My father is the CEO of the country’s largest media company, my mother is a retired Golden Globe-winning actress, and my brother is a top celebrity. As soon as I entered college, gossip news spread that the youngest daughter of Reed Media’s CEO had enrolled in a prestigious drama school. My roommate, desperate for fame, rushed to claim the title: “Thank you all for your attention! I want to study quietly and hope not to affect others.” A few days later, it was revealed that Reed Media’s little princess was actually someone else! “Thank you, media friends, for your attention! I’ve just started my four-year college journey and would like to study quietly for now. I hope everyone won’t pay too much attention, and I hope my fans will behave and not disturb others.” I looked at the SnapChat post from my roommate Yvonne Shaw and couldn’t help but laugh. What a drama queen. Wasn’t acting in movies enough? Now she’s trying to act in my life? It all started on the first day of school when some small media outlet, without checking with my dad’s company, broke the news that “Reed Media CEO’s youngest daughter enrolled in a prestigious drama school.” Anyone who’s been in the industry for a while knows that Reed Media’s chairman’s youngest daughter is a sensitive topic and absolutely off-limits for reporting. I didn’t expect someone would dare to poke the bear. What I expected even less was that someone would be so desperate for fame that they’d try to piggyback on my dad’s name. That person was my new college roommate, Yvonne Shaw. She did have the prerequisite to pretend – her surname was Shaw, and my dad’s surname was also Shaw. What a coincidence, right? Yvonne had starred in a web series and shot to fame with her pure and lovely image, gaining five million fans overnight. When school started, she was already voted the most popular girl on campus, trending in the top ten on Twitter. When people heard that Yvonne was in the Acting Department’s Class 1, the class group chat exploded like boiling water. “Our goddess is here!” “Wow, will we get to act opposite the campus beauty?” … Now, seeing this trending topic, my roommates looked at Yvonne with envious eyes and tried to curry favor: “Yvonne, I can’t believe you’re the CEO of Reed Media’s daughter. My God, it’s like having a big shot right next to me!” “Oh my, Yvonne, doesn’t that mean Sean Reed is your brother? Can I get an autograph?” “Yvonne, your family will definitely arrange great resources for you in the future, right? Please take me with you! I’ll be happy just playing your maid!” … Listening to all this flattery and praise, I couldn’t help but sneer. What kind of daydream is this? Sean Reed is MY brother! By blood! Autographs are easy, but I’m afraid that “maid” role might be hard to come by. My family’s projects aren’t for just anyone. A freshman who just entered college, not even a real actress yet, instead of thinking about how to attend classes and hone her acting skills, is thinking about taking shortcuts all day. If we gave you a supporting role with lines now, could you even handle it? I opened my account and posted on the trending topic. “Some people, not even famous, but love to leech off others.” A few of Yvonne’s fans found their way to my Twitter and started cursing: “Who the hell are you talking about?” “Yeah, we’re talking about you. Don’t try to ride on our Yvonne’s coattails.” I couldn’t be bothered to respond. The truth will come out eventually. Probably because my sneer didn’t sit well with her, Wendy, the roommate who wanted a role, sarcastically said: “What are you laughing at? Some people aren’t that good-looking and don’t have such a good family background, yet still act all high and mighty.” Another person chimed in: “Exactly, I don’t know what she’s pretending to be.” Haha, if I told you, you’d be scared to death. All those “husbands” you like have to bow and scrape before me. All their exclusive autographs and merchandise fill up the basement storage in my house. I get their warm greetings on every holiday, afraid that I might forget about them one day. Yvonne said gently: “We’re all classmates. Although some classmates might not have good family backgrounds, we’re all here chasing our acting dreams. We should work hard together and not discriminate.” Wendy shook her head: “Oh, Yvonne, you’re just too kind. But you know, everyone has their own status. Some people need to know their place.” “Skylar, you don’t even have a single designer item on you. Your family must not be well-off, right? How can you compare to Yvonne? In the future, you need to know your place.” Yvonne interjected again: “Let it go, let’s not compare.” Just then, my dad called. I couldn’t be bothered with them anymore and went to the balcony to answer the phone. “Hello, is my baby girl okay? Daddy just saw the trending topic and immediately had it taken down. It won’t affect you.” Hearing the word “baby” come out of the mouth of my dad, a dignified middle-aged man, really gave me goosebumps. “No, no, don’t take it down yet. Just leave it.” “Really? Are you sure you’re not upset, baby?” “I’m fine.” I want to see what other tricks she has up her sleeve. “When are you coming home? Daddy misses you so much.” Three black lines almost materialized on top of my head. “It’s only the third day of school.” Can someone please control this daughter-obsessed dad? It’s exhausting. My name is Skylar Reed. My father is the CEO of the country’s largest