Elisa’s persona had been attracting plenty of young girls lately-those awkward teens who felt average-looking and dreamed of transforming into stunning beauties, landing a wealthy boyfriend, and becoming a star through sheer effort.
To her fans, Elisa embodied the ultimate fantasy. She gave them hope that they, too, could outshine the school’s beloved queen bee someday and step into the spotlight, living a glamorous life with a rich boyfriend.
No matter how much Elisa stirred up trouble, as long as she kept up the illusion of her perfect transformation-from ugly duckling to beautiful swan-her fans stayed loyal.
But now, Elisa’s eyes were red as she scrolled through all the mockery aimed at her online.
She just couldn’t understand what was wrong with people these days. And she definitely didn’t get how Sarah, who used to be just as passive-aggressive as she was, had suddenly started confronting things head-on like this.
Trying to swallow her frustration, Elisa posted an apology on Twitter:
“Sorry, Sarah, I just like you so much that I wanted to copy you. If it upset you, I won’t do it again. @Sarah”
She expected the internet to comfort her, maybe even scold Sarah for being petty. But things didn’t go at all the way she’d imagined.
“Even her apology is passive-aggressive. No wonder Sarah dragged her-it wouldn’t be too much if she slapped her.”
“You really thought people would pity you after this apology? Sorry, sweetie, I’m an ‘angelic bitch’ too-I know exactly what you’re trying to pull.”
“Can you stop copying her? Wearing everything she wears-do you even own any of those clothes?”
“Sarah wore the original pieces from the movie for her photo. Meanwhile, you’re parading around in cheap knockoffs. How about just being yourself for once?”
“…”
This batch of internet users wasn’t falling for her tricks anymore. After watching her pull stunts over and over, they had grown wary and weren’t as willing to trust her like before.
Reading all the comments that were the complete opposite of what she had expected, Elisa nearly fainted from rage.
And on top of everything, she hadn’t seen Ronald in the past few days.
Her heart clenched with anxiety, fearing that Ronald, like everyone else, might now be siding with Sarah and planning to dump her.
Elisa knew that if she wanted to stay relevant in the industry, she still needed Ronald’s resources and connections. So she gave him a call, using her softest voice to check in on how he’d been doing.
Hearing Elisa’s sweet concern made Ronald feel a bit guilty. When he came back, he brought her a diamond bracelet as a gift.
Elisa posted a selfie of her and Ronald, along with a picture of the bracelet.
Ronald was one of the few genuinely handsome guys among the wealthy elite, with looks that rivaled actual celebrities. Not many actresses could boast about having a boyfriend as good-looking and rich as Elisa’s.
Once her post went live, the tide started to shift. The criticism quieted down, and Elisa’s fans took over the comment section.
“Ronald and Elisa are such a perfect match. I hope we’ll see a wedding soon!”
“Perfect couple +1.”
“How did Elisa manage to find a boyfriend this hot and rich? Every guy I meet is so stingy-Elisa, please share your secret!”
“A diamond bracelet worth $1. 9 million? No way some D-list celebrity could score something like that. Elisa’s living the dream.”
“Wow, real diamonds. Ronald spoils Elisa so much-it’s amazing how generous he is.”
With the public opinion shifting ever so slightly in her favor, Elisa finally felt some relief.
She handed her phone over to her agent for safekeeping and let them handle her Twitter, focusing entirely on filming.
In this movie, she had the lead role, and the industry expected it to be a huge summer hit. She wanted to wrap it up quickly and use the success to rebuild her reputation.
After Christmas, Sarah returned to The Mysterious Family set, no longer paying attention to the online drama. This time, her look would change-her long golden hair would become purple, and her sleek, fitted costumes would be replaced with flowing, traditional robes.
Since Sarah already had long hair and hadn’t worn a wig before, the director asked if she preferred dyeing her hair or switching to a wig. Sarah chose to dye it for convenience, and under most lighting, the purple color wasn’t even that noticeable.
Director Colby let out a sigh of relief-he hadn’t expected Sarah to cooperate so easily. To be honest, ever since he found out who Sarah’s husband was, he’d been worried she might start throwing her weight around. If she ever decided to flex Holden’s influence, nobody in the crew would dare push back. Nobody wanted to risk their career.
