Dylan and Ashley arrived at the filming set located at the suburbs of YN City.The crew specially chartered a bus for them to go there together while the nanny vans of the celebrities were driven by their respective assistants or managers also known as agents.Inside an ordinary-looking white nanny van, Dylan drove while Ashley checked her things like makeup and cosmetics. She made sure to take off its labels since she did not endorse them in the first place. From time to time, Dylan would remind Ashley to continue her calm attitude.“You told me that countless of times already.” Ashley deadpanned. She glanced at the screen of her phone, still waiting for the progress bar of the download to be completed.Dylan could only bite his tongue. He was afraid that too much nagging would make Ashley rebel. Her current state was Dylan’s ideal especially how special this production for Ashley and his career as a manager!“Have you read the script?”“Done.”“Then… what do you think about Cecilia?
“Hello.”Ashley’s cold voice made Jaxon pause for a split second. He frowned. A trace of displeasure flickered in him and he did not know why.“Where are you?”“I did not know that I have to give my itinerary to Mr. Elijah. You didn’t give me one before.” Sarcasm dripped in Ashley’s voice…then her next words were laced with impatience. “So, why did you call me?”Jaxon had the illusion that their roles were now reversed! His face dimmed immediately as his grip on his tightened, not liking this feeling of being uncontrolled.“The lawyer is drafting the divorce letter. About the alimony, my offer still stands—a real estate in your name and a hundred million dolla---.”Ashley cut him off midway. “If you want to discuss about the divorce, call my lawyer. If nothing else, I will have to continue filming.”Before Ashley could hang up, Jaxon immediately stated his reason why he called. “I want to remind you of my old man’s birthday. Don’t miss it.”Ashley, on the other side of the line, was n
Ashley accepted the packed lunch distributed by the crew. After three weeks in the set, she and Dylan were already used to eat the packed lunches.Some days, the packed lunch would contain meat and carbohydrates. These were the times when Director Sloan was satisfied with the progress of the morning shooting. But when he was not, the packed lunch would only have some vegan dishes and carbohydrates…nothing more.This strategy of the director was indeed effective. Even Atasha dared not to be a demon, hence, the progress of the filming was astounding. If they would keep up in this pace, the shooting of the moving would end before two months.Maybe, they could review and edit the film before the Nobel Awards this December and the movie Unmasked could participate in it. Ashley also felt that Director Sloan was after the Nobel Awards. After all, this award ceremony was a good exposure for the film.“What will it be this time?” asked Dylan. There was fear and anticipation intertwined in his
The process of taking Scottie went smoothly than she expected. For one moment, she was already gearing up to a showdown against her nominal husband, but it did not happen.Nanny Doris merely gave Scottie and Ashley a box, saying it was for them to eat. When they were waiting for their flight in the airport lounge, Ashley curiously opened it.The box contained burrito and sandwich—enough for the two of them. Ashley smiled yet the smile did not reflect in her eyes.Thinking about the people of the mansion, sometimes, Ashley could not help but ponder about the complexity of human nature. She had lived to the point wherein she did not believe in romantic feelings anymore.Now, Ashley knew that only when she became powerful would she have the right to speak and to fight for her rights. The world was unfair. Although laws kept the social norm, the fact about the strong trampled the weak was true.In front of the behemoth like the Elijah Consortium, she was like an ant right now. They could
The entire morning proceeded like nothing happened. Ashley still filmed smoothly without retake. If there were changes in it, it would be the additional presence of a small dumpling shuttling across the set like a fish in the sea.Right after the lunch, Ashley took one last scene before she accompanied Scottie to take a nap. She did not forget to set her alarm to 2:25 PM.The sound of the alarm woke up Ashley’s light sleep. Looking back at her son, seeing him sleep soundly, she let her wavy hair slid behind her back—messy and sexy. Before she went out, she made sure to use her just bought hot red lipstick.Instead of coffee, Ashley opened the specially prepared Laffite 1980 which she took secretly from Jaxon’s wine cellar before. Never thought that she would use this today to celebrate something evil.As someone who had walked straight out of hell, Ashley was no saint. Instead, she was no hypocrite. And she would do anything to pave a way for her son.And today, she would witness such
“We’ve been filming for two months. Thanked goodness ‘Youth 1990’ pushed forward the taping schedule or else, we’re done.” Dylan used his usual exaggerated tone as he slumped next to Ashley who was busy packing her things.“You better wash up. You stink.” Ashley was the first one to excuse herself in the film’s celebration party. As someone who had seen too many dark shits in the industry, drinking was a ticket to tabloids.With this in mind, Ashley decided to symbolically toast with the crew, ate her dinner, and faked an illness which worked perfectly fine. This time, she was in a hurry to pack her things because tomorrow was the day that she would start the first step of the many ones in building an empire of her own—Rosemary Jewelry Store’s grand opening.The trademark of the brand was finally registered along with the corporation name which was still Rosemary. Rosemary Jewelry Store was the first company of the many she was planning to establish. Ashley knew what industries would
