When Kiera found out who the actress for the female lead was, she thought nothing more of it. What happened in her previous life hasn't happened yet and she wanted to focus on the present, was what she told herself. But seeing her again in this life made her realize that she wasn't over it.
She probably would never be over it.
Just a look at her face and Kiera felt like she was dunked in freezing water. Her entire body felt numb and breathing was a struggle.
If a close friend stabbed you in the back and you can go on and forgive and forget that easily then you're a saint.
Unfortunately, Kiera was light years away from sainthood.
She never raised a fuss in her previous life, not because she didn't want to but because she couldn't. Nothing a D-list actress could do would have hurt an A-list actress. She knew her chances of success was close to zero. The first sign of any type of scandal she could have started and that woman's fans would have already hunted her down and virtually ended her career.
So, she swallowed all her grievances. She watched as that bitch rose higher and higher and as she won an award she did not deserve. Just remembering how the press considered her to be the new generation of great actresses made Kiera nauseous.
Now, here they were, back before Kiera trusted her, and before she could get the chance to make a few years of her life a living hell. She could storm towards her, give her a well-deserved slap and scream out all the pain she felt. But she would only be treated as a raging lunatic and all of the hard work she had done these past months would go down the drain.
She wrestled with her inner demons and ensured they were chained and none of the hatred she felt would leak from her. It wasn't the time or the place, and this was just a younger version of the woman who had used her as a stepping stone.
However, it won't stop her from taking this chance to prove to herself that she, Kiera, was much better than a woman who relied on her family's wealth, her angelic face and got by with her mediocre acting skills.
She might have lost in her past life but in this one she will win.
So, Kiera put a charming smile on her face and held it as she and Alec walked forward to get introduced.
---
John was a seasoned showbusiness journalist, he had proudly risen from the ranks of paparazzi and now has actual contacts in various agencies to legitimately contact them for stories or be contacted by agencies to leak stories they want. It was a win-win situation and provided ample money for a comfortable life.
Having covered several table reads in his long career, he knew something was going on when he received a booklet on the actors and actresses participating in the series.
Most of the time they were given at the end of the table read. Just to get people to focus during the table read instead of digging deeper on various people listed.
His nose was practically tingling, there was a story to uncover here.
"Don't they usually give these out at the end?" An obvious rookie asked a bit too loudly. Someone must have shot him a look because he stopped asking stupid questions.
"Quit asking stupid questions, kid, and you just might last long enough to actually learn something." One of the nicer journalists advised.
John's intern leaned closer to him and whispered, "They're starting later than usual, aren't they? Plus, the booklets."
John wanted to smile proudly at his intern, 'Damn, I did well with raising you.' But he kept a poker face on. Making them know they're improving would only make them cocky.
He grunted at the intern, "We'll know more once we start."
He started scanning over the booklet and skimmed past the actor and actress for the male and female lead. That one was no longer a surprise, their agency had hinted too heavily about an upcoming work of these two and that story was a beaten horse.
Most of the journalists might have arrived at the same page and a murmur started going up in their section.
Someone let out a low whistle, "Damn, they got Anastasia! How on earth did they get her out of retirement?"
Several journalists started to type on their phone, probably sending the news to their editors and other colleagues to start on a new headline.
John could imagine the headlines for tomorrow morning, "A-actress Anastasia out of retirement" and a dozen of other versions of that.
He wasn't terribly shocked with the news. He had his own article polished, edited and ready for printing for tomorrow morning. It pays off to regularly go drinking with casting crews.
He'd known about it for several days now and had kept the news close to his chest and only let his editor know when he submitted his story.
"My mom won't believe me if I say I saw Anastasia in real life. She's still a big fan." His own intern seemed to be getting giddy.
John let the kid be, this was one instance that getting star-struck was something he can forgive.
He continued to browse through the booklet and let out a hum when he saw the actor for the second male lead. 'Alec, was it? An interesting actor. He did well during his last show. Might be good to keep an eye on him this time around.'
The actress for the second female lead surprised him. Another source told him Amira was a shoe-in for the role after the previous actress bowed out. Now here was a rookie actress out of nowhere.
He checked the agency listed below her name. Onyx.
He narrowed his eyes and went back to Alexander's page and noticed Onyx as his agency too.
He tapped his fingers against the booklet and started to think. He turned to his intern, "What were the investors in this series again?"
His intern browsed through his tablet and found the list and handed it over. And there it was Onyx.
Wasn't this a coincidence? A new agency being able to invest most probably millions in a sought-after adaptation and they had two actors in it.
It surely didn't look like a small up and coming agency to him.
He might need to make new friends in this agency while it's early.
His instincts are telling him he'll get a lot of stories there in the future.