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