"Why not?"
Eliza looked really puzzled. "What did I do?"
The director glanced at her irritably. "I don't know. It's an order from the higher-ups. They said that you are not allowed to work as a stuntwoman anymore."
"If you have time to ask me, why don't you think about what you did to offend them?"
The director looked at Eliza disappointedly. "From today onwards, you can be a stand-in actress instead. Even though you'll earn less from it, at least you'll have more free time."
"You can also take the opportunity to think about your mistakes!"
Eliza returned backstage with a gloomy face.
Graciana comforted her, "Don't be sad. working as a stand-in actress is not bad as well."
Stand-ins took the place of principal actors and they worked closely with camera setups.
The weather was scorching hot.
Standing under the sun, Eliza was sweating from head to toe.
As she stood like a mere prop in the background, she thought to herself, "Just who on earth is messing with me?"
"Madeleine or Jay?"
......
In the office of Valentine's Group.
Matthew Valentine was sitting on the sofa with a smug expression on his face. "Uncle, don't worry! I'll take care of Eliza. You've found the right person for the task!"
"I'll make sure she doesn't get hurt from work! Don't worry, you won't see new scars on her anymore!"
Beau was currently sitting on his office chair while studying the documents in his hands. He frowned and asked, "Matthew, are you familiar with Esme Lawson?"
"Yes, I've met her before."
While crossing his legs, Matthew sipped his tea while chuckling, "That woman tried to seduce me even though she has average looks. After I figured out her intentions, I didn't attend any of her meetings anymore."
"Set up an appointment with her."
Beau flipped through the contract indifferently and said, "Tell her that we, the Valentines, will cut off half the funds allocated to the Lawsons."
"You should also tell her that Eliza is now an official member of the Valentine family. Since they are still Eliza's family, I am kind enough to only reduce the funds."
"If something happens to Eliza ever again,"
Beau said with malicious intent, "I will destroy Lawson's Group myself."
Matthew was taken aback by his words. "Are you sure you're letting them off the hook just like that? They did such horrible things to Eliza!"
Beau picked up the teacup and took a sip elegantly. "Yes, I'm sure."
He could forgive the Lawsons for what they did. If someone else were to hurt Eliza, he would definitely make sure they suffer a painful ending.
......
In the evening, Eliza received a call from Braint as soon as she got off work.
"Right now, I'm at a restaurant with Demarion. It is not far away from Parson Media."
"We want to treat you to a meal."
Eliza frowned. "You guys are treating me to a meal?"
"That's right."
Braint said steadily, as if he was an adult, "Come here now."
After she hung up the phone, Eliza went to the said restaurant even though she was exhausted from work.
When she arrived at the entrance of the restaurant, a familiar red car stopped in front of her.
Eliza recognized it at one glance.
This was Esme's car.
Over the past few years, Esme had been working tirelessly in Lawson's Group. As a reward, Riley bought her an expensive car.
After she parked the car, Esme came out with heavy makeup.
"Eliza, what a pleasant surprise! Why are you here?"
As soon as she got out of the car, she saw Eliza.
Esme said wickedly, "This restaurant is considered fine dining. Are you sure you can afford it?"
"As a mere stunt woman, I'm sure you can't."
Eliza gave her a cold look and turned to leave.
She was here to meet the children, not to have an argument with Esme.
But how could Esme give up such a good opportunity to humiliate Eliza?
She tugged at Eliza's arm. "Eliza, why are you in such a hurry?"
After what happened to Michael yesterday and she even faced Matthew's threats, Esme was boiling in fury.
She didn't know that Eliza would come to her just like that!
"Eliza, why are you in such a hurry?"
Esme raised her eyebrows and smiled. "Are you here for a date?"
"Why? Did Michael fail to satisfy you yesterday?"
Upon hearing that, Eliza could feel her anger brewing inside.
She turned around and stared at Esme. "You were the one who did that to me?"
She still couldn't figure out what happened yesterday. How could Michael know that she would visit her father?
However, all the puzzles clicked into place if Esme was in the picture.
"What does it have to do with me?"
Esme smirked. Her reaction didn't seem to reflect any guilt or remorse. In contrast, she seemed really proud of herself, "Eliza, you can't just blame me groundlessly."
"Do you have any evidence to prove that I have something to do with your abduction?"
Esme was smart enough to remove all the security cameras of the hotel yesterday. Even if Eliza were to look for evidence, her efforts would be fruitless.
Eliza finally understood Esme's evil schemes with Michael. It was obvious that they planned the crime together.
"You'd better not let me find evidence of your collusion with Michael!"
Glaring at her, Eliza turned around and walked inside.
Esme smiled smugly and said, "If you could find any, you would've used them against me a long time ago!"
"You were the one who invited Michael for a date yesterday."
"Are you here to meet another man today?"
You wh*re!"
Eliza paused and replied, "When it comes to whoring around, you know I can't beat you."
She was well aware of the dirty secrets of Esme's private life.
The reason her career as a businesswoman was so successful was that she liked sleeping around to get her hands on potential business partners."
"Don't talk nonsense."
Esme stroked the diamond ring on her finger and said, "I am now in love with Rodolfo Ball, soon-to-be the richest man in Krine."
"Not only is he filthy rich, but he also loves me with all his heart. He even asked someone to give me this ten-karat diamond ring today."
While she was speaking, her lips lifted into a smug grin. "I can find someone ten times more decent than Mr. Valentine, and that is only through browsing through online dating apps."
"Eliza, do you feel angry about that?"
Eliza snorted coldly. She didn't even bother to look back. "I hope Rodolfo won't vomit when he sees you."
After that, she pushed the door and went straight into the dining room.
"Humph, you jealous b*tch!"
After entering the restaurant, Eliza scanned through the first floor. However, she did not find Braint or Demarion in there. Then, she went straight to the second floor.
"Mommy."
Braint waved to her from the corner of the restaurant.
Eliza walked over and sat down. "Why are you alone? Where is Demarion?"
"Hush."
Braint handed her a glass of orange juice and said, "Demarion is getting ready."
"He's meeting a friend he met online."
"What!" Eliza was shocked.
"He's meeting an online friend?"
She almost spat out the orange juice in her mouth.
Eliza didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She composed herself and asked, "But Demarion's so young. Where did he learn to do something like that?"
Braint shrugged. "I guess children like to play."
Eliza was speechless.
"You are just five minutes older than him."
Braint took a sip of juice and glanced in the direction of the door. "Demarion's friend is here."
Eliza turned around.
"Why is Esme here?" Eliza thought. It was just unbelievable.