Rise To Stardom: My Villainess

Groaning in frustration, the sleeping beauty regains her consciousness and finally wakes up from her long slumber. Fluttering her eyes open, she reveals her enchanting golden gaze to the world.

She squints it as she takes in her "humble" abode before stretching her arms up into the air. The amber-haired beauty m.o.a.ns as she feels the soreness of her body caused by the exhaustion of the previous day.

Shuffling her messy amber hair, she still looks like the goddess of beauty who has descended from the heavens to grace the mortal world with her magnificence. She then lifts her body to get out of bed. Fixing her bed, she then makes her way up to the restroom, having the sole intention to refresh herself by showering.

But while she does so, she feels a migraine rising. Irked by its sudden presence, she places a hand on her head while squeezing her eyes tight for a moment.

'Damn it!' she swears under her breath.

Stumbling, Ember Wang reaches the bathroom. It's fortunate that her migraine only lasted for a few moments. She then proceeds to finish her job in the room, making certain that she's all scrubbed squeaky clean and free of dirt from yesterday. Stepping out of the room, she smells like fresh citrus fruits.

She then proceeds to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for herself.

Now, people usually are quick to judge and think that all rich people have zero knowledge in regards to doing housework. Unfortunately for them, Ember knows a thing and two. And as she applies jam on her bread, she dries her wet ember hair with a battery-operated hairdryer.

Suddenly feeling thirsty, she looks through the large refrigerator for a drink; but as she does so, her phone suddenly begins to blast out her song "I see" in high volumes. Her lips go straight in line; she's pissed off by the unwelcomed sound.

She harshly swipes the phone screen, accepting the call.

"What is it, Keina-jie?" Ember asks.

The woman in the other line immediately perceives the somberness of her tone, making her arch her eyebrows in mock disbelief. Being Ember's manager for years has been a blessing and a curse. Although the girl herself is one of the fastest rising singers of her generation, time is made recompense for the given fame.

There has never been a time when her schedule is not full.

Even before— She was firstly a manager of the disbanded idol group Eventide. When the girl group first debuted, it became an immediate success; and all the members rose to fame. Ember was also, of course, a part of the group; she was actually the main vocalist. And when Eventide decided to disperse; Keina settled down as Ember Wang's talent manager.

Sure. The pay is obviously very high; the highest one for any singer's manager at that. The woman has also become very well-respected in the industry— with lots of artists wanting to be under her guidance. But having Ember as a responsibility also has its own consequences. For one, there's almost no time for relaxation. Also not to mention that if she makes one wrong move as her manager, then all her fans will point her as a perpetrator.

And, of course, let's not forget Ember's slight princess attitude.

Keina sighs as she answers the female's question, "Well, I just want to remind you of the press conference that is scheduled for you to attend later. I hope that you haven't forgotten about that, Ember"

Her tone is almost bland and pretty straight-forward.

The woman is almost close to pulling her phone away from her ear, expecting the noisy complaints to spout out from the girl's lips. However, what welcomes her instead is silence, which is quite strange and kind of not a good sign. "Is there something wrong?" she asks after a few seconds of stillness.

Ember shakes her head as she snaps out of her daze. "Um, nothing. Nothing. I'm just really tired right now. Can you not postpone it for some time?' she murmurs as she shuts the refrigerator, choosing not to drink anymore since she lost the urge to.

She then takes a sit on the stool as she gazes over the bread with jam, having the feeling that she might not be able to leave the house again with a full stomach.

That though is a normal occurrence; sometimes she doesn't even get to eat anymore as she will delay the time further. Other than having no time, she still has to keep up with her peerless image as it is a rule for her to follow that she has to maintain her hourglass figure all the time.

It's honestly a sad thought that despite having all the money in the world, yet there are times when eating one full meal a day is a luxury that she doesn't have the privilege to. But it's quite understandable. This is the path she chose anyways, who should she blame but herself. To be able to have a name in this industry, she has to face this suffering and discipline. And as a result of all of that, Ember, who is once an idol turned solo artist, is now a novice actress; and she doesn't regret anything at all.

This was— IS her dream; and as a member of the Wang family, one must know how to stick to one's decision.

"Ember." Keina sighs. "I know you are tired, but you have to understand that postponing is not an option that we can take right now."

