Isabel made a face, and her enthusiasm immediately drooped. Southboro. That was where she had her first adult relationship, which ended rather disastrously. Her second partner Roland, who ended up dumping her, was now in Southboro as well. The sheer mention of the city jogged sour memories for her. She was silent. Amanda noticed how she had suddenly turned quiet as well. After a momentary pause, she said in a low voice, "The jewelry exhibition is scheduled for half a month later. It’s organized by one of the largest jewelry manufacturers in Southboro. They seemed very interested in having you attend and offered pretty good compensation for your time. Why don’t you think about it?” This jewelry exhibition was the first endorsement offer she had received since what had happened with Clarice. Then again, the Southboro was the base camp of the Houstons and the Rockwells, so what was the likelihood that this organization hadn’t heard about her involvement with Claric
A certain fan was very sharp-witted and left behind a comment: “If I’m not mistaken, hasn’t the shooting for “Legend of the Goddess” wrapped around a month ago? You couldn’t have been resting at home for more than a month, have you?” Isabel tensed up. The other fans had gone quiet as well. They were all staring at their screens waiting for her to respond to this. The only saving grace was that they were having a digital conversation instead of face-to-face dialogue, so this gave her some time to consider her response. She typed out her response with some resemblance of guilt. “Of course not. I just happened to have time to text these past few days.” The same fan continued interrogating her, “How long are you going to be on break for?” Isabel told the fan, “Till next week. I’ll have to get back to it next week.” “Alright then, hope to see you again next week.” The other fans chimed in. “Yeah, we haven't seen you on the big screen for a while and were wondering i
Amanda was delighted. “Great, I’ll call them right now.” After a moment, she sent another text to Isabel. “What made you decide to go anyway?” Isabel’s answer was convincing. “It’s the only offer we’ve got recently. If I turn it down, even my fans are going to start complaining.” Amanda replied, “Heh, alright then.” Isabel smiled wryly and set aside her phone. Her fans were a part of it, but there was another reason—she wanted to witness Roland getting booted out of Rockwell Corporation with her own eyes! It would be ideal if she could be there to see it the very moment it happened. She wanted to see him scrambling out of Rockwell Corporation in a state of disgrace, and she would be the first one to run up to him and laugh in his face! This was the precise reason she chose to go to Southboro! … Southboro was right along the coastline, which meant that the city was known for its wonderful weather and scenery. During her half-year stay in Coastrock five year
His entourage did not make any unnecessary comments and followed after him. … Isabel led Carla across the road outside the hotel in one quick sprint. They finally stopped when they arrived at the spot on the beach where people crowded around. She took a deep breath and checked behind them. Carla was out of breath from running by this point. “I’ve been keeping an eye on them. They’re not following us.” "Yeah." Isabel smiled, still not over the high of getting to stomp on Roland’s foot just now. How exhilarating! His foot must be throbbing in pain. Such a shame she could not find the space to give him a good punch as well. She would have gladly punched him until he was completely unrecognizable! "I wasn’t expecting to see him here. What a coincidence," Carla caught her breath at last and commented. Isabel did a double-take. It was certainly a strange coincidence. Perhaps the forces above had decided to make things right for her at last. This was a chan
She was confident Roland could not have recognized her since she had concealed her appearance. Unfortunately, Carla was right next to her, and she was instantly recognizable. Roland must have recognized Carla at first sight. Even a fool could figure out who the identity of the masked stranger Carla was with. He was only pretending to not recognize her! Isabel felt so furious that she could explode into a ball of fire right then and there. Without warning, she punched the elevator button to take them back to the ground floor. Carla was confused by this. “What’s wrong? Why are we going down again?" Isabel gnashed her teeth back and forth angrily. She was going to confront Roland and punch his face! The elevator quickly brought them to the first floor. Before the elevator door fully opened, she sprang outside. She ran to the parking lot outside the hotel just in time to spot Roland getting into a car. One of his assistants was just entering the passenger seat.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye. The coordinator in charge of the jewelry exhibition approached Isabel. Amanda had just landed in Southboro from Westchester and promptly joined Isabel along with Carla. Isabel spoke with the coordinator for some time and acquainted herself with the procedure of the exhibition and the parts in which she would be involved. After that, she went to get her makeup done and put on the jewelry they provided for her. With everything ready, she attended the exhibition. It was only after she arrived at the exhibition that she realized the sheer scale of the exhibition. It was far larger than she had expected. The venue was enormous and clad in brilliant lights, and all sorts of expensive pieces of jewelry were put on display everywhere. The attendees were not limited to the Southboro locals; the wealthy from all over the world had also come to attend the premium event. She was equally shocked when she found out that she was the only ce
After wrapping up the phone call, the coordinator anxiously approached the man in a suit and spoke in a careful voice, “Mr. Roland, Miss Houston’s secretary just called me and asked why we chose Isabel to represent our brand in this exhibition. She’s threatening to restrict us from the Southboro market.” Even after hearing this, Roland’s expression barely changed. After a moment, he said with complete disinterest, "Tell her that she’s free to leave if she’s not enjoying the show.” The coordinator was just as irked by Clarice's attitude, but he was in a delicate position. “Well, she’s still Miss Houston at the end of the day. Is there any way we can handle this better?” "No, tell her exactly what I said.” The coordinator said in a giddy voice, “Sure, I'll get back to her secretary right now." Roland had built up the brand from the ground up and set up branches all over the world. Without exaggeration, their brand was a world-class brand. The Houstons may be very infl
The coordinator said generously, “Give them to me. I’ll pack them up for you. You don’t have to pay for them.” Isabel smiled appreciatively. "Thank you for the offer, but it’s alright. I don’t mind buying them.” There was no clause stating that they would be giving her free jewelry in the contract they had signed. Besides, the pay was already more than generous. The coordinator would not have it. “You’re very kind, Miss Isabel, but please let us do this for you. You’ve done a terrific job for us, and it’s only right we give you some gifts as a nice gesture.” Isabel stood her ground. "You’re just an employee like everyone else here. What if your boss finds out that you’re giving away freebies? It would not be a good look for you.” The coordinator made a look and promptly responded, “Thank you for your concern, but it was our boss who insisted on inviting you here. You might not know this, but our boss is a big fan of yours and loves your work. He will be more than happy t