"I've never liked anyone, and I've never understood what love is. Maybe I hurt you somewhere, but please believe me, I never meant to."
Roy stopped packing as she spoke, and by the time she finished, his gaze was fixed on her. He could hear the sincerity in her words and see her seriousness, making him feel like he had truly frightened her.
"I believe you." The person in the world he least wanted to hurt was her, even his little brother Abel came second.
Laila sighed with relief, it seemed like the emotional card was indeed the most effective. What a good kid, how did he end up falling for her?
"Thank you for your trust. I want to say that in the future, I may still make mistakes. If you can accept that about me, then let's officially date."
After saying these words, Laila felt like her ears were burning. She lowered her head, feeling a bit shy and unable to look directly into his eyes. God knows, in two lifetimes, she had never said such a thing. She had probably used up all her courage here.
It was a good thing she didn't look up because if she had seen Roy's expression, she might have retracted what she had just said. After finally mustering the courage to say it, she wasn't prepared to see him looking at her with such a doubtful expression.
Roy was genuinely taken aback; he almost wanted to rush out and have his ears or his brain checked. He wanted to ask, "Are you serious?" but he also felt that if he did ask, he would get an answer he didn't want to hear.
In fact, his intuition was correct; saying those words was already at the limit of Laila's courage. Asking her to say them again, she would definitely lose the courage to do so.
A mature woman in her thirties, spanning two lifetimes, shamelessly pursuing someone younger, it really tested her nerves.
Having mustered the courage to say it, Laila waited for Roy's response for a while. When she raised her head, all she saw were red-rimmed eyes.
"Okay," Roy finally spoke, taking two large strides toward her and pulling her into a tight embrace. "I can be a jerk too many times, can we change that together?"
Laila smelled the cologne on him, making her nod slightly awkwardly. She really wasn't used to this new kind of romantic relationship. In two lifetimes, her mind had been filled with thoughts of a man for the first time, rather than focusing on movies, which made her feel a little exposed.
Well, if others can do it, why can't she? It's just dating, right? She can write so many scripts; surely she can script her own epic love story?
In fact, she didn't have the ability, otherwise, she wouldn't be so relieved when Roy left for his promotional activities.
She felt like she had been malnourished for a long time, and she had finally been allowed to supplement herself, but she had swallowed ginseng, reishi mushrooms, and snow lotus all at once. At least let her get used to it gradually, right?
Roy was like the perennial ginseng she had been waiting for, not only replenishing her energy but also opening her Ren and Du meridians, allowing her to transcend space and time, ascending to the realm of immortality.
So Roy's departure this time gave her a chance to buffer, so she wouldn't get nosebleeds from overdosing.
As for how a certain Roy felt about becoming a real boyfriend but having to pack up and board a plane for work, that wasn't something she was worried about.
To be honest, Laila herself hadn't expected this day to come. She also didn't know how she had suddenly said the words "let's officially date," as if they had slipped out of her mouth spontaneously. But now that she had said it, she wouldn't regret it, and she would do her best to seriously nurture this relationship. As for what the future might become, she would leave that to the future Laila to worry about. At least, after getting through the initial discomfort, she felt a strange sense of happiness in her heart.
Meanwhile, with Ovitz's approval, the acquisition of AMG Artist Management Company by Laila's team was officially announced. When Laila and Ovitz signed their names in front of numerous reporters, the people in Hollywood began to exclaim, "A new era has arrived!"
Clearly, many people had a high opinion of Laila's acquisition of AMG, believing that the company would do well under her guidance.
First of all, her original company had a talent agency division. Although there weren't many signed actors inside, they were all talented. Even newcomers who had just signed up could get opportunities to perform in a very short time.
What actors feared the most was not having opportunities, right? With Laila Moran, who would doubt her ability, her strength, and, most importantly, her financial power? These three factors combined meant that actors would never worry about not getting roles.
However, not everyone looked kindly upon her, and Mr. Cooper, who was always watching her and seizing every opportunity to discredit her, was quite happy when he heard that the signing was successful. He waved a small American flag in front of the reporters who came to interview him.
"I'm very happy. Finally, I can see someone who has been a menace to the film industry go and ruin the talent agency business!
I hope she never returns to the film industry. We don't want to see an arrogant director, who doesn't listen to other people's advice."
What kind of grudge did he hold, to speak with such a strong tone? Laila felt somewhat guilty for pushing him into such a state. Next time she brought him out for publicity, she would use a gentler tone.
The first thing Laila did after acquiring AMG was to merge the company's talent agency division with her existing one. At first glance, the list of signed actors and film crew members in the company was quite extensive. She had been waiting for this day for a long time, and she decided to start by directly releasing the rights to a novel and a video game, investing a total of 200 million dollars to turn them into films.
If someone from the future saw the names of these two properties, they would be ecstatic because they were none other than "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "Resident Evil"!
Actually, Laila held the rights to more heavyweight novels, but she wanted to test the waters first with these two properties before fully understanding the company's capabilities.