CHAPTER 130: THE CONTRACT DURATION

As soon as the elevator doors slid open, the first thing I saw was a sleek reception desk right in front of me. It seemed like this entire floor was reserved for executives because it was so quiet.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Orszebet," the receptionist greeted me warmly. Even the way she said my name sounded so respectful, as if I were one of their executives.

"Good afternoon..." I glanced at her name tag and smiled. "...Miss Kattie."

I was about to speak again when Kattie beat me to it. "Mr. Brixton has been waiting for you inside Mr. Lan’s office. You may go in now."

I paused for a second, trying to process her words. So, he wasn’t known here as Mr. X, but as Mr. Lan? Wasn’t that just a shorter version of his real name?

Besides, was his secretary also taking part in this role-play, pretending that Mr. Lan and Lando Brixton were two different people?

I was sure Kattie knew the truth, since she worked on this floor every day, and she probably hadn’t seen anyone else enter the so-called "Mr. Lan’s office" besides Lando himself.

"Thank you," I said with a polite smile before turning away.

Marissa and I walked toward the door at the end of the hallway. It was a tall double door, almost three meters high, something you’d only see in an executive’s office.

Only a fool would believe Lando was just an ordinary employee when he had full access to Mr. Lan’s office.

Marissa knocked lightly before slowly opening the door. "Mr. Brixton, we’re here," she said, her tone turning formal all of a sudden, even though she’d known Lando for years.

But honestly, that was just how the two of them were. They never addressed each other formally when talking in front of me, but the moment they were in a business setting, they instantly slipped into professional mode, like business partners.

I’d never really seen them act like close friends around me, probably because they rarely met in person these days. I might’ve even forgotten they were close, if I hadn’t seen Marissa sending him so many messages earlier.

"Come in," Lando’s deep voice echoed through the room.

As I stepped inside, I saw him sitting in a wheelchair, flipping through a few files before wheeling himself toward the sofa area meant for guests.

"Come, sit here," he said, placing the files on the table before looking at me. "Would you like some brown sugar coffee?"

I shook my head lightly. "No, I already had coffee before coming here. Just mineral water is fine."

I don’t know... maybe it was just my imagination, but seeing him in an office setting made me a little nervous. When he was at home, he usually took off his suit and left only his shirt on, but right now, he was still wearing a full three-piece suit and a neatly tied tie.

He’d looked good in his gala outfit too, but this work look... it made me feel a bit—what’s the right word for it...

[Horny?] Penny suddenly chimed in, making me jolt a little in surprise.

[Penny can detect that Host’s heartbeat just spiked, and your body temperature is rising, just like someone who’s either horny or in an ovulat—]

’Shut up!’ I yelled in my head. I bit my lower lip, pressed my thighs together, and quickly looked down because I was too embarrassed to even look at Lando right now. ’He’s just too handsome. I’m only admiring how good he looks, that’s all.’

[Yes, Penny knows that.] She replied innocently. [That’s exactly why you’re getting hor—]

’For God’s sake, I’m not horny!’ I snapped back in my mind, completely denying her ridiculous accusation.

"Helcia."

Lando’s voice made me lift my head right away. He was watching me with a calm, serious look as he handed me a blue folder.

"Do you want to read the contract yourself?" he asked.

yourself?" he asked.

"Oh... yes! Yes, I’d like to read it first." I quickly took the folder from his hand and added nervously, "But it’s not that I don’t trust you, I just—"

"I know," Lando interrupted gently, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "It’s always smart to go through your own contract, no matter how close you are with your business partner."

I smiled awkwardly and nodded, pretending to focus on the file even though my heart was still racing for no logical reason. The smell of his cologne lingered faintly in the air, something deep and warm, like sandalwood and rain.

The pages of the contract felt crisp between my fingers as I flipped through them, but I couldn’t stop stealing quick glances at him. Lando was busy checking something on his tablet, his sleeves slightly rolled up now, revealing the veins on his forearms.

Why did he have to look that good just sitting there?

"Take your time," he said without looking up. "I don’t want you to miss anything important."

"I won’t," I muttered under my breath, even though half my brain was too distracted to read properly.

"You look nervous," Marissa said suddenly, her tone soft but curious. "What’s wrong? I can explain the contract to you if there’s anything you don’t understand."

"Ah, no, I’m not nervous at all," I lied, flipping through a random page a little too fast. "I’m just... a little cold."

Lando glanced down, then reached under the table and pulled out a blanket. "Here, use this," he said. "I can’t turn off the air conditioner since the building uses a central system."

Feeling a bit embarrassed, I still took the blanket and wrapped it around myself. To my surprise, the warmth immediately helped me relax. Maybe I really was just cold after all.

I went back to the pages I hadn’t read properly before and stopped when I noticed the contract duration. My brows furrowed. "Three years?" I asked. "ZTE wants me to sign with them for three years?"

Lando paused for a moment before responding, "Is that too long?"

"No, actually, it’s the opposite!" I said quickly. "Usually, agencies make their actors sign for at least five years, right? That’s... what I read online."

Marissa spoke up before Lando could answer. "It used to be like that, but a few months ago, a new rule was introduced. For new contracts, the duration can only be up to three years. It can be extended later, but not at the beginning."

I raised an eyebrow. "I... had no idea about that."

Of course, I didn’t. For the past year, all I’d cared about was figuring out how to pay off my debts and finding any kind of job that would keep me afloat.

"This new rule was only discussed among agency executives," Lando explained. "So people outside that circle haven’t really heard about it yet. It actually has something to do with Helena’s case."

I froze the moment Lando said that. "What’s the connection?"

Lando hesitated for a moment before finally speaking. "After Helena Moore’s scandal afloat, several celebrities started talking about it on big podcasts. They said her case was just the tip of the iceberg, evidence of how unfairly long the contracts were under DN Entertainment."

"Seven years," I murmured. "Helena told me that."

Lando nodded. "That’s a really long time, and if the agency doesn’t treat their talents well, it can completely ruin them."

Some celebrities even went as far as to link Helena’s tragedy to DN Entertainment’s failure to take proper care of her. They claimed the reason Helena got involved with drugs and tried to steal someone’s husband was because she was desperate.

She couldn’t find a way to break free from her contract, so she looked for help from people in higher positions—even if it meant doing it the wrong way.

At least, that was the theory they had.

But honestly, that theory didn’t make much sense. I only had to wait one more year before I could finally be free from DN Entertainment.

Even so, I couldn’t help but feel a bit amazed that several celebrities were actually brave enough to talk about that topic on podcasts.

"But I’ve never seen those podcasts," I said.

Back then, I never searched for my name on the internet anymore for the sake of my mental health. Besides, I didn’t really have the time to do that since there were so many things I had to deal with at the time.

However, after waking up in Helcia’s body, I started looking for podcasts that mentioned me, but I couldn’t find anything related to that matter.

Or maybe... it was simply because I’d only started looking for them recently? And even then, I hadn’t checked everything, because I always got upset whenever I saw people making money by talking about my case or my death.

"All of them were taken down," Lando said. "And the news was buried under bigger headlines. I only found out after digging into it last week. Before that... I honestly thought the government just wanted to update the regulations."

"If the podcasts were already deleted, then why did it still have such a big impact that the government decided to change the rules?" I asked, frowning slightly.