"What time is it?" he asked Anna thirty minutes after waking up.She looked at her watch."It's five pm.""Five pm? The show!" He stood up immediately."Hey, wait, Alex. You are sick, remember? The doctor said you need to stay here for three days so you can recover," she reminded him."Don't worry, I'm alright now," he said, then inwardly, "System, deduct my points and inject the healing portion straight into my system."Ding!(Hundred points deducted. Healing portion injected. Host is now fully healed.)He removed the drip and everything attached to him."No, you are not going anywhere, Alex," Anna said resolutely."You don't understand. I really need to go to this show," he insisted."What for? So you can fall on stage?" she retorted."Funny, but no. You have to believe me, Anna. We are partners, and I have no reason to lie to you," he tried to explain.After a brief argument, they agreed to let the doctor run a quick check. When the doctor examined him, he was shocked that Alex was

Alex blushed slightly. In all the years he had lived in her house, he had never known the Landlady’s real name. Everyone simply called her the landlady, and he had always done the same. She had never seemed to mind.“I’m sorry. I never thought to ask her name. Everyone in the house just calls her the landlady,” he apologized.“Hm. Anyway, why haven’t you gone to see her since? She kept saying she missed you. When you were arrested, she was outside the country but still terribly worried when she heard the news.”“Really? I’ve just been extremely busy. I barely get a wink of sleep. Working on an album, dealing with the court case, shows, and now this. But I’ll definitely make time to see her soon,” he assured her.“Alright, if you say so. But Alex, I don’t mean to be nosy, but why did you accept this role? Artists like you who already have fame usually only take big roles, as far as I know,” she asked.“Well, I have fame, but I don’t have money. Anything that brings money is acceptable,

Samuel showed Mara some of the songs he had written, along with a few he was still working on with Jude on his PC.After that, they lay on the bed, talking about all sorts of things.“So… I don’t know how to ask this.” Mara laughed.“Ask what? Go ahead. You can ask me anything,” Alex assured her.“Alright, this is weird, but I’ll say it anyway. Do you have a girlfriend?” She tried to keep a straight face, but her cheeks flushed red.“Oh, that? It’s not a weird question at all. I don’t have a girlfriend,” he replied.“Really? That’s hard to believe. You’re handsome, successful, and famous now. Many girls would be willing to throw themselves at you,” she said, unconvinced.“Maybe. I’m very handsome, no doubt,” he said smugly.“Bragging, huh?” She laughed.“On a serious note, I just don’t have the time. Ever since my first song, I’ve been extremely busy. Even now, I’m working on extra tracks for the ultra version of my album. There’s also the possibility of a small tour, plus so many sho

Anna sat near the back row, calm and composed. When their eyes met, she smiled and gave him a small, encouraging nod.The tension in his chest eased.Alex nodded back.Then he stood and walked toward the stage as the applause continued.The host handed him the shining trophy, and the audience clapped again.Alex looked down at the award for a moment before stepping up to the microphone.He took a breath.“Wow… I honestly didn’t expect this tonight.”A few soft chuckles rippled through the crowd.“When you start in music, you dream about moments like this. But you also know how difficult it is to even reach a stage like this.”He paused briefly, letting his gaze sweep across the audience.“I want to thank the Platinum Sounds Awards for this honor.”He lifted the trophy slightly.“But more importantly, I want to thank the people who believed in me long before any award show did.”His eyes drifted toward the back rows.“Anna… my private agent. You’ve worked behind the scenes every single

“No one.”“Mara.”Alex and Jude spoke at the same time, their voices overlapping just enough to make Anna pause.“Oh, Mara.” Anna gave a small nod, her expression unreadable as she chose not to comment further.“I’m not marrying Mara,” Alex said flatly.“It’s alright. You two are already dating, so if things go well, marriage can come naturally,” she replied, her tone casual, almost dismissive.“No. We are not dating.”Anna’s brows knitted slightly as she looked at him, confusion clear in her eyes. Alex caught the look and let out a quiet breath.“That night… we didn’t go further because it wouldn’t work between us,” he explained.“But why wouldn’t it work?” she pressed, her frown deepening.“Because our interests don’t align.” He rubbed his temple, already tired of the topic. “She doesn’t want a family anytime soon.”Anna shrugged lightly. “That’s not really a problem. You’ll find someone better. Anyway, I brought chicken laps.”She lifted the lid of the large box she had brought, an