Miranda plopped down on the couch, stretched out her arms, and leaned back with a contented sigh. “It’s so nice. It finally feels like home again.”

Lionel couldn’t help but chuckle. “Of course it does. Three housekeepers worked upstairs and downstairs for a full three hours. Your mom supervised the whole thing, making sure no corner was left untouched.”

“Huh? Where’s Mom?” Miranda glanced around.

Lionel replied, “She was just here watching television. How could she disappear in an instant?”

At that moment, Mindy came running out of the study with her phone. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement, and her eyes were sparkling brightly. “It exploded!”

“Huh?” Lionel was puzzled.

Miranda asked, “What exploded?”

Both father and daughter were equally confused.

Mindy took a deep breath to compose her emotions. “My new book! It exploded in popularity!”

Warren’s movements were swift. He had been busy arranging the publication process since the two of them met in Elgerson to discuss matters.

First was the early promotion stage. After 12 years of silence, the mystery novelist, Mindy Harrison, returned with a new suspense thriller following her hit novels, “Murder Weapon” and “The Deserted School.”

The selling point was there, but the response wasn’t great.

Firstly, Mindy had been disconnected from the thriller novel industry for many years. While her reputation remained, her previous glory had faded after a new generation of writers cropped up. Most readers didn’t care much for her anymore.

Secondly, fan culture was the current trend in the novel industry. Authors start like pop stars and celebrities to promote their works online with marketing strategies to package themselves.

They would accumulate readers through these methods, who would then vote for their works online or buy their books in stores. Coupled with some marketing articles posted online, popularity would naturally follow.

Mindy had sworn off the internet for many years. Without even a public social media account, where would she get fans to do all that for her? As a result, the pre-release of her new book wasn’t very successful.

Mindy felt down for several days when she found out. However, Warren was calm and composed. Not only did he handle the pressure, but he also reassured her that online buzz was fleeting. In the end, what mattered was the quality of the content.

Mindy’s new book, “Seven Days,” was officially published a month ago, thanks to Warren’s persistent efforts. The original title was “Lantern,” but the publicity team thought it was too plain and lacked appeal to the masses. So, they suggested that Warren change the title.

After discussing it with Mindy, they settled on a new name. However, the original title was still printed in small letters on the cover to keep everyone satisfied.

On the day the book was officially released, it only sold 72 copies nationwide. It was an understatement to consider the release disastrous. “Seven Days” set a new record for lowest sales among all the works Warren had published over the years.

During that period, Mindy’s emotions were very unstable. She sat at the computer every day, feeling restless and anxious. She completely lost the will to continue writing. Mindy even felt an unprecedented sense of guilt and regret whenever she faced Warren.

Warren had placed so much trust in her and gave her the best resources. He even paid the signing fee worth millions without much hesitation, and yet she repaid him with such poor sales.

Mindy started to doubt herself. Was she even fit to continue writing? Did anyone still read what she wrote? If an author’s work wasn’t being read by anyone, could she still call herself an author? Mindy fell into a spiral of self-doubt.

Lionel noticed the change in Mindy and felt worried, but he couldn’t help much since writing was not his area of expertise. All he could do was watch anxiously on the sidelines, until Warren gave Mindy a call.

“Ms. Harrison, do you know how many copies ‘Seven Days’ sold today?”

Mindy’s heart sank. Had the sales plummeted even further into single digits?

She said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Stone. I think I might…”