Chapter 3

I headed to the club after putting down my phone and hailing a cab.

At the club, the boss tried as usual to get me to take on a newcomer, fully prepared for my refusal.

This time, however, I didn't refuse. Instead, I started carefully selecting.

In the end, I chose Levi.

For no other reason than his words: "I'll win the championship and crown it in your name."

This was the promise Dashiell once made to me, but in the last competition, he ended up thanking Scarlett.

For me, he casually brushed it off with a simple gift.

When I pressed him further, he accused me of being unreasonable: "Melody, haven't you had enough? You're going to marry me anyway, why do you care about these things?"

Dashiell's call came in the dead of night.

He persistently called again and again, until I finally answered, unable to bear the disturbance.

There was silent breathing on the other end of the line.

At last, he asked in a hoarse voice, "Melody, are you really not going to be my manager anymore?"

I looked down at Levi, who was training beside me, and softly hummed an affirmative, about to hang up.

But Dashiell went berserk: "Is the club forcing you to leave me? Making you take on a newcomer?""Melody, tell me. If you're afraid to resist, let me do it. I'm their cash cow, they have to listen to me!"

"I'm going to talk to the boss right now. You must be mine alone—"

I softly interrupted him: "Dashiell, that's not it."

His voice faltered: "What's not it?"

"I'm their cash cow, Melody—"

I calmly said: "Dashiell, they're not forcing me."

"I voluntarily requested not to work with you anymore, and chose to work with a newcomer instead."

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, finally broken by Levi.

"Have some water."

Before I could take the water, there came the sound of furious pounding from the other end.

The line went dead.

I frowned slightly. Initially, I didn't want to bother with Dashiell, but out of concern for the club's property, I ended up informing his new agent.

The next time I saw Dashiell was at the semi-finals.

I was tidying up Levi's things in the locker room when I heard low voices talking next door.

"Did you see Melody? Are you still thinking about her?" Scarlett asked Dashiell breathlessly between pants.The man remained silent, delivering a heavy slap that resounded with a sharp crack.

"Am I not better than her? Why don't you just marry me instead?"

"What if she finds out about us—"

Dashiell warned with a stern tone, "You and I are just fooling around. I'm still going to marry Melody."

"I didn't make a fuss when you changed my wedding plan without permission last time, but you'd better not mess with her again."

Scarlett coaxed Dashiell not to get angry, yet she pulled him in for another round before the competition.

"You've already planned to propose to her after the competition, so why not have a few more goes with me!"

I walked out of the locker room, inadvertently making eye contact with Scarlett at the doorway.

Her eyes were filled with blatant mockery mixed with derision, her sharp fingernails leaving numerous red marks on Dashiell's back, glaringly conspicuous.

It wasn't until the competition ended that Scarlett finally stumbled out of the locker room.

Her cheeks were flushed, but she looked refreshed upon seeing me: "You saw everything, didn't you? One day, Dashiell will be mine."