Sheila walked the red carpet with Terrence, who was playing the villain of the movie. He would play the cold-blooded king who had killed the Duke just because he had a suspicion of rebellion without sufficient evidence. He gets reborn into the modern world as well; He becomes the CEO of the company which the actress is signed under and eventually becomes the love-rival for the Duke. He was the rival for the title of 'movie king' in real life too. He suffered from insecurity because no matter how hard he tried, he could never surpass Jason. The anchor asked, "Sheila, we were expected you would walk the carpet with Jason. So, give us the inside deets"
"There are no tiffs between us, I wanted to come with Terrence instead." Sheila tried her hardest to maintain a smile. She too was expecting to be escorted by Jason, as it was a way to promote the movie. The director informed him of this, but Jason straight up declined. Given Jason's reputation and influence, no one could say anything against him.
Margery came next and stole all the spotlight. She came with Jaque and answered all the questions asked by the reporter, not forgetting to give credit to Lisa for the beautiful dress. After this, Lisa and Jason came to the gala. All eyes on them. Jason, the movie king and Lisa the hottest new designer. They got swarmed with questions like "Are you together?" but both of them denied everything instantly. Jason did not mind opening up and telling them he was dating Lisa, but it would rush Lisa, which can make her distance herself from him. This gala, besides being a fashion showdown, was also a fundraiser for the orphans. The money would be used to pay for education, mainly tuition fees and partly living expenses for those who were most deserving among them. The designers could auction limited edition designer clothes for the rich guests and the celebrities auctioned dates with them. People like Margery were the potential buyers.
Lisa had planned to auction off seven dresses, which were a set. One for each day of the week. As soon as the bidding for the dresses started, many placards were lifted. "30,000!"
"32000!"
"37000!"
Soon the dresses were sold for 55000, which was a lot. The starting price was 25000. It was sold to a rich tycoon who bought it for his spoiled daughter.
"Good job!" Jason squeezed her hand in appreciation. He could not hug her among the crowd.
"The next item is called 'night sky', a beautiful sapphire perfect gift for a very special lady in your life. The bidding starts at '60000'"
Lisa gasped at the price, the sapphire was a big one too, the high price was expected. Jason let the others bid before he started bidding. The price reached a million and Jason raised it by 10000 and won the sapphire. Lisa looked at him in awe. She did not expect him to start bidding. Recalling the words said by the auctioneer, she wondered if it was for her. She obviously could not accept such an expensive present. If he gave it to her, she would either refuse or pay it back.
"Who's the lucky lady?" Lisa got worked up because of her curiosity and she finally gave in.
Jason winked at her but said nothing, earning a frown from Lisa. "What are you auctioning?"
"A date." Jason smiled at her, but Lisa was not happy. Though it was not public that she was dating Jason, she did not want him to go on a date with another person. She was a very possessive girl. When she became friends with Lia, she would not allow another human being to be close to her. She treated Lia as her possession and she should be her only best friend. She did not have many friends and among those she had been very fake so she would hold on to the one she had very tightly. After a few items were auctioned, Jason's date came. Sheila became elated because she was finally presented with an opportunity to have some alone time with Jason. She started to bid with enthusiasm, she increased the bid with 10000 every time and the price reached a million and seventeen thousand. The number of rich fans who could throw away this kind of money made Lisa insecure. She was not any less in terms of money, but she was debating on whether to spend it. In the end, she said to Jason, "You're worth it."
"One million and twenty-five thousand!" Lisa shouted. Sheila was in for a shock. For Lisa, it was a small amount of money, but for Sheila, it was all her savings earned from her movies.
"One million and thirty-five thou-"
" One million and fifty thousand!" Lisa interrupted her. Sheila had only around one million in her account, as for the rest she planned on asking her father, but now she doubted if he was willing to loan 50000. She looked at Lisa in anger while Lisa maintained a smirk on her face. If looks could kill, Sheila would have stabbed Lisa a hundred times.
"You know that you went on five dates already for free, right?" Jason asked. "En" She shrugged at his question. She really did not care about the money. For her, it was something that always can be earned. Plus, she could always leech off her parents shamelessly, right? Maybe not. Regardless of which, she had a big bank balance, and she did not need to worry about the current transaction. As she said, he was worth it.
"And, sold to that beautiful lady right there."
Jason was inwardly shouting and cheering because his little kitten felt the same way towards him. Lisa could not pin-point it, but she felt he was familiar, and she was quite comfortable around him no matter if it had been only around three weeks since they met. After the auction ended Lisa and Jason planned to go to the after-party together, but before they could step out, Sheila blocked them.