Ember frowns, knowing where this talk is going to lead. "You want to transition from a solo artist to an actress, but we both know that acting in your music videos isn't going to cut it. You need to formally inform the people and your ★SHYNE★fans that you're going to take a break from being a singer for a while. Who knows what kind of reaction we might get if you don't," she persuades.

The strict woman has always felt pity for the young girl. Despite having everything from a loving family to material possessions that others can only dream of, she still doesn't have it easy. Since she's famous, she will always have her groups of anti-fans that are ready to strike her down if she does even the slightest mistake.

Ember Wang is strong, the strongest artist that Keina knows; but behind closed doors, even the woman in question has her own moments of weakness.

The golden-eyed beauty pulls her gaze away from bread as she lets her hand stroke her half-dry ember hair, realizing that there's really nothing she can do. "I see… farewell then," she emotionlessly murmurs after the manager informs her of the time and specific location of the event being discussed, ending the call afterward.

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Taking a glance at herself in the mirror, Ember knows that her current get up of mini short and plain blue t-shirt is not appropriate for the later event.

She shakes her head with a sigh as she saunters toward her walk-in closet. The sight of luxury items, ranging from clothes, shoes, and jewelry to basically anything you can wear, immediately appears before her. Ember isn't fazed by it, however, as she is already accustomed to her lavish life. Putting on a fiery red dress and silver bangles as her only accessories, she decides to keep it simply by fixing the curls of her already smooth and natural-wavy hair. Surely, there's going to be stylist stationed there to fix it if things go south anyway.

Right after dressing herself up according to the occasion, Ember leaves in a hurry. She just hopes that there isn't much traffic to face like in our countries as it will only make her more late for the press conference.

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Her hand roams insider her bag; the ember-haired beauty continues to search for that stupid phone of hers while she swiftly walks to her destination. Her expression is a bit blank.

Although it isn't obvious, the woman is in a hurry. Arriving only a few minutes before the scheduled period, she has only enough time to spare for a retouch. Biting her lips as she continues to look for her phone. She knows that she has to find the waiting room quick, but she also has to make sure that her phone is with her.

So occupied in searching, she pays no regard to her surroundings. Despite tilting her head up to look forward, she has no chances to stop the collision from happening. She yelps as she lightly bumps into a tall, hooded man.

The man is surprised.

Tilting his head lower, he seems to try and hide his face from any onlookers. Ember doesn't care though. She is in a hurry. "Sorry," she apologizes before starting to walk again.

Just right before she finds the room, she also spots the phone inside her bag. She smiles at her accomplishment. Pushing the door open, she sees a black-haired woman waiting for her arrival, whom Ember presumes to be the hired stylist. That woman then timidly smiles at her before gently assisting her to a chair to get her retouching done.

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"And now please welcome our Nation's muse of beauty, the beautiful Ember Wang!" With the host of the press conference exclaiming the guest's name in excitement, that is a cue for the beauty to step out. And so, there she is. The star of the show.

She walks up the stage, taking graceful and effortless strides. She isn't fazed by the number of people inside the room; she only seems to burst out with confidence upon seeing the number. She smiles and waves at the camera that endlessly snaps photos of her. Murmurs of amazement are heard across the room as they praise her beauty and confidence.

"As expected from her title, she looks perfect as always."

"That red dress suits her so much, it does well to highlight her figure."

"Can I have that face of hers? I'll gladly sacrifice all my money to get at least an ounce of her beauty."

"Her eyes are as mesmerizing as always; it doesn't lose out against the rarest of gems."

The host almost drops his mic as if he has just seen a goddess at that exact moment. He then closes his gaping mouth; a blush is spread on his face. The crowd laughs at his comedic antics. Ember only smirks at the various comments and reactions.

'It's not something I've never heard of before though,' she thought to herself quite shamelessly. Stopping at the center of the stage, she smiles once again for the photographers.

She's momentarily blinded by the flashes of the cameras, but she doesn't let that stop her from showing off her enchanting smile. It causes a massive effect among the onlookers as they gawk at her, not seeming to get enough of it. The live streams from various social media sites are also in chaos due to her stunning smiles. Certainly, Ember Wang is going to be the most searched celebrity in Feido for days to come because of just this one press conference.