She Outshines Them All (Athena and Matthew)

Chapter 354 Violet Stevens, with graying hair and a somewhat stern appearance, stepped out of the room holding her young great-grandson. "Are your eyes deceiving you? Wesley is so old now, and he's on TV?" As she spoke, Violet glanced at the television and then took a few steps closer to scrutinize it. "Wow, he really does look like the young Wesley. That face of his is reminiscent of Wesley's third son. What's his nagain..." Her other great-grandson was lounging on a worn-out sofa, scrolling through his phone while watching TV. He couldn't help but scoff, "Who's Wesley? The guy on TV is Zayn Donovan, the hottest star right now. He's really famous." "Zayn Donovan?" Violet wanted to slap her thigh but was worried about dropping the child. Instead, she raised her voice. "Yes, Wesley's third son is named Zayn Donovan." "Hamza, you know I have a daughter named Claire with Ronan Stevens. Her husband is Wesley, and Zayn is one of their children, which makes him one of your uncles. Are you sure this big star is really named Zayn?" "Of course." Hamza Stevens didn't take their conversation seriously. "I watched a movie he starred in during Christmas. His fight scenes were spectacular. The film made a billion dollars at the box office." "A billion dollars?" Ronan's and Violet's eyes lit up, their faces flushed, and they breathed more heavily. "So, how much do these big stars get to keep?" Hamza replied, "Stars earn a lot. A big star like Zayn should be making about 10 million dollars." "About 10 million dollars?" Ronan dropped the bottle and peanuts he was holding, his voice trembling. "How much is that? Wouldn't it take a lifetto spend it all?" Violet was trying to count on her fingers, struggling to grasp the numbers.

Although Hamza was just starting middle school, he had sstreet smarts. "You just lack experience. Ten million dollars is nothing for these big stars.

"Just one movie can earn them about 10 million dollars, and they can easily make over 2 million dollars from ads or events. Earning about 100 million dollars a year isn't hard at all." "About 100 million dollars?" Ronan and Violet were dumbfounded, saliva pooling in their mouths. "How long would it take to spend that?" Seeing their reactions, Hamza chuckled, "If Zayn really is your grandson, our family would be set. If he just gives us a little help or helps us find a job, we could have houses and cars and leave this run-down town for a big city." Ronan clutched his chest, heart racing, and said with difficulty, "Violet, do you still have Wesley and Claire's phone numbers? If you do, call them and ask if Zayn has really beca big star Violet scoffed, "How would we have their numbers? After they lost their child, we changed our phone number and lost theirs too. We haven't been able to reach them for ages." "You're so useless." Ronan slapped his thigh in frustration, urgency in his voice. "Hamza, call your grandfather, just say Zayn has beca big star. We need to find him and Wesley." Hamza was somewhat skeptical. "Is Zayn really our relative?" "Of course!" Ronan patted him on the back, his face glowing with excitement. "Hamza, as long as we find the Donovan family, we're set for life. We won't have to worry about money anymore." Hearing this, Hamza thought it might be worth a shot.

He immediately called his grandfather, Quentin Stevens, to tell him about Zayn.

Quentin exclaimed after hearing the news, "Oh my God, we haven't been in touch for over ten years, and Zayn has beca big star? This is serious. Your dad and I will go back tonight and discuss this with your great- grandparents." Even though it was already past eight in the evening, Quentin and his son booked a taxi and headed back to the village.

Although Ronan and Violet were in their seventies, they sipped strong coffee to keep awake, insisting on waiting for the others to discuss the family connection.

Once the four generations gathered, they crowded around the television to closely watch Zayn in Boundary Strike and Lockwood's Detective Diary.

Quentin exclaimed excitedly as he watched. "It really is Zayn! He has really beca big star. He's acting in movies now. How much do you think he makes in a year? Probably more than we can count.

"Claire, that heartless child, has made it big and doesn't even contact us..." The reason they were only now seeing Boundary Strike was that everyone returned to the village for Christmas, and there were no cinemas in the village or town. Only the county had one.

