Chapter 2: Be a substitute

The frantic knock on the door made Heulwen cover her ears with a pillow. She grimaced and sat up at the persistent noise. Heulwen got off the bed and scratched her head and looked through the eye on the door. Then she opened the door.

"Oh my God! What terrible smell is this?" Jade, Heulwen's manager, covered her nose as she entered the house. She closed the door and looked at Heulwen's disheveled appearance and sighed. “Who are you? What have you done to my beautiful actress Heulwen?"

Heulwen didn't reply and jumped on the bed. Her eyes closed again, but Jade wouldn't let that happen. Jade grabbed Heulwen's leg, which was hanging off the bed, and pulled them down. Heulwen was in a good dream and suddenly fell into a free fall. The pain woke her up a bit, but her voice was still raspy, "What are you doing, Jade? No work schedule today.”

Jade put the food she had brought in the fridge. Then she casually asked, “Why do you look so lifeless? Didn't you go on a date with Louis yesterday?"

Heulwen heard Jade mention her pain, so she hugged her pillow tightly. Jade was still taking stock of the food in the fridge. She didn't notice Heulwen's actions. She didn't hear Heulwen's reply, so she continued to ask, "What's wrong? You and Louis are fighting again?"

Jade waited a moment and didn't see Heulwen's reply. She was confused and turned around. Heulwen was clutching her pillow and sobbing. This alarmed Jade, "Don't cry. Tell me what happened to you?"

Jade patted Heulwen's back and hugged her. Heulwen was an actress with no acting experience. Jade was an intern manager. When no one would accept the two, Jade was suddenly assigned to manage Heulwen. At first, Jade felt that she would be very tired of someone as completely ignorant as Heulwen. However, Heulwen was very brave, eager to learn, and quick to absorb. Jade was surprised by Heulwen's natural acting talent. Heulwen's temperament was also very good and she considers Jade like her older sister. The two were both collaborators and close friends.

“He said breaking up to me. If he was just sulking as usual, it would be easier for me to make up first. But this time it's not like that. He really wanted to end up with me.”

Heulwen sobbed and spoke in a choked voice. She curled up in Jade's lap, just looking for the only warmth there. Jade patted Heulwen and sighed, "You need to forget Louis and pick yourself up."

“I'm trying but it's too hard. I can't get Louis out of my mind,” Heulwen shook her head. One night, she always dreamed of images of her and Louis together extremely happy. Heulwen took Jade's hand and looked at her with sparkling eyes, "Do you think he and I have a chance to get back together?"

Jade pursed her lips and didn't answer Heulwen's question. Suddenly, she pushed Heulwen into the bathroom and forced Heulwen to finish washing within half an hour. Heulwen didn’t know what Jade's intentions were but she did anyway. Heulwen also couldn't stand the smell of alcohol on his body.

"No need to wear makeup or dress up," Jade stopped Heulwen as she prepared to sit at the dressing table.

Heulwen nodded and pointed to sunscreen and moisturizer. She put on a casual t-shirt and pants and asked Jade, "Where are we going?"

“I take you to a place where you can answer your own questions.”

Jade grabbed Heulwen's hand and pulled her out of the house. On the way, Heulwen asked anything, but Jade refused to answer. She focused on driving and slammed on the accelerator. The car stopped at Heulwen's company S, a celebrity management company.

Jade dragged Heulwen inside by secret passage at the back of the building. A few steps up the main hall, Jade hid against the wall and pointed forward. Heulwen looked in the direction of Jade's hand and froze. In front of the two of them, reporters were constantly taking pictures of the couple standing at the main hall.

“Louis, this is the first time you've made your girlfriend public. But we didn't expect that girl to be Miss Selina. Since when did you two know each other?" A reporter asked and pointed the microphone at Louis.

Louis smiled and replied, “Selina and I have been classmates since college. She is my first love. So far, I've only loved her. I have been waiting for her and now she has agreed to be with me.”

Louis' words were like lightning hitting Heulwen's ears. Selina was Louis' first love. Louis had always loved Selina.

"So what am I?" Heulwen lost her mind and muttered. Louis's intimate actions and warm eyes when he was with her were real or fake, she couldn't distinguish anymore.

"May I ask Miss Selina, why did you accept Louis' confession now?"

Selina leaned into Louis' lap and softly replied, “We've always had feelings for each other. However, I want to focus on my career first. And Louis said that he would still be by my side and waiting for me. I was extremely moved. Therefore, this return is the time when we are officially together.”

This beautiful love story made reporters praise. They were overwhelmed by the beauty of Louis and Selina. If news of this couple got out, social media would explode.

“Selina, do you know about newcomer Heulwen? It is rumored that she is quite similar to you and is also following the same image as you. What do you think?”

Selina tilted her head and pondered for a moment, then replied, “I just got back from France so I don't know much about the domestic entertainment industry now. However, each person has a different personality and temperament. No one can be like anyone else. This I am sure anyone can see.”

“Mrs. Louis! Referring to actress Heulwen, someone saw that you were extremely close to her. Do you two have a special relationship?”

Louis shook his head and said, “We're just a regular co-star relationship. I just help her like a senior helps a junior. The one I love is always Selina.”

