Matchmaking

Francis and George waited with bouquets in their hands as the crowd parted naturally to make way for Irene. Behind them stood Reese and the rest of the cast, all watching Irene intently. They applauded the end of her shoot and smiled in anticipation of her future.

If she had been hesitant and uncertain before making this film, from this moment on, she would charge ahead without looking back.

Her father and The Godfather had thrown her a wrap party. A group of young people cheered along to the music, and for a moment, Irene thought she heard Britney's voice. Then she decided it had to be her imagination.

But as the crowd gradually quieted, Britney emerged from behind the curtain, pushing a cake and wearing a birthday hat as she sang "Happy Birthday." Irene could no longer hold back. She rushed over and threw her arms around her.

"Ah! Why didn't they tell me you were coming today?"

"Because I wanted to surprise you!"

Seeing the hat, Irene suddenly remembered something. "Oh, your birthday! I'm sorry, I completely forgot. I didn't even celebrate your debut with you."

"Sweetie, I didn't have time to celebrate yours either. So I came today to celebrate both our birthdays."

Irene gazed at her, warmth spreading through her. "Right, we're celebrating both our birthdays—and both our careers, too."

Britney pulled an identical birthday hat from beneath the cart and put it on Irene's head. Together, they pushed the cake into the middle of the crowd, where everyone celebrated the two girls' birthdays.

At first, everyone politely offered them birthday wishes. But then someone smeared cake on Irene's face, and things quickly got out of hand. A full-on cake fight broke out.

The sweet scent of cake hung in the air, and a breeze brushed Irene's cheeks. Standing beneath the night sky, she watched the group in front of her messing around. Her calves ached and felt a little tight, but nothing could dampen her good mood. Wasn't living all about moments of happiness like this?

When Britney saw Irene standing by herself, she left the fight too and crept up behind her, covering her eyes with her hands.

"Guess who?"

"Do I really have to guess, Brit?"

Britney laughed and stood beside Irene, then turned to her. "What's wrong? The movie's finished, and Francis told me you did a great job. You should be happy. Why do you still look like something's bothering you?"

"Maybe I've just reached my goal so suddenly that I don't know what to do next. But enough about me. What about you? I heard your album's selling like crazy. What's it like to become famous overnight?" Irene couldn't quite explain what she was feeling, but she didn't want to bring anyone else down.

"It feels amazing, haha! A ton of people came over to say hello just now. It's like the whole world knows who I am. It's such a strange feeling."

Seeing Britney still so innocent, Irene thought of how the paparazzi would stop at nothing to dig up stories about her. The pressure of all that fame would crush her.

"As long as you're happy. If anything's wrong, you have to tell me."

"I know, I know." Britney nodded. Even though she was only a few days younger than Irene, she was always the one being reminded to do things.

"By the way, I saw you came with Shelly?"

"Yeah, he's my manager now, too."

It was good that Britney had signed with Shelly. With him looking out for her, she wouldn't be exploited too badly.

"Shelly's pretty good. He's decisive, and though he has plenty of little flaws, he does his job well enough. But there are some things you shouldn't take his word for, okay?" There had been many reasons behind Britney's tragedy in Irene's previous life, but the main ones had been her mental state, exploitation by her family, and social prejudice.

With Irene around, Britney shouldn't end up with no one to confide in.

As for her family's control, Irene had already persuaded Britney to become independent and stop letting her parents manipulate her with their cheap version of love. And now Shelly was there, too. He could handle things Irene couldn't conveniently get involved in.

As for social prejudice, there was no easy way to deal with that for now. Even someone as powerful as Michael Jackson couldn't escape the shameless media making up stories about him, let alone Britney.

At that thought, Irene suddenly remembered another factor behind Britney's tragedy—the culprit behind the damage to her image early in her career.

"You're not seeing anyone right now, are you?" Irene asked Britney bluntly.

"Huh?" Britney didn't understand at first. When she realized what her friend was asking, her gaze wavered as she tried to avoid answering.

"I just debuted. How could I possibly have a boyfriend? You're overthinking it!"

Britney was a teen idol adored by fans around the world, but she longed to be loved just like anyone else. She wanted a normal, lasting relationship, and Irene had always known that.

But Britney had spent all her time training at the company. Before her debut, they had kept such a close eye on her that she hadn't even been able to meet anyone. So for now, she was still single.

Irene had clearly caught the evasiveness in her eyes, but she didn't want to launch into a lecture. At Britney's age, you could call her young—or, less charitably, say she was going through a rebellious phase. Besides, she probably wasn't officially together with that scumbag yet.

"I'll introduce you to a friend. He's an actor in our film. He's really handsome." Irene decided to cut the problem off at the source and introduce Britney to Edward Nelson.

She had vetted him thoroughly. He came from a good family and had plenty of money; he clearly hadn't been raised in an ordinary household. He was a little impulsive, but so far, he seemed like a sunny, positive young man. He was at least ten thousand times better than the scumbag who would toy with Britney's feelings.

Irene led Britney over to Edward.

Edward was frantically wiping cake off his face with a tissue. The moment he spotted Irene coming over, he hurried to wipe faster and mumbled, "Boss, you need me? Give me three seconds. I'll get this cake traitor cleaned off in no time!"

"It's fine. I want you to meet someone. This is my best friend, Britney Spears. And this is our group's 'acting ace,' Edward Nelson."

"Wow! You're the singer who made me wait in a huge line to buy your album, right? Your songs are so good, and you're even prettier in person!" Edward said, enthusiastically holding out his hand. He couldn't claim to be good at much, but he had two greatest talents: being handsome and always being ready to offer top-tier emotional support. He was sure he could beat that scumbag ex-boyfriend.

Britney was a little shy, but she still gave his hand a gentle shake. "Thank you for liking my songs. I'd love to have you all come see me perform sometime."

"Then it's a deal! You're definitely going to be a huge star. Then I'll be able to brag to everyone that the superstar Britney personally invited me to hear her sing live!"

Britney laughed even sweeter, quickly waving her hands to say he was giving her too much credit.

Seeing how well the two were getting along, Irene immediately decided to leave them to it. "I need to talk to Francis about editing. You two take your time. Edward, look after my friend, got it?"

"Yes, boss! I'll exceed expectations!"

As Irene turned to leave, she faintly heard Britney ask in her sweet, distinctive voice, "Why do you call her boss?"

But Edward's answer had already disappeared into the breeze, too faint to make out.