media company, my mother is a retired Golden Globe-winning actress, and my brother is a top celebrity. The reason I have a different last name is because I took my mom’s surname. When she was pregnant with her second child, she insisted that the baby should take her surname to prove my dad loved her. My dad, who loves and fears my mom, naturally agreed. Plus, when I was little, I got lost among my mom’s fans while out playing with her. A crazy fan secretly took me into the women’s restroom. I vaguely remember that psycho fan kept taking pictures of me with their phone in the restroom until my family found me three hours later. So I developed psychological trauma, resulting in fear of crowds and claustrophobia. Whenever I was in crowded or dark places, I would easily have emotional breakdowns, crying and screaming. For the first few years, I couldn’t be left alone at all and had to sleep with a night light on. After seeing a therapist for several years, I finally recovered. So, my parents have always been very protective of my privacy and made it clear to all major media outlets that any photos of me must be deleted. Taking my mom’s surname works well too. Reed is a common name that doesn’t stand out, which allowed me to live like a normal person for ten years. I didn’t expect to lose the “opportunity” to be known as my dad’s daughter. I don’t like wearing luxury brands covered in logos all over. It feels so tacky. Many of my clothes are specially designed by my aunt who does fashion design in Europe. They’re one-of-a-kind pieces that even royalty can’t buy. I’ve always kept a low profile and never let my family appear at my school. The night before school started, my dad paced back and forth in my room, my mom sat on my bed wiping away tears, and my brother dutifully helped me pack. The three of them kept bombarding me with questions. “Baby, why don’t I send you to school tomorrow?” I coldly replied, “No way. If you go, the entire school leadership will probably surround you.” “Then let mom go with you. I’ve been out of the spotlight for so long, no one will notice.” “You’re lying. Last week I saw that famous Director Li come to our house to give you a script, begging you to come out of retirement.” “Then how about your brother…” “You don’t even need to mention it. If you go, my entire dorm building will be surrounded by your crazy fans.” Thinking of such a scene, I shuddered. After experiencing many hypnotherapy sessions, I only have a vague impression of what happened when I was little, but I still can’t face crowds calmly. Better to avoid it if possible. Seeing my firm attitude, they had to give up. On the first day of school, our butler Mr. Lin drove me to school in our family’s cheapest car used for grocery shopping. He dressed like an ordinary old man, very low-key when we arrived at school. The butler has worked for our family for over twenty years and watched me grow up. I’ve always treated him like an elder. Although he looks older and dresses plainly, he’s a proper working professional. My family pays him a high salary. I didn’t expect that in their eyes, it turned into evidence that my family wasn’t well-off. Yvonne and I didn’t have much conflict at first. It was just that when the campus beauty vote happened, I barely made it onto the list, and she felt I stole her spotlight. Since then, she’s always been passive-aggressive, either mocking my family background or saying I have no sense of style. Ever since Yvonne posted that ambiguous SnapChat, she’s been treated like a queen. My roommates all flocked around her, and our dorm automatically formed a barrier. When I returned to the dorm after class, I saw Yvonne come back with a pile of gifts and a bag of letters. Wendy immediately rushed over, carefully took the things from her hands, and picked up a few beautifully packaged gifts. “Wow, a Cartier bracelet, it looks so expensive.” “And an LV bag, I’ve wanted this handbag for so long, waaah.” “Wow, this perfume is from Chanel’s limited collection.” “Huh, why are there a pair of slippers? These slippers don’t even look that good…” Wendy muttered, and Yvonne overheard. She rolled her eyes. “Look carefully, these are Fendi, over $1,000 a pair. You really don’t know anything.” “What? So expensive.” Wendy exclaimed. Yvonne picked out a bottle of Dior perfume and tossed it to Wendy, “Here, it’s yours.” Wendy held the perfume like a treasure, curiously asking. “Who sent you all these gifts?” Yvonne said proudly, “Who else? All from my fans, of course.” I coldly observed their showing off, secretly turning on my phone’s voice recorder. “Every time I say no verbally, but hint a little on social media, they still send stuff anyway.” Yvonne continued. “It’s just that they spend money on unnecessary things. Last birthday they even bought me a star. Just a stupid star in the sky, you know?” “I think it’s such a waste. You can’t see or touch it. It would make me happier if they spent that money on luxury goods instead.” “Every time they stuff a bunch of letters in too. What era is this?” “I’m too lazy to read books, let alone their letters. How naive.” I really feel bad for these fans. The money their parents work hard to earn, these kids use to chase celebrities. And all their heartfelt gestures, the celebrity doesn’t even care about. They only care if your money reaches their account. Yvonne took a lipstick and walked up to me. “Skylar, I see you have so few cosmetics. This