Although she knew that Lisa would never demand her to pay back the money she owed, she still felt that she owed her friend too much and could not continue to keep on owing her money any longer.Time and time again, Serenity knelt and touched her forehead to the ground, then got up on her feet... after which the cycle continued over and over again.The other extras were doing the same thing too, but they were getting more and more restless. Some even demanded more pay since the work was more grueling than they expected.Sensing that the extras were getting agitated, the director told his assistant to ask Aria what to do. Aria pretended to think about it for a moment before suggesting, "How about this... I think that woman is doing a pretty good job. Her posture is correct, and her timing is just right. Why don't you get her to demonstrate it to the rest of the extras? They can study carefully how she does it, and once they understand, they can rehearse it again. This way, they won't
As Jenny Hall watched the video on the phone where Serenity was kneeling over and over again, she could not help but smile and comment, "Some people just have a death wish.""Exactly!" her assistant echoed. "This extra must've offended Aria Lewis, that's why she was targeted like that! Everyone on set knows that you must never offend Aria Lewis..." The assistant stopped abruptly, realizing that she had said the wrong thing. Her face turned pale as she hastily added, "I'm sorry, Jenny. I was so mistaken. This Aria Lewis is a nobody, anyway. She's just Lucas Gomez's current girlfriend, that's all. She can be all haughty and proud now, but when she finally gets dumped, she probably won't even get minor roles, let alone a supporting one!""That's enough," said Jenny in a flat tone. "You don't need to say these things. I'm well aware of it."Ever since Aria Lewis had joined the production, she had never once treated Jenny with respect. Every time they bumped into each other, all Aria d
Jenny's assistant quickly followed her when she saw Jenny leaving the room.It was early April then, and the weather was still a bit chilly. The male extras wore more layers of clothes, so they were doing fine, but the female extras were only permitted to wear the base layers of clothes to prevent them from looking bloated on camera. For this reason, the female extras were all shivering from the cold. And so, taking advantage of the fact that they were now only watching a demonstration, they all rushed to put on their own coats to protect themselves from the cold.All except Serenity, who was still wearing her costume and kneeling over and over again.As for Aria, because they were not officially filming yet, she had been wearing her thick coat above her costume all along. "Hmm... I'm not sure if they saw it clearly just now. Why don't you kneel again and do it more slowly this time? That way, everyone can see it more clearly."Aria still would not stop urging Serenity to keep on
Everyone on set was in an uproar. Some even looked at Aria with pity on their faces, thinking that her "shelf life" as Lucas Gomez's new girlfriend was now close to expiration because he clearly favored the extra over her just now!Even Jenny Hall, who had been watching nearby, was stunned for a moment. Serenity Lewis and Lucas Gomez? What exactly was going on here?! Could it be that Lucas Gomez was interested in her too? Just now, it obviously looked like he was trying to protect her!But what about Jackson Valor? Did he know what was going on between Lucas Gomez and Serenity Lewis?"Oh, my God," Jenny's assistant exclaimed, "What a dramatic twist! The prince and the extra..."Then, with a mocking tone, she added, "Looks like Aria Lewis has been kicked to the curb! Lucas Gomez clearly didn't want to have anything to do with her anymore! Perhaps she was bullying that extra because she found out that Lucas Gomez was interested in her?"Jenny's assistant thought it was a reasonable
It was not until they were inside the lounge that Lucas finally put Serenity down on the sofa. He looked at her left hand, which she was covering with her right hand, and asked her, "Does it hurt?""Just a little," she mumbled.He could see from her pained expression that she was making it sound less serious than it actually was. The usual calmness and tranquility she had on her delicate face were now gone, replaced by a tight knit in the brows and sickly pallor. Even her voice sounded like it was taking her a lot of effort just to speak.The sight of her suffering like that tightened his chest, but it was such a foreign feeling for him. So was how he had felt when he had seen her kneeling and kowtowing. When he saw that copper heater fall on her hand—it was such a raw pain that he thought he had gotten a thorough thrashing!And then, he almost reflexively rushed to her side to help her up. Lucas asked himself, why had he done that? He had already confirmed that Serenity was not
This bruise had obviously been caused by the repeated kowtowing. "Did you really just... do whatever they told you to do?"For some reason, Lucas suddenly got angry."What else could I do?" Serenity responded. "Refuse them? In that case, I wouldn't get paid a single dime today."He almost choked. He was fully aware that extras were the workers at the lowest rung of the hierarchy on set, and they basically had no bargaining power at all when they were demanded to do something."How much are you getting paid per day as an extra?" he asked in a muffled voice."I was initially promised 80 dollars," she explained, "but because there would be a kneeling scene, 50 dollars was added. Just now, when I had to demonstrate kowtowing alone in front of the others, I was given another 200 dollars."He stared at her with roiling emotions. So, she had kept on kneeling and kowtowing over and over again, all just for 330 dollars?Did this woman not know how to protect herself?!"Are there any p
