Holden’s thoughts were a chaotic mess, and his usually gentle and handsome features took on a sinister, cold edge under the light.
After a while, he slowly let go of her, took a pill from the drawer, and washed it down with water.
The next morning, when Sarah woke up, the painkillers had worn off, and she still felt a slight ache.
To her surprise, Holden hadn’t gotten up yet.
Sarah glanced at the clock. It was already eight o’clock.
Their position was too intimate, not like a simple boss-employee relationship.
Sarah reminded herself that he wasn’t just her boss-he was also her husband-then quietly slipped out of Holden’s arms.
Holden woke up as she was getting out of bed, giving her a calm look.
“Good morning,” Sarah said.
Holden got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. “Morning.”
Sarah followed him. “Um, I need to move out for a couple of days.”
“Where to?”
“I’m joining the film crew for training, staying at a hotel with everyone.”
“For how long? Where are you staying?”
Sarah sighed. “Who knows how long? It’s in the film city in the Northern District. The group chat says it’s super hot, and filming and training will be tough.”
She’d been living the high life for days, but now she was going back to her role as a hardworking actress.
“Who’s your director?”
“Director Beck-you’ve definitely heard of him.” Sarah’s eyes lit up with hope. “Mr. Holden, when I become famous, I’ll endorse your company’s products.”
Holden replied, “In your dreams.”
Knowing she didn’t have the right to stay and watch her boss take a shower, Sarah left under Holden’s gaze.
Sarah didn’t expect that even after distancing herself from people, and from Ronald, she would still run into Elisa. It seemed her connection with the leading lady was unbreakable.
Elisa, after a fight with Ronald, stormed off to find a job and ended up as the receptionist at the hotel where Sarah was staying.
“Sarah, what a coincidence,” Elisa said, biting her lip. “I never thought I’d see you here.”
The crew had booked the hotel, so Elisa knew they were there for filming. Elisa had arrived earlier and, being quite social, had already made friends with many of the crew members.
Sarah took back her ID without responding to Elisa’s comment, having nothing to say.
Elisa hid the disappointment in her eyes.
Elisa had been job hunting for days. Despite her decent education, she struggled to find a good job quickly due to the poor economy.
She’d left Ronald and refused to stay in his house, choosing instead to rent her own place. But after spending money on cosmetic procedures, her funds were running low. To pay for rent and utilities, she had to take this hotel job that allowed her to start immediately.
But-
Even though Sarah wasn’t as diligent or hardworking as her, and had zero experience in the field, she somehow landed a role in Director Beck’s big project just because of her looks.
The more Elisa thought about it, the more unfair it seemed.
“Sarah, why did you suddenly decide to switch careers and become an actress?” Elisa said loudly. “Director Beck’s crew is tough to get into, right? You don’t have any prior experience, so it’s going to be challenging. If you need help, just ask me. We were classmates, after all-I’d be happy to assist.”
Several other actors in the group overheard Elisa. They all knew Director Beck had chosen a newcomer to play the princess in his film.
Director Beck’s crew was notoriously difficult to join, and a lot of school beauties from City N had auditioned for this role.
To be honest, Sarah’s looks were spot-on for the role of the stunning beauty required for the film. She stood out even without makeup or costume, so she’d likely be even more striking on camera.
However, Sarah wasn’t a drama major and had no experience, not even one noteworthy project under her belt.
How could someone like that make it into Director Beck’s crew without some kind of backdoor deal?
Looking at Sarah’s face, they figured she must’ve gotten there by sleeping with a producer.
These actors had fought hard for their small roles in the movie. Now, hearing what Elisa said, they couldn’t help but gossip among themselves.
“Switched careers out of nowhere…”
“No experience at all, must’ve just used her looks.”
“Can’t imagine her holding her own with those award-winning actors. Just wait till Director Beck loses his temper on set.”
“…”
Sarah shot a cold look at Elisa. “Don’t act like we’re close. Do we even know each other like that?”
Elisa felt a bit awkward. “I-”
Sarah didn’t wait for her to finish, heading upstairs with her room key.
After she left, one of Elisa’s coworkers, curious, asked, “Elisa, do you know that beauty?”
Elisa lowered her head. “Yeah. She loved my boyfriend, so we broke up, and I had to find a new job.”
Elisa didn’t think she was lying. Sarah did love her boyfriend, and now she had split with Ronald, forcing her to get a new job.
But to those listening, it sounded like Sarah had gone after Elisa’s boyfriend, played the homewrecker, and pushed Elisa out of the picture.
“Who would’ve thought?” Elisa’s coworker said angrily. “Elisa, you’re too nice. If it were me, I wouldn’t just greet her like nothing happened. I’d expose everything she did and let people see her true colors.”
Elisa forced a wry smile. “Let it go. It wasn’t easy for her to get into a big director’s crew. I’m not going to stoop that low.”
Sarah swiped her card to unlock the door and flopped onto the hotel bed.
Damn it, she might’ve actually gotten used to living like a rich housewife because now she was finding the hotel mattress uncomfortable.
She lay there with her eyes closed for a bit. She had to admit, the Smith family’s place was way better. Even the bathroom at the Smith house was bigger than this hotel room.
As a rookie actress, Sarah had low pay, poor treatment, and no professional team. The production crew was trying to save money, so they weren’t putting her up in a five-star hotel.
The hotel room was pretty basic-everything was tidy, but it all felt a bit cheap.
She’d only been away for a day, and already Sarah was missing the Smith family’s luxuries.
She took a deep breath. If Holden divorced her and her acting career didn’t take off, what would she do then?
She was in her early twenties now, and if she lived to eighty, that meant sixty more years. The cost of maintaining a high-quality life for the next fifty years would be-
Sarah sat up, pulled out her phone, and started crunching numbers on the calculator. Then she looked up some stable investment options online.
Her phone buzzed.
It was a message from Butler Ted.
[Lady, Young Master is on a business trip and will be in meetings for a while. If you need anything, feel free to contact me.]
Sarah replied, [Sure.]
But honestly, if anything came up, no way would Sarah dare contact Holden. One wrong move, and she’d get a pay cut. Besides, who calls up their sugar daddy to solve problems?
All Sarah wanted was to keep Holden happy and hope he lived a long life-preferably without divorcing her.
… Though that seemed unlikely.
But Sarah was overlooking just how crazy the main characters of this story could get.