Then Stan walked to the chair in front of her desk and sat down.
"Get up," he said.
Vivian rose smoothly, without haste.
Stan looked at her with the calm, asured focus of soone conducting a genuine evaluation rather than performing one.
"Here’s where we are," he said. "You have your position back. Effective imdiately, exactly as it was before yesterday. Nobody outside this office needs to know it was ever revoked."
Vivian nodded once.
"But understand what that ans," Stan continued. "I have access to every file in this branch. Every report, every update, every personnel record, every production schedule. I can review them from anywhere, at any ti, and I will, not on a routine, not with warning, but whenever I feel like it."
His gaze remained fixed on hers.
"And if I open those records and find what I found last ti, you won’t receive a ssage this ti. You’ll receive a termination notice and a security escort."
Silence.
"There will not be a third conversation about this, Vivian," he said evenly. "No apology, no family connection, no appeal to whatever exists between us outside this office will change the outco. The second termination is permanent."
"I understand," she said.
"I need you to understand it completely," Stan replied. "Not as sothing you agree to because you want your position back. As an actual fact about how this works."
"I understand it completely, I’m sorry for everything."
Vivian’s voice was quiet, steady.
"You’re not soone I can push against and recover from. I know that now." A slight pause. "I knew it before I walked into that eting at the Wanhai Hotel. It just took a long ti to accept it fully." She t his eyes without wavering. "I accept it now."
Stan studied her for a mont.
Sothing about the way she stood had changed, the way she occupied the space around her. The arrogance that had once existed in her posture like an invisible structural support was still there, but it had been rearranged around sothing steadier. Less entitlent. More discipline.
Or at least the beginning of it.
"This branch has significant potential," Stan said, his tone shifting subtly from judgnt to business. "The talent pipeline. The production infrastructure. The Velaris market position. It’s being underutilized. I reviewed the reports on my way here."
Vivian straightened slightly. This was familiar ground.
"I know," she said. "I have proposals prepared. I started working on them after our first eting at the Wanhai Hotel, when you told to figure out how to make myself useful to Star Entertainnt and to you as a shareholder."
She gestured lightly toward her desk.
"I’ve been working on that ever since. I have a developnt plan for the branch’s talent acquisition pipeline, along with a restructuring proposal for the production division that should improve efficiency and output significantly."
Stan looked at her for a mont.
"Send them to my official profile before the end of the day."
"They’ll be there by noon."
He gave a small nod and rose from the chair.
"One more thing," he said as he moved toward the door. "The staff here don’t need details about what happened between us or why I ca here today. As far as they’re concerned, I’m a shareholder conducting a routine observation visit. Nothing more."
"Understood."
Stan reached the door, then paused with one hand resting lightly against the fra.
Instead of leaving imdiately, he glanced back at her.
"What’s on your schedule today?"
Vivian blinked once, clearly not expecting the question.
"There’s an industry talent showcase tonight," she answered after a mont. "A private one. Agencies, production companies, streaming platforms, investors, most of the major entertainnt firms in Velaris will be there."
Stan turned slightly toward her again, listening.
"We’re scouting talent," Vivian continued. "Actors primarily, though there’ll also be directors, writers, composers, and independent creators trying to secure backing or contracts."
Stan’s gaze narrowed slightly.
"Star Entertainnt is lacking actors?"
"Not lacking," Vivian corrected calmly. "But an entertainnt company can never afford to stop searching."
She moved toward her desk and picked up a thin folder before continuing.
"The branch recruitnt interviews we’ve been conducting recently are mostly attracting technical applicants, editors, cinematographers, production assistants, post-production staff. Useful positions, necessary positions, but not the kind that beco the face of a project."
Stan nodded faintly.
"What about actors?"
"A few," Vivian said. "None with enough presence to anchor a major production."
She spoke matter-of-factly, without dismissiveness.
"A successful film or series usually requires balance. Unknown actors are valuable, they’re cheaper, easier to shape, and occasionally beco breakout stars. But recognizable nas draw investors, audiences, sponsors, dia attention. They reduce risk."
She set the folder back down.
"If you rely entirely on unknown talent, audience acquisition becos harder. If you rely entirely on celebrities, production costs beco bloated and creative flexibility disappears." A slight pause. "A competent entertainnt company balances both."
Stan studied her quietly as she spoke.
This was different from the Vivian he’d known at the university.
There was no arrogance in her tone now. No need to dominate the conversation or prove herself superior. Just sharp familiarity with an industry she clearly understood far better than he did.
"The showcase tonight is important," Vivian continued. "Several agencies are sending people. So are rival companies. If there’s talent worth signing, everyone will be competing for it."
"Rivals?" Stan asked.
Vivian gave a small nod.
"Netflix, HBO, Amazon Pri, Disney , Hulu, Universal Studios and many others." Her expression remained composed. "Companies with larger production budgets than this branch. So of them are specifically hunting for erging actors before contract prices rise."
Stan leaned lightly against the doorfra, considering it.
He had spent the morning reviewing branch reports, production structures, investnt allocations, internal staffing systems.
Interesting. But still abstract.
This, though, the competition for talent, the politics behind casting, the invisible struggle between entertainnt companies, felt like seeing the machinery underneath the surface for the first ti.
And unexpectedly, he found himself curious.
"When does it start?" he asked.
Vivian looked mildly surprised again.
"Seven tonight."
Stan nodded once.
"I’ll go with you."
For the first ti since he entered the office, Vivian seed briefly caught off guard.
"You wish to attend personally?" she asked carefully.
Stan finally looked up from the report in his hand, his gaze calm but carrying quiet authority.
"Vivian," he said evenly, "you don’t need to question every decision I make. If I say I’ll attend, then prepare whatever’s necessary."
A faint tension passed through the office.
"My apologies, Sir Stan," Vivian said at once, lowering her gaze slightly. "That was inappropriate of ."
Then she straightened almost imdiately, returning to professionalism.
"I’ll have the formal invitation prepared before then."
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