Elisa’s emotions were all over the place. She had done some digging recently and found out that Sarah’s husband was even more powerful than she’d imagined. Ronald wasn’t even fit to be his sidekick. This realization filled Elisa with both bitterness and jealousy. She couldn’t stand the idea of Sarah competing with her for Ronald, let alone the thought of Sarah moving on from Ronald and finding someone better.
She had gone through so much to defeat Sarah and put her underfoot-there was no way she’d let Sarah climb higher than her.
Compared to the refined Holden, Ronald looked pretty ordinary.
Elisa gave Ronald a once-over with a critical eye.
Elisa thought for a moment and said, “Ronald, let’s go say hi to Mr. Holden.”
Under normal circumstances, Ronald should’ve taken this chance to make himself known to Holden. After all, he really wanted to collaborate with him. If the Martin Family Group could earn Holden’s favor, it would give them a huge advantage in the business world.
But right now, Ronald had no interest in going over. The last thing he wanted was to lower himself in front of Sarah’s husband.
“I’m not going,” Ronald snorted. “If you want to, go ahead.”
Elisa tugged at his arm. “Ronald, I’m doing this for you. Getting to know Mr. Holden would be good for your career.”
But Ronald’s face stayed dark.
Elisa’s eyes flickered with an idea. “Then let me go over and say hi for you. It wouldn’t look good if Mr. Holden thought we were being rude.”
Ronald silently agreed to her suggestion.
Elisa adjusted her hair and checked her appearance on her phone before walking over to Sarah and Holden.
“Hey, Sarah,” Elisa greeted, “Good evening.”
Sarah instantly felt a headache coming on. Why did she keep running into these two everywhere? It was like the universe was out to get her, leaving her no room to breathe.
Her face turned icy. “What do you want?”
Elisa’s voice was soft and pitiful. “Nothing… I’ve noticed you’ve been upset with me lately, so I wanted to apologize. I didn’t really want to act, but Ronald said I had a knack for it, and it would be a waste not to take this opportunity with Director Beck’s crew… I didn’t mean to get in your way.”
Sarah crossed her arms. “Where you go is none of my business. We’re not close, so can you please stop talking to me?”
Elisa lowered her head. “Alright… I just ran into the Movie King. Do you have a kissing scene with him tomorrow? He wanted to rehearse with you tonight.”
Sarah was baffled. “I’ll call him and check.”
Elisa nodded. “Ronald’s over there, so I’ll leave you be. Goodbye, Sarah.”
Then she glanced at Holden. “Goodbye, Mr. Holden.”
After Elisa left, Holden asked in a casual tone, “You have a kissing scene?”
Sarah was confused. “It’s not in my script. Maybe the director added it last minute. I’ll call and find out.”
The movie’s plot was straightforward: In the final days of a dynasty, a young tyrant ruled the kingdom, indulging in excess with his little sister while oppressing the people to build a lavish palace.
The male lead, refusing to let the tyrant continue his reign, infiltrated the palace to assassinate him but got caught. The princess, who was intrigued by him, kept him close.
Sarah’s character, the princess, did have feelings for the male lead, played by the film star. But the male lead only had eyes for the female lead. Despite witnessing the world’s splendor and being admired by the most beautiful woman, his resolve to overthrow the tyrant and his feelings for the female lead never wavered.
Given the director’s tendency to make last-minute changes, it wouldn’t be surprising if he added a kissing scene for Sarah and the Movie King.
Outside the hotel, there was a food stand selling grilled ribs, and the delicious smell wafted over to Sarah.
She caught a whiff and immediately wanted some. “I’m gonna go stand in line and get some ribs,” she said.
Holden nodded.
While Sarah waited in line, Holden pulled out his phone and made a call.
Director Beck saw the caller ID and answered almost instantly, “Mr. Holden, hello!”
Holden’s voice was calm, “Does Sarah have a kissing scene tomorrow?”
Director Beck froze. Sarah was a newbie he’d brought into the project-completely unknown in the industry. How did Mr. Holden know someone like her?
Sarah was recommended by Alice, who had some connections and a bit of a reputation in the industry, but nowhere near the level of someone like Holden. Alice probably hadn’t even met Holden before.
“Yes, she’s in the cast,” Director Beck replied after a moment, “but her script doesn’t have any kissing scenes. Mr. Holden, do you know her?”
“Oh, she’s my wife. I was just checking to make sure,” Holden’s warm voice hit Director Beck like a thunderbolt.
After hanging up, Director Beck was left stunned. Holden’s wife…
He’d thought Sarah had good potential-great looks and decent acting skills. He’d even considered signing her to his company, thinking a bit of investment could make her a star. But now he found out she was Holden’s wife.
Holden and Ronald had entirely different statuses in Director Beck’s eyes.
Ronald had practically begged him for a minor role for Elisa, and Director Beck was planning to cut most of Elisa’s scenes anyway.
But if Holden made a demand, Director Beck would rewrite the entire script if needed, tailor-making it for whoever Holden wanted to push.
The reason was simple. First, Holden’s background was incredibly powerful-one word from him, and even a renowned director like Beck could be blacklisted overnight. Second, Holden was a major investor, putting several billion into the project.
Director Beck suddenly remembered how he had scolded Mrs. Holden not long ago for sneaking snacks on set. He’d yelled at her so much she probably wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear. Now, he was sweating bullets.
This girl had such a strong background and hadn’t said a word about it.
There wasn’t a kissing scene before, and even if there had been, after this phone call from Mr. Holden, Director Beck wouldn’t dare keep it in.
Beck was just trying to make some money with this commercial film. His next project was supposed to be a passion project-a costly, unmarketable art film, and he was counting on investors like Holden to make it happen.
Sarah came back with a dozen hot, grilled ribs and handed one to Holden.
Holden didn’t take it. “How do you eat this?” he asked.
Sarah blinked, confused. “Huh?”
Then she replied, “… You just gnaw on it.”
Right after she said that, Sarah realized that gnawing on ribs wasn’t exactly something a high-class CEO would do.
She looked at Holden, dressed in his custom-made, likely million-dollar outfit, and a watch worth sixty or seventy million. Clearly, a few-dollar rib didn’t match his style.
But Sarah could easily eat all twelve ribs herself. She quickly finished one, nibbling away like a little squirrel with an acorn. Despite her neat eating habits, her slightly puffed cheeks made her look unintentionally cute.
Back in her hotel room, Sarah sent a message to the Movie King, asking if he needed to rehearse the scene for tomorrow. She didn’t really know him-being a newbie meant most of the big shots on set didn’t pay her much attention.
So the more Sarah thought about the idea of running lines with the Movie King in the middle of the night, the stranger it seemed.
After a while, she got a reply: [It’s too late for that now. It’s not appropriate.]
[As someone with more experience in this industry, let me give you some advice: focus on your acting and stop with these little schemes.]
That’s when Sarah realized she’d just been played by Elisa. There was no way Director Beck would change the script and only notify one person.
Sending a late-night message to the movie star about running lines, especially to someone with so many connections, could easily be misunderstood as her hinting that she wanted to sleep with him for more opportunities.
Sarah knew Elisa was full of lies, but she hadn’t expected her to make up something so easily disproven in a professional setting.
Holden put Sarah’s things on the table, and when he turned around, he saw her throw herself onto the bed with a look of utter defeat.
As if on cue, the room next door started filling with all sorts of suggestive noises.