A Billion Dollar Exchange

LILING! GOLD DIGGER; MAN CHASER!

Liling froze for a second. There were over ten million people talking about it. Liling was tempted to click on the comments.

'She's truly unbelievable! I'm sure she slept her way to the top, how would a new artist get to the top so easily, she must have sold her body for fame! Tsk tsk, so shameless!'

'I am not against people sleeping their way to the top, but must it have to be with our Adonis! Leave our Adonis alone, biatch!'

'I can't believe this, and I loved her music! So sad! '

'I've always said never to trust these drop dead gorgeous girls, they are the worst!'  

Liling scrolled through the hate comments, till her eyes ached.

Her hands were shaky as she held her phone, goose bumps washed her skin. Each comment was like a dagger to her heart. It was as though everyone was against her. In the multitude of comments, she barely found anyone supporting her, and even the ones she saw, they were immediately swallowed by the hate comments.

She was about going back to continue watching the posts when the bathroom door opened and Liu Wei stepped out. Liling quickly shoved the phone under her pillow and turned to smile at Liu Wei.

Liu Wei caught her actions, and given that her smile seemed faked and her eyes were teary, he creased his brows.

''What are you hiding? ''

He was tying a towel around his waist, and using a smaller one to dab on his hair.

''Nothing! ''

Liling answered quickly; because she was lying she refused to look Liu Wei in his eyes. Liu Wei knew she was lying but he did not press on it.

''Okay, go take a shower, aren't you going out today? ''

Before Liling could reply, her phone which was under the bed started ringing. The both of them turned their gaze to the pillow and Liling knew immediately that her white lie had been exposed. She bit her lower lip and sluggishly pulled out her phone from under the pillow.

Swiping to answer without looking at the caller, Liling put the phone to her ear.

''Hello best friend, I see you are quite popular online. I called yesterday but your phone was switched off…''

Liling's eyes nearly popped out from her eye sockets from how wide she opened them. She immediately pulled the phone to be sure of who she was speaking with.

''Xin …xin…xin..Yong?!! Oh my god! Where in hell have you been?!! You had me worried, god! No, where do I start, how are you? Where are you?, I missed you, tell me, where are you?, I'm coming to meet you this minute, Xin Yong!!! ''

Liling cried; she did not even know where to start from; she was so agitated that the tears which clouded her eyes fell uncontrollably. At that moment, she couldn't tell if it was because Xin Yong had called or because of the scandal.''

Xin Yong burst out laughing_ like she normally would.

''Why? Why did you leave? Do you know how worried I was? How could you do this to me? I hate you so much!''

Liling scolded her friend sadly. She raised her hand to wipe her eyes; she had already lost count of how many times she waited for Xin Yong to call her and how many times she called her phone only to be greeted with a switched off phone..

''I'm sorry, it won't happen again, okay?''

Liling was so angry that she had left without telling her, but knowing what she had gone through, her anger melted away immediately. She did not want to give her another reason to be sad.

''I forgive you, I forgive you. God! Where are you, let's meet right now!.''

''Liling, you sure you can leave the house? The reporters would be everywhere, you need to stay in for a while; I'll come over. ''

Xin Yong said thoughtfully.

''Okay, please start coming now, I need to see you okay? God! Xin Yong, I've missed you so much, come quickly!!''

Xin Yong laughed at how childish her friend was acting.

''Alright, I'm coming now, let me take a shower. ''

''Hurry!''

''Yeah, bye! ''

''It is Xin Yong, she's back! ''

Liling said excitedly, her eyes still staring at her phone. When she finally looked at Liu Wei, she saw that he was staring at something on his phone, his expression very dark.

Liling stopped taking, at that moment, she knew he had seen the news and it wasn't something to be happy about.

''Hey, you don't have to look like someone died, it's just celebrity gist, it'll die down soon. ''

She said, giggling lightly. Liu Wei did not reply, so she stood up from the bed and wrapped herself in the duvet before walking to where he was standing.

''Baby ''

She called, holding onto his hand. When Liu Wei saw her take out her phone from under the bed, he suspected that something was not right, so he immediately switched on his phone. 

There were many messages and emails, he did not care to read any of them; he quickly tapped on his news icon and there it was, topping the headlines, their pictures.

There were so many people talking about it, as Liu Wei scrolled down, he expression grew darker.

The post that caught his attention the most was the one with the caption:

Liling, Man Chaser, Gold Digger.

He knew that picture would resurface; nothing could be kept down on the internet for long. 

He didn't realize Liling was calling him, until she held his arm. He immediately turned to look at her.

''It's nothing really. The people talking are your fans who feel I've taken their dream man. There's nothing much to it. You should not be so worried. ''

She said smiling brightly. Liu Wei could not understand this woman, there were so many people talking bad about her but here she was, comforting him, as though he was the one receiving the backlash online.

He stared at her for some time before pulling her into a tight hug.

''hey! ''

''I'm sorry Liling, I'm so sorry! ''

Liu Wei apologized sincerely, kissing her forehead.

Liling chuckled;

''I've told you to stop apologizing! There is nothing to apologize for, it's just a topic which would surely die down.''

''Liling, you can cry if you want to, you don't have to act all strong in front of me. ''

Liu Wei said slowly, he felt Liling tighten her arms around him.

'I don't want… to cry …''