In an instant, Jane was surrounded by the media. If it weren’t for Patrick sending people to protect her, she would have been pushed and shoved by the crowd.
“Jane, can you explain the recent news about your company’s artist Maria?”
“Does Star Entertainment interfere with their artists’ private lives?”
“Are all those rumors online true? Can you respond to them?”
Jane pursed her lips and squinted as the flashes of cameras blinded her. It wasn’t until the questions died down that she lifted her gaze and spoke in a calm voice, “The company has stated before that we ask everyone not to overly focus on our artists’ private lives. Maria is currently working on a youth campus drama with Osborn that will be finished soon. Please pay more attention to that.”
Ignoring any other questions, Jane had already contacted her staff who came out to escort her away from the media frenzy.
Just then, Jane’s phone rang and she saw it was Maria’s agent calling.
“What’s wrong?” She had a bad feeling in her heart as she furrowed her brows.
“Maria is missing! She didn’t show up at set today and hasn’t responded to my calls or messages.” The agent sounded frantic amidst all the noise around her.
“When did you last see Maria? Where was she?”
The agent paused for a moment before finding somewhere quieter to speak again. “I didn’t see her yesterday but I think Osborn did – he was in yesterday’s news.”
Jane signaled for one of her assistants nearby who nodded back before running off towards their office building.
“I’m heading over now,” said Jane calmly into the phone while already making way inside their company building.
Just then, Osborn appeared from an elevator with his assistant following closely behind him. His eyes flickered when he saw Jane standing there waiting for him.
“What happened?” Osborn asked after being called out urgently by his team earlier than planned.
“You didn’t go on set today?” asked Jane.
“My scenes are this afternoon so I’m just about ready to leave,” replied Osborn as he looked outside at all of their fans gathered outside causing chaos.
“What’s going on? Why are there so many media outside?” Even Osborn was startled, but he vaguely remembered Maria from yesterday.
“You saw Maria yesterday, didn’t you?” Jane lifted her foot and signaled for Osborn to follow her.
“Yes, I had her agent send her home yesterday.” Osborn was puzzled as to why Jane would ask this.
“She didn’t show up at the set today. Her agent just contacted me.”
At this point, Jane couldn’t help but worry since Maria had been kidnapped before.
Osborn’s expression changed. “How could this happen? I just didn’t contact her yesterday.”
“Let’s go check out her apartment first.”
Jane sighed in her heart. Although Maria hadn’t been an actress for long, she was very professional and had never missed work like this before.
As they arrived at the underground parking lot and got into the car, Star Entertainment Company was close to Maria’s apartment so they arrived with her agent.
Due to work needs, the agent had a key to Maria’s apartment. She rang the doorbell first and then opened the door when no one answered it.
The room was very clean with no signs of forced entry. The group looked at each other in confusion.
“How could this happen…” The agent’s face turned sour.
Jane felt a sudden shock – could it really be another kidnapping?
“Should we call the police?” Just as the agent asked that question, she received a phone call from Maria herself!
The agent smiled with relief and quickly answered it, “Maria! Where are you now? Why haven’t you answered your phone?”
After a moment of silence, Maria’s slightly hoarse voice slowly came through.
“Who are you…”
The agent was taken aback by the question and looked at Jane, who gestured for her to hand over the phone.
“Maria, it’s Jane. Where are you right now?” Listening to Maria’s voice, it didn’t sound like she was being kidnapped. Perhaps she was sick with a cold or something.
“I…” Maria let out a soft hum, and rustling sounds came from the other end of the phone. “I’m at home…”
The three people standing in Maria’s apartment suddenly froze, exchanging glances.
“I remember now, she has another house. She should be living there.” The agent slapped her forehead and quickly said.
On the other end, Maria’s call inexplicably ended. After confirming that Maria wasn’t kidnapped, Jane breathed a sigh of relief.
“Let’s go and check it out.”
Jane said helplessly, turning to Osborn beside her. “You go to the set first.”
“We still have time. I’ll accompany you just in case.” Osborn’s eyes flashed faintly as he smiled at Jane.
“As long as it doesn’t delay you.” Jane nodded, and the three of them headed to the place the agent mentioned.
The three of them hurriedly arrived but received no response when they knocked on the door.
“Maria!” The agent called out with a worried expression.
“Don’t you know the password?” Jane looked at the password lock on the door, feeling a headache coming on.
“I really don’t know this.” The agent shrugged helplessly.
Just then, there was movement from inside the door, and it slowly opened, revealing Maria’s face.
Seeing that Maria was unharmed, the agent breathed a sigh of relief and walked into her room.
“What’s going on with you?”
However, before she could finish her sentence, she saw the floor covered in bottles and various things scattered around.
“What have you done?”
Jane took a step forward, but then she smelled a strong scent of alcohol, wrinkling her brow.
“How much have you been drinking?”
Maria was already slumped on the sofa, lazily lifting her eyes. It seemed she had a headache as she furrowed her brows but didn’t immediately respond to Jane’s question.
“Maria.” Jane’s voice turned colder.
“Jane…”
Maria coughed and when she raised her hand, it accidentally hit a bottle on the table, which shattered and spilled the remaining alcohol onto the floor.
“Have you gone crazy, Maria!”
Jane’s patience had finally reached its limit at this moment. She took a step forward and grabbed Maria’s wrist.
However, she heard Maria speak softly.
“Does he feel the same pain now?”