Thankfully, not many people were dragging Sarah just yet, but the very first comment caught her off guard:
“Director Beck is trash. If he didn’t want to keep Elisa’s scenes, why let her join the cast? What a waste of her time, and now all her scenes are cut.”
Uh… Sarah hadn’t expected fans to be attacking the director. If it were some small-time director, it wouldn’t have been as shocking, but this was Director Beck-one of the top filmmakers in the country, someone who’d made it to the international stage!
Camille and Frank also leaned in to join the spectacle.
Camille let out a “Whoa,” and added, “Her fans are wild! A few comments like this, and she’s pretty much burned her bridges with him.”
For most actors, a director like Beck was someone they’d worship and grovel in front of for a chance to work with. Letting fans bash such a high-level director was like an employee encouraging their subordinates to cuss out the company’s CEO.
Frank was just as baffled, saying, “Her fans must be a bunch of clueless kids. They’re really bold, huh? And look at all the likes on those comments!”
To be honest, Frank was already a pretty big box-office draw among male stars. Everywhere he went, people treated him like a star, and his fans had serious spending power. But even his fanbase, as bold as they were, wouldn’t dare to go after someone like Director Beck.
Meanwhile, Elisa hadn’t expected her fans to be so… impulsive.
In Elisa’s last show, the male lead played a domineering CEO and the female lead was a doctor. Their love story was full of dramatic twists and turns. Elisa played the male lead’s long-lost sister, who appeared to be a poor, fragile girl but was actually a wealthy heiress. Her on-screen romance was with a charming playboy character.
That show blew up as soon as it aired, and her character attracted a bunch of young, inexperienced fans.
When Elisa posted that tweet, she had hoped to steer her fans into attacking Sarah. But her fans, being a bit too literal, missed the point. They saw that her scenes were cut and immediately blamed the director.
“Who cares if he’s a famous director? If he upset our queen, even the biggest director deserves to get flamed!”
The top-liked comments were either bashing the director or the production team, and some had even dug up old gossip about Director Beck cutting actors’ scenes in the past.
Lately, with Elisa’s sudden rise to fame, several other actresses in the industry had started seeing her as competition. Now, watching Elisa’s fans go after Director Beck under the promo posts for Heart Throb, those actresses couldn’t help but laugh to themselves.
Who wouldn’t enjoy watching a little drama unfold between colleagues? The more, the merrier.
Elisa quickly deleted her tweet and hurriedly told her fans to stop randomly attacking people.
Some of her fans, the more reasonable ones, realized that angering a major director could hurt Elisa’s chances in the film industry, so they tried to stop others from insulting him. A few even started encouraging people to support the movie’s box office just to get on Director Beck’s good side and make sure he didn’t hold a grudge against Elisa.
In the end, all this drama actually ended up promoting the movie, which was the exact opposite of what Elisa had intended.
******
The Mysterious Family crew wrapped up for the holidays, telling everyone to enjoy their Christmas before they resumed work.
Sarah had been working hard lately, but she still had a lot of fun shooting with the crew.
When she got back to the Smith family mansion, it was already late at night. The whole place was pitch black, and the only person there was the security guard who let her in.
Sarah sent a message to Butler Ted, but it was probably too late for him to reply.
Curious, she checked Butler Ted’s social media.
The first post she saw was about “paid vacation,” with a location tagged at some fancy hotel in the Maldives.
Damn. Sarah totally forgot that Holden wouldn’t keep the staff working year-round. He actually gave everyone time off for Christmas.
Working for the Holdens was way more comfortable than working at a big company.
She thought to herself that if one day she ran out of money and got old and faded, she might as well work as a maid for a rich family. If she had a boss like Holden, she could travel abroad twice a year.
She used her fingerprint to unlock the door. Inside was just as dark as expected.
Sarah flipped on the lights.
Holden wasn’t home that night. With a guy like him, who had multiple residences, it was pretty common not to see him for days with all his social engagements.
After taking a shower, she was so tired that she fell right asleep and didn’t wake up until noon the next day.
When hunger finally woke her up, she went downstairs to the fridge and poured herself a glass of milk.
As she heated the milk, Butler Ted messaged her.
Butler Ted, “I’m on vacation, Lady. If you need anything, just wait until I’m back.”
Feeling envious, Sarah texted back, “Do I get to take time off for Christmas, too?”
Butler Ted replied, “Nope, during Christmas, you’ll be accompanying Mr. Holden back to the family home and handling his social events. It’ll be a lot of work.”
With a ding, the microwave stopped, and Sarah took out her warm milk.
Pressing the phone to her ear, she sent Butler Ted a voice message, “So, will your boss give me a Christmas bonus?”
“Only if you do well.”
A low, magnetic voice responded, and when Sarah turned around, she saw Holden coming back inside.
He wasn’t in his usual formal wear, but rather a black trench coat. He had the height and legs to pull off anything, and he looked even more commanding in that coat than a model on the runway.
Sarah’s eyes lit up. “How much will it be? Is it like a year-end bonus?”
Holden didn’t quite get why Sarah was so obsessed with money. After all, he had been born with two gold mountains; even if he lived a wild, extravagant life, he could never run out of cash, especially with the massive business empire he’d built over the years.
What Sarah loved most was exactly what Holden had in abundance, which made his experience in marriage pretty exceptional.
Holden just smiled without saying anything.
Sure enough, the next moment, Sarah, eager to please her boss, pretended she hadn’t just drunk that cup of milk and offered it to him instead. “Mr. Holden, here’s your breakfast.”
Holden glanced at the rim of the cup where she had sipped, “I wanted a latte.”
She hurried over to the coffee machine to make him one. “I can do latte art! Do you want a little swan or a heart?”
Holden didn’t respond to her childish question, but Sarah focused and created a perfectly shaped little swan with the foam before handing it to him.
She worked really hard for her year-end bonus.
Holden simply remarked, “You really enjoy messaging Butler Ted, huh?”
Sarah said, “You guys mentioned before to contact Butler Ted if anything came up, and not to bother you at work.” Plus, Butler Ted was basically a walking encyclopedia-he knew everything, never got offended no matter what she asked, and wouldn’t dock Sarah’s pay.
Tonight was New Year’s Eve, and of course, they had to head back to the Smith family to have their reunion dinner.
Old Mr. Smith was feeling much better, but being older, he was still a bit weak, so it was important for the younger generation to check in on him.
When Sarah and Holden arrived, the living room was filled with warmth and laughter, like a happy family gathering.
Old Mr. Smith sat on the sofa, a soft cashmere blanket draped over his knees, while Nicola looked at him lovingly with a gentle smile.
Samuel and Reuben, the two brothers, were sitting next to the sofa, both grinning and sharing jokes with Old Mr. Smith, making him laugh heartily.
But as soon as Sarah and Holden walked in, everyone’s smiles faded, and they glanced in Holden’s direction.