"How dare you! You know I wanted to go on that date badly, but you still kept bidding."
"That's the point of an auction, people bid. And those who don't mind spending, win. If you wanted to win against me, you should have made a higher bid." Lisa spoke very logically.
Jason immediately stepped in front of Lisa protectively as he led her out. They got into the car.
"You know, she is a little annoying," Lisa remarked. She was getting quite annoyed with Sheila's behavior, she just could not give up. Jason inter-twined his right hand with her left hand and lifted it up to kiss her hand with a charming smile on his face. Lisa pouted but did not say anything further. This time, she led him to the party. Sheila did not show her presence in the after-party because she went back to the hotel. Her father who heard about Jason auctioning off a date was eager to know how it went. He did not get the news he wanted. Sheila threw all the blame onto Lisa.
"Lisa? Who is that? Does she know you are my daughter, and it is unwise to go against you?" he asked with pride and anger at the same time. Sheila had the urge to yell, 'You're not as influential as you think!' but she could not. She is right. He was not as influential as he thought. The Wilsons, Smiths, Brookes, and a few others are leading families in that country. Possessing equities of the companies that occupy the largest market gave them a lot of power. Without a large opposing force, these families cannot get down from the pedestal. The Family which Sheila comes from cannot compare to them. The Wilsons occupy the fields of IT and electronics and are now moving towards the entertainment industry because of Jason. The Smiths are into mining and jewellery but are planning to go into architecture. Lastly, the Brookes own a huge chain of restaurants and hotels and are also in politics. There are other families too. The government did not plan to break the monopolies so quickly because the businesses followed strict rules and regulations without hurting any ethics. And they would not think of planning to, because the employees would get struck. All of them provide employee securities, unlike few upcoming companies that would exploit the working class.
"Dad, I think Jason likes her too. I cannot come in between them."
Like usual, the call ended in threats and emotional blackmail, leading Sheila to tears once again.
It was February first week and Jason was having a hard time figuring out what to give Lisa for Valentine's day. Their relationship progressed a lot since the first time they met. He still had a hard time believing that Lisa was now his girlfriend. The shooting progressed well; They were supposed to shoot the scenes set in the past so Jason would dress up in Royal clothing, which he found great. He felt powerful when he wore those clothes. Sheila stopped bothering Jason. She felt that she should use a push and pull method to make Jason interested in her, so she behaved distantly with him. She thought Jason would care or be bothered, but honestly, he couldn't care less. In fact, he was relieved that he did not need to deal with her. He finally got an idea about what gift he should get for Lisa.
Lisa thought about it too, but she did not think it was appropriate for her to give a gift. She felt that this relationship was casual and not that deep, so she did not know if she should get him or not. She did not want to seem pushy, so she thought of not getting him anything. That night, neither of them could sleep. Jason was thinking about his gift, and Lisa was overthinking the relationship. In the end, Lisa decided that if he gets her a present, she would cook him a meal.
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"Little student~ How's the business~?" Jaque asked happily. One would guess that he had a really good day.
Lisa already got used to the way he spoke, "It's going great, I'm getting a lot of private clients."
"*sniffle* My little student's all grown up~ I'm proud to have you as my student~ This humble teacher will take his leave for you are ready to face the world on your own~"
Lisa kept a straight expression, as if waiting for him to stop his shenanigans. "Come on, little student~ Don't be so serious~" Lisa still did not budge.
"Sigh, fine. Lisa, I cannot mentor you anymore. But I'm proud of you, the past one and a half years have been the best years for me because I had the chance to mentor you and bring out your inner talent." He confessed in a serious tone.
"Jaque… Is Margery okay?"
"For now, but I have to be by her side. I'm sure you'll do well on your own." Jaque patted her head as if coaxing a small child. Lisa sighed to herself. She thought he had a good day, that's why he was so happy, but he was simply hiding his emotions. "Thank you, I too had the best one and a half year."
Jason found free time in his schedule to meet up with Lisa, but he did not expect her to be so dejected. She did not tell him about what happened; She kept mum about the matter. He took her out at midnight and got her an ice-cream. They sat on the side-walk and ate ice-cream. Lisa did not complain because Jason took time out of his busy schedule to meet her.
She simply leaned her head onto his shoulder and closed her eyes. Jason knew something was wrong, but he did not push.
Since Lisa fell asleep, Jason carried her to her apartment and put her to bed. He felt happy that she trusted him enough to let her guard down and fall asleep. He fell asleep on her sofa.