Me and four other people are in my room.

    I kicked Cher and Regina. "Okay, stop being starstruck. How many times have you seen her already?"

    "But still, it''s Britney..." they both responded, eyes fixed on Britney, who loungedfortably on the bean bag, already feeling at home.

    "She''s just like you three. Blonde and needy. Very needy," I muttered while settling into a bean bag beside Britney.

    "Am I needy?" Britney questioned in a high-pitched, offended tone. "I''m not a needy girl," she insisted.

    "You''re very needy, Brit," I confirmed. "And stop trying to pinch me." I gently nudged her hand away. "Where is the gracious youngdy I met at the start?"

    "Well, maybe because you make me act like that," she shot back, tossing a small pillow at me.

    "If I''m needy, you''re like a bratty younger brother," she added, arms crossed.

    "Howe you are acting normal, Paige?" Cher asked.

    "Well, it''s not the first time..." Paige answered.

    "Britney''s been here more than once," I chuckled. "Some of my staff called her the hoodie girl."

    I trust everyone who works here, but it''s always safer to keep her identity under wraps. There''s no Berta around, so naturally, no one questions it.

    "Wow, that''s why she looks sofortable," Regina observed.

    "Nah, that''s just her being shamelessly cozy," I replied.

    "I don''t want to hear that from you," she huffed, throwing another pillow at my face. "On my birthday, you acted like you owned the ce."

    "You told me to feel at home, and I did!" I defended myself.

    The truth is, the atmosphere was weird, and Britney has aplicated rtionship with part of her family. I annoyed her just to loosen her up.

    "I only forgive you because you gave me great birthday presents," she teased with a smirk.

    "What did you give her?" Cher asked, curious.

    "An Aston Martin Vanquish and the song ''Dark Horse''," Britney responded.

    "No way! The one topping the Billboard right now?" eximed Regina, clearly stunned.

    "Yeah, by far the most yed song on the radio right now, even though it was released just a little over a week ago.

    Followed by #2 Timber (Marshmello), #3 Something Just Like This (Marshmello), #4 Family Affair (Mary J. Blige), #5 I''m Real (Jennifer Lopez), #6 Fallin'' (Alicia Keys), #7 The Climb (Hannah Montana) … #10 Party in the U.S.A. (Britney Spears)," said Cher.

    Their surprise made sense—without tforms like YouTube or social media, it''s much rarer for a song to go viral so quickly. That sess only happened thanks to several factors: Britney and Marshmello''sbined fame, the high quality of the song itself, and a smart use of substantial money to push it through major media outlets.

    "The Climb definitelyunched Hannah Montana''s career," I murmured. "But the hard part isn''t reaching the top of the Billboard—it''s staying there," I said out loud

    ording to what Pepper said, Hannah Montana uses a blonde wig, brown contact lenses, and a bit more makeup. Aside from "The Climb" which went viral, the rest of her songs are more niche, mostly targeting teenage girls. Somehow, she''s still managing to keep her identity hidden. But then again, for most people, discovering her secret would just mean realizing she has a different name, hair color, and eye color.

    "I think you''re one of the few people who can actually say that," Britney noted, her tone thoughtful.

    "Happier, On The Floor, Symphony, Timber, Something Just Like This—five of Jake''s songs have already hit number one on the Billboard at some point, and I didn''t count the Toxic and Dark Horse" Regina recalled.

    "It''s crazy for a singer—and we''re only talking about the ones that hit the very top, number one. If you include tracks that reached at least the top twenty-five, it''s almost all of them. Only a handful didn''t make it. He''s basically steamrolling the entire chart," Britney pointed out, shaking her head.

    "That kind of praise hits differenting from someone like Britney," Cher murmured, a little speechless

    "See," I pointed out, "that''s why you can treat Britney like the girl next door who''s just craving attention."

    "Yeah, he''s right about the first part. I would actually prefer if you just treated me like a normal girl," Britney agreed, giving me a yful pinch because of the second part

    "Every girl is so physical with me," I murmured. "I mean, I know I''m hot..."

    More and more pillows started flying in my direction

    "I feel so out of ce here sometimes," Paige muttered dryly. "The car feels like nothing to you four..."

    "Well, I still think it was an amazing and pricey gift," Britney added. "But the song meant much more to me."

    Then she nced over and said softly, "And I would''ve loved it even if it wasn''t turning into such a huge hit."

    I smiled at her before turning to Paige.

    "Paige, the car is by far the least valuable gift I gave," I pointed out. "A private concert with Britney would easily cost five hundred grand, and a top-tier song? Millions. But with music, predicting sess is always a gamble." Well, if you don''t have future knowledge. Even with it, doesn''t mean it will go as popr...

    "Yours would cost even more," Britney chimed in. "I heard someone offered you one and a half million to perform at an Arab sheikh''s party."

    "That''s true, but I declined. Not interested," I replied.

    "If you count Paige as your sister, then my family is definitely the poorest one here," Britney said, feigning pity.

    "Thinking about it," Regina said thoughtfully, "we have two billionaire heiresses, two of the most popr singers of the moment, and one of the most intelligent people in the world for her age. One hell of a group."

    "Yeah, but we didn''t do anything to be billionaire heiresses..." Cher admitted, downy it a bit. Regina gave a small nod of agreement.

    "You two don''t need to feel too bad," I said. "It''s not like Paige did anything to deserve being born with one of the highest IQs in the world, or like Britney chose to be born with an incredible voice and stunning looks. It''s not about what the world made of you, but what you make of what the world has made of you. Just make good use of the money when you get it."

    "This world is all about fortune and virtue," I concluded.

    "Sartre and then Machiavelli. I sometimes forget that you''re not bad in the brains department too..." Paige muttered, half-impressed.

    ------

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