Afraid that Conrad would refuse, Hogan leaned in. “That place is really amazing! It’s not like the wild environments here in the country. It’s a true, untouched jungle, real wilderness camping.”
Conrad sneered. “Forget it. My little director is too focused on her project team now, and her grandmother is still in the hospital. She asks about her every day. If we went to the jungle and lost signal, she’d be so anxious she wouldn’t be able to sleep at night and wouldn’t enjoy herself.”
After speaking, Conrad noticed Hogan giving him a sly grin.
“What’s that look for?” Conrad threw his phone onto the desk and went back to reading his documents.
Hogan clicked his tongue three times. “Oh, Conrad…”
Conrad didn’t even look up. “If you’ve got something to say, say it.”
Hogan pointed at the desk. “So, how are you planning to handle Lillian?”
“What do you mean, handle?”
“Are you going to keep her by your side for a while, or for a lifetime?”
“She’s already by my side. Does it really make that much of a difference?” Conrad answered coldly.
Hogan shook his head. “If you want her to follow you loyally for life, you’d better treat her better. After all, she’s your woman. She’s living worse than Evelyn-that’s ridiculous. You support Evelyn, but you don’t even touch her? Are you just burning money for fun? It’s not your style.”
“She has her uses. Don’t compare her to Lillian.”
“Alright, as a friend, I’m glad to hear you tell me the truth,” Hogan was a sharp guy.
Hogan had noticed that for the past few days, a bunch of people in their circle had been giving Evelyn all sorts of resources, practically making the girl so proud she was getting carried away.
If Conrad had really fallen for Evelyn, Hogan wouldn’t have said much. After all, in their group of rich young masters, without any conflicting interests, giving resources to someone like Evelyn-who they could easily crush with just a finger-wasn’t something worth arguing about.
But Lillian was different. They could all tell Conrad was genuinely in love with her. Otherwise, for a woman like her, even if Gordon had shown interest, Conrad wouldn’t have gone so far as to handle things with his friend Gordon just because of her.
“I’ll think more about your project,” Conrad said, lighting a cigarette. “If there’s investment potential, maybe we should do something more stimulating.”
Hogan raised an eyebrow. “Alright, let’s make some money together.”
******
When Lillian arrived at the construction site, a group of people were talking. As soon as they saw her, they scattered like birds and beasts.
Lillian pretended not to notice.
She had just taken out her bag when someone called her name.
Lillian looked up to see Sophia, standing in front of her, furious. Without warning, she raised her hand to slap her across the face.
“You bitch, it’s all your fault! Today, I’m going to teach you a lesson for my mommy!”
“If you don’t want to die, stay far away from me.” Lillian had already developed a reflex from being hit by Grace. She immediately grabbed Sophia’s wrist and pushed her away.
Sophia glared at her. “What the hell do you want? My dad and mom didn’t provoke you, but ever since they came back, you’ve been causing trouble for them! I’ve never seen anyone as awful as you, using your own family to get what you want. You’re the most terrifying kind of person.”
“If your English vocabulary is too poor, go practice some more before you come here to insult me. You know I’m scary, and yet you’re still asking for trouble?” Lillian didn’t take her seriously at all. Especially since Sophia was Helen’s child-what did that have to do with her?
She didn’t even care about Helen. Whether Helen gave birth to dragons, phoenixes, or cockroaches, Lillian preferred that they stayed out of her business.
“Sophia!” Peter immediately showed up as the crew members began to gather, eager to watch the drama unfold. “Let’s go.”
“Daddy!”
“Be sensible. Lillian, I’m sorry. I apologize on behalf of Sophia. I didn’t manage my daughter well.”
Lillian turned her head away. “No need.”
After Peter dragged Sophia away, the crew started to gossip.
“So, is it true that she has some kind of complicated relationship with Peter? Helen’s love and marriage are like something out of a fairy tale. Does Lillian think she can break them up just because she’s young and pretty?”
“Helen was my idol when I was younger. Does Lillian think she’s in the same league? She has a list of men longer than we can count.”
“So Lillian doesn’t care about acting, huh? She just likes the title of being a female director. How laughable.”
Those fragmented voices kept reaching Lillian’s ears.
Silence, crossing her arms and sneering as she passed by, commented, “Oh well, everyone has their own ambitions. Taking shortcuts in this industry isn’t that surprising.”
Lillian stood there for a moment, taking two deep breaths before lowering her head to pack her things. She quickly walked to the set to check on how the stage from yesterday had turned out.
However, the crew was so small that news of everything had already spread through social media, complete with pictures and captions.
“Mr. Harry, it looks like you made a mistake here. How do you plan to fix it?”
“I followed your blueprint, Director Lillian. No one will care about this when the time comes.”
“Mr. Harry, I know you guys are working hard…”
“If you know we’re working hard, then stop always picking on me. You have the most problems, and we’re all busy here. If you don’t like it, go whine to that old man and get me replaced.”
“…”
Lillian rubbed her forehead, then turned to leave the set and find someone else to talk to. But as she was leaving, she caught sight of the neighboring studio. A group of media reporters were gathered for an interview.
Evelyn, dressed in an ancient flowing white costume, stood demurely next to Helen.
Helen had her arm around Evelyn’s shoulders as she smiled at the camera. “Yes, Evelyn is my goddaughter. She’s such a sweet, understanding girl. I’ve liked her since the first time I met her. As a daughter, she’s very thoughtful and obedient-one can never have too many of those. Evelyn is a very talented actress. I believe she’ll become a big star in the future.”
Lillian stopped in her tracks and, from across the crowd, locked eyes with Helen.
When Helen looked at her, she hesitated for a moment, then continued chatting cheerfully. “For the second half of the year, I’ll be taking on some magazine shoots and interviews. I haven’t acted in a while, and now I focus on family. As for the rumors from before, I don’t have much to say. I hope everyone will support Evelyn and give her a chance. She’s young.”
When Helen looked up again, Lillian was already wearing a sarcastic smile and had turned to walk back to the studio.
Harry was sitting at his desk, smoking. Lillian slammed the design draft in front of him.
“What’s this? Didn’t I make myself clear earlier?”
“I think I made myself clear too. Mr. Harry, if you don’t cooperate with my work, I’ll talk to Director Karl about switching teams. After all, you’re delaying the whole crew’s progress, and this isn’t the first time you’ve made mistakes. It’s not my job to clean up after you.”
After saying this, Lillian leaned forward and added, “You also said I’m here because of connections-well, let’s see if I really have the ability.”
Lillian finished speaking and, without caring about this office veteran, turned away.
If something went wrong, it would be she who’d have to take the blame. Why should she have to clean up his mess?
That night, just before Lillian left work, rumors about her and Peter hit the trending charts. Although they didn’t name names, netizens quickly connected the dots from the previous drama between Lillian and Helen, found her on set, and even linked her to the earlier rumors with Gordon.