???
Vincent stole a glance at Emily, who was sitting next to him, as he parked his car, “you, are you sure you’re alright?”
He had driven her to the Manchester’s Residence in his car, after he watched her cry her eyes out in front of him, under the bus she’d.
Emily nodded her head, “Uhm.”
He smiled, “Okay.”
He took her phone from her hand and typed in some things before he handed the phone back to her.
“Bye,” he waved.
Emily twitched her lips as she stepped out of the car, thanking Vincent repeatedly. She waved at him and walked up the driveway.
Joel’s body went stiff as he gaped at the CCTV monitor. He gnashed his teeth as he watched Emily wave at the guy in the car-he didn’t see the guy’s face though.
He stood on his feet and walked out of his study. He strolled down the corridor and placed his hands on the banister, watching as Emily dragged her feet to her room-she forgot she switched rooms.
A few seconds later, she was climbing up the stairs.
Joel gazed at her as she walked past him and entered her room.
Now, that was absurd.
He walked to her door, but he stopped midway.
“Ani, this won’t do,” he swallowed and calmed himself down a bit.
He turned around and headed down the stairs.
He poured himself a glass of wine and gulped it down.
Her boyfriend dropped her, and to top it, she pretended like she didn’t see him. RUBBISH!
Joel poured himself another glass and gulped it at once.
But wait, why was he annoyed? It was none of his business though.
He poured himself another glass and drank it, before he stood up from the kitchen stool that was beside the counter, and climbed up the stairs-He needed a break.
He walked into his room and packed some clothes in a suitcase, he packed some other things he felt were important, carried his laptop, and headed out of the villa before he would do something stupid.
Nightfall?️?️?️
It was just Michael and Little Pumpkin at the dining table, the two foodies were absent that night.
“Huh… where’s Joel?.” Michael asked one of the maids.
The maid bowed, “He left earlier, Sir.”
“He furrowed his brows, “Left? for where?
“He didn’t tell anyone, it looked like he was traveling.” The maid replied.
“…” Michael sighed.
His brother was at it again. Who exactly made him angry this time?…
But thankfully, he wasn’t so angry, or else, he would have locked himself up in the duplex. He sighed.
He looked up at the maid, “What about Emily?”
“She’s in her room, but she said she does not feel like eating.” She stated.
“Oh.”
Michael looked over the table, at his son, “You, you have work to do.”
“Me?” Little Pumpkin pouted in bewilderment.
“Uhm,” He nodded his head.
???
Little Pumpkin rapped gently on Emily’s door and waited for a while.
“Noona.” He called out before knocking again.
Emily hastily stood up from the bed when she heard her darling’s voice. She turned the knob and opened the door.
“Little Pumpkin…” She squatted down and ruffled his hair affectionately.
“Noona, come down for dinner. If you don’t, Little Pumpkin will fall sick again.” Little Pumpkin muttered in his small voice.
“…” Emily sighed.
Her darling was worried about her. Awwn.
She carried him in her arms and headed for the stairs.
Since her darling wanted her toeat, she’d certainly eat.
Michael looked up at the stairs and smiled, the plan worked.
Joel was the one left; he didn’t know what or who had annoyed him.
“Errr, Emily do you know where Joel went to?” He asked as soon as Emily settled down at the dinner table.
Emily shook her head, she hadn’t seen him since that morning, “Huh… Ani.”
She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn’t know she had passed by him that afternoon when she returned.
She dropped her chopsticks and stared at Michael, “Wae? is something wrong?”
“I’m not sure…” Michael paused, “but it looks like something is wrong.” He sighed.
“We should wait for some days,” he smiled and urged Emily to eat.
After the trio was done with dinner, they wished themselves good night and went to their various rooms.
???
The next day, Emily got dressed for work. She tied her hair in her usual pony, wore a fitted black dress, and walked out of her room.
Michael had left for work and Little Pumpkin had left for school too.
She walked out of the villa and stared at her car. She smiled.
Since she didn’t know how to drive, she would just go on the public bus.
The arrogant CEO had told her he was going to teach her how to drive but he had suddenly disappeared.
What was she expecting from him, she sneered and walked out of the villa.
In no time, she reached Empire World. She gazed at the massive buildings of the industry for a while, huffed, and walked into the industry.
