"Exactly!" Patrick replies with a look of grievance. "I've seen how happy those female celebrities are when they receive a support truck, grinning like blooming flowers. How could I know it would be any different with Victoria?"
He goes on, asking tentatively, "Do you think... maybe Victoria just dislikes you?"
Before he can finish, his suggestion is promptly dismissed.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!" Sebastian insists. "I'm too handsome for her to have a reason to dislike me!" He declares with conviction, "It must be something wrong with your plan."
"My plan is flawless," Patrick defends. "You said sincerity was key, and sending a support truck is the sincerest gesture."
"Well, your flawless plan is not working, think of something else," Sebastian urges.
"Why don't you come up with something?" Patrick mutters under his breath.
"Mr. Anchor, please remember who signs off on your salary check." Sebastian subtly threatens.
Alright. Money talks, after all. Patrick falls into thought, while Sebastian's lips twitch slightly.
He can't help it. The wounds from his past romantic endeavors run too deep, and now, any time he puts effort into a girl, he feels the uncomfortable sense of becoming a "loyal dog" again.
"I hate dogs, and I'm not going to be one!" Sebastian thinks of a dog shaking its tail and feels a surge of righteous indignation. His thoughts continue to wander...
In the office, time ticks away.
"I've got it!" Patrick suddenly lights up.
"What is it?" Sebastian opens his sleepy eyes.
"Were you sleeping just now?" Patrick narrows his eyes suspiciously.
"No," Sebastian replies, nonchalantly wiping away the drool.
"Must have been my mistake then," Patrick says with a sardonic smile. The boss is always right!
"So, the plan..." Sebastian hesitates.
"Just like this... The focus is still on sincerity!" Patrick grins brilliantly.
...
On the seventh floor of CBS, during the filming of the seventeenth episode of 'You Are My Destiny', the director calls "CUT!" and the actors relax after maintaining their tension.
"After three days of continuous shooting, my body feels like it's aging," Cathy Millstone complains, massaging her back. "Back in my early days, I could shoot for seven days and nights without sleep, but now..."
"Cathy, you're only thirty, right?" Victoria, looking equally exhausted, teases warmly, "Why do you sound so old-fashioned?"
"A day feels like years in our business, get it?" Cathy says, then seems to remember something and laughs mischievously, "Hasn't that pursuer of yours been around lately?"
"Which pursuer?" Victoria is taken aback.
"The one from the other day!" Cathy explains. "It seems like it's been many days since we last saw him."
With a sigh, she adds, "Young guys just don't have the patience. It's only been a few days, and he's already disappeared. If it were me, I couldn't agree to that either..."
"He's not my pursuer." Victoria denies coyly.
"Right, right," Cathy nods, with a knowing 'I got you' look on her face. Girls are shy! Of course, she understands!
Victoria is speechless. She's explained many times, but Cathy just won't listen. But it doesn't matter... She probably won't see Sebastian Vanderbilt again anyway.
Soon, she'll likely forget all about him, right? With that thought, a smile creeps onto Victoria's lovely face.
Then... In less than a second, that smile freezes.
She sees the young man standing next to the cameraman and can't believe her eyes. She rubs her eyes and looks again. When he notices her and even flashes a bright smile, her heart skips a beat.
Victoria: "..."
Yes, it is Sebastian Vanderbilt.
But... this is CBS. How did he get in?
Victoria is baffled.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Sebastian asks, his smile turning a bit stiff. He whispers, "The books say that a good woman is afraid of a persistent man, and that if you keep at it, you'll reach the summit..."
"So, you just have to follow my advice. If Victoria sees you all the time, it's bound to have an effect eventually..."
"I have a feeling this isn't reliable," Sebastian mumbles under his breath.
"Do you have any other ideas?"
"No..."
"Then isn't it settled?"
...
Victoria is speechless, utterly speechless.
She finds that this man is like a lingering spirit in the drama crew. Whenever she looks up, she sees his infuriating face. It distracts her so much during shoots that the director scolds her.
"How annoying!" she thinks.
Finally, the day ends. Night falls, and Victoria leaves in her agent's car.
