"You... I don't know them! I was just passing by!" Madison desperately tried to distance herself from the situation. But Nina had already called the police when she first noticed the men following her. The men’s statements were enough evidence, and the police didn’t listen to Madison's excuses. They escorted her straight to the police car."Mrs. York, are you alright?" Officer Lee asked as he approached. Madison froze when she heard the name Mrs. York and looked at Nina in shock."You’re Nash York’s wife?" she gasped in disbelief.Nina smiled. "Doesn’t it look like it?"Madison was on the verge of tears. If she had known who she was dealing with, she never would have caused so much trouble. Nina was the wife of the president of York Corporation, while she was just a small-time nobody.With Madison out of the way, Nina's mood improved even more. She even ordered a large cake, and when Nash asked about it, she simply said she felt like eating cake.Nash didn’t call her out on it.
"Orion," the woman called out, waving without a hint of concern about being seen. She did not look like a kidnapper. Since the parents had not arrived yet, Orion could not leave the school grounds. The woman handed him a small packet of snacks through the fence. Seeing this, Nina quickly walked over and stopped him. "Orion, what did Mom always teach you? Did you forget?""I didn’t forget, Mom. She’s Aunt Lulu. Some kids said she used to teach dance here," Orion answered honestly, implying that he thought she was not a stranger since she had worked at the school before.However, Orion had only started attending this term, so he did not know her at all.Nina wanted to remind her son about talking to strangers, but the woman extended her hand and introduced herself. "Hello Orion's mom, I'm Lulu Jacobs. I used to teach dance here, but now I work at an entertainment agency. Here’s my business card."The card clearly showed she was an agent, Lulu Jacobs at YJ Entertainment. Nina re
The woman picked up the contract, glanced at it, and burst into laughter. She sneered at Lulu, "Seriously? You're signing this? What if they quit after a month? You'll lose both time and money. Lulu, I know you're desperate for cash, but are you really that hard up? Taking on any gig that comes your way? Don't come crying when you're even more in debt.""This is my business, not yours," Lulu retorted, snatching the contract from her and walking into the break room. She smiled as she placed the contract in front of Nina."Sorry about that, hope you didn’t mind the scene.""No worries. I thought the entertainment industry would be different, but I see there's drama everywhere," Nina replied, signing the contract. She added cautiously, "You know Orion’s just a kid. He might find this fun now, but don’t pin too many hopes on him.""I've thought about that," Lulu admitted before asking, "By the way, how should I address you?"The contract only required one parent’s signature, and N
"I’ve seen plenty of people like you. But you know, child stars only have a short window of fame. If you don’t cash in now, when will you?" Miss Flores did not bother to hide the disdain in her eyes. Nina, however, didn’t even look at her and instead started chatting with Lulu about where they should go for lunch after the shoot. This completely infuriated Miss Flores.Just as she was about to lash out, the director on her set shouted, seemingly frustrated with an actor’s poor performance. Miss Flores quickly rushed over to handle the situation.Lulu seized the moment to warn Nina, "Try not to confront her directly. It won’t do us any good. Please, Nina, be more careful next time.""Am I making things difficult for you? I didn’t think it through. I’ll pay more attention to that in the future," Nina replied, glancing at Miss Flores, who was now fawning over the director. The contrast between her behavior towards them and her attitude with the director amused Nina. This was real
"Yes, yes, and remember to smile," Pharaoh reminded him gently."Yes, Grandpa!" Orion cheerfully responded before diving into Pharaoh’s arms, laughing.The moon hung high in the sky, and the rooftop echoed with their joyful laughter. Nina and Nash exchanged smiles from below."About that agent you mentioned, the one giving Lulu a hard time... Do you want me to step in?" Nash asked as he closed his laptop. "How about this? Tomorrow is the first day of the variety show shoot. I could arrange a dinner for the whole crew in Orion’s name. We could do it at the downtown hotel."Nina shook her head, not wanting to reveal Nash's identity as Orion’s father just yet. "I can handle this. Plus, we have Lulu. It’s her job to manage these kinds of relationships. If she can't, it would only show that she's not up to the task.""I don’t care about anyone else’s abilities. I just don’t want you and Orion to get hurt," Nash said, holding her hand. "I know you can handle it, but I want to be your sa
Nina did not want to argue, so she nodded in agreement. Just then, the director called for everyone to gather. She took Orion’s hand and started walking toward the meeting point, but Miss Flores stepped in front of them. She pulled Nina aside and took Orion’s hand instead. When Orion tried to pull away, she tightened her grip, causing tears to well up in his eyes.Nina quickly intervened, pushing Miss Flores aside and sternly asking, "Are you trying to hurt him on purpose?"Miss Flores looked hurt and defensive. "Orion’s mom, you’ve misunderstood. I was just trying to bond with him, I didn’t mean to hurt him." She crouched down to Orion’s level and added, "I’m sorry, Orion. Did I hurt you? That was my mistake. I’ll be more careful next time and won’t grip so hard."Nina didn’t give her another chance and scooped up Orion, heading directly toward the director. The film crew was much larger this time, with many more people involved. Miss Flores quietly approached Nina, subtly re
Now Orion understood that Miss Flores had taken him to this unfamiliar place without his mom knowing, and he realized he needed to contact her quickly. He looked around, then darted towards a nearby elevator.Miss Flores, busy explaining things to Nina over the phone, didn’t notice that Orion had entered the elevator. By the time she realized, he was already gone.Orion followed a group of people into one of the buildings in the complex. When they exited through the back door, he followed them outside. The street was busy with people, and Orion didn’t know what to do next.Suddenly, a woman approached him, grabbed him tightly, and exclaimed, "Son, my sweet boy, Mommy finally found you!""Let me go! I’m not your son! I need to find my mom!" Orion cried, tears streaming down his face.Though he hadn’t been scared when Miss Flores took him, being held by this strange woman terrified him. Fear overwhelmed him, and all he could do was scream for help.Orion’s cries attracted the atten
"I think the same," Nina agreed. "I'll let the company know right away."Just as she pulled out her phone, Nash stopped her. She looked at him, puzzled.Nash sat on the edge of the desk, thinking for a moment before saying, "Here's what you should do. Text Miss Flores and arrange a meeting for tomorrow at noon. Let's see how she handles it."Confused but trusting him, Nina sent the message to Miss Flores.They met at a coffee shop, where Miss Flores had already arrived, accompanied by Rosie, the assistant to the agency’s boss. As soon as she saw Nina, Miss Flores stood up and greeted her, "Nina, you're here.""Take a seat. Have you ordered coffee yet?" Nina asked as she called over a waiter and ordered a mocha. "About yesterday, I thought about it all night, and I'm still shaken up. I've decided to pause working with your agency for now."Both Miss Flores and Rosie looked panicked. Miss Flores quickly pulled out a gift she had prepared in advance."Nina, these are the latest D