Kylie didn't know what to say. Ethan squinted, to understand her expression—which had switched to unpredictable, then back to normal.
"Even if we're in a fake marriage, you're still Mrs. Parker. It's quite reasonable that I treat you well."
After a few moments, he looked at her and said: "You don't wear the wedding ring. I understand that it would be inconvenient during film shooting. But if you never wear it, the Parker family will doubt our relationship."
It sounded reasonable, for sure, but... Kylie took a deep breath and bad-mouthed Ethan behind his back. Her clothing was good enough!
Just because of the huge pay gap between herself and Ethan, he thought she needed him! He had done so much for her, but she could do so little to repay him. Plus, Kylie knew that they could never be equals, even if she worked extremely hard to pay him back.
"Then, I'd better accept, rather than reject," she finally told him.
"Yes, good. I need to go deal with something now." Ethan left. Kylie was walking around the dressing room by herself. She randomly picked up a piece of clothing, and her jaw fell when she saw the label. All of a sudden, something dawned on her...
The cheongsam that she had worn at the opening ceremony, designed by the master of national culture, must have been more expensive than most of these clothes, combined!
But the pieces of the cheongsam had been left at the Baleney Hotel, and couldn't be fixed, anyway. Kylie felt so sad that she looked through the photos of the Tea House opening ceremony on her phone.
But it turned out that there was tons of news on the competition between the two companies, but photos of Kylie were nowhere to be found. Now she was frustrated.
According to her search, Laurence Finch must have met up with the producer of Tea House, or there would have been a promotional photo of her, at the very least. But Director Johnson hadn't called her yet, which must mean that she was still a part of the film crew.
Kylie was more and more puzzled. Right at that moment, a message came through her phone.
Star: "Congrats!"
Kylie: "You've already seen the news?"
Star's grey profile picture suddenly lightened up: "You look beautiful in cheongsam."
Kylie was immediately happy and typed quickly: "Do you have photos?"
Within a minute, Star sent a photo of Kylie on the red carpet. It was the very photo of her nearly falling. Kylie looked at her face, laughing out loud. "Why do you always see me in a mess?"
After a long pause, Star replied: "If you don't fall, how can I have the chance to help you stand up?" Kylie's unhappiness was totally wiped away because of his message, and she felt warm in the heart. "Star, thank you," she replied.
"Why don't you marry me then?"
Kylie's heart began to beat faster. She didn't reply to him, and his profile picture turned grey once more. The two had ended the conversation for no reason.
Sitting in her dressing room for a long time, Kylie decided to take the initiative. She was not the type of girl who simply waited to die. So, she called Director Johnson.
"Director Johnson, how are you doing?" Kylie greeted him in an authentic West Coast dialect.
"I'm good."
"How is everything going then?"
"Not bad."
"Great! I should let you go then."
"Okay."
Kylie wanted to slap herself and spoke right away before Director Johnson had the chance to hang up: "Actually, I'm calling... It's no big deal. I just didn't see my promotional photos when I read the news..."
"Do you want to ask me whether you've been replaced or not?" The sophisticated Director Johnson snorted. This young girl had been playing with him.
"Director Johnson, you're absolutely smarter than me!" Kylie complimented him. Although Julian Johnson couldn't see her give him a thumbs-up, his voice sounded quite unpleasant: "Kylie Finch, we don't need to put everything on the table, you know that."
Kylie didn't know. It was because she didn't understand the unspoken rules, so she wanted to figure it out.
"Director Johnson, am I still a part of the film crew?"
"Hasn't your agent informed you yet?"
"Informed me?" Kylie was immediately disappointed. She could tell from Director Johnson's tone that he had already informed Lucas Jackson, but that the latter hadn't informed her.
Kylie didn't want Director Johnson to know that she had a terrible relationship with her agent and company, so she could only reply in a perfunctory way: "I'm informed, but I just want to hear it from you, to be sure."
"8 a.m., on Wednesday, outdoor filming at the Baleney scenic zone. Don't be late again!" Kylie was already infamous for being late.
Long after the director had hung up, Kylie continued to hold the phone in her hand. She couldn't believe her ears! Director Johnson had told her to join the film crew on Wednesday!
But if Laurence Finch hadn't interfered, then why was she still excluded from the promotional photos? And if Laurence Finch had invested in the picture, then why hadn't she been replaced? Well, Lucas Jackson must be the evilest person, for not telling her anything!
No, she must call him to ask. A few minutes later, Lucas's sissy voice sounded through the phone: "Kylie Finch? What's up?"
Kylie immediately said: "Lucas Jackson, why haven't you told me about shooting the outdoor scenes in Baleney yet?"
Lucas Jackson was stunned, then sneered. "Well, you know about it anyway, even though I didn't tell you anything. So, you can go there by yourself. I need to take care of Khloe." Then he immediately hung up.
"Bloody sissy!" Kylie swore. She suddenly felt something furry touch her feet. She looked down. Pupu was there; he had snuck in without her noticing.
"Pupu, I've been so lucky ever since I met you!" Kylie happily embraced Pupu and rubbed her head against his.
Lord Ethan, who was standing directly outside the door, saw her hug Pupu, and was so jealous of his dog. That woman must be dumb or blind to think that Pupu was the reason for all her good luck! Ethan thought.
But anyway, as long as she was happy and wore a smile every single day in the coming years—that would be enough for him.