Louis turned to look at Selina and smiled sweetly. Heulwen stood in the distance and saw it all. She could tell the difference right now. Louis looked at her with just the same warmth as looking at everyone else. His act of intimacy with her was only temporary because he saw her as Selina's substitute. Heulwen laughed and didn't know if she should thank herself for her similarity to Selina. Louis' gaze on Selina was completely different. It was both happy, pampered, and full of love. This was something Heulwen would never have.

Jade hugged Heulwen's shoulder to comfort her as well as in time to stop her from doing anything bad. Heulwen nodded and patted Jade's hand, "I'm fine. I understand everything already.”

Afterward, Jade drove Heulwen back to the inn. On the way, Heulwen always kept quiet and looked out the window. Her heart was so empty.

“Do you need me to go up there with you?” Jade asked worriedly but received a shake of the head from Heulwen. Jade returned to the car and followed Heulwen back. She knew this was something only Heulwen could do on her own and couldn't ask for anyone's help.

Heulwen went upstairs and closed the door. She lay on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. Heulwen no longer wanted to cry over someone who wasn't worth it. She can be very faithful in love but never force someone to love her. Heulwen lay for a while and then sat up. She turned on her computer and logged into a game she had installed on it.

Heulwen got into the game and frantically slayed monsters. This seemed to satisfy her anger. Out of nowhere, an invitation to form a party appeared on the screen. Heulwen clicked to accept and found her in a party of just two.

‘Bare hands kill monsters’ was the name of Heulwen's game character. She created a male character and pursued a career as a hunter.

“Hello, what quest do you want to do?” Heulwen typed the text and continued to fight the nearby monsters.

'Evil spirit' stood next to Heulwen's character and had no status. Seconds later, a line of text was typed up.

“Here is a hidden quest. You had just enough combat strength to pass the stage. Follow me."

Heulwen originally just wanted to kill the little monster to relieve her anger. However, she still ran after the 'Evil spirit'. Heulwen had never done a hidden quest, but she had heard that there were many valuable rewards. She and her teammates stood at a large cliff.

"Step back."

The ‘Evil spirit' typed the words and drew the large sword from his back. Heulwen immediately dodged away. The 'Evil spirit' casts a skill and blows away the stone, causing a behind door to appear. Heulwen gasped in front of the computer. Then, she clicked for her character to follow her teammates inside.

Their hidden mission was to kill the big black dragon with poison. The 'Evil spirit' always casts skills in time to block attacks and instruct Heulwen in the order of skills. She gradually got used to this, so her fingers began to move faster and coordinate smoothly with her teammates.

'Quickly pump more blood.'

'Okay.'

Heulwen immediately swallowed the blood pellets into her stomach. Although her character was far away, the destructive power of the black dragon was too great. 'Evil spirit’ was nearby but only received a small amount of blood. Heulwen stood in the distance and shot a bow, but she had to pump blood continuously. Finally, the black dragon collapsed and vanished. After that, the system also announced that 'Evil spirit' and 'Bare hands kill monsters' was the first team to successfully pass the stage.

The 'Evil spirit' took only one gem he needed. The rest were given to Heulwen. This helped her increase her battle strength and level a lot. The two made friends and promised to work together again. Heulwen once again returned to the clearing and killed the small monster. She was surprised when the comments in the world jumped continuously. At this time, Heulwen discovered that she had just teamed up with the strongest person in the game.

Heulwen felt that she was in a better mood, so she turned off the computer. She rarely played games but her technique was not of the ordinary kind. Heulwen stretched and covered herself with a blanket and went to sleep. She hoped the next day would be a new happy day so that she could forget the sad things of the past.

The next morning, Heulwen was woken by the sound of the phone. She rummaged around and found her phone on the nightstand. The caller was Jade.

"What are you calling me so early?" Heulwen said in a sleepy voice.

"You shouldn’t sleep anymore. All your schedules have been canceled. Your roles have all been withdrawn. They all say they've found a better match," said Jade hastily.

"WHAT?" Heulwen jumped up and shouted into the phone. Her work schedule was not much, but it was enough for her to earn extra money to cover living expenses.

“Looks like someone has sealed all of your schedules. Did you offend anyone?" Jade rubbed her forehead. She received this news in the morning and repeatedly called to ask the directors who had signed the contract but received the same answer.

“I have not offended anyone. Maybe it’s true that they have found someone more suitable than me,” Heulwen also felt tired. So much had happened to her in the last few days that her spirit had been hit hard.

Days went by and there was no schedule. Only Heulwen truly believed that she was blocked by someone in all her directions. Heulwen couldn't think of whom she had offended. While depressed, Jade broke into Heulwen's house with a note in hand.

“Heulwen, this is your last chance.”

Jade handed Heulwen the paper. It was an audition for a big movie by director Silas, a director known for his royal, powerful, and mysterious genre. Jade wanted Heulwen to give an audition for a supporting role with a shy and weak personality. This was the kind of role Heulwen was always nominated for.

After seeing Jade off, Heulwen studied the plot carefully. She did not give an audition for the role Jade asked for. She wants to change. She would not become a copy of anyone. Therefore, the role Heulwen was aiming for was the female villain.