Chapter 217

Zhang Wei's eyes were glued to Owen as he watched him methodically search the car, inching closer to where the hidden camera was stashed. His heart pounded in his chest as he silently prayed, "Please don't find it, please don't find it."

But it seemed the heavens weren't on his side. Owen soon discovered the camera hidden under the seat, and Zhang Wei's face fell, displaying a grin more pained than a grimace.

Owen examined the camera and flipped through its contents, finding numerous photos of him and Zuri dining together. If these pictures were ever leaked, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Owen deleted all the photos and removed the memory card. Zhang Wei watched, his heart breaking—these photos were his hard work, and now, in an instant, they were all gone. He cursed his own greed for following them, thinking if he hadn't, the photos could have been safely stored.

Now, his chance to make it big was lost!

As Zhang Wei wallowed in regret, it was already too late to change anything.

After destroying the memory card, Owen wasn't satisfied. He conducted a thorough search of the car, inside and out, and only when he was sure there wasn't a third camera did he finally let Zhang Wei go.

"Your phone," Owen demanded, extending his hand.

Zhang Wei's eyes widened in alarm. "Mr. Owen, I don't have any photos on my phone."

"Let's take a look and see."

"This is my private phone; it's full of personal stuff. I can't just hand it over," Zhang Wei protested, hiding the phone under his leg.

Owen's voice turned icy. "You can hand it over voluntarily, or I can take it myself."

Zhang Wei remembered a certain predecessor who had sneaked into a hotel and snapped private photos of Owen, refusing to give up the phone when caught. Owen had taken it by force, and the guy ended up spending a long time in the hospital.

That same predecessor had tried to rally other paparazzi to ruin Owen's reputation, but the attempt backfired spectacularly, leaving him nearly bankrupt from medical bills and without a job.

Recalling that incident, Zhang Wei meekly handed over his phone.

"Don't worry, I won't look at anything I shouldn't," Owen reassured him. True to his word, he didn't pry into Zhang Wei's private data, only checking the photo album to ensure there were no compromising pictures before returning the phone.

"Keep what you saw today to yourself," Owen warned, his tone deadly serious. "If this gets out, I will find you. And trust me, you don't want to know what happens then."

It was the first time Owen had ever threatened a paparazzo. In the past, even when his privacy was invaded, he'd never resorted to intimidation, believing that their professions could coexist as long as his boundaries weren't crossed.

But Zuri and his family were his absolute boundaries. Anyone who crossed them would not be spared.

Zhang Wei nodded fervently. "Don't worry, I'll take this to the grave."

Owen left.

Zhang Wei watched the Maybach drive out of the parking garage and didn't dare to follow. After the car was gone, he let out a long breath and bent down to remove his shoe. Inside the smelly sock, he pulled out a hidden memory card.

This card had slipped into his shoe when he was swapping them earlier, and he hadn't been able to retrieve it because it was stuck in his sock.

Looking at the memory card, Zhang Wei's face broke into a sly grin.

Where there's a will, there's a way!

Ha ha ha, Zhang Wei was destined to become the king of paparazzi in the entertainment industry.

Zhang Wei carefully tucked the memory card back into the stinky sock, feeling it was the safest place to keep it.

He was practically giddy as he started his car and drove away. Owen's threats were already fading from his memory.

In their line of work, dealing with threats and harsh words was just part of the job, nothing out of the ordinary.

To Zhang Wei, exposing a scandal was nothing compared to what his predecessor had done.

After all, that guy had snapped nude photos.

In comparison, Zhang Wei's work was much less severe.

Zhang Wei was still riding high on his excitement when he got home. But just as he was about to turn on his computer, his phone rang. The editor-in-chief's furious voice blasted through the line, "Zhang Wei, I told you to tail Huang Qiming! Where the hell were you? Did you know someone else caught him, and it's already out?"

"You idiot! How could you screw up an assignment I personally gave you??"

Zhang Wei was taken aback by the shouting and cautiously moved his phone away from his ear. Only when the tirade calmed down did he bring it back.

"Boss, listen to me. Today, I caught a huge scoop, a massive one! This is going to make our magazine sell out!" Zhang Wei said excitedly.

The editor-in-chief scoffed, "What kind of crap did you shoot? Or did you catch some D-list celebrity cheating?"

Zhang Wei didn't mind the sarcasm. "You'll never guess who I caught this time," he teased.

Hearing the smugness in Zhang Wei's voice, the editor-in-chief shot back, "Are you about to tell me you caught Owen with a woman?"

Everyone in the country knew that Owen was the cleanest actor in the entertainment industry. If someone managed to get a photo of him with a woman, it would be explosive.

"Boss, how did you know?" Zhang Wei was genuinely surprised.

The editor-in-chief almost rolled his eyes. "Cut the crap! Don't use that as an excuse."

"But I really did catch him. Don't believe me? I'll send the photos to your email right now. You can see for yourself."

Realizing that this might be serious, the editor-in-chief leaped out of his chair. "You're not joking?"

"I'm not."

"Then why the hell are you still on the phone? Send it over now!" The editor-in-chief yelled, dropping all pretense of civility.

Zhang Wei hung up the phone and quickly inserted the card into his computer. But as he reviewed the photos, his heart sank.

Crap!

Why are they all blurry?

He frantically clicked through each one until he finally found one that wasn't too out of focus. When he saw it, he nearly cried with relief.

Oh, thank goodness the heavens were still looking out for him.

The picture showed Owen tenderly draping a coat over the woman's shoulders, looking every bit the gentleman.

Owen's fans were going to lose their minds when they saw this!

The only downside was that the woman's face was mostly obscured by Owen's raised hand, showing only her bright, clear eyes.

But something was better than nothing.

Zhang Wei carefully saved the photo and sent it to his boss's email.

The editor-in-chief, who had been impatiently waiting, nearly had a heart attack when he saw there was only one photo.

"Zhang Wei, where are the other photos?" the editor-in-chief roared.

Zhang Wei meekly replied, "They… they came out blurry."