CHAPTER 15: CHAPTER 15: FOR WHOM

I thought Julian would coldly say "no need," but unexpectedly he said, "Then I’ll rely on Miss Sterling."

Paige stood up, walked to Julian’s side, took the eye drops, and helped him apply them.

Afraid he might blink, she used her fingers to hold up his eyelids, her eyes looking down at him from above.

Paige looked at Julian’s handsome face and thought no wonder he usually keeps a low profile; if he were more high-profile, who knows how many women would go crazy over him.

The two eyes were quickly done,

Julian said, "Thank you."

Paige replied, "Mr. Hawthorne, no need to be polite."

He was polite to her, and she maintained politeness as well.

Julian frowned slightly, "Paige, we will have to interact for a long time in the future."

"So?"

"You don’t need to be so distant with me."

"Oh."

Julian, "..."

The two not-so-talkative people silently took two hours to finish a meal, this atmosphere made even Shaun Jones and Director Abbott feel awkward, but the two seemed very accustomed to it, without a hint of awkwardness.

As soon as the two hours were up, Paige left.

Just as she stepped out of the restaurant, she received a call from Mr. Young at Stellar.

Currently, Stellar’s two main stars, Seth Shaw and Melody Mercer, were both brought into the spotlight by Paige, and none of the other newcomers had made any significant impact.

But now these two main stars have collectively stumbled, and although Paige is outside the circle, her popularity has been increasing day by day, even surpassing her attention from when she was within the circle.

However, she canceled her contract.

Mr. Young regrets eagerly signing the contract termination so decisively back then.

He called Paige in hopes of getting her to return.

"Paige, as long as you’re willing to come back, you can name your conditions, and the company will prioritize any resources for you."

Paige lazily replied, "Mr. Young, did you get amnesia or something? Did you forget that I’ve already said I’m withdrawing from the circle?"

"Are you worried about what the fans would say if you make a comeback? You don’t need to worry about that; the public relations team will handle it. There are plenty of celebrities in the entertainment industry who come back after withdrawing. As long as you come up with good work, the fans won’t mind."

"Are you taking the fans for fools, or are you the fool? Since I, Paige Sterling, said I’m leaving the circle, I will never return to it again in this lifetime, that’s that."

After saying that, she hung up the phone.

Mr. Young was dumbfounded.

He’s already humbled himself this much, shouldn’t a normal person just accept the offer?

Is Paige really so at ease with just leaving the fame and fortune of the entertainment industry behind? Impossible, right?

Mr. Young suddenly found himself unable to comprehend Paige.

Paige returned home, and the robot started reporting the online situation over the past few days to her again.

Her sudden exit from the entertainment industry left her fans in disbelief.

The hardcore fans in her support club tagged her on Weibo to ask if she really planned to withdraw and what her future plans were.

Paige directly posted on Weibo, "Start with a small goal, make five billion first."

Her Weibo comment section was filled with a neat formation of "hahaha."

Even her die-hard fans couldn’t believe it, let alone the haters and casual fans.

Five billion, you think you can just make that?

No one took Paige’s words seriously.

Paige didn’t mind either, she’s not in the entertainment industry anymore, and the project she wants to work on is a costly one. She certainly couldn’t earn that much money herself in such a short period, and after much thought, Paige planned to seek investment.

However, she had never worked in this area, so she went back to the Sterling Family in the evening to seek advice from Jared Sullivan.

It was rare for his daughter to actually come to him, which put Jared in a great mood.

"In the end, if you want to attract investment, the key is for your project to have highlights, be profitable, and you must be willing to put yourself out there, to dare to face investors and present your project to them..."

After talking for a while, he suddenly reacted, "Beau, what kind of investment are you planning? Dad has money, I’ll invest in you."

Paige didn’t hide it from Jared.

"I want to start a smart technology company..."

Before Paige could finish her sentence, Skylar Hughes, who had just entered the room, had a dramatic change of expression.

Paige is asking Jared for money again? And she’s going to waste it on starting a tech company?

What a joke! A tech startup requires endless funding, that’s a money pit!

If Paige manages to succeed, great, but can someone like her really make it big?

Jared is spoiling Paige unconditionally, and at this rate, the entire Sterling Family might end up ruined because of her.

Skylar Hughes immediately walked over and said, "Paige, you’re being impulsive; do you even know the current trends in smart technology in the country? Business is not as easy as you think, smart tech requires substantial investment, talent is scarce domestically, and results are not quickly seen. Look at how many domestic smart companies can last ten years? Even if they do, their core technologies are often bought at high prices from abroad, meaning their lifeline is in foreign hands. If relations break down, the whole company collapses, you..."

This lecturing tone of Skylar Hughes immediately displeased Jared.

His daughter finally had some entrepreneurial spirit, and here Skylar was stifling it?

"Enough!", Jared said, "I know what I’m doing, your mother’s not feeling well, so go check on her."

Seeing Jared’s displeased face, Skylar realized she’d overstepped.

But for whom had she done so? Wasn’t it for the entire VastReach Group?

Is blood relation really that important? Even if Paige is incompetent, even knowing entrusting hope in her is a losing game, Jared still won’t try to believe in her?

Haven’t these years, the person by his side showing him respect been her?

The heavens are truly unfair.

"Dad, I know you spoil Paige, but I hope you consider the future of VastReach Group. You wouldn’t want your lifetime’s effort to go down the drain, right?"

Paige stood up, looked at Skylar, and said to Jared, "Dad, I don’t want your money. When I said I would do it myself, I meant it. The career you built is yours, I’m not interested. If I fail and end up in debt, then I’ll come to you."

Jared let out a sigh in his heart.

His own daughter had no interest in his business, but his stepdaughter was fixated on the inheritance.

"Alright, whatever you say. Your business is not my concern, is that okay?"

The next night, Paige went to the most upscale club in Jarrow.

This club is where the wealthy seconds generation of Jarrow gather, and they are often bored unless they’re spending money.

She decided to start with these people to get her first pot of seed money.

Although she’s out of the industry now, she still trends on searches every few days; she doesn’t want to become a topic of discussion, so even at night, she wrapped herself up carefully.