She heard whispers from all angles as she walked to her manager’s office.
“There she is,” Nancy whispered in Stephanie’s ear.
Stephaine turned around and stared at the naive girl walking towards the elevator.
Maybe the girl wasn’t as naive as she looked, since she stole her role.
Maybe she was just a snake in the grass…
Plus, even if she wasn’t, she still wouldn’t let the girl be, since she had eyes for her spot in the entertainment industry.
Stephanie eyed the girl from head to toe as she approached her.
Emily grinned sheepishly as soon as she set her eyes on her role model, Stephanie.
She bowed her head happily, “Annyeonghaseyo sunbae.”
Never in her life had she imagined meeting her role model face to face. She only always watched her on TV, but right now, she was standing right beside her. What a stroke of luck!
She raised her head and looked at her role model who was only gazing at her without responding to her greeting.
Naively, she grinned and bobbed her head, “Bangapsumnida!”
(A/N bangapsumnida means nice to meet you)
Stephanie stared at the girl before her in annoyance and rolled her eyes.
“Ahhh, I don’t know when Empire World started employing stupid girls,” She smirked.
“Ahh, I’m irritated.”
She turned around and signaled to her assistant, “Kaja,”
Nancy quickly trailed after her, but not before giving Emily a nasty look.
Emily stood transfixed on a spot for a moment, she was not expecting a cold attitude from her role model.
A tear escaped her eye, she hastily wiped it off and headed to the elevator.
Rachel who was watching from a corner smirked and walked away with her manager.
“The game is gradually starting.” She mouthed happily.
After getting rid of her step-sister, she’d find a way to get rid of Stephanie, and the limelight would be hers. Wasn’t that fantastic!?
She giggled evilly.
Emily bowed as she walked into her manager’s office, “Annyeonghaseyo, Mrs. Maria.”
Maria looked up from the files on her desk and smiled cutely, “Ah, Emily.”
“Enough with the formalities, just call me unnie.” She added, grinning from ear to ear.
She pointed at one of the two chairs on the other side of her desk, “Hmm, let’s get to business. Have your sit.”
Emily bobbed her head and took her seat.
Maria twitched her mouth from side to side, “I managed to get some spots for you, just to get you in the spotlight…”
She stared at Emily intently, “let me get some things straight to you-in this industry, don’t trust anyone. Don’t tell anyone anything about you and your schedules. Everyone in the entertainment industry is reaching for the limelight. They’ll do anything to get to the spotlight.”
She looked down at her tablet, “Here’s a list of your schedule for the week, you’re pretty much occupied.”
She looked up at Emily again, “Emily…”
“Please, don’t let me down. I know there are so many challenges you’ll face, but please, just ignore them. Work towards the top, okay?”
Emily nodded her head, “Nde.”
She was definitely not going to let this woman down. Never. She’ll ignore every distraction.
Asides from her manager, she also has her mother and brother to impress. And impressive is what she’ll be.
???
Stephanie scowled as she stared at her manager, “were you able to get a list of that girl’s schedule for this week?”
“No, you know Maria, she’s too tough to get pass through.” Carmen replied, frowning.
Stephanie balled up her fists, “That wench! She refused to be my manager but she’s managing that girl?…”
Carmen’s lips twitched to the sides, “Aren’t you happy I’m managing you?”
Stephanie eyed her manager and scoffed.
She looked away, “Just make sure to get a copy of that girl’s schedule, I need to crash her.”
“Nde. I’ll get a hacker to hack into Maria’s account.”
She stepped out of the office and was back after a while.
“I got the list,” Carmen grinned as she rushed into her office.
Stephanie’s face lit up instantly.
“Hand it over,” She stretched out her hand and snatched the list from her manager.
She skimmed through the paper and her face became ugly.
“She’s got nerves.” She blurted out and scrunched up the paper.
She scowled, “She has so many shows in just one week.”
She looked up at Carmen, “you have that hacker’s contact right?”
Carmen nodded.
“Good. You’ll have him hack into Maria’s account again and change the time for all of that girl’s schedule. He should make some two hours late, and others, three hours earlier. You understand, right?.”
Carmen smiled, “yes, I do.”