'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
Albert spoke sanctimoniously.'Others have lovers because they seek the thrill, but he's doing it because of his comatose wife. He has no choice but to look for other women since he can't satisfy himself. It's as if his actions can be justified after he changes the reason. Humans are not animals. What does he mean by biological needs? Or, are men this shameless in the face of infidelity and shirk the blame to women?' wondered Stella."If your mother was alive and well, I would've never gone to find other women. She and I went through thick and thin together to establish the company. Our relationship can't possibly be replaced by others."'If he hadn't hastily wanted to divorce my mother soon after her accident, I would have believed his nonsense! Besides, would he care if my mother's dead or alive if I weren't married to Keegan and still useful to the Jewell family? He hasn't divorced my mother only because he's pinning me down in the name of taking care of her,' Stella thought.St
"Let's grab a meal first. You can think while we eat. If you really can't remember, we'll hire a private investigator. We'll avenge your mom."Stella laughed.'If my mother were conscious, she would've fought Albert to the very end and turned the world upside down. She's someone who can't tolerate infidelity. I don't want things to get to that point; I just want to figure out who that woman is and why I find her so familiar,' she thought.The following day, Stella was woken up by her phone in the middle of her slumber.She frowned and picked up the phone. Then, she groggily said, "Hello? Who's this?""You're not awake yet, Stella?"Stella was instantly terrified by the woman's steady voice on the other end. She hastily got up from the bed and cleared her throat before she said in a low voice, "Dahlia? What's wrong?"Dahlia responded coolly, "A few of my friends are coming over today. Come over and help me entertain them."Stella was incredibly reluctant.Dahlia's friends were