Chapter 1

I was hiding under the hull of a luxury yacht when I heard the gossip: a three-time award-winning actress had jumped into the sea.

Her greedy, controlling husband had forced her to take on twenty films a year, belittled her for not having children, and isolated her from everyone who could have saved her.

In the end, the actress gave in to her depression and vanished into the sea.

And that was when I got interested.

Greedy men were my favorite. The greedier they were, the brighter they burn.

*****

I was singing my heart out on the street when a talent scout spotted me immediately.

He whisked me away to a recording studio.

Songs that other singers couldn't even touch, I belted out effortlessly.

My voice was ethereal, haunting, like a siren luring people into a trance.

When the final note hung in the air, a man came over and gripped my hand excitedly.

He said, "Girl, you are a born singer; your voice is incredible. Sign with me. I'm Janus Lowell, a top agent in the industry, and I swear I can make you a star."

Turned out, he was the greedy man I'd heard about.

A month ago, I'd rescued a woman from a suicide attempt.

She was extremely beautiful, but insane.

She muttered apologies to someone named "Janus," lamenting she couldn't give him a child.

Sometimes she'd break down mid-sentence, wailing about being abandoned in the cold sea.

She was so dramatic that we all called her the "Mad Actress".

I was very interested in Janus, whom she often spoke about.

One day, while eavesdropping from under the boat, I actually heard the story of her and Janus.

It turned out the mad woman was a top actress who'd won multiple awards.

Her husband was greedy, forcing her to shoot twenty films a year, and taking all her earnings.

Because she didn't have children, her husband constantly belittled her.

Her husband was also controlling, so she didn't even have a friend to talk to.

Eventually, she gave in to depression, and jumped into the sea, seeking her death.

The gossipmonger concluded with a sigh, "Her husband's evil. He'll get what's coming one day. Hopefully, he'd get devoured by the fishes."

I rolled my eyes. Did they think the beings in the ocean would just eat anything?

Naturally, such a greedy scumbag like Janus was premium oil material for the lantern.

I smiled brightly at Janus. "Sign me. I can't wait to become incredibly famous."

My album dropped soon after.

My voice was sweet and smooth, with an exotic undertone. Every lyric felt like a hook, drawing listeners back again and again.

Three months in, I was the hottest singer in the industry.

Janus made a fortune off me, grinning nonstop.

Even better, he noticed I seemed interested in him.

He started testing me—dinners alone, golf lessons, even dancing closely at the celebratory parties.

I let him.

I even flirted when drunk, whispering, "I'm a little… thirsty."

He didn't hesitate to take me to a hotel that night, where we had sex.

Afterwards, he groped my legs, praising me for not having only a great voice and figure, but perfect legs too.

Of course my legs were beautiful. I had exchanged ten chests of sunken treasures with an elder for them.

Sadly, they only lasted a year and were high-maintenance. One slip-up and they'd reveal their true form.

Thus, I had to see just how greedy Janus was within this year.

Only those who were sufficiently greedy were qualified to be made into oil for the lantern.

*****

The sea-dwellers' lantern could burn for a thousand years without extinguishing, fueled by human greed.

Money, power, fame, lust—the greedier the person was, the longer it burned.

Humanity was always greedy, giving little but wanting much in return.

To prevent our kind from wantonly killing greedy humans, our leader stipulated that only those who had killed could be made into oil.

Next year, it was the merfolk's turn to guard the Temple of Life, but the oil needed for the lantern was still unaccounted for.

Janus appeared to be a perfect candidate. Of course I wasn't about to give him up.

After last night's sex, Janus had already proved himself to be a man consumed by lust.

I wondered what he would hunger for next.

I looked forward to it.

Since that night, Janus desperately wished to claim me entirely.

He fired all male staff around me, eliminating any possibility of me interacting with men.

Before leaving, the makeup artist Caspian Hutton secretly told me that Janus' ex-wife, Mira Kerr, also had her male staff dismissed in the same manner back then.

Caspian said Janus was a highly controlling man, that Janus didn't even allow Mira to keep the contact information of other men.

If work required it, she had to contact them through Janus.

And so, Janus slowly isolated Mira from everyone.

I thanked Caspian for telling me the truth, then continued to obey Janus, deleting all the male contacts from my phone.

Janus would also follow me 24/7, eliminating any chance of me interacting with men.

Rumors about him and me quickly spread.