Anna’s assistant tried to placate Anna, but she was beyond her control. She helplessly watched Anna pounce on the cleaner, lashing out at her. The others saw this and quickly tried to separate them. With the way she lost control, her assistant called Anna’s manager to report her behavior.
Anna, after successfully satisfying her desire for punishing the cleaners, her mind settled, and she began to reflect on her behavior. She let her anger get the best of her, realizing her reaction would intensify the gossip. But one thought stung her – Ivy. She was the only one who knew about hers and George’s intimate moment in the restroom; she was certain no one else was aware. “Was she the one that started the gossip?” Her view of Ivy began to change as her mind stirred her into believing Ivy had ill will towards her. For her to gossip about their relationship, even when she pleaded with her to keep it a secret, meant she intentionally wanted her to be criticized.
While her mind was concluding those thoughts, a new scandal was released in the week’s celebrity news.
[ The juiciest affair behind the scenes: Anna and George’s secret romance ]
Susan was scrolling through the news on her phone when she found the article exposing Anna and George’s relationship.
“Ivy, take a look at this.”
Ivy saw the title, “So fast?” With the way they couldn’t control themselves around each other, she wasn’t too surprised the media found out about their relationship.
“She better brace herself for criticism; she is engaged to the son of an influential family in the country,” Susan said, opening a magazine. “Woah, the news has circulated beyond the online article. Look.”
[ From Co-Stars to Lovers: The forbidden romance between Anna and George ]
Ivy had a feeling things weren’t as they seemed. It had only been a day since Anna told her to keep it a secret, but the whole country was slowly learning about the secret. She brushed it off; her scandal shouldn’t be her concern.
At the end of the day, she headed over to the set for her night scene.
“Ivy, you’re going to chase him and beat the hell out of him,” Director Tim instructed, holding the script. He then passed it over to his assistant and sat in his throne-like chair. “Let’s do a quick rehearsal.”
Ivy was dressed in a tight-fitting black outfit, more like a ninja ready to catch its target. The smell of earth filled her nose as it was an outdoor set with thick mud strewn all over the place. The bit character started to run down the mud field, and she quickly ran after him with her feet soaked in mud. Many actresses would have preferred a stunt double, but Ivy refused to have one. She strongly insisted on acting all the dangerous scenes on her own, and the director was impressed as he understood she was focused on delivering a genuine performance.
It was a rain scene, the heavy water cascading on her as she chased without slowing down. The mud was a hindrance in running at a fast speed, but she increased her pace swiftly till she caught him.
“Why were you running, huh? ANSWER!”
There was no answer.
She punched the boy on the face, irked by his silence.
Director Tim watched her facial expression; he nodded in satisfaction and ended the scene there. “Okay, that was excellent, Ivy.” He applauded. “Get the cameras rolling people!”
“Sorry, did I scare you?” Ivy noticed the guy’s face was plastered with shock. “Of course, you scared me. I thought you wanted to kill me.” He didn’t expect her to take the rehearsal so seriously.
Ivy snorted at his response; he should have been aware she was a dedicated actress.
“Scene 152, Act 1, Action.” They started the scene, and Ivy and the bit character repeated what they did a while ago perfectly. As they were filming, Anna was around the corner, waiting for Ivy to complete the scene so they could discuss. Her scandal had gotten so serious to the point she became restless; she couldn’t wait until the next morning to meet Ivy. She wanted to clear her doubts. If the filming would take all night, she was ready to wait.
At 2 am, filming was wrapped up, Ivy appeared tired. Her body was drenched by the rain effect, and it stank of mud and sweat. As Joan wrapped her in a blanket so she could go wash up, Anna approached them.
“Ivy, let’s talk.”
Ivy studied her for a bit; whatever she wanted to talk about wasn’t chitchat. “It has to wait; I need to bathe. I feel uncomfortable like this.” Before she could walk past her, Anna grabbed her wrist.
“I don’t care; just listen to me.” Her jaw tensed, still holding her wrist.
“Let go of my wrist before you squash it,” Ivy pulled away. “Listen, Anna, whatever you have to say, it has nothing to do with me.” Ivy knew Anna suspected her of spreading the news of their relationship. As close as she was to Susan, she hadn’t even told her about the kiss in the restroom.
“How do you expect me to believe that?” Anna asked in disbelief. “And how could you do something like that? I begged you not to tell anyone, but instead, you started gossiping about it. Now it’s in the news. You must be satisfied seeing my name getting tarnished.”
“I’ll advise you not to make claims without finding out the truth,” Ivy cut her off. It seems Anna wanted to make the same mistake as Isabelle. “I’m not a gossiper; I have better things to do than sticking my nose in your personal life.”
Anna opened her mouth to retaliate but couldn’t find any words. Initially, she never saw Ivy as someone who enjoyed gossiping, but she still couldn’t believe someone else had seen them. They made sure to leave separately to avoid arousing suspicion; in fact, they hadn’t met since that day.
“Then……” She couldn’t find Ivy in front of her anymore. She looked to the side, and that’s when she saw her and her assistant walking out of the film set.
Did she think Ivy would keep standing there waiting for her to come out of her thoughts?