My Fiancé's Scandals Never End, So I Married His Uncle Instead-Chapter 27: Avoided Like the Plague

Port Sovereign.

Wyvern Bay Villa.

Summer Sutton held a glass of cucumber juice, a placid expression on her face as she sat on the sofa.

Her agent, Anne Lowell, clutched a stack of talent agency profiles. She furiously threw them at Summer’s feet, her face dark. "This is what you call a bright future with you?"

Summer Sutton had been dead set on developing her career on the mainland. The past few days had seen an ugly falling-out with her agency in Port Sovereign, culminating in her terminating the contract by paying an exorbitant breach fee. She had also persuaded her agent, Anne Lowell, to jump ship with her.

But things didn’t go as smoothly as expected. In Metropia, countless small, second-rate companies extended olive branches, but the major entertainment giants Summer Sutton actually wanted to sign with all politely declined. Unfamiliar with the scene, Anne Lowell went to great lengths to gather information, only to find out that the lion’s share of the mainland’s entertainment industry was controlled by the Norwood Conglomerate. And Declan Norwood, the Eldest Young Master Norwood, had personally given the order: Do not sign Summer Sutton.

Early in the morning, she received a call from ’Delia Caine’, a perfume brand under the Sterling Conglomerate. Director Churchill from the marketing department spoke in a very formulaic tone:

"As a top-tier celebrity from Port Sovereign, Miss Sutton has a massive fanbase on the mainland. Your fan loyalty is quite high, and your public image is excellent. We sincerely invite you to become the brand ambassador for ’Delia Caine’."

At this point, Director Churchill’s tone shifted. "However, for risk mitigation purposes, we hope that Miss Sutton will partner with us under the name of a studio or an agency. We cannot accept brand collaborations with individuals at this time."

This wasn’t targeted at Summer Sutton; it was standard practice for major brands. Risk aversion was one reason, but other factors included business models, resource allocation, market conditions, and efficiency.

But now, Summer Sutton’s most immediate problem was finding an agency. Before she terminated her contract with Port Sovereign Imperial Star Entertainment, several major mainland entertainment giants had sent representatives to negotiate with her, promising top-tier artist contracts and even partial equity in hopes of signing her.

The new artists agent Anne Lowell had taken on in the past two years hadn’t amounted to much, so she had already shifted all her focus and resources onto Summer Sutton alone. When Summer wanted to terminate her contract, Anne, after a fit of anger, simply quit Star Sovereign Entertainment as well and chose to continue managing her.

Anne Lowell had been handling all the negotiations with the mainland agencies. They were going well, but then, at noon today, the representatives from all the major entertainment giants collectively went silent!

Anne Lowell pulled many strings before finally learning the full story from a director at Metropia’s Celestial Phoenix Entertainment. The director’s tone was guarded:

"Celestial Phoenix had an S-rank contract all ready. We were sincere about signing her. But who would have thought we’d run into the Eldest Young Master."

The incident itself was actually quite dramatic.

The Norwood Conglomerate’s business interests spanned the globe; the entertainment sector was just an insignificant part of it. Normally, a trivial matter like signing a celebrity wouldn’t need to be reported to the higher-ups, and they couldn’t be bothered with it anyway. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

The general manager of Celestial Phoenix was at the Norwood Group for a routine report and happened to run into the boss of Leviathan Entertainment. The two exchanged a few casual words in the hallway:

"I hear you guys want to sign Summer Sutton, too? Old Man Stanton’s Apex Entertainment is also fighting for her. Stanton is even ready to bleed himself dry and offer up some shares..."

"Isn’t your Leviathan Entertainment also in contact with her? After all, with that man from the Sterling Conglomerate behind her, I can’t believe anyone wouldn’t be tempted."

A faint voice drifted over. "Are you talking about Summer Sutton?"

The two men looked toward the voice and saw the Eldest Young Master Norwood. The rumored dashing and debonair young master was now emaciated, his charming eyes heavy with gloom. He was leaning lazily against the wall, smoking. Through the swirling smoke, his face was pale and desolate, as if he had lost half his soul.

Today was the day he was supposed to leave for Solisia.