Moreover, the seniors didn't like going to the cinema, and the adults preferred comedies, so only Hamza and his brother went to see Boundary Strike, but they didn't recognize Zayn.

This meant that Claire's parents, brother, and nephew were only now seeing the shows Zayn starred in.

Once they confirmed Zayn was indeed a big star, they unanimously decided to go find the Donovan family in Kitmore City the next day.

Quentin calculated the costs, feeling a bit pained. "With so many of us, just the travel expenses will be over 200 dollars.

"We don't know where Claire's family moved to. If we can't find them, we'll have to stay in a hotel, which will cost even more." Although government poverty alleviation policies had lifted the entire village out of poverty long ago, the Stevens family lived in a two-story concrete house but only managed to cover basic needs, not truly reaching a comfortable or affluent lifestyle. Their combined savings barely reached 2 thousand dollars, so spending 200 dollars on a trip felt painful.

Hamza shrugged it off. "As long as we can find Claire, we won't have to worry about money. As relatives of a big star, we should be generous so no one laughs at us for being poor." Quentin nodded. "Hamza is right. We need to dress well tomorrow so we don't embarrass ourselves." Ronan cautioned everyone and said, "We need to keep our mouths shut about the 2 million dollars. Don't let anyone know Claire has made it big, or everyone will casking her for help. That way, our benefits will decrease." Everyone agreed, "Of course, we definitely can't let the villagers know. We'll just say we're going to the county for fun." Violet asked, "What about Joel's family?" Violet had three children in total.

The eldest was Quentin, the second was Claire, and the youngest was Catherine.

Claire and Catherine had long severed ties with them.

Quentin had two sons, Gavin Stevens and Joel Stevens, both of whom were married with children Quentin lived in the county with his eldest son Gavin, and Hamza was Gavin's son.

Only Ronan and Violet remained in the village, without children or grandchildren to care for them.

Despite this, they still cherished their sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons, wanting to support them without being a burden.

Violet was holding Joel's two-year-old son.

Quentin said, "We'll first check things out in Kitmore City. After finding Claire's family, we can contact Joel's family." Everyone agreed with this plan and happily went to sleep.

That night, they couldn't help but smile in their sleep, dreaming of standing next to a famous star, with money raining from the sky and countless people surrounding them, praising and showering them with admiration. Interestingly, Ronan and his wife stayed up late, but when they woke up in the morning, they still felt energized. They took a van from the village to the town, then a bus from the town to the county, and finally a long-distance bus to Kitmore City, enduring over eight hours of travel without tiring.

By the tthey arrived in Kitmore City, it was already evening forcing them to stay overnight at a hotel near the bus station.

The next morning, Ronan and Violet, along with Quentin and Hamza, went to find Claire, leaving the others at the hotel. The arrangement was made because Ronan and Violet were Claire's parents, and Quentin was her brother, so their status and authority were higher than Claire's, ensuring she would listen to them.

Hamza was also energetic, smart, and tech-savvy with his phone, so he could be helpful.

Of course, Hamza's cleverness was relative to the uneducated adults and elders around him.

He himself wasn't fond of studying and preferred playing games, so he wasn't very skilled opily able to seared with somputers, for Zayn's news online and unaware of how to find information about the rest of the Donovan family.

In short, they found the self-built house where the Donovan family had decade ago. The house lived over a still stood, But the owners had changed multiple times, and no one knew who Wesley was. Quentin squatted down and cried, "We've spent so much money to chere, yet we can't find Claire. What are we going to do? We can't just go back empty-handed!"

Hamza, thinking quickly, suggested, "The intesays Zayn is filming at the CineCraft Studios. How about we go there? He's a big star, and once we get there, we can just ask around, and we should be able to find him." As soon as Quentin heard this, he immediately stood up. "We've spent so much on travel expenses. There's no way we're going back empty-handed. Let's head to CineCraft Studios right now. If we can't find them, we'll go to the TV station and ask for help finding the big stars." And just like that, they headed back to the hotel, gathered the others, and, with determination, rented two taxis, and went straight to CineCraft Studios.

Meanwhile, after more than a month of being busy, Alaric finally chome, holding, his championship trophy.