Once Upon A Star

Jing Fei was getting ready for one of her photoshoots in her own room. The perks of being an A-list artist were indeed handy. The job offer this time was for Sweet Passion's front-page magazine cover. Sweet Passion was an international fashion magazine company that was on the top 30 selling magazines list in the world. They had their own team of professional models to feature in their magazines but decided to venture into Eastern Asia to broaden their outlets and viewership. The competition was expectedly fierce with Jing Fei coming out on top.

The Western judges sent by Sweet Passion were not as selective as the Chinese were, so they didn't mind her eccentricity, in fact, it was because of this that they picked her to be one of their Asian models. Although Jing Fei was a singer, her modeling career was not too bad. Jing Fei was excited when she heard the notice from her manager, Dai Chin. If the magazine shoot was a success, her career will leap in bounds. Besides, the theme for the shoot was to be 'wild and free'! It was practically her motto.

As soon as she walked out of her room, prepped up in her outfit, Jing Fei noted the weird looks coming her way and the harsh whispers. She was used to it since she was shunned due to her s.e.x.u.a.lity, that is to say, she thought nothing of it. Artists in the industry had to deal with rumors and scandals on a daily basis so it came as no surprise that this was happening. If you wanted to survive, you'd better get used to the invasion of personal privacy. Artists had none.

She said that yet there was a small nagging feeling of dread and alertness she felt as she approached the double doors. The giggles from other girls were grating on her ears. Something was wrong. She paused outside the doors. The thought passed as quickly as it was registered by her brain. She had been in the industry long enough and she knew when something wasn't right. The dirty schemes behind the glamorous beauty of the entertainment society were well known by many.

She swept a covert look at the mocking and disgusted faces of the people on the sides. Their eyes and smiles, eager to watch a show unfold. Jing Fei arranged her face into a poker face and continued to walk ahead with her head raised. There was no use backing out. The ball has already begun rolling and it was pointless to stop it now. She was sure one of those jealous bitches did something nasty again. She was slightly nervous and apprehensive.

Once she entered the room where the photoshoot would be held, it went quiet. The stillness was suffocating and the only sound that could be heard was the click-clack of Jing Fei's high heels. The faces of the photographer team and people from Sweet Passion were switching with different emotions, one thing was for sure, they were disgusted.

Some had l.u.s.t in their eyes, and some didn't even bother to look at her. She gritted her teeth and stepped forward. 'Here goes nothing.'

"Jing Fei, oh, Jing Fei, I always knew you were a dirty s.l.u.t! How could you taint Sweet Passion's reputation like this when they've already chosen you?" the sneering voice belonged to one of the other chosen models, Yu Mei.

"What are you talking about, Sister Mei? Jing Fei is capable of anything. Just look at how shameless she can be, showing her face around here," Shi Fan, her manager, replied in turn.

The onslaught of insults began from there. "Look at the whore! Who does she think she is? Does she think she can still be apart of the photoshoot? What an idiot!"

"I've been telling everyone that Jing Fei was a bitch, but no one believed me. What's so good about her anyway? Her fans must be as stupid as her!"

"Ha, ha, it's not like she'll have any fans after this! It's all over the internet! I say, she should go into acting. She seems to have a talent for it."

The people from Sweet Passion looked angry and displeased with the turn of events. One of the judges couldn't handle it anymore and spoke out. "Miss Fei, it is not any of our business what you do in your own time. This does not mean you should let your messy private life get in the way of your professionalism! Thanks to you, the photoshoot will have to be canceled. You can be assured your spot will be given to someone much more appropriate."

Jing Fei's face dropped at the news. Her nails bit into the palms of her hands in anxiety. If a company like Sweet Passion rejected her because of this news, how bad could it be? She looked around for Dai Chin, unfortunately, he wasn't anywhere to be found. Even in her state of distress, Jing Fei could easily figure out that this was staged to play out this way.

She took a deep breath to calm herself and ignored the looks. She searched on the web and there was a video going around. She opened the video with shaky fingers and viewed the content. Jing Fei's face paled in an instant and she gaped in horror.