Stella froze. Then, she slowly turned her head around.Keegan was lying on his side next to her, and his eyes were half-closed. One side of his face was buried in his pillow, while the other visible side showed a frown. He was displeased to be woken up out of the blue.Looking down, Stella noticed her hands were still resting on Keegan's chest.She abruptly took back her hand. Her whole body went numb, and she was not able to get her thoughts straight. Stella then asked an obvious question."Why are you here?"Keegan did not even bother to open his eyes. "I thought you rented me for the night?" he replied lazily.The memories of her being drunk were suddenly coming back to Stella."How much for a night? Your good looks deserve a higher price... I want to sleep with you," she recalled what she had said.Stella was so embarrassed. 'There's no way I said that!' She thought.She pretended not to hear what Keegan said. She grabbed her clothes and attempted to get up.But, suddenly
It was a bite and not a kiss.Stella protested with all her might, but Keegan pinned her down along with the blanket. Her limbs were trapped inside the blanket like a cocoon. He ravished her lips recklessly.Because of the gendered difference between their strengths, Stella had no chance of resisting him. When she quieted down, Keegan became gentler toward her, and his bites turned into kisses.As his lips reached her pale collarbone, Stella suddenly spoke. "Keegan, are you mad at me because you're jealous?"Keegan stopped to look at her. Stella, who was under him, stared into his eyes and enunciated her question word by word. "Did you fall in love with me?"Keegan loosened his grip and sat up. He gave her an icy glance. "Don't flatter yourself. Stella Jewell, before we officially divorce, you're still a member of the Kane family. Know your place. Don't mess up and expect others to clean up after you."He put on his clothes and left the room. Stella raised her head up and stared
'Why is Dahlia doing this? She already know Bella's gonna have a baby, but she's still telling Maya to make me drink this yucky stuff? Does she just see women as tools for having babies for the Kane family? It's like they don't care if the baby is born when the parents are married or not,' Stella wondered.Seeing Stella's eyebrows furrow, Maya quickly replied, "Um, I added some sugar syrup to make it less bitter, like Madam Dahlia said."Stella pouted. "Maya, you saw it. Keegan and I are getting divorced. So this stuff isn't needed."Maya shook her head. "But Madam, every couple has tough times. You can't talk about divorce whenever you fight. It hurts things. And look, Keegan left after that call because he cares. Plus, divorced people don't sleep in the same room."Stella didn't know how to explain they just slept on the bed, nothing more."Madam Dahlia said this helps after... you know. To get pregnant," Maya continued.Stella heard this so many times. She used to think that t
Stella clenched her teeth, annoyed. "You know what? You remind me of something. If I stay healthy and sleep with a healthy guy, I can get pregnant. You're the one who needs supplements!" She shoved the drink into his arms and added, "Keep the drink to yourself!"She stormed off, slamming the door behind her. Keegan looked down at the drink, looking puzzled. Maya finished cleaning up and noticed Keegan had left. The bowl on the coffee table was empty. Maya took out her phone and snapped a picture before sending it.Stella arrived at the hotel a few minutes late. Felicity had been waiting for a while. When they met, Felicity teased in a hushed voice, "Man, the pressure is real. Thought we'd be super early arriving an hour before, but nope, we're last! Being a middle-class actor is like a battlefield. People are ready to wrestle for a role."Stella peeked down the corridor and saw around twenty or thirty people there. Some were solo, some had managers with them. It looked like there we
"How would I know? I called people out based on their resumes. Not being called out naturally means that there was no resume," the woman said as she pressed for the elevator."That's impossible! I asked someone to deliver it. How could it possibly disappear? Was it left out? Miss, could you go back and take a look?" Felicity begged.The woman furrowed her brows. "Why are you being such a nuisance? If I said no means no. There were only a few resumes there. How could I possibly mess up?"Felicity let go of her dignity and apologized with a smile. "Miss, I didn't mean it that way. This audition is very important to us. Could you help us and let us have an audition? It won't take up too much of everyone's time.""I don't have much authority. Besides, the candidate has been chosen. With time left, why not put some effort into other production sets," the woman finished speaking. The elevator door then opened, and she walked in."Why was there no resume?" Felicity then hurriedly called
"Hey, Director Woods! Can you just give me a shot? Maybe like five minutes, or even just three? Please, please, please!"The door to the fancy inner room swung open while they were still arguing. Daniel poked his head out and looked all serious, asking, "What's all this noise about?"The staff were about to explain, but Stella managed to slip past the two guys and stepped forward. She said, "Hi, Director Woods! I'm Stella Jewell, the seventeenth actor auditioning. Can you let me audition too?"Daniel gave her a once-over and raised an eyebrow, asking, "I don't see any info about you in the resume pile.""I'm Stella Jewell, I'm 25, and I studied theater at Trinity Film Academy a few years back."Daniel scratched his head, "So, what plays have you been in?"Stella held her breath and admitted in a hushed tone, "Um, none, actually.""None?" Daniel looked a bit surprised. "Did you change your mind about acting after school?""Nah, it's not that," Stella paused, then went on, "After
Daniel's face turned serious as he watched Stella intently. He was impressed by how effortlessly Stella managed her expressions. Despite having many lines to remember, she memorized them all in just two minutes. Her delivery was so skillful that it didn't seem like she lacked acting experience at all.No one on set spoke until Stella finished her performance. Stella was confident, but handling every expression and line in such a short time was challenging. She did her best, and instead of commenting on her performance, Daniel exchanged hushed words with the people beside him. Then, he looked at Stella and suggested, "Why don't you try another scene?"Stella's eyes lit up with a glimmer of hope. She knew that if things hadn't gone well, they might have dismissed her after a short reading. A new was handed to her. As Stella looked down, she realized it wasn't the same character as before. This time, she was given the role of the third female lead, a consort.This character was a depa
Stella grabbed Felicity's wrist and said in a low voice, "We'll talk outside."After getting into the car and hearing Stella talk about what happened inside, Felicity widened her eyes."Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! Daniel let you audition for the role of the beauty? Does he intend to let you play the beauty?"Stella shook her head. "I don't know. How could he let me play such an important role? Besides, hasn't someone already been cast for this role?"Felicity winded up the window."They're all rumors online. No one is sure if anyone, in particular, has been cast. Besides, Daniel isn't against casting newbies."Regardless, Stella still was not confident.On the other hand, Felicity was bursting with confidence. "Did Daniel say anything after your audition?"Stella shook her head, "He told me to leave my number. Maybe letting me audition was a spur-of-the-moment thing.""It would be great if you could play the beauty's role. But, getting the role of the fourth female lead i