The Wife of Hades

Shen Liya's expression stiffened slightly before she looked up with a faint smile, "I'm actually an orphan."

An Luxia could not hide the surprise on her face as she did not expect this answer, "You. . ."

Shen Liya chuckled, not really affected by the topic, "But it's okay, I'm used to it already."

She stopped talking as she drank the smoothie. 

To avoid the awkwardness, An Luxia smiled and said softly, "I wouldn't say our situation is similar, but I don't have biological parents as well."

Shen Liya looked up, licking away the pink smoothie on the corner of her lips, not saying anything.

"I was adopted when I was young into the family I am in now. My biological parents. . . Well, let's just say they are gone now."

Shen Liya grinned, setting her smoothie down onto the table, "Really? I have heard some things about your family before in school, but I didn't know much about it. What about. . ."

---

As summer neared, the weather heated up, making An Luxia both lazy, not wanting to go to school or watch the filming.

The new actor, Lu Ming, did his job very well, and he was very cold, keeping a distance from all women, whether it was An Luxia or the female workers. However, he would hang around Qin Hui often when they were filming, using the excuse of going over the script.

The days passed by quickly, all of them busy with their own work. . . except Mo Han, who really didn't seem to have much to do except follow his wife around wherever she was.

Before long, summer had officially arrived in June, and it was also time for An Luxia to graduate from her first year of her master's degree. One more to go and she would be finished with school!

  "Goodbye," An Luxia said to Yu Xinyi and Shen Liya as she ran over to Mo Han, embracing him in a hug as they entered the car together, "It's summer break!"

"I know," Mo Han replied with a smile. He was possibly even more happy than her! This would mean that they would have more time to spend with each other.

It had been summer break when they first met, and he really missed those times when they could actually go on dates together, but. . .

  "Today is the last day of filming for Qin Hui. I have to go and watch, but I will be back before dinner," An Luxia said as she entered the car, "It's at the house today."

She showed the address to the driver, who turned to look at Mo Han for approval. Mo Han grudgingly nodded his head, and the driver started the car.

"I'll go with you today," he insisted, and An Luxia did not say anything because he had been following her to filming for a very long time now.

They arrived at the house, and filming had begun already so they entered quietly, watching the final scene take place.

"Cut!" The director screamed, and at once, everyone broke into applause.

Qin Hui stood up with a smile, bowing as a large bouquet of colorful flowers was handed to her. From the chair next to her, Lu Ming also applauded with a slight smile on his face, which surprised An Luxia since she had never seen him smile before.

Her very accurate sixth sense told her that something was off. . .

"Congratulations, Qin Hui," Director Liu said, patting her on the shoulder, "You did well."

  Qin Hui held back her tears as she bowed down several times, "Thank you, director. Thank you for giving me this opportunity."

  Then, she noticed An Luxia and she walked over, pulling An Luxia into a hug, "Thank you, Ms. An."

An Luxia smiled and looked at her, lifting her hand up to wipe away the tears that had fallen, "You don't need to thank me. Great job. . . If I write future novels that get adapted, you would have to star in them, okay?"

  Qin Hui nodded excitedly, "Of course!"

  Qin Hui had finished all her parts, but there were still a few more scenes left that would be finished in the upcoming week.

Then, there would be a press meeting and the show would start broadcasting in two weeks.

---

An Luxia put on a light blue dress, turning around in front of the large mirror, "Hanhan, does this dress look good?"

  Mo Han walked into the closet a moment later, looking at her beautiful wife, "You look good."

An Luxia pursed her lips out with a small smile, "I was asking you about this dress."

"I know. You look good," he repeated.

An Luxia sighed, knowing that asking him would be of no help. She had tried on three dresses already for the press meeting that would start in an hour, and she ultimately decided to go with this one.

She put on a necklace and matching earrings, turning around to find Mo Han still inside the room, "Are you coming to the press meeting with me?"

Mo Han nodded. Of course he was not going to miss out on this important moment for her!

An Luxia looked at him, as he was still dressed in his pajamas, "Are you going to wear that?"

Mo Han looked down and frowned, "Are you saying I look ugly in this outfit?"

An Luxia grinned, walking over to him, "Of course not! My little Hanhan looks cute in everything!"

"Cute?" Mo Han raised one eyebrow. That was how she described him?

"Mhm! Now go get changed," An Luxia said cheerfully, walking out of the closet, "We are leaving in five minutes."

---

Half an hour later, they had arrived in front of the hotel where the press meeting would take place. Several reporters stood outside, flashing their cameras at the actors who walked in and the director. 

When the black car arrived in front of the building, many of them took their cameras out to get ready to take pictures, but the first man who walked out of the car left them frozen.

Who was this man? They did not recognize him to be anyone in the industry, but he certainly looked like it. Was he in the entertainment industry? Maybe a newbie?

  Even though they did not know who it was, the reporters still started taking pictures. It was better to have pictures than not to! 

Then, another woman stepped out, equally enchanting as she held onto the man's hand. She smiled at the reporters, who also did not recognize her as someone to be part of the film.

Together, they entered the hotel and walked into the hotel lobby, where more reporters were waiting.

In a few minutes, the meeting began as the director, producer, An Luxia, and the female and male lead actors stepped up to the stage and sat down.

"Welcome, everyone," the director spoke, "to the press release meeting of the drama, 'The Underworld King's Beloved Wife'. The drama will begin broadcasting in three days on XX Television Station."

  He then turned to his left, "I will let the actors first introduce themselves."

  "Hello, everyone. I am Qin Hui, starring as An Xia in the drama."

  "Hello, I am Lu Ming," he said simply, not saying anything else.

The director cleared his throat a little awkwardly at the silence, and then looked over at An Luxia, "And let's also have our writer introduce herself."

  An Luxia picked up her microphone and turned to the audience, "Good afternoon, everyone. I am An Luxia, the author of the novel, 'The Underworld King's Beloved Wife'."

  "Now we will be open to any questions," the director said, sitting back to let the reporters ask their questions.

The first reporter started off strong, "Lu Ming, how do you feel about picking up the character actor Yu Xiao once had?"

Lu Ming slowly picked up his microphone, staring at the reporter, "How should I feel?"

The reporter did not accept to be asked a question back, and he blinked a few times in confusion before slowly responding, "I'm asking you. . ."

Lu Ming grinned and said, "Well then, I'll say that I don't have any feeling. It is just any other job. Is it any different that someone else had the role before and lost it due to his own carelessness?"

The reporter was left with no words and set a standard for all the other reporters in this room to not ask any stupid questions, especially to Lu Ming.

So, the next reporter decided to attack the newbie, Qin Hui.

"Qin Hui, who did you like working with more, Yu Xiao or Lu Ming?"

Qin Hui was new to all of this, and she did not really know how to respond as she picked up her microphone, stuttering several times before saying softly, "Well, I didn't really work with Yu Xiao for a long time. . ."

  Watching her, Lu Ming then picked up his microphone, turning to the reporter, "I am certain she liked working with me more."