lipstick color suits you well, I’ll give it to you.” I coldly refused. “No need. I don’t need it. You should cherish the gifts from others.” Wendy angrily said. “You’re so ungrateful. Yvonne is taking pity on you and you don’t even appreciate it.” “I don’t think you deserve to use such good lipstick. Just stick to your drugstore brands.” What’s wrong with drugstore brands? There are great domestic brands too. Lipstick is one of those things where the price is artificially inflated, mainly due to brand markup. I said seriously. “Don’t look down on domestic brands. We’re all talking about developing national products now, and many brands are doing very well.” “Not everything expensive is good. As long as the lipstick is properly produced and works well, it’s worth buying.” Although my family is rich, we don’t worship all foreign brands. For example, some T-shirts, the cotton from our country is very good. And silk pajamas, custom-made from a family workshop in Suzhou that doesn’t sell to the public. Their ancestors made clothes for the Empress Dowager Cixi, and the imperial craftsmanship has been passed down. All year round, they only make clothes for a few top wealthy families. In this world, what you can buy isn’t necessarily the best. Wendy rolled her eyes, looking at me with disdain. “A country bumpkin is just a country bumpkin. I can’t be bothered to talk to you.” They happily unwrapped gifts, ignoring me. I looked at the recording on my phone, thinking, one day, I’ll expose your true face to your fans. Let them see clearly whether some celebrities are really worth being fans of. The next day was our major class, and the teacher gave us a script to perform. I drew the female lead role, paired with the most handsome guy in our class to perform a love scene from a famous movie. The male lead was our school’s heartthrob, William Yuan, a former boy band member turned actor with over 10 million followers on Twitter. Unexpectedly, Yvonne bit her lip, looking like she was about to cry. Classmates rushed over, asking with concern: “Yvonne, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?” “If you’re not feeling well, take a break first.” Even the male lead teacher came forward to ask what happened. Yvonne looked up, glancing at me carefully, and opened the paper in her hand. “It’s… it’s nothing. I just didn’t get the role I wanted. Don’t worry, I’ll… I’ll act well and won’t drag everyone down.” Fine, you’re the queen of fake nice. My roommates turned around, took Yvonne’s paper and walked up to me: “Skylar Reed, switch with Yvonne. After all, she’s the campus beauty, and she has acting experience. She’ll definitely perform better than you.” “Yeah, and Yvonne is prettier than you. She was born to be the female lead. How can you measure up?” Ever since they found out Yvonne might be Reed Media’s little princess, they’ve all been sucking up to her like lapdogs. I remained unmoved, “Why should I? We all drew lots fairly. Besides, how do you know I can’t act well?” William Yuan said rudely, “Because you have no experience, and because your last name isn’t Shaw. Happy now?” He snatched the paper from my hand, walked to Yvonne’s side, and gently placed it in her palm: “Don’t cry. Come on, we’re partners now.” Heh, I truly wish you two-faced people a long and happy life together. I looked at the teacher, hoping she would be fair. “Teacher, are you really going to let them snatch roles like this?” The teacher looked impatient. “What does it matter what role you play? When you become an actress in the future, can you pick your roles?” I was unconvinced. This was clearly favoritism. I’ve never been treated like this in my life. “Why don’t you say that to her? She’s the one picking roles.” “I think as a teacher, you should treat everyone equally. If you set this precedent, everyone will pick roles in the future. Who will play the small roles then?” “In a play, whether it’s the lead or supporting role, they’re all important. Without supporting roles to set off the lead, how can the lead shine?” The teacher ignored my plea and angrily said. “You talk back ten times for every word I say. Why don’t you be the teacher? You can act or not, if you don’t want to, then get out.” I sneered and said. “You’re all doing this because her last name is Shaw, right? What if she’s not actually the daughter of Reed Media’s CEO?” I saw Yvonne’s face suddenly turn pale in the crowd, trying to keep her composure. “If I’m not, are you saying you are?” I confidently answered: “Of course.” The whole class burst into laughter. “Hahaha she says she’s James Reed’s daughter, I’m dying of laughter.” “If she’s James Reed’s daughter, then I’m Jeff Bezos’ long-lost son.” … James Reed is my dad’s name. Fine, laugh all you want today. Soon enough, I’ll make sure you can’t laugh anymore. But it’s not enough for just you to know. I want the whole world to know who the shameless thief really is. A week after school started was my brother Sean Reed’s concert. He became an internet sensation after debuting as the center in a talent show. Overnight, I gained millions of “sisters-in-law”. Wendy had been promoting herself as Sean Reed’s die-hard fan since school started, even hanging a title in the fan club. Sean Reed’s concert tickets went on pre-sale three days ago, first come first served. But the tickets sold out so fast that they were gone almost as soon as they were released.
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