“Sooner?” His brow arched. “You went to M Country alone to find Rio without telling me. I only confirmed his location today. Why the interrogation? Want it or not?”

“Obviously.” She studied him. “But how did you uncover Rio’s itinerary?”

Shi Yao shrugged casually. “Just some digging.”

Alaricka stared him down. “…Are you auditioning too?”

“Tsk.” He clicked his tongue. “Seems you’ve lost interest.”

She slapped his arm. “Out with it.”

Shi Yao stifled a laugh. “Tomorrow, 8 PM. Garden Lake Hotel.”

“One more thing—Rio adores piano. Show off your skills, and he might just sell you the rights.”

Garden Lake Hotel.

With extended business in Shanghai, Alaricka worked from her room all day before finally heading out.

Shi Yao pointed. “Rio’s suite. Should be meeting candidates—let’s wait.”

Alaricka nodded, approaching the doorway.

The door stood ajar. Peering in, she saw the entire layout as a flowing piano melody drifted from Rio’s room.

Shi Yao raised an eyebrow. “Seems someone beat us here—probably an actor. We’ll hang back.”

Alaricka stepped closer to the threshold.

It was called a room, but more accurately, it was a small studio. With over ten rows of seats below the stage, Alaricka spotted Rio and his team sitting right in the middle at first glance.

The piano music came from the stage of the studio.

From Alaricka’s angle, she could only see the back of the woman playing the piano, not her face.

Alaricka and Shi Yao waited by the door for a while. It took two minutes for the piano piece to end.

Soon, a woman’s voice came from the studio. She spoke fluent English.

Alaricka had once studied English day and night, so she understood naturally.

“Director Rio, hello. I am Roschelle, also a candidate for the female lead in this film. Today I…”

Alaricka’s eyebrows twitched, and she turned to look.

The woman was no longer facing away. Alaricka could at least see her profile.

It was Roschelle.

Alaricka whispered, “What is she doing here?”

Shi Yao exchanged a glance with her but said nothing.

A thought flashed through Alaricka’s mind, and she seized it quickly.

She took out her phone and searched for news about Roschelle.

In previous years, she had focused on herself and hadn’t paid much attention to Kieran and Roschelle’s lives. She had skimmed news about them without taking note.

Only now did she vaguely recall.

Alaricka glanced at the news. Sure enough, Roschelle had switched to acting two years ago with Kieran’s support.

But over the years, Roschelle had only played minor roles without much success.

This time, Kieran had gone all out.

This was the female lead role for the internationally renowned director Rio. No actress would turn it down.

The lead actress in Rio’s last film had won the Best Actress award at an international film festival and become an international movie star.

Even though the role Roschelle was auditioning for had nothing to do with the game center rights, Alaricka still had concerns.

Could it really be a coincidence?

Kieran refused to sell her the rights. She came to see Rio, and then coincidentally ran into Roschelle here.

She listened carefully to the sounds inside.

Nothing seemed off. It was just a simple conversation between the director and a candidate.

From the sound of it, Director Rio seemed to like Roschelle a lot and was encouraging her.

Alaricka waited until the sounds stopped, then peeked inside.

Director Rio was still sitting in the first row. Roschelle walked to a seat a few rows back and sat down.

It seemed Roschelle was the last actor he interviewed. There were no more actors waiting inside or outside. Director Rio and the other staff were already gathering their things, probably about to leave.