Thea was enraged after closing her laptop that a cold smile showed up on her face. She was not a celebrity yet, and those people were too harsh to make these ridiculous things up.
That was so absolutely a lie, and someone must want her out of the competition.
“Did you see that?” Candace asked on the other side of the phone, “Someone’s trying to smear your name.”
Thea sighed heavily, “I never did that. People won’t believe them.”
“No, they will believe everything that they wished was true. If you just sit back and let them slander your name, they will kick you out of this industry,” Cody’s voice suddenly sounded on the other side of the phone. His voice was as deep and sexy as Thea remembered.
Thea suddenly blinked. Cody was also with Candace when she cared. He cared about this as much as Candace did?
“W-Cody? Why are you…” Thea stuttered.
“Thea, come to my house asap,” Cody ordered.
Thea let out a long breath. This man was not her boss anymore. He didn’t have the right to tell her what to do.
“Why? I’m not going to your house. I’m tired, and I wanted to sleep.” Thea refused politely. She was telling the truth. She couldn’t feel her legs after practicing that choreography.
“Thea Todd, my company owns the show. If you don’t want to get kicked out, you’d better come to my house in 30 minutes,” Cody’s voice was merciless.
Wait… What?!! Was he still her boss?
Thea cursed under her breath before forcing out a smile, “Yes, Mr. Bradley. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Cody could walk after she left, yet he hadn’t informed her.
Thea still felt so surreal when she saw him standing on the landing of the stairs.
She only realized at that moment that Cody was much taller than she had imagined.
She couldn’t imagine how it would feel when she stood close to him. Must feel extremely intimidated by him towering over her.
Cody cast her a cold glance before turning around and walking into his study room. He must still be mad at her for lying to him. Thea hesitated for a second and followed.
Candace was also in the room.
“Thea, those people have no morals whatsoever. They made up so many horrible things about you!” Candace was furious, “I can’t believe how mean they are! They don’t even know you!” Candace sounded indignant while ranting as she sat on the sofa.
“Thank you, Candace.” Thea smiled at Candace, “I’m so glad you chose to trust me. That means a lot to me.”
“Blind trust is stupid,” Cody frowned, “We chose to trust you because we know you were locked in the room that day. Someone did that to you on purpose, and it was disgusting.”
Thea’s eyes widened in surprise, “How did you know that I was locked in the room that day?”
“We got cameras everywhere,” Cody answered shortly.
“Including our dorms?” Thea swallowed hard.
“Not in the rooms. We got cameras in the corridor,” Cody shrugged his shoulders, leaning on his chair, “That’s why Candace and I believed you. You don’t need to make any response to that. You’re not obliged to. The company will take care of that. I just want you to focus on the competition. You did very well during the first couple of rounds.”
“Cody would wait by his laptop to see your cut every day,” Candace cut in excitedly.
Cody knocked on her head.
“Ouch! Why are you so harsh on your twin!” Candace covered her head and glared at her brother.
“You… Will you take care of it for me? Thank you so much, Cody.” Thea was grateful. She couldn’t believe she was so lucky to have these siblings around her.
Cody looked away, blushed, and his muscled arms folded before his chest, “I’m not doing this for your sake. I’m protecting you because those people are disgusting. I don’t want any forms of dishonesty in my show. And you brought a lot of popularity to the show. You’re my potential cash cow.”
“Do you just have to say the last few words aloud?” Thea was a bit speechless.
Cody shuffled, a faint smile showing on his lips. Candace was the only one who noticed that.
When could his twin brother change? He would never get himself a girlfriend this way. It seemed like she was the only one who could help him. Candace sighed and grabbed Thea’s hand, “Anyway, you need to be really careful during the show. Showbiz is complicated. You have to protect yourself very well. Those people are snakes and vicious.”
Thea walked towards Candace and hugged her, “Thank you, Candace. I’ll be careful.”
“Have you eaten anything, though?” Candace suddenly asked.
“I… had some snacks back home,” Thea answered.
“Why don’t you stay for dinner?” Candace suggested.
“Huh?” Thea was a bit hesitant. She sneaked a glance at Cody. Cody’s features were so handsome, and he stood near them.
She couldn’t tell if he was happy with Candace’s suggestions or not.
“Just stay! I bought a new dress today, and it looked so good. Lemme show you.” Candace pulled Thea upstairs, not giving her any chance to refuse.
Thea ended up staying for the night. Candace was extremely gossipy, asking Thea about everything that happened during the shooting.
Thea couldn’t even keep her eyes open in the end, falling into a sound and sweet sleep.
When she woke up the next morning, Zoey came to knock on their door and asked them to have breakfast downstairs.
Thea got up groggily before going to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth.
She quit her job in this house a couple of months ago. But weirdly enough, this place still felt like home to her. When she got downstairs, Cody was reading something from his laptop.
“Good morning,” Thea murmured, suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious.
Cody looked up. The girl standing before him was not wearing any makeup. This was probably Thea in her truest form. And she looked as pure as an angel. Cody blinked and went back to reading his materials again.
“Good morning.” He said politely, yet detached.
Thea dropped her gaze, finding a seat silently by the table.
Candace was the last one who went downstairs. She yawned as she said good morning to both of them.
And then, out of nowhere, Candace suddenly started to curse loudly as she sat down by the table, eyes boring into the screen of her phone.
“What’s wrong?” Cody looked up again, frowning.
“These motherfuckers!” Candace hissed over her plate of western breakfast, “How could they make lies like this?”