"For the next three days, I'll be running around the country with my schedule. If you have the guts and spirits, keep squatting at the set." Thinking of Sebastian returning day after day to no avail, she can't help but feel a little happy in the car.
"Victoria, did something fun happen at the set? You seem so happy," her agent asks curiously.
"Cathy is really interesting. Talking to her makes the time fly," Victoria replies.
"Cathy Millstone is a senior actress. If you want to continue acting, it's good to have a good relationship with her," the agent advises.
"Yes, that's also a good point." Victoria nods, gazing out the window at the bewitching night.
The next day, in Boston. In front of a large supermarket.
Pretty Generation performs energetically on stage under the bright sunshine, their youthful faces glowing with vitality.
Victoria enjoys the stage. However, ...
When her gaze passes a banner on the left side of the stage, her smile almost falters. In the lower left corner of the stage, Sebastian Vanderbilt holds up a huge banner, grinning radiantly.
On stage, Victoria feels like she has a thorn in her back. The performance suddenly feels much longer.
Another afternoon, at a commercial performance in San Diego.
The other evening, outside the CNS radio station program.
The next day, at the Atlanta mall entrance for a variety show...
Victoria realizes that Sebastian Vanderbilt seems to be haunting her, appearing in the most unexpected places.
At the supermarket... On the streets... At the TV station...
Thankfully not to her apartment...
On the ninth day, at the bathroom entrance of CBS, Victoria finally explodes.
"Sebastian Vanderbilt, if you continue to harass me like this, I will call the police..."
"You're finally talking to me!" Sebastian's face lights up with joy.
"..." Victoria's angry expression retreats painfully back into her face.
"I think there might be some misunderstanding between us," Sebastian says, nodding with a smile towards Cathy Millstone, who appears to understand and turns to leave.
He believes that misunderstandings can be cleared up with communication.
"There's no misunderstanding. I don't want to have anything to do with your company, especially with you, Mr. Vanderbilt. Is that okay?" Victoria says, clearly annoyed.
"Of course!" Sebastian replies, chuckling. "But there's always a reason for everything." He looks at Victoria sincerely and says, "There's always a reason, right?" Sebastian quickly realizes that Victoria seems to particularly dislike him. Eyes don't lie.
But he is a stubborn person. Business can be left aside, but without knowing the reason, he always feels a bit unwilling to let go...
"Your presence make me feel disgusted. Is that reason enough for you?" Victoria's face darkens as she looks towards Cathy Millstone's retreating figure and speaks seriously, "After being involved with Charlotte, then getting entangled with Jessica, now you plan to harass me with an endorsement deal?"
"How long would it take for you to move on to harass the next person as soon as I agree?"
"And who will be next?"
"Yuri?"
"Or Sunny?"
"I don't understand if all rich people have such strange thoughts, but if you come to me with such intentions, even if it's an endorsement deal worth one million or ten million, I won't agree. So please give up on this idea from now on."
"And I really don't understand, Mr. Vanderbilt, what exactly are you trying to achieve?"
"Collecting celebrities as your trophies or rewards?" With that, the scorn in Victoria's eyes is overflowing.
"So, it is for this reason, huh?" Sebastian can't help but laugh in response. "I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you recently," Sebastian then bows slightly, expressing his apology, then with a bright smile, he says, "It won't happen again!"
With that, he turns and leaves, without any hesitation.
As Sebastian has said, he just wants to know the reason. Now that he knows the reason, there is no reason to continue bothering her.
Well. A misunderstanding can be considered a reason, right?
In front of the CBS building. The sun is bright, and the sky is clear blue.
"How did it go?" Patrick approaches, asking curiously.
"I hereby declare that the plan to get close to Victoria... has failed!" Sebastian announces with a smile. Then he looks at Patrick and asks, "How come you seemed like you knew this would happen?"
"Isn't it obvious? I told you from the start you wouldn't succeed," Patrick says smugly.
"Ah, aren't you a good friend? Taking pleasure in my misfortune?" Sebastian can't resist punching him in the chest.
"How dare you hit me?" Patrick looks betrayed. "Do you know how much effort I put in these past few days to find a female artist with beautiful feet for you?"
He continues, growing more aggrieved, "My dad even started to suspect I have some sort of special fetish."
"Well, so tell me, did you find someone?"