The stock market crash of this year was yet to reach its peak. Soon, reports of suicide cases from losing too much would start to surface. Many relied on staking their entire wealth or leaning to the loan sharks, thinking about becoming rich overnight. After all, many folks who earned their first pot of gold in the stock market this year posted their achievements online.Ashley already knew the enterprises and companies that would rise sharply and fall sharply. This time, Ashley bought those that would rise sharply before Christmas. She would use this as a startup capital for many businesses she wanted to enter.Wearing her disguise once more, Ashley entered the Stock Exchange Building of the Capital City. Instead of going to the desk to withdraw or to buy stocks, Ashley chose a corner and observed the large screens above with clear green and red designations.All the stocks she bought were all rising. As per her memory, these companies that rose sharply were the reason why people fra
After many years of being the CEO of Elijah Consortium, even when the time when he first became one and many questioned him, this was the first time that Jaxon Elijah was stumped by a question. And the person who left him speechless was his son who could barely reach his waist.“Who told you that?” Jaxon immediately thought of the child’s mother. “Did your mother talk nonsense again?”Scottie’s innocent eyes blinked and still stared straight at Jaxon’s eyes. “I called Mom because…because…I’m sad. Daddy leaves Scottie alone again. I called Mom. Scottie always saw that sick auntie with Daddy…always with Daddy.” He paused as if he hesitated for a moment before he continued. This time, Scottie’s eyes were slightly red. “Daddy, my friend said that his Daddy and Mommy are filing for divorce because of another auntie. Am I…am I going to be like my friend?”Jaxon finally stood up. He closed the meager amount of distance between him and his son. It only took him three steps, but at this moment
“Why are you so freakingly calm?”Dylan finally could not hold it in when the door of the nanny van closed and the vehicle moved. This was the question that kept on spiraling in his mind. He was picturing out how he would calm Ashley down, but it turned out that he was the one who should be calmed! Did the universe turn in the wrong direction today? Was he dreaming? What?!Ashley, who was typing something in her phone, looked up. She chuckled upon seeing the almost-constipated look on Dylan’s face. Rolling her eyes, she said: “You were used as a gun and you did not even know it.”“Huh? What gun? Who was used? Me?”Ashley proceeded on telling him what she noticed and her theory. Dylan was dumbfounded. He deeply pondered about the industry for a moment and Ashley let him be. It was better this way. With this serving as a lesson for him, Dylan would be more vigi
By the morning, Ashley was woken up by the blasting of her phone. Still groggy, she answered the call with her eyes half-closed.“What?”“Wake up! Wake up! I take it back! You don’t have a vacation even if you won! Get your ass up!”“What’s the fuss all about?” Ashley was seventy percent awake right now. She slowly sat and combed her hair with her fingers.Listening to Dylan’s rumbling from the other side of the call, she got the zest of the situation. It turned out that she bagged a big domestic brand because her winning and her soaring popularity.“Fine. Wait for me at their headquarters, I will just go there myself.” Remembering her escort team, she could only sigh. “They work fast, huh. Send me the copy of the contract.”After the end of the call, Ashley immediately prepared her
At this very moment, many people—young and old—knew of one thing:Ashley won the Best Supporting Actress Award in the prestigious Silver Globes Award for her roles as Cecilia in Unmasked.The moment she went outside the hall, countless screens and digital billboards across the country lit up with this information plastered grandly and proudly. With her picture on it when she wore her beautiful gown for this event.Those who did not know Ashley had known about her. Those who hated Ashley since before her rise to fame were all itching from anger. And the small growing number of fans that belonged to Ashley alone was very excited and crying with joy—only they knew how hard it was to recruit fans for their idol after many black materials!It was not surprising that this phenomenon went viral across various only platforms! While Ashley was still dumbfounded, she did not know how her name was being discussed hotly in the internet!With the number one trending list as #Silver Globes Award 20