So, Aria's backer behind the scenes was Lucas, huh?"Fine. I'll send you a copy of the receipts for the medicines I buy and the proof of the loss of wages or whatever. Please take care of the payment." Serenity said before turning to Lucas. "Mr. Gomez, thank you for today. I'll take my leave now."After saying that, Serenity left the lounge, leaving Lucas and Aria behind.Lucas stared coldly at Aria, which caused her heart to race.Aria forced a smile and said, "Lucas, why are you looking at me like that? By the way... About my sister... Have you met her before?""What, are you trying to dig for information?" Lucas shot back instead of answering."I... was just curious. My sister never mentioned it," she said."Of course. Your sister lives in a rundown and small rented house, working as a street sweeper, and now, she's just an extra. For the sake of 330 dollars, she kept kneeling and bowing to her own sister. I do wonder why she never mentioned it to you?" Lucas said in an unusu
It turns out what Aria thought was discreet had been so blatantly and simply exposed by him."Do you know why I didn't reveal it earlier? Because it didn't bother me much. You were so eager to act in front of me, so I thought I should let you earn some hard-earned money, right?" he said casually.She looked stunned, and her face turned red. It felt as if someone had slapped her face several times. It was both hurtful and embarrassing."However, some people go overboard with their acting, thinking too highly of themselves," Lucas's expression darkened as he took the expensive watch off Aria's wrist and played with it. "I can bring you up, but it doesn't mean you can act recklessly. Otherwise, I can lift you as high as I want and make you fall just as miserably."As he finished speaking, he released his grip, and the watch fell heavily to the ground, forming fine cracks on its surface.Aria gasped and tensed, clearly frightened by the man's words and actions."Also, you don't need
“……” Morgan suddenly found himself unable to retort. She... wasn't wrong. “But when you play house, you can pretend to be parents with one person today and another person tomorrow. Real marriage is different; you can’t choose someone else.”Renee widened her eyes, listening intently.“The only person you can choose is me. Do you understand, Renee?” he continued.She nodded vigorously. “I understand!”“Do you really?” Morgan asked, a little skeptical. He was already fifteen, so he could grasp the concept of marriage, but she was only eight. Could she truly comprehend it?“So, in the future, I can only marry Morgan and be your bride, right? I can't be someone else's bride, right?” she asked. “I don’t want to marry other boys anyway. I like you the most, Morgan. Of course I’ll only be your bride!” she happily declared, her worries fading away.So she could be Morgan's bride when she grew up! That's great!After finishing another piece of snack, Renee thought of something. She put o
Despite her unease, she couldn’t resist when she saw the sweet desserts. She indulged herself.However, as she ate, her eyes remained fixed on Morgan, clearly still waiting for him to clarify Lucy’s claims.“You want to know if you’re a child bride, right?” Morgan began.Renee nodded.“Do you know what a child bride is?” he asked.She blinked. She had a vague idea, but not enough for her to articulate it.“To put it simply, a child bride is a girl raised by a boy's family. The girl will marry the boy when she comes of age. In the old days, some families were too poor to raise their daughters, so they would sell their daughters to become child brides for richer families,” Morgan explained.Renee blinked. “But my parents aren’t poor, and I'm raised by them, not by other people. That means I’m not a child bride, right?”“Correct, you are not,” Morgan affirmed.She breathed a sigh of relief, and a bright smile spread across her face. “I knew it! My parents would never sell me! The
"Morgan!" Renee turned to Morgan, unease etched on her face."The Moon family, eh? I'll remember this," Morgan replied calmly, then lowered his head to meet Renee's anxious and confused face. "Let's go, Renee. I’ll tell you what you want to know later."He led her away holding her hand.Benson looked worried. "Miss Lucy, how could you say that?""It's the truth!" Lucy shook off her fear and spoke defiantly. "Daddy and Mommy said she’s a child bride. A child bride is a girl sold by her own parents!""But the White family is not like that. Those things only happened to daughters of poor families in the old days," Benson explained. "You really shouldn’t have said that, Miss Lucy. You shouldn’t do that again.""Why do I have to listen to you?" Lucy retorted, displeased.Benson was too ashamed to tell Lucy in front of others that the Moon family simply couldn’t afford to offend Morgan. Dealing with the White family was already a headache, and Morgan's background was even more formi
