As soon as Finn called Elisa’s name, everyone’s attention immediately shifted to her.
After quickly finishing her message, Elisa set her phone down and stood still, pretending not to have heard anything.
Osvaldo nudged Elisa’s arm with his elbow. “I’m talking to you, go over there.”
Elisa just wanted to pretend she hadn’t heard, but now it wasn’t a matter of whether she could pretend. No matter how good her acting skills were, she couldn’t ignore it.
At that moment, Vice Director Li came over. “Elisa, Mr. Snearl wants you to come over and sit for a while. Let’s go, you can’t afford to offend this person.”
Lorelei, who was still acting on the side, caught sight of Elisa coming over to stand by the director. Her whole body stiffened, her expression immediately collapsing.
“Cut,” Asher paused the shooting. He also couldn’t continue. Lorelei’s previous state was still normal, but now it was getting worse, and there was no need for her to act anymore.
Finn wasn’t here to watch the show; he had come specifically to torment Lorelei.
Even though Asher was dissatisfied with Lorelei, he hadn’t reached the point of bullying her like this.
“Mr. Snearl, should we take a break…?”
Finn’s eyes flashed with interest. “How many times?”
“Three times.”
“Only three times,” Finn seemed unsatisfied with the result. “That thing called Lorelei, are you going to leave or continue shooting?”
Lorelei looked miserable, her eyes welled up with tears. She wanted to leave, but she knew she couldn’t. If she left, she might not be able to return to the crew, and Finn might even find other ways to torment her.
“I… I’ll continue,” her voice was already trembling.
Finn glanced at Asher. “You see, she wants to continue, so let’s carry on.”
Asher nodded and resumed the shooting.
Lorelei fixed her makeup, looking at her face in the mirror, which had turned red. There was some unknown liquid in her hair, and she felt nauseous, tears streaming down her face.
The makeup artist was taken aback. “Lorelei, are you okay?”
Okay? How could she be okay? Her gaze passed the makeup artist and landed on Elisa, poisoned with resentment. Why should she endure such humiliation here while Elisa could sit there and watch her like an audience watching a joke?
Lorelei’s twisted personality had been this way for more than just a day or two. At this moment, she distortedly shifted the blame onto Elisa, believing that she had said something to make Finn treat her this way.
She utterly loathed Elisa, this Elisa was just like the Elisa from before.
The makeup artist was frightened by her gaze. Her hand trembled, causing the eyeliner to smudge. She hurriedly apologized while fixing it.
Lorelei’s gaze was sharp as a knife. If there weren’t so many people watching her, she would have slapped someone already.
Elisa walked over and stood next to Asher, not sitting in the chair Finn had prepared for her, which displeased Finn.
“Aoife” was really not listening. He had come all the way here to see her, and she didn’t even spare him a good look. It shattered his confidence.
The old Aoife who used to be by his side was so much better. He didn’t even need to call her; she would come with just a beckoning finger. What had she been up to this past year?
The little cat he used to long for had become a wild cat, devoid of human emotion. However… Finn quite liked her this way. Such a person would give him a sense of conquest.
“I’ve recently watched the variety show you participated in. I almost didn’t recognize you. I’m curious how you’ve changed so much in such a short time. Your acting now is nothing like it used to be, it’s not even remotely related.” This question had been lingering in Finn’s mind. What had caused her to change so drastically?
A person’s change is related to their surroundings and human nature, but such a drastic change in such a short time, as if becoming another person, could only be explained by a mental illness, like schizophrenia, switching from one personality to another.
“I’ve met too many scumbags, of course I’ve changed. If I hadn’t changed, I’d be left with nothing, not even bones to chew on.”
As soon as Elisa finished speaking, both Hamish and Finn felt a profound implication.
Finn looked at that familiar yet unfamiliar face, smiling as if enjoying the spring breeze. Elisa’s skin was very fair and delicate, with tiny blood vessels visible on her neck in the light, as if agentle pinch would leave a red mark.
His hand started to itch, and he grabbed Elisa’s slender wrist. “Aoife, have we not seen each other for a long time?”
Being grasped by his hand felt like being entwined by a snake to Elisa, sending chills down her spine. Her surface, however, remained unusually calm. It had indeed been a long time, several years in fact, but he had been calling her “Aoife” for about a year. That was quite a long time. If they were to meet, she’d probably have to go to the ends of the earth.
Finn smiled at her, and Elisa smiled back, a mocking smile, a hypocritical smile, but it conveyed a message to Hamish.
Finn was momentarily disoriented by the irony in her eyes. He stumbled backward, but before he could comprehend, he was struck in the face.
Finn’s head reeled from the blow. Quickly regaining his senses, he too raised his fist and lunged at Hamish.
There were gasps all around, chaos ensued, and the director couldn’t rush in to stop them. The closest camera was knocked down and lay in pieces on the ground.
Elisa looked at the fallen equipment, then at Asher’s petrified expression, as if she could hear the sound of his heart breaking.
People tried to intervene, but no one dared to approach. Hamish and Finn were like two mad dogs, shifting from standing blows to wrestling, aiming for the most vulnerable parts of each other’s bodies, hitting the abdomen or the face.
Hamish, who had suppressed his temper for several days, suddenly erupted like a raging lion, his eyes filled with bloodlust as he watched Finn touch Elisa. He wanted nothing more than to kill him.
Yes, he should kill him! He should have killed Finn a long time ago. If it hadn’t been for Finn, Elisa wouldn’t have suffered so much, and she wouldn’t have been burned alive.
Grabbing whatever was at hand, he swung it at Finn’s head. Finn dodged, and as he did, he eyed the filming equipment just three centimeters away from him.
That damn Hamish was trying to kill him!
The chaos persisted, and amidst the commotion, only Elisa watched, her brow furrowed, feeling a bit disappointed as the blow missed its mark.
If Hamish had really killed Finn with that blow, it would have been a reckoning for Aoife. Hamish would also not escape blame. Intentional homicide carried a life sentence, maybe even a two-for-one deal.
Only Tobias knew that these two often fought, but it never escalated to serious injury or illness. At most, they’d both end up in the emergency room.
But seeing the ferocity in Hamish, Tobias’s heart skipped a beat. It took him a long time to calm his palpitations.
“Mr. Burns, this is the outside; there are cameras all around. Don’t act recklessly. Miss Powell is watching on the side,” Tobias cautioned, glancing at Elisa, who sat calmly, as if she would start cracking sunflower seeds if handed a pack right now.
Finn and Hamish had fought many times before, but it was the first time they had done so in front of so many people. With bloodshed, Finn’s lip split, and Hamish’s punch made him feel like his teeth were loose. He swallowed the blood in his mouth.
“Hamish, have you gone mad?”
There must be a reason for someone to go mad. To the onlookers, today’s altercation was a fight over a woman, and they didn’t need to think much about who that woman was.
Finn specifically called Elisa over. Although they didn’t know the details of what had happened, it was clear that Hamish only started the fight when Finn approached Elisa.
Even a TV drama wouldn’t dare to depict such a scene. The onlookers advised against violence, but they secretly took out their phones and recorded the scene from a hidden corner.
The security team and assistants separated the two.
Hamish’s throat tightened, and he loosened his tie. “Don’t touch her.”
“What right do you have to tell me not to touch her?”