Holding the silver trophy in her hand, she stood before many people from the TV & Film Industry. It was time to deliver the speech, something she did not dare to think tonight. After all, there would be other people better than her. Plus, the character of Cecilia was not that versatile to begin with compared to the others. But she still managed to take the glory home this time.Something in her heart was boiling—it was the long-lost passion of being an actress. If before she was doing all of these to gain influence in the public as a part of her grand scheme to take her son away from the Elijah mansion, now, after holding the semi-heavy award, the little girl in her who once dreamed to be a star was finally found again.“Wow…I never really created a speech. I mean, how can I, right? When everyone is so talented and I feel very humbled. But here I am… delivering my first ever speech to you all.” Ashley smiled. Though she could not see clearly since the lighting was focused on her, she
There were three big movies betted by the people to win the Silver Globes Award.The first one was the big production named Reinventing Natalie which was starred by a first class crew under a first class director. The leading role was also played by an A-list actress named Kathryn Bernardo. She was nominated as a Best Actress and if she won, this would be her second win in this award in her acting career which was huge! The movie ‘Reinventing Natalie’ was also nominated in other categories such as Best Director Award, Best Pictures Award, and Best Film Award. This was certainly a movie with the most potential. In fact, according to the online survey, the people in the country believed that Reinventing Natalie would be the biggest winner of this awarding ceremony.The second one, which was ‘Lt. Mckenna” was not as big in terms of production compared to Reinventing Natalia but the theme of the story was historical with a heavy emphasis on the love story, patriotism during the war times,
“Wow! You are really glowing!” Dylan exclaimed in exaggeration as soon as Ashley entered the nanny van. He only noticed it clearly when she was near him, maybe because Ashley was leaning to a clean and minimalist yet elegant look for tonight.The driver was a veteran found by Jaxon and there was another veteran seated on the shotgun seat. Apart from Momo, Dylan, and Ashley, there was no one at the backseat—it was to the minimal. But looking outside the bullet-proofed nanny van especially configured by Jaxon for this night, there were two cars before the van while there were another two tailing behind them. And those people inside those black tinted cars were all sporting the latest technology of armaments and heavy firepower weapons under the sponsorship of the Elijah Family to the military department’s research and development laboratory.Dylan, whose attention was divided by Ashley—his money making cash cow—and the driver’s arms under those fitted suits, finally noticed something.“
The medium-sized bag fully packed with clothes was smacked right onto Jaxon’s face. He did not flinch as he kept staring on her.“You can divorce me. After this, you can divorce me. I will sign the divorce agreement and convince my grandfather that you will have full custody to our son, just please, please…I am begging you, Ashley. Let me protect you and our son.”Ashley’s anger was palpable in her eyes. closing her eyes tightly, she turned around and wiped the tears on her face. She pointed the door and said: “Leave…” Sighing, she continued: “Let me think things through.”A staggering breath of relief escaped from Jaxon’s lips. He closed his eyes for a moment, hiding the turbulent emotions in them as he whispered: “Alright.”As Jaxon left, he entered his study once more.The silence of the study room did not give him comfort. He held the armrests of his wheelchair and stood up with much difficulty. He had to hold the wall and rely on the strength of his feet to support his legs and u
“I want to go back!” Talia did not know how many times she said this statement. She was stupid in love but she was not foolish not to notice how they kept driving in circles in the capital city. By the fourth time, she finally snapped at Izana.“Where to?” Izana drove slowly as if he was just driving in a countryside. His left hand on the stirring wheel while his other hand held Talia’s hand. Coupled with his gentle voice, the indifference in his words was directly muted.But Talia was not buying it anymore.“Back to my villa, where else?!” Talia was almost shrieking right now. “Are you hiding something from me?! You are so sketchy!”Izana merely smiled at her. One mere glance from him and the words that were about to come out from Talia’s lips were swallowed back on instinct. She buried herself on her seat and backed herself away against the car door. She somehow felt that something dangerous was about to happen.Izana nodded in satisfaction after seeing this. His good mood did not l
Jaxon watched the mother and son entered the room in silence.When Scottie looked back, he said in his milky voice: “Good night, Daddy.”Jaxon’s indifferent aura vanished in an instant, replaced by gentle warmth that could hardly be seen throughout his life.The corners of his lips curled up slightly as he said: “Good night, my son.”Ashley, who was about to close the door, paused for a moment. She looked back and met a pair of intense eyes pinned solely on her. On instinct, she closed the door quickly with a bang.While on the other side Ashley was pushing everything at the back of her mind again, Jaxon’s expression had a bitter smile on his face. He made this coffin himself, now, he had to lay on it.The helplessness in his eyes turned stern the moment the old butler came. He let him push the wheelchair which led them to the study. Locked and secured, Jaxon faced Harold and gave him a curt not.Harold immediately walked to the shelf where there were books of course and some random l