Benson and Lucy were also dumbfounded. Benson started getting anxious. He felt like things were starting to unfold in ways that he did not expect."Mr. Grimes, I..." Benson stepped forward, intending to speak to Mr. Grimes.However, Mr. Grimes moved past Benson without so much as a glance at him. He went up to Morgan and said, "Master Morgan, I apologize for the oversight!"Everyone was stunned to hear that, including the security guards who had been called over. They were secretly relieved they hadn't forcibly removed anyone yet. If they had offended someone Mr. Grimes was showing so much respect to, it would have been really bad for them!Morgan regarded Mr. Grimes with an unreadable expression. He calmly recounted the situation to Mr. Grimes.After hearing about what happened, Mr. Grimes responded, "This set of stamps was not pre-ordered. If you like it, please take it. Feel free to take anything else in the exhibition that catches your eye."This declaration shocked every
"Who are you?!" Benson exclaimed, astonished. The mysterious figure remained silent, simply looking at Morgan.Morgan calmly reiterated to Benson, "I said, wait for Mr. Grimes." He then pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "I'm Morgan Wood. Please have Mr. Grimes from Lazy Cat Culture come to the Sleepy Cat Exhibition in Solaria. He should be in the area, right?"After ending the call, the person on the other end stared at the phone in disbelief.The Sleepy Cat Exhibition? What's going on?Benson, Lucy, and the staff stared at Morgan in shock, but the look in their eyes quickly turned to ridicule."Ah, a young man's naive bravado – how impudent!" Benson scoffed."Sir, please don't cause trouble," the staff member warned. "Or I'll have to call security."Morgan simply lowered his head to say to Renee, "Looks like we'll be here for a while. If you're bored, I can ask someone to walk around with you."Renee shook her head. "Morgan, what if this stamp set has really been p
Benson's words were not only meant to exert pressure on the staff, but also to inform him that they were on the same side.As expected, when the staff heard what he said, there was an instant change in his expression. He turned to Morgan and Renee and said, "I'm sorry, but it turns out this stamp set has already been pre-ordered by this customer."Morgan saw through the so-called pre-order as nothing more than an act. "When I asked you to wrap it up earlier, I didn’t hear you mention it was pre-ordered.""We forgot to mention that. Our apologies," the staff replied.Lucy, wearing a smug expression, raised her chin at Renee, causing Renee to puff out her cheeks in frustration.Benson calmly observed Morgan and Renee. The White family's White Maple Group had numerous overlapping businesses with the Moon Group. They were often competing with each other. Originally, the White Maple Group’s business activities weren't concentrated in Solaria, so even though there was competition wi
But before Morgan had even finished speaking, a girl's voice piped up, "I want this stamp set!"He turned to the voice and, upon seeing who it was, narrowed his eyes slightly. It was Lucy Moon, the girl Renee mentioned earlier. At the sight of Lucy, Renee immediately reacted like an angry little kitten. "Lucy Moon, why do you always try to take my stuff away?""Your stuff? How is this your stuff? You haven't paid yet!" Lucy shot back, her eyes fixed on Morgan.Morgan was well-known in their class, admired by many girls who claimed he was even more handsome than movie stars. If only Lucy had a big brother like that! She would be the envy of all the girls in class... no, all the girls in school!Unfortunately, her own big brother was not as good-looking.Last time, Lucy had tried to give Renee Sleepy Cat toys, asking for Morgan's email address in return. However, Renee accepted gifts from everyone but her, which infuriated Lucy."But if you want, I can give this stamp set to Re
Unlike many wealthy kids, Renee was quite restrained with her spending. She had never spent recklessly and often saved leftover money. Of course, when she wanted something beyond her budget, she would act cute and ask her Daddy or Morgan to buy it for her.Lisa was the least susceptible to her charms, so Renee didn’t dare to bother her!When they arrived at the exhibition, Renee’s eyes sparkled with excitement. There were so many adorable Sleepy Cat merchandise! They're all so cute! She wanted a lot of them, but realizing her limited budget, she knew she needed a sponsor! The best one was right beside her: Morgan!"Morgan," she said, flashing him a super bright smile.Seeing her like this, Morgan immediately knew she wanted to ask him for something. "What is it? Do you want me to buy you Sleepy Cat merchandise?""You’re so smart, Morgan! No wonder so many girls in our class like you and asked me for your phone number!" Renee praised him.As soon as she mentioned it, Morgan'
"Okay," Renee replied obediently, snuggling up to Morgan and acting cute. "Take me to the exhibition, Morgan! I know you’re the best. You’ll definitely take me, right?"Morgan pursed his lips. At 15, he was no longer a little boy. Although Renee was only 8, she was his destined wife.He had been protecting her since the day she was born. At first, he thought that he would only marry her because according to the family prophecy, she was the one most suitable for him. Over the years, however, he realized that his feelings for her ran deeper than he had initially thought.He found himself wanting to help her fulfill her wishes, and would clean up the mess when she caused trouble. Things had become different from what he had expected, but he welcomed them. He felt grateful that she was the one who was destined for him!With her by his side for the rest of his life, he would never feel lonely."Will you get into fights again?" Morgan asked."No more fighting, I promise!" Renee quickly