"Ding! Breaking gossip alert!"

Celeste Beddington was still stuffing her face at the banquet. She rolled her eyes, grabbed another mini cupcake, and kept eating like nothing happened.

But a few seconds later, her eyes suddenly sparkled.

[vocal! The son of the CEO of Tang Real Estate isn’t even his! Dude’s been raising someone else’s kid!]

[And the real dad is… holy crap, this is some next‑level family‑drama plot twist! The kid calls him dad, but actually he should be calling the kid his little brother?]

[No wonder the paternity test didn’t show anything when he dragged the kid to check! I mean… makes total sense now!]

Celeste glanced over sympathetically at the chubby man clinking glasses with a tall, sharp‑looking guy in a suit.

The chubby guy didn’t react at all, but the suited man’s ear twitched slightly.

What was that sound?

Nathan Beddington looked around, but no one seemed to be talking to him.

Still, he narrowed his eyes at his good brother, Zane Bell, and asked, "Why didn’t your wife come with you tonight?"

Celeste happened to be walking by and heard him. She couldn’t help roasting him in her head.

[Why would your wife show up? She’s literally on the couch at home with her little baby boy toy right now…]

[She’s wild like that!]

Nathan: "!!!"

Nathan almost dropped his wine glass.

What the hell? That spicy?

Then he suddenly called out to the girl who had just walked past him. "Hold on a second!"

Celeste turned back, a cupcake still in hand, pointing at herself. "Me? You mean me?"

In an instant, everyone at the banquet turned their heads toward them.

The mighty head of the Beddington Group suddenly stopping a barely-known actress—just because she looked pretty? That was a massive bombshell right there.

People stared, whispering in their heads that Nathan Beddington might look young, but the guy was actually in his sixties. His wife was a legendary actress who’d been famous forever, his sons were all killing it in their fields, and his only daughter was also in the entertainment industry.

And this girl? She looked about the same age as his daughter.

Uh… creepy much?

Just then, Roslyn Beddington noticed the situation and hurried over.

Nathan stood straight and calm, completely unfazed by the curious glances around them. He simply asked, his voice steady, “What’s your name?”

Everyone froze. “!!!”

Celeste Beddington had been in this book world for several days now, stuck as some minor actress no one cared about. Her manager had dumped her at this power-packed dinner party just to get her some exposure.

It was her first time with so many eyes on her, but she didn’t even blink. Small scene. She’d been through hundreds of fast-travel worlds—this was nothing.

And ending up here? All because she’d snatched too many pretty boys and caused chaos in those worlds. Honestly, she deserved it.

“My name is Celeste Beddington. What’s wrong?”

Inside, she added, “What, did you take a liking to me? No way. Sure, you don’t look terrible, but you’re way too old. I can’t chew that!”

Nathan: “...”

Wow. Didn’t expect her to be this full of herself.

But by now, he was certain—he had just heard the girl’s inner thoughts.

And judging by everyone else’s normal expressions, was he the only one who could hear them?

"Hah! Knew it. Nathan Beddington really is the universe’s favorite son."

Zane Bell, the chubby boss, wore the exact same gossip-hungry look. He nudged Nathan’s arm and muttered, "Dude, chill a bit."

Then his grin stretched even wider. "Uh‑oh. Bad news. Your wife and your daughter just walked in."

The schadenfreude in his tone was basically glowing neon.

I mean, honestly, what could be more entertaining than watching your buddy get chewed out by his wife?

Nathan rolled his eyes so hard it was a miracle they didn’t fall out. He stared at Zane, lips twitching like he wanted to say something but swallowed it down. Too many people around. In the end, he quietly took out his phone and shot Zane a WeChat message.

Stop getting hyped. Go home and check on your wife. She’s on the couch with…ugh, forget it.

He had no clue if the voice in his head was legit or nonsense, but Nathan figured he’d better verify it.

Zane saw the message and his eyes went round like metal doorknobs. What the hell?

Was his wife cheating on him?

No, impossible. Absolutely not.

But when he looked up at Nathan, he didn’t see a joking face—he saw deadly seriousness.

And then he remembered she didn’t pick up his video call earlier.

He yelped, flung his wine glass aside, and bolted toward the exit like his life depended on it.

Everyone: "…"

Celeste Beddington: "…"

Damn! That scared the life out of me! Why did Zane Bell suddenly lose his mind? His mental state’s somehow shakier than mine! That’s… impressive, actually.

But what does that handsome old guy want with me? He’s not seriously into me, right?

If he wants a purely platonic thing and pays me a million a month, I mean… I could think about it.

Nathan Beddington stared at the young girl in front of him, a girl who looked about the same age as his own daughter, and for some reason she felt oddly familiar.

But the stuff running through her head? Way too wild.

He was a decent man, okay?

He forced a polite smile. "It's nothing, you…"

But before he could finish, a soft, sugary voice cut right in.

"Dad! I'm not feeling so good."

Nathan’s attention snapped back instantly. He grabbed Roslyn Beddington’s hand, panic written all over his face. "Come here, sweetheart. Tell Dad, where does it hurt?"

Right then, Jasmine Ashbourne stepped over in her heels, her expression instantly tightening with worry. "Let Mom check too."

Everyone around knew Nathan and Jasmine spoiled their youngest daughter to the heavens. All at once, envious gazes gathered on Roslyn, bright enough to blind someone.

And just like that, Celeste Beddington was completely forgotten.

Roslyn lifted a hand to her forehead, but her eyes—those sharp, calculating eyes—skimmed over to Celeste for a split second, a flash of frost slipping through.

Why was she here?

Wasn’t the whole recognition thing scheduled for much later?

Did the system feed her the wrong intel?

Celeste, however, didn’t care about being ignored at all. She calmly finished the two mini cakes in her hand and was planning to grab two more.

Then the system’s voice chimed in again.

Ding! Big gossip alert!

Celeste rolled her eyes so hard they could’ve hit the ceiling. In her head, she snapped, "You useless system, seriously? All you do is drop these random gossip bombs! My previous systems? Those were the real deal—full skills, full config, some could even help me tie a handsome guy straight to my bed. Can you even compare?"

"You better start leveling up, like, yesterday. Catch up to my old systems already!"

The gossip system honestly never expected it would get its CPU fried this soon after clocking in.

It sounded downright wronged, saying, “Hey, I’m super useful, okay? I drop the hot tea, you just quietly sip it, and boom—your shock points go up. Once you hit 100,000, you can rewrite that tragic fate of being trafficked overseas and dying miserably!”

Celeste Beddington arched a brow. “Yeah, sure. Watch me ignore you to death.”

A hundred thousand shock points? She might as well collapse right now.

The system suddenly perked up. “This one’s about you! Worth 200 shock points! Big, big tea!”

Celeste’s eyes lit up.

[About me? Okay fine, I’ll take a tiny bite.]

[vocal! My biological dad is actually Nathan Beddington of the Beddington Group, and my mom is the award‑winning veteran actress Jasmine Ashbourne?]

That piece of tea hit her like a truck. Celeste just froze, her pretty eyes drifting uncontrollably toward Nathan and Jasmine.

At the same moment, Nathan and Jasmine both turned to look right at her.

———

[Chaotic comedy vibes. Updating steadily. Don’t forget to add to your shelf～]