CEO's Sweetheart is a Super Idol-Chapter 424 - 416 Tragedy Strikes

Nighttime

A few people returned to the villa. Li Zimeng had also come back, and the auntie had already prepared the food.

Don’t be fooled by their slender figures—each of them could eat more than the other.

To prevent them from gaining weight, the chef had really put effort into the meals.

All the dishes were low-fat but tasted great as substitutes.

The villa now employed nine staff members solely to serve them.

There were three cooks just for meals, and if all eleven people returned, the auntie would be overwhelmed.

They ate too much.

"Wow! This thing that tastes like meat—is it made of tofu?" Qiqi asked as she stuffed her mouth, speaking with some difficulty.

"No, it seems to be made from the sap of a certain tree in South America, solidified," Li Zimeng replied with elegance.

"Zimeng, you really know a lot—worthy of being a noble from Thailand," Zhang Zijing said, busily devouring the food.

Li Zimeng smiled graciously, "It’s mainly because you all don’t pay attention to these things. I sometimes read up on the materials."

"Are you planning to learn cooking? I still love eating the dishes made by Fangxin and Rainbow," Zhang Zijing added.

"I definitely plan to learn because in Thailand, women who can’t cook can’t get married."

"Ah! Zimeng, are you planning to get married? No way!" Qiqi immediately waved her hand.

Duan Yuxin took a sip of juice, thought for a moment, and said, "Is it the kind of forced marriage by the family, and then ends up marrying a domineering CEO?"

"Haha! Haha!"

Everyone at the table burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Yuxin, don’t learn from Fangxin. You’re going to be misled by those novels," someone teased.

"What domineering CEO and Cinderella nonsense!"

"I know, I know," Lv Fangxin raised her hand to stop everyone. "It’s not Zimeng who’s supposed to get married but her close friend. However, misunderstandings about the CEO led her to scheme and force Zimeng to marry him instead."

The laughter escalated, and Li Zimeng could only shake her head helplessly.

She had truly never encountered friends like these.

Her family in Thailand was not only wealthy but also highly influential, so the people she interacted with were all upper-class socialites.

From her perspective, these girls weren’t the type to become friends with.

But after spending time together over these days, she felt she had changed—she enjoyed being with them, talking, laughing.

She felt happy, fulfilled, as if everything was so beautiful.

Often, she would think to herself how wonderful it would be if life could always be this way.

Outside the window, the night grew darker, and the evening breeze carried the heavy fragrance of flowers and moisture, as if rain was imminent.

This group of girls chasing their dreams with youthful vigor indulged in the best years of their lives.

Shenghai, a karaoke bar

Du Jinyu sat drinking furiously, his face livid.

He was already drunk, yet he continued to pour cup after cup down his throat.

With a girl beside him fawning over him, he grabbed the microphone and started screaming into it, venting all the emotions bottled inside.

Someone had posted a short video on a forum of Li Jiaqi and Lan Yening eating cake together.

They followed up with a "poetic and emotional" essay.

Soon after, Lan Yening’s fans flooded Li Jiaqi’s social media with all sorts of insults.

Li Jiaqi’s fans retaliated, arguing that such a short video proved nothing.

At most, it was just the two being too close.

But Du Jinyu knew more.

Ever since Li Jiaqi landed a role in Director Hu’s film, she’d stopped seeing him privately.

Since he could still afford to spend money voting for her, they occasionally had video calls.

But after his family business was targeted, and they went bankrupt, he lost all contact with her.

Although he still held some properties and savings, which made him wealthy by ordinary standards, Li Jiaqi didn’t care for him anymore.

"Brother Du," the private room door opened, and a young man walked in.

"Gu Nan, you’re here, come have a drink with me." Du Jinyu poured him a glass of liquor.

This Gu Nan worked in Li Jiaqi’s crew handling costumes and props; they knew each other through a mutual friend.

"What’s the matter? Why do you look so gloomy?" Du Jinyu’s bloodshot eyes glanced at him.

"Brother Du, I got fired from the crew."

"Fired?"

Du Jinyu waved his hand, signaling the others in the room to leave.

"Li Jiaqi and Lan Yening slept together, playing the ’crew couple’ act. Then her fans found out."

Bang!

Unable to contain his rage, Du Jinyu smashed his glass, his face pale and marred by bulging veins from his fits of drinking.

He looked like a mad dog set ablaze.

"Shameless, b*tch, scum..." Du Jinyu cursed the goddess he once adored with every vulgar word he knew.

After venting, he lit a cigarette with trembling hands and took a harsh drag.

"Brother Du, calm down. Women in this industry are all like that—none are pure. They pair up as they feel like it. You’ve still got money. Any girl will come to you without a problem."

But Du Jinyu shot a venomous glare at him, "What the hell do you know? Even a hundred of those sluts couldn’t compare to a single strand of Jiaqi’s hair. I truly love her."

Gu Nan swirled the liquor in his glass, a look of deep mockery flickering in his eyes. "Brother Du, I understand your feelings for Li Jiaqi, but the information I have stops here."

"... How exactly did you get fired? You just mentioned half of the story."

"Lan Yening’s fans mailed dead frogs to Li Jiaqi. The crew said someone leaked her address, so they carried out internal restructuring. I already didn’t get along with the assistant director in charge of props, so I got booted."

"Take this; consider it a token of my goodwill." Du Jinyu pulled two thousand yuan from his wallet and placed it on the table.

"Thank you, Brother Du." Gu Nan grinned brightly as he reached for the cash.

"Gu Nan, where do they usually fool around?"

"Uh... Brother Du, I only know about the crew matters, nothing else."

Du Jinyu sneered at him, pulling out another stack of cash.

"They occasionally use the crew’s hotel, or sometimes go to Li Jiaqi’s place."

"Li Jiaqi’s place?"

"Yes! Because both of them are often followed, going to a regular hotel risks getting caught by their fans."

Gu Nan leaned in and whispered, "Tonight, they left together."

Clenching his teeth, Du Jinyu’s eyes blazed with the savage fury of a beast as he stood up from the sofa.

"Brother Du, if there’s nothing else, I’ll head out." Gu Nan quickly slipped away.

Nighttime

heavy as a monstrous creature.

Du Jinyu drove his car, cruising unhurriedly down the streets.

His mind was consumed by images of Li Jiaqi and Lan Yening entangled.

He felt utterly betrayed.

He had spent over four million yuan in a year on Li Jiaqi—how could he accept this?

Boom!

Thunder rolled as dark clouds blanketed the sky. Torrential rain began to pour.

Du Jinyu stepped out of the car, his vision blurred by the rain’s mist.

He had known Li Jiaqi’s address for some time but had held back due to certain reasons—just watching her from afar.

Tonight, he arrived, seething with rage and jealousy strong enough to burn everything.

He couldn’t tolerate such mockery and betrayal.

The wind howled louder, and the rain fell harder.

Clutching a newspaper-wrapped package under his arm, Du Jinyu took the elevator to her private apartment on the 13th floor.

How he wished Gu Nan had lied to him.

But he soon noticed a pair of men’s shoes on the corridor’s shoe rack.

"Heh heh! Li Jiaqi, it’s time for you to pay for your shamelessness."

Du Jinyu reeked of alcohol.

The storm outside didn’t sober him—it only made the beast inside him wilder.