But Sarah remained as professional as ever, acting like she had no powerful connections at all. No matter how cold the weather got during filming, she never once complained.
Initially, Director Colby thought she was too pretty for the role, but now he saw that she embodied Mollie’s resilience perfectly.
It took Sarah most of the day to dye her hair, but the result looked great-almost identical to the design sketches.
Later, she pulled out her phone and started texting Holden.
“Transfer me 50 bucks, and I’ll show you a pretty girl.”
Holden, “?”
Even though he didn’t send the money, Sarah generously sent him a selfie anyway.
A second later, her phone buzzed with a bank notification, “Your account ending in 9838 has received a real-time transfer of $500, 000. 00.”
Purple is a tricky color-it can easily look tacky or dull. But Sarah pulled it off flawlessly.
She wore a white camisole dress inside, her waterfall of hair spilling over her thin shoulders. Even without makeup, her profile looked cool and sculpted-arched brows, a straight nose, and soft, rosy lips that seemed impossibly kissable, like a fairy who’d accidentally wandered into the mortal world.
She draped a jacket over her shoulders and texted Holden again, “Thanks, boss.”
But in her rush to type, her fingers moved faster than her brain, and she accidentally wrote “hubby” instead of “boss.”
A moment later, Holden responded, “No problem.”
Whenever Sarah got paid or received ad revenue, she would consult with Butler Ted to plan investments. The idea of making money from money was definitely appealing to her-especially with low-risk, high-reward projects.
The opportunities Ted brought her were exclusive, not open to the public. The people involved were all high-net-worth individuals, and while other investors had to bring millions to the table, Sarah and Ted-thanks to their inside connections-could participate with just a few hundred thousand.
Of course, who came up with this crafty scheme? Well, that depended on who was paying Butler Ted’s salary.
The most physically demanding scenes had already been shot before Christmas, so the remaining scenes were much easier to film.
Director Colby, known for being notoriously picky, found himself pleasantly surprised by Sarah’s performance. Even though she wasn’t classically trained, she could slip into character within seconds and come right back out just as quickly once the cameras stopped rolling. No matter the angle, her face looked stunning-she didn’t need any special positioning or tricks.
Camille wrapped up her scenes a few days before Sarah, and Sarah finished about a month ahead of Frank.
On the day Sarah wrapped up filming, the crew got her a cake to celebrate. Stuck in the middle of nowhere, there weren’t many good options, so the small cake was made with plant-based cream. By the time they finished the cake, it was already 10:00 p. m.
Sarah packed up her stuff, planning to leave once the sun came up.
She glanced at her phone and saw a message from Holden sent five minutes ago, “Heading home tonight?”
Sarah replied: “It’s too dark. I’ll head to the station in the morning, take the train to the high-speed rail station, and from there, it’s an hour to the airport.”
The last few days had been tough-all the scenes were shot on location with no hotels nearby, so everyone had been sleeping in tents on set.
Holden texted back, “I’m outside. I’ll give you a lift to City N.”
Sarah could hardly believe it, but she stepped outside anyway. Sure enough, she spotted a massive Knight XV SUV parked among the bushes by the roadside.
Curious, she knocked on the window.
The window rolled down, revealing Holden’s sharp, chiseled side profile.
She blinked in surprise. “A thousand kilometers? Mr. Holden, you’re driving me all the way back?”
Holden chuckled softly. “Get in.”
Sarah turned back to grab her luggage-two suitcases filled with clothes and basic supplies. Shooting outdoors had been rough, with no reliable internet, and at night, she could even hear wolves howling.
Holden got out of the car and followed her to her tent. On the way, they ran into a couple of crew members who greeted Sarah warmly.
Even though it was hard to see faces clearly in the dark, Holden stood out. Dressed in a black trench coat and leather boots, with black gloves and a lean, tall frame, he gave off an air of effortless cool. You didn’t even need to see his face-his silhouette alone was striking.
The lighting and camera crew, who’d taken good care of Sarah throughout the shoot, grinned at her. “Sarah, is that your boyfriend?”