Chapter 545
“Ricardo, think it through, man. The boss has had his eye on you for ages. Ryan was keen on shipping you out before, but you wouldn’t have it. Now that Ryan’s gone, there’s a new guy in charge, worse than Ryan ever was. Who knows what he’ll do to you? If you don’t listen to me this time, no one will cover for you when the new CEO shows up.”
Ricardo’s brow furrowed, and he sidestepped the hand reaching out to him. “Director Keagan, keep it professional, please.”
Keagan was livid. Ricardo was a looker, no doubt about it, and over the years, he had managed to break him in, or so he thought. Ricardo’s little sister was sick at home, and in all three years, the company hadn’t paid him a dime. Since joining Stellar Stage Entertainment at sixteen, now at nineteen, he hadn’t released a single work. Plenty of female executives, and some male ones, were all waiting for him to fold.
But Ricardo was tough as nails.
Keagan sneered, “You’ve got a twenty–year contract with us, with seventeen years left. By the time you walk out of here, you’ll be thirty–five–way past the prime age for an entertainer. Do you really want to keep this deadlock with me? If you defy me, all I’ll need is a little pill, and once the new CEO arrives, you’ll be in his bed before you know it.”
Disgust flitted across Ricardo’s eyes. His fist clenched by his side. He’d been through this before, fending off those creeps, almost beating them senseless. After that, Keagan never tried to force him again.
“Director Keagan, do what you will. I can’t control my fists, and I don’t know what I’ll do to that trash. With that, Ricardo flung the door open and strode out.
Stepping out of the building, his eyes reddened, and his nose tingled with the beginnings of tears. He was only nineteen, after all. Three years‘ wages added up to less than ten grand, and he’d been moonlighting just to keep his sister fed.
He trusted the wrong people and signed a twenty–year contract, only for them to show their
true colors.
Glancing at the news on the lobby TV, where Dorsey International was thriving, acquiring more land and making more money, Ricardo snorted. Stellar Stage Entertainment was like a neglected piece of land that Dorsey International had forgotten. He’d once thought his luck would change when someone from the Dorsey family took over. Instead, Ryan’s tactics were as ruthless as the higher–ups, and many female artists had suffered.
Max, the untouchable CEO of Dorsey International, seemed a world away from the grimy, twisted world of Stellar Stage Entertainment.
Ricardo’s eyes welled up again. Perhaps he’d been wrong to judge Max by his cover, for the wealthy were experts at dressing up rotten cores to look as splendid as Christmas trees.
He walked on with determined steps.
Chapter 545
Brielle pushed open the revolving glass door and collided head–on with the young man. He was solid as steel, making her nose throb, and she pressed it, half–expecting blood
Ricardo glanced at her, recognizing her face from somewhere ‘Sorry, are you okay?”
Brielle frowned at him, feeling a heat in her eyes. Once the urge to cry subsided, she waved it off. I’m fine”
Ricardo, feeling guilty, insisted, “Are you bleeding? Let me see.”
As Brielle reluctantly lowered her hand, tears welled up, and Ricardo was at a loss for words. She was stunning. Stellar Stage Entertainment had many female artists, but none were as beautiful as her. And her face seemed familiar, though he couldn’t place where he’d seen it.
Brielle e gave him a once–over. Clean–cut, was he an artist? But his clothes were far from flashy. Not just plain, but bordering on shabby. His bleached jeans sported several patches, and his jacket wasn’t nearly warm enough for the cold.
“Are you with Stellar Stage Entertainment?” Her tone–was indifferent, back to normal.
Ricardo’s face flushed with embarrassment, a bit flustered, “Sort of.”
Brielle breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. Then, take me to management. I want to have a look
around.”
Ricardo was taken aback. Who was she, exactly?
