Director Colby couldn’t believe it. The girl had just entered the industry and had already learned to climb into a big shot’s bed so quickly. Now that he knew their connection, Colby realized he’d have to tread carefully on set. If Sarah got upset and went crying to Holden, he’d be in deep trouble.
The producer was quicker to adapt and greeted them right away. “Good morning, Mr. Holden, Miss Sarah.”
Colby snapped out of his thoughts and quickly greeted them as well.
Holden nodded slightly. “Morning. Sarah is my wife. She’s new to the industry, so please take good care of her.”
Colby was dumbfounded. The producer was also stunned.
Holden’s wife?
Holden’s wife!
If she had mentioned this sooner, they could’ve easily rewritten the male lead script into a female lead script for her!
Sarah was still processing the whole “so even the big boss has physical needs” revelation. So when faced with the director and producer, she just nodded and went to breakfast as usual.
Holden had other business to attend to, so he left right after breakfast.
Colby and the producer weren’t the kind to spread gossip about Sarah’s background. They didn’t get to where they were without knowing how to use their heads.
That day, the crew was heading back to the set for filming. Sarah didn’t have many scenes, so she spent a long time in the makeup room. She already had her lines memorized and didn’t feel like gaming, so she just zoned out, resting her head on the table.
After a while, Sarah sent a message to Butler Ted, asking, “So, your boss also…”
Butler Ted raised an eyebrow. “My boss also what?”
Sarah continued, “In our marriage agreement, we’re not supposed to fulfill any marital duties, and I’m not supposed to fall for him or bother him, right?”
Butler Ted, “…”
Sarah looked at the row of ellipses sent by Butler Ted.
Butler Ted, “Lady, you two are legally married. If Young Master wanted you to fulfill your marital duties, that would be completely justified.”
Butler Ted didn’t know the exact terms of their agreement, but being the smart and sharp butler of the Smith family, he knew to leave all the interpretation in Holden’s hands. Anyway, Sarah couldn’t remember where she’d put the contract.
******
Heart Throb was set to release during Christmas, which was the busiest movie-going season. The filming had wrapped, and they were already deep into promotions.
Sarah had even started a Twitter account to share the promotional videos.
At first, the focus of the film’s promo was naturally on Edward, the leading man, and Crystal, the leading lady.
Director Beck’s film had a luxurious and glamorous aesthetic, but surprisingly, it was Sarah’s scenes that suddenly blew up.
In one of the clips, she was seen holding a lantern and walking under a sky filled with fireflies. When she took off her mask to reveal her stunning face, the clip went viral, getting shared over 100, 000 times in just 24 hours.
The movie hadn’t even hit theaters yet, but Sarah’s Twitter following shot up by 500, 000 fans. Most of them were drawn to her looks, completely forgetting all the online hate she’d faced before. Now, they were eagerly waiting to see her beauty on the big screen.
Even the cast members of The Mysterious Family started noticing the buzz. Frank and Camille, who were on good terms with Sarah, followed her on Twitter.
“Not bad! I’m definitely going to book out a theater to support you,” Frank said while watching the trailer. “Just from these clips, I’m already dying to see the full movie!”
Camille liked the trailer too and said, “Director Beck really knows how to shoot beautiful women. Those shots are definitely going to become iconic. Sarah, I followed you on Twitter. Make sure you follow me back.”
Sarah followed both of them back and then, out of curiosity, noticed that Elisa had also followed her.
She clicked on Elisa’s Twitter and found that she had retweeted the promo video for the movie with a comment, “I had a great time working with the Heart Throb crew, the director and staff were all amazing… even though most of my scenes probably got cut, I still hope the movie does well at the box office.”
Sarah, “…”
Seeing that passive-aggressive comment made Sarah’s heart sink a bit. She figured she was about to get dragged online again. This kind of drama had already happened countless times in the original novel. After all, Elisa was the heroine, and from a reader’s perspective, she always seemed so smart and kind, constantly being bullied by supporting characters. So, whenever Elisa shared her struggles and feelings of being wronged, it always made people sympathize with her.
Sarah glanced at Elisa’s Twitter again, and-no surprise-her comments section had blown up, with thousands of replies in a short time.
She didn’t need to look to know that, as the designated “villain,” she’d be the one getting flamed.
Before she had time to check further, it was time for her to shoot her scene.
It was a physically demanding wire-fu fight scene, and the stunt coordinator came over, explaining things to her in detail. Sarah listened carefully, nodding along as she gripped her prop weapon.
“3, 2, 1, action!”
Snowflakes swirled in the air as Sarah flew across the set, sword in hand, her movements smooth and flawless.
There were a lot of actors involved in the scene, and a few kept making small mistakes.
Director Colby, being a perfectionist, had to stop and restart the scene multiple times. By the time they wrapped, it was two hours later.
When Sarah was finally lowered from the wires, she felt frozen to the bone.
Camille handed her a steaming cup of milk, and Sarah smiled at her, “Thanks, Camille.”
Camille, who had just watched her play an aloof, noble character on set, saw Sarah’s warm, sweet smile and her big, expressive eyes. It melted her heart instantly. Honestly, with someone this pretty and hardworking, even other women couldn’t help but want to get closer.
Director Colby glanced at Sarah with a rare hint of approval before going off with the stunt coordinator to talk to the actor who had been messing up.
“Filming fight scenes is no joke,” Camille sighed. “Sarah, do you have a background in dance? That high kick and sword move was so impressive. Most people couldn’t pull off a full split mid-air like that.”
Sarah nodded. She did have a dance background and had worked on fight scenes before. However, the director she had worked with back in the real world was far worse than Director Colby.
Back then, she was a newbie with no connections, stuck in the blazing summer sun, suspended in the air for two hours straight. By the time they let her down, she was on the verge of passing out from heatstroke.
Working under Director Colby was actually a pretty comfortable experience for her. Even though flying on wires was part of the job, Director Colby hadn’t gone out of his way to bully her just because she was new.
“It’s almost Christmas, and we’ll be heading back to City N in a few days,” Camille said, taking a deep breath. “We’ll get to rest for about ten days, then start work again after Christmas. Your movie is coming out on Christmas Eve, right? I’m definitely booking out a theater to support you.”
When Sarah heard this, she suddenly remembered Elisa’s retweet on Twitter. She opened it up to check the comments, and sure enough, there was chaos in the replies.