice filled with pride.
“Everyone, I’d like to formally introduce you to my little sister, Nina Chang. She’s also the one person I want- ed to see here most tonight.”
Then, Asher gently took the ticket from Kiki’s trembling, white–knuckled grasp. The camera zoomed in for an extreme close–up. There, in the bottom right corner, was a beautifully stylized “Nina,” foil–stamped onto the
16.21
Chupter 2
ticket stock.
The proof was undeniable.
1631
Asher held up the ticket, his voice turning cold. “This was supposed to be my Mid–Autumn gift to my sister. But it seems some irrelevant people got their hands on it through less–than–honorable means.”
Under the scrutiny of millions, Kiki finally broke. All pretense of composure gone, she began to babble, trying desperately to save herself. “It wasn’t me! I didn’t steal it! It was Leo! He gave it to me!”
“Leo stole Nina’s ticket for me! I swear, I didn’t know anything about it!”
Faced with total public humiliation, she didn’t hesitate to throw the boy who had just been her biggest cheer-
leader under the bus.
With her finger pointed at him, Leo instantly became the villain of the story. Every camera, every eye in the house swung to him.
He stood there, mouth agape, his face ashen. He couldn’t say a word. What could he say? That he had proud- ly stolen his own girlfriend’s ticket to impress another girl?
Asher’s gaze was like a knife, pinning the pathetic figure in the stands. “Oh? Leo Shen?”
He turned to me, as if clarifying a minor detail, and asked deliberately, in front of everyone, “Nina, is this the boyfriend you told me about?”
I took the second microphone from the host. I looked down at the man in the rafters, the man I had once truly loved, the man who now looked small and utterly humiliated.
And I announced to the world, my voice clear and calm, “As of right now, he’s not.”
Instantly, hashtags like #AsherChangSister, #TicketThiefLeo, and #KikiLinExposed didn’t just trend, they detonated across every social media platform. The clip of Kiki’s on–stage implosion and memes of Leo’s dumbstruck face went globally viral, becoming the biggest joke of the year.
Asher’s fans, especially those who had been duped into attacking me, were now incandescent with rage. Kiki’s friend, the fan club admin who had started the rumors, was doxxed within minutes. Boycotts were organized, and every misdeed the pair had ever posted online was dug up and put on display.
Kiki was escorted off the stage by security. I heard she collapsed backstage, crying hysterically, her makeup a ruined mess, screaming that Leo had destroyed her life.
And Leo, under a hail of boos and laughter, covered his face and fled the stadium like a beaten dog. His phone was blowing up with furious messages from classmates and friends.
On stage, to soothe the crowd and make up for my ruined surprise, Asher announced he was adding a spec- ial song to the setlist–my favorite from when we were kids. He said it was a belated gift for me. The entire stadium lit up with phone flashlights, a galaxy of stars, as they sang along with him. It was beautiful.
After the show, my parents called. They had seen the whole thing on the livestream. They fussed over me,
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Chapter 2
then gave their full support for my decision to “take out the trash.”
1621
Wang informed me that Kiki’s friend had been permanently blacklisted from all official fan organizations, and the company’s legal team was already drafting a lawsuit for slander and defamation.
My phone was vibrating in my pocket. It was Leo. He had sent hundreds of messages, starting with shocked questions (“Why didn’t you tell me who you were?“), devolving into rambling excuses, and finally ending with pathetic, groveling apologies.
“Nina I was wrong, I swear I didn’t know, Kiki tricked me, that bitch lied about everything!”
“Please forgive me, I really do love you!”
I didn’t bother to read them all. I just blocked his number and every account he had. I saw on a security mon- itor that as Kiki was being led away, she was still clutching the bracelet I had made for Leo. The irony was staggering. Everything she had schemed and fought for had turned into a public farce. And the prize she treasured so dearly was just the trash I had thrown away.
The next day, the university acted faster than I expected. My academic advisor called me in, expressed the school’s deepest sympathies, and assured me that both Leo and Kiki would be dealt with severely. That afte- rnoon, the university published an official statement. Due to “serious misconduct, including deception and slander, which has brought severe disrepute to the institution,” both students were given a major demerit on their permanent records and were disqualified from all academic awards and honors for the year.
It was a death sentence for their academic careers.
Kiki was socially crucified. Everywhere she went, people whispered and pointed. She couldn’t handle the pressure. A week later, she officially withdrew from the university and was never seen on campus again.
Leo didn’t leave, but his existence was a special kind of hell. He had lost his girlfriend, his reputation, and his status as an admired campus figure. Overnight, he became the school’s biggest laughingstock. He tried desperately to win me back, waiting for me for an entire day outside my dorm. When I finally appeared, he looked haggard, his eyes bloodshot as he rushed forward and grabbed my wrist.
“Nina, please, just give me one more chance. I swear, I love you for you, not because of who you are…”
His words made me laugh. I looked at him calmly. “You love me?”
“You love me, so you gave away something I cherished to another girl?”
“You love me, so you tried to make me your personal assistant for her fan club?”
“You love me, so when she was slandering me, you stood with her and called me selfish?”
He was speechless, his face pale. He immediately started trying to shift the blame. “It was Kiki! It was all her fault! She was the one who kept whispering things about you, she manipulated me, she tricked me! I was just confused, Nina!”
Watching him try to squirm out of his responsibility, the last shred of pity I had for him evaporated.
Chapter 2
“You weren’t confused, Leo. You’re just selfish. You never loved me,” I said, pulling my arm free and taking a step back. “You loved the idea of me. The easy, convenient accessory who never caused you trouble and fed your pathetic ego.”
“You love playing the hero, saving the damsel in distress. Too bad for you, I’m not a damsel. And I don’t need saving. Girls like Kiki are your type. You two deserve each other.”
I left him with one final thought, his eyes wide with disbelief and despair.
“And by the way, don’t ever call yourself a fan of Asher Chang again. You’re not worthy.”
I walked past him and into my dorm without looking back, the sound of his choked, broken sobs following
- me.
Back in my room, I packed up everything that had to do with Leo–including a cheap necklace he’d given me that I had once treasured–and threw it all in the dumpster downstairs.
Asher sent me a picture from the Maldives, all blue skies and white sand. The caption read: “The world is toc big to waste a single second on people who don’t deserve you. I’ve booked the tickets for our world tour. We leave whenever you’re ready.”
Looking at the photo, my mood lifted instantly. With a brother like him, who needed the fake affection of a
boy like Leo? My roommates gathered around, offering their support.
“You’re so much better off without him, Nina!”
“Seriously! And that Kiki is a two–faced witch!”
“I propose we celebrate your glorious return to single life by going out for the spiciest hot pot in the city!”
“Yes! And the most expensive wine! Our Nina can afford it!”
Their words made me smile. They were right.
I looked out the window at the bright, clear sky. The heavy cloud that had been hanging over me for so long had finally disappeared. It was a messy, dramatic end to a toxic relationship, but the conclusion was imme-
nsely satisfying.
