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When Sophia was just four years old, the world suddenly began to take notice of her.
At the same time, Charles's career exploded as well.
Within a single week, the short video collection he had uploaded to a small talk platform had broken two million plays, setting a record at the time. His videos also gained more than three million likes, another record breaker. Seventeen well-known singers reposted his content, and almost every active user on that platform had seen his work.
Suddenly, he was a name on everyone's lips.
The first trending topic on the Zhalang social site was: [Insect Fei].
The second trending topic was: [The Girl of the Future Star].
And right next to it, the second most viewed picture was none other than a tiny figure—Sophia, singing with innocence in her eyes.
The story's timeline sped forward.
That day, Victor rushed home in panic after receiving a notification on his phone about his daughter. He hurried through the narrow slum alleys until he finally saw her safe and sound. Only then did he breathe with relief.
But not long after, something even more shocking happened.
Charles received what he would later call the most terrifying "reward" of his life—an offer of one million yuan from an entertainment company to sign Sophia. To him, this was the golden ticket. A chance to change a little girl's fate and turn her into a star.
Determined, he came.
Before approaching Victor directly, he first inquired about the family through shady locals who lived nearby. He wanted to know their struggles, their weaknesses, their desperation.
Then he walked into Victor's small, dimly lit house. On the rickety wooden table, he placed five hundred thousand in cash, stacking the bills into a tempting pile.
"Mr. Victor," Charles said sincerely, "once your daughter signs with Sumei Entertainment Company, you'll get the full one million as an advance payment. From then on, Sophia will earn with the company for life.
"You don't have to suffer in this slum anymore. You could move to a villa. You could drive a sports car. You could finally give your daughter the future she deserves."
His eyes glowed with conviction. Charles truly believed that a girl as talented as Sophia did not belong here, surrounded by poverty. He thought he was offering salvation.
But then, the front door opened.
Victor stepped out, holding Sophia's small hand tightly. His voice was cold, filled with steel.
"Please leave my house."
Charles blinked in shock.
"My daughter should go to school properly, grow up normally—not become a child actress, and certainly not join any entertainment company."
His words carried no hesitation, no room for argument.
"You're insane!" Charles burst out. "Think about her future! Think about the opportunities!"
But Victor's face hardened. "Get out."
The room turned heavy with silence. Finally, Charles gathered the cash back into his bag, his hands trembling, and walked out. Just before the door slammed shut, he caught sight of Sophia's expression through the narrow gap.
Her face was a storm of confusion and anger.
Charles could see it in her eyes—this little girl wanted desperately to become a child star, to escape the dirty slum, to live in a new house. Yet her father had shut the door on her dream.
He could almost hear her heart whispering with resentment.
"What kind of father is this?!" Charles muttered bitterly under his breath. "Damn it!" And he stormed away.
Meanwhile, at Charles's photography studio, his assistant Mark and the cameramen quietly discussed the matter.
From their perspective, their boss had done the right thing. Why dwell on it? Why cry about it? A good opportunity had been offered; if the family refused, so be it.
But far away, on the bright stage of the Magic City Gymnasium, grown-up Sophia was speaking in front of thousands of fans. Her voice was icy, detached, like recounting an old scar.
"That was the beginning of my break with him."
Her words silenced the hall.
"He stood in the way of my dreams."
She didn't even call him "father" anymore. From the age of four, she had erased the word from her vocabulary. To her, Victor was not worthy of it.
The stadium erupted in murmurs.
"Of course! That father was jealous of his daughter's talent!"
"Sophia was always better off following her mother's path."
"This is when the father-daughter bond shattered."
The audience's voices were filled with judgment.
But then, something no one expected appeared on the giant screen.
It was the final scene of the first act, and it broke everyone's heart.
Sophia, only four years old, rushed into her small bedroom. She clutched a piece of paper with lyrics scrawled in childish handwriting. She cried into it, believing that her father had ruined her only chance to resurrect her mother's memory and to finally live in a decent home.
Outside, in the freezing wind of the community, Victor tied a thin rope around his head to ease the aftereffects of his brain cancer treatment. His eyes burned with suppressed fury as he threw a pile of entertainment company contracts at Charles.
Charles bent down to pick them up, and his face darkened as he skimmed through them.
These contracts were monstrous.
Ten years of absolute control by the company.
Sky-high liquidated damages for breaking the contract.
Every performance, every public appearance dictated by the company.
And, hidden in the fine print, an expectation to accompany clients at dinners, no matter the circumstances.
The pages reeked of exploitation.
Beside the contracts, Victor tossed down a newspaper clipping. The article exposed the dark side of child stardom—exhausted kids forced to work long hours, stripped of their joy, beaten down for money, broken under parental greed.
Victor's voice was calm, but sharp as a blade.
"Do you believe me now? If my daughter doesn't join this kind of garbage company, she will still rise. In fact, she will rise higher than you can imagine."
Charles clenched his fists around the papers. He hadn't read the contracts carefully before, and now he realized just how ruthless the industry could be. But still, he shook his head in disbelief.
"Impossible. Without an entertainment company, your child won't survive in this business."
Victor's lips curled into the faintest of smiles. His tone was cold, but unwavering.
"Then wait and see."
He straightened his back and declared, "My child is not some temporary spark. I will not sacrifice her future for a pile of cash. She will become a genius recognized by the world."
The winter wind howled through the slum. Charles stared at this stubborn man, unable to understand him. At last, he turned on his heel, stomping on the contracts as he left.
He abandoned the chance to turn Sophia into his ticket to success. He abandoned the first golden opportunity that had landed in his hands. And he walked back into the city, cursing the man who refused to sell his daughter's future.
Back at the photography studio, Mark froze as he watched his boss break down.
Charles, who had always carried himself with pride, now sat slumped in his chair, tears streaming down his face.
"I'm sorry," he kept repeating. "I'm sorry, you were right… you were right!"
His staff stared at him in stunned silence.
At that moment, they understood why Charles wept.
Because Victor had been right all along.
And Sophia's achievements in the future—achievements grand enough to shake the entire entertainment industry—proved it.
No entertainment company could ever contain her brilliance.