The teacher sighed, “Thea also started to follow her mother’s surname since then. Grace is a poor woman. She could have been such an amazing chef, but her ex-husband took away her restaurant. Her husband demanded that she couldn’t make any of those dishes that she was good at, claiming that those dishes were his patent… Grace didn’t want her husband to tell little Thea the truth. So she tolerated everything. I believe her ex-husband took her house a couple of months ago. That man is so greedy. But now, it seems like things have finally turned around for her and her daughter. Thea has become a big star and Grace called me a couple of days ago, saying that she’s living in a big house in the big city with her mother. I’m so glad for them.”
Linford and Drew both got quite excited after hearing the whole story.
“What else did she tell you?” Drew asked.
The teacher sighed again. “She said John tried to blackmail her for 5 million. But Thea is such a smart kid that she managed to get rid of John. However, she got attacked by some crazy fans, and that attack almost ruined her face… Oh… Grace also mentioned that Thea got slapped by some rich Missy from the upper class. Grace is a tough woman. But she was crying as she told me that. She said she didn’t want Thea to be an actor anymore. But the girl was stubborn.”
It broke Drew’s heart to hear something like that. But luckily, it sounded like Demi was adopted by a really nice woman. She must have been loved and cared for growing up. Drew was so grateful that his daughter was in good hands over those years she was gone.
“Do you have more pictures?” Drew’s voice was thick with emotion. He tried quite hard not to let himself cry out loud.
“Of course.” The teacher pulled out another album, “Oh! I also got tapes where Thea was singing and dancing during the school competitions. Do you want to see that?”
“That will be really nice, thank you,” Drew was grateful.
Linford was less emotional compared to his friend. He was also glad that they finally found Demi, but he was more composed, “Sir, please don’t tell anyone that we’re here to ask about the girl.”
“Why do you care about Thea so much? Are you guys her…?” The teacher had had a guess since the two men got in this room.
The two men seemed powerful and wealthy. The teacher could tell from the way they carried themselves.
He didn’t expect Thea’s biological family to be so wealthy.
But if they decided to take Thea away, Grace would be devastated.
“You’re not going to take Thea away from her mother, are you? Grace is such a kind and sweet woman.” The teacher tried to persuade them.
“We don’t know, sir… But we will try to make Grace feel better about this. Please don’t tell anyone that we came here today.” Drew said.
****
Meanwhile, Thea was still on the crew.
She was completely unaware of what Drew and Linford were doing in her hometown. Ben sent her a picture, asking her to say something on Twitter.
The tickets of Smoke were selling really well. It could be counted as a popular movie for an artsy film.
Ben knew Thea and Dylan’s popularity made the film sell. The film was too indie, unlike some romantic comedies. This genre would have been hard to make a splash if it were not for the male lead and the female lead.
Thea also knew that she had gone through too much scandal lately. Ben asking her to post about the selling of the film was a move to distract her fans from those negative comments. He was giving her something positive to post about.
Thea accepted the kindness and posted the good news.
All her fans swarmed to her comment sections right after she posted the poster of Smoke.
“Thea! You finally showed up! We worried about you so much.”
“Thea! We missed you. You have to show up on Twitter more often.”
“I watched your new drama. Victorian style suits you.”
And then, Thea posted about the historical drama as well, “This is the most lovely crew I’ve ever worked with.”
The show’s finale was coming out tonight. This was also a must-do to promote the show.
Soon, Thea’s name was trending again. Both her movie and her show were a success. A lot of fans were discussing how talented she was and how amazingly she cast her roles.
However, some people just had to show up in the comment sections to say that Thea Todd was overrated.
Those people said any female actors could be as famous as Thea Todd if they were given the same amount of chances.
Drew just came back from Thea’s hometown. The dad was beyond pissed off when he saw those comments. He immediately took out his phone and started to confront those people online.
When Daisy sneaked into Thea’s bedroom, Thea was already nowhere to find. Recently, Thea needed to wake up very early to start the shooting. That gave Daisy a chance to sneak into her bedroom without being found out.
The girl went directly to Thea’s bed and searched everywhere.
And then, she finally found some hair on Thea’s pillow.
Daisy cheered and collected the hair, putting them in a plastic bag before leaving the room.
Drew and Linford were waiting for Daisy outside.
“Did you get it?” Drew seemed pretty worried as he took a step forward.
“Of course, Mr. Weston,” Daisy handed the man the plastic bag.
“Thank you.” Drew took a deep breath.
“Don’t mention any of this to Cody, will you?” Linford begged her.
“Of course, Mr. Bradley,” Daisy said nervously.
She didn’t know why these men wanted Thea’s hair, but they were like the bosses of her boss. She would never dare to disobey them unless she didn’t want her job anymore.