A tall, intimidating figure held his finger firmly. With a cold glare, the man applied slight pressure, causing a sharp pain to shoot through Darien’s finger.
Darien winced in pain and found himself kneeling on the ground.
“Let go of me, you jerk!”
“It’s impolite to point at people. Didn’t your mother teach you that?” Dave taunted, his low voice sending shivers down Darien’s spine.
“Help! Security! Get this guy off me!”
“Apologize to her. Now. Otherwise, by the time your security arrives, I’ll have already broken your finger.”
Sweat dripped from Darien’s forehead. He was in so much pain he didn’t care about his dignity. “Okay, okay! I’m sorry, Bianca! I admit I was wrong!”
“Mr. Evans…”
Bianca stepped forward and grabbed Dave’s arm. She didn’t want him to get into trouble for hurting someone.
Reluctantly, Dave let go of Darien’s finger. Seeing Bianca’s nervous expression, he gave her a reassuring smile. “I’ve got your back. I won’t let anyone bully you.”
Bianca blushed at Dave’s words.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and several security guards entered.
Behind them was a stern-looking middle-aged man.
Upon seeing the middle-aged man, Darien quickly composed himself and adopted a dignified expression.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Reed.”
The head of security stood beside the middle-aged man, his sharp gaze scanning the room.
“What’s going on here?”
Darien instinctively raised his hand to point at Dave but remembered his injured finger and let his arm fall to his side.
Moving closer to Connor, he said to Bianca and Dave with a slight sneer, “This is Mr. Connor Reed, the chairman of Golden Gate Films!”
Then, he complained to Connor, sounding injured, “Mr. Reed, these two don’t respect our company. They interrupted the audition just to cause trouble. And this man even tried to hurt me! Please help me, sir!”
Ashley knew all about Joshua’s big brother, Connor. Since she was dating Joshua, she was sure Connor would support her.
Feeling smug, she thought she had the upper hand. Walking confidently up to Bianca, she sneered, “Bianca, it might have been forgivable if you had only provoked us, but now you’ve upset Mr. Reed himself. I’d be shaking in my boots if I were you!”
Then she turned to Dave and added, “Bianca, Mr. Crawford is an important producer at Golden Gate Films, and your friend hurt him. A few years in jail would be too lenient!”
Hearing Ashley’s words, Bianca felt flustered, and her calm demeanor started to crumble. She nervously pulled at Dave’s sleeve, signaling for him to step back.
Then, taking a deep breath, she turned to Connor and said seriously, “Mr. Reed, it was my idea to come here and ask Mr. Crawford for an explanation. My friend had nothing to do with it!”
Seeing Bianca stand up for him so boldly, Dave felt something stir inside him.
He looked at her determined expression and felt a warmth in his heart. A small smile played at the corners of his lips.
With a smug smirk, Ashley leaned in and whispered to Bianca, “How about this? If you kneel down right now, apologize, and confess to stealing Mrs. Lopez’s ring at the party, I’ll talk to Mr. Reed for you. I might even convince him to let you two go. What do you say?”
Bianca gave her a sidelong glance and replied dryly, “Why? Are you good friends with the chairman?”
Ashley giggled arrogantly. “Just so you know, my boyfriend is Joshua Reed, vice president of Golden Gate Films and Mr. Reed’s younger brother. So yeah, we’re pretty close! If I ask him nicely, he might let you go.”
In truth, Ashley had never met Connor before, nor did she plan to help Bianca. She just wanted to embarrass her.
Dave overheard their conversation and realized something. Joshua had sent those thugs to hurt Bianca for Ashley’s sake.
His eyes flashed with anger at the realization, but he quickly calmed himself.
Bianca clenched her fists in anger. So, Ashley had found someone to support her, explaining her arrogance despite being fired from Phoenix Entertainment.
And Ashley was the one behind last night’s incident!
Realizing this, Bianca had no desire to apologize to her.
“Why should I apologize? I didn’t do anything wrong,” Bianca said calmly.
“Hmph! Don’t blame me when you both end up in prison!”
Ashley marched over to Connor, her heels clicking loudly. In a sweet voice, she said, “Mr. Reed, this woman falsely accused Mr. Crawford and her friend even hurt him. It’s a disgrace to Golden Gate Films. You can’t let them off!”
“Shut up!”
Connor unexpectedly snapped at her coldly.
Ashley was so surprised she froze, unsure what to do next.
Connor then turned to Darien. Without warning, he slapped Darien hard!
Darien stumbled back from the blow, his cheek swelling as he cupped it in shock, eyes wide.
“Mr. Reed?” he asked, bewildered. “What’s happening?”
“You disgraceful idiot!” Connor roared angrily, causing Darien to flinch at the outburst.
“How dare you bring shame to Golden Gate Films like this?!”
“I-I didn’t-”
Darien stammered, trying to make sense of what was happening.
How did Connor find out the truth? And the one behind it was Joshua’s girlfriend, not him! Darien’s role was just to lure Bianca to the bar. He had nothing to do with what happened next!
“Mr. Reed, it wasn’t me, I swear! It was her!” Darien quickly pointed at Ashley. “She told me to lure Bianca to the bar. I didn’t know anything else!”
Ashley went pale. She didn’t expect Darien to betray her like this!
Ashley panicked and raised her hands, shouting, “Darien Crawford, don’t you dare try to blame me! You’re the one who did all this!”
“But where’s your proof?!”
“You’re Joshua Reed’s girlfriend! You told me to do it!”
Darien didn’t have any evidence, so in desperation, he mentioned Joshua. But Connor slapped him again, even harder this time.
“The truth is clear. How dare you try to shift the blame?!”
The slap snapped Darien back to reality. Of course, Connor would protect his own brother and Golden Gate Films. Darien realized he was being made the scapegoat!
He collapsed to the ground, filled with despair.
Ignoring him, Connor turned to Dave and Bianca.
Half an hour ago, Connor got a call from the assistant to the CEO of Phoenix Alliance Group. They said a Golden Gate Films producer, Darien Crawford, and Connor’s brother, Joshua Reed, planned to harm an agent from Phoenix Entertainment.
The assistant asked Connor to handle the mess caused by his people. If not, Phoenix Alliance Group might ban Golden Gate Films from the entertainment industry and expose Joshua’s scandal across the world.
Joshua has been spoiled since childhood.
As Joshua’s older brother, Connor knew about Joshua’s erratic behavior, but he ignored it.