The group’s upper management had sent a representative to see him off and hand over matters related to the Solisia operations. The handover was already complete, and he was scheduled to depart in half an hour. But unexpectedly, the young master had come out for a smoke to relieve his boredom and happened to overhear that name—a name to which he was extremely sensitive.

Declan Norwood was no fool. He had stumbled into that whole affair at the Port Sovereign club in a daze. For some reason, his pack of degenerate friends had ganged up on him that night, egging him on to play some absurd "bachelor’s farewell" game. He was just drinking by himself, his mind on Celia Sterling, the woman he had finally managed to win over, and he hadn’t been swayed at first. But somehow, after a few drinks, his resolve had wavered.

And right at that moment, Summer Sutton had appeared. It wasn’t that he didn’t recognize her. She was the big star from Port Sovereign who had been rumored to be with Kian Sterling a few months prior. Because her eyes and brows bore a slight resemblance to Celia Sterling’s, he had a fairly strong impression of her. No matter how much he courted disaster, he wouldn’t have been foolish enough to make a move on a woman who could potentially become the matriarch of the Sterling Family.

But for some reason, he was out of his mind at the time. In his daze, he thought Celia Sterling was right in front of him. His buddies were all hooting and hollering, and the atmosphere grew increasingly hazy and suggestive. He lost his composure for a moment and did something reckless, but just as he was about to kiss her neck, the unfamiliar scent and presence shocked him back to his senses!

Immediately after, high-definition photos flooded the trending topics online. By the time he gave strict orders to suppress the trending stories, he had barely managed to compose himself. Swallowing his guilt, he tried to act casual and went back to Celia Sterling to present the treasures he’d acquired in Port Sovereign. But somehow, some meddling ghost or god had exposed the whole trending topic incident right in front of her.

He was busy trying to win her back, but before he could, he was exiled to the mines in Solisia. By the time he rushed back, dejected and disgraced, he was hit with the major news of a marriage swap...

’His whole world had collapsed!’

From beginning to end, he never spared a thought to consider the suspicious circumstances at the Port Sovereign club.

What was done was done. He spent two or three straight days drowning his sorrows at a bar, drinking himself into a ghost-like state, until Justin Norwood kicked him back to reality:

"In your current state, you’re not fit to stay in Metropia. I’ve applied to your younger uncle to have you sent to Solisia. You can be transferred back when you’ve sorted out your mentality."

Perhaps due to the blow of losing his beloved, Declan Norwood didn’t even resist. He listlessly accepted the family’s arrangement.

But today, he resisted.

After hearing the sensitive name ’Summer Sutton’.

In the time it took to smoke a cigarette, the cause and effect formed a complete picture in his mind. At the Port Sovereign club, the people, the drinks—something had been off about all of it. Although he didn’t know what role Summer Sutton had played, she was the direct trigger. She was by no means innocent.

So, when a group of directors came to his side and asked him to head to the airport, he refused to go.

"My condition for going to Solisia," Declan Norwood said, exhaling a smoke ring with a devil-may-care grunt. "Give me control of the Norwood Family’s entertainment division."

...

Anne Lowell hung up the phone and pressed the bridge of her nose, her expression grim as she looked at Summer Sutton:

"Honestly! Having the Ninth Master wasn’t enough for you, you had to go and provoke the Eldest Young Master Norwood! This time, the Eldest Young Master Norwood personally gave the word. The major entertainment giants controlled by the Norwood Conglomerate won’t sign you, and they won’t engage in any business collaborations with you. He even threatened that whichever company you sign with, he’ll destroy. Just you wait. In half an hour at most, even those small companies will be avoiding you like the plague."

"Then I’ll do it myself," Summer Sutton said nonchalantly. "I’ll start my own studio."

"I forgot to mention," Anne Lowell said, her face devoid of expression. "As part of our two-pronged approach, we also sent applications to establish a studio in Metropia. The Eldest Young Master Norwood has shut all of them down."

Summer Sutton’s expression darkened as she swallowed her cucumber juice. She immediately made a call to Kian Sterling’s assistant, Evan Rhodes.