Chapter 44
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Ophelia steadied her breathing and tossed the black cloth strip over to the man in front of her.
The man caught the strip and toyed with it in his hands, his attractive eyes watching her like a loyal dog. “Long time no see, Elia. Looks like your skills have improved, he smiled, revealing pair of small canine teeth, his voice bright and cheerful.
“Yeah. It’s been a while, What? The first thing you do when we meet is try to kill me? You’ve been following me for days. Aren’t you tired yet?” Ophelia dusted off her clothes and picked up the dagger on the ground.
The man leaned against the tree trunk by the road, wrapping the black cloth around his palm before tying it off with his teeth. I took a job. Someone paid me to mess you up. The money was pretty good, and since it was you, I figured I’d take it. You should be thanking me. If it were anyone else, you’d be dead by now.”
Ophelia let out a sneer and tossed the dagger back to him–Eric Martinez. He’d been tailing her for days, so she quickly deduced that Brock wouldn’t have suddenly hired a hitman. It wasn’t hard to guess who wanted her dead.
She pondered, Looks like the hospital bed isn’t enough for him anymore. One more time, and I’ll send him straight to the
morgue.
Ophelia asked, “You’re still doing this kind of work?”
Eric tucked the dagger back into his belt and replied innocently Tve got no other skills. What else am I supposed to do?” The streetlamp cast a glow over his youthful face, highlighting a faint scar on his brow.
Ophelia sighed helplessly. She and Eric bad grown up together in the slums. All the combat skills she had now, she’d learned from him.
He’d been forced to follow his adoptive father into a life of violence since he was ten, living a dangerous life where death lurked around every corner, While other kids his age were in school, he could barely recognize a handful of letters.
When they were younger, Eric had taught Ophelia how to fight while she taught him how to read. Every time his adoptive father caught them, Eric would get beaten. The scar on his brow was from a bottle his father had smashed over his head.
“If you wanted, you could live a different life” Ophelia probed gently.
s eyes.
“I don’t want to,” Eric replied as he smiled like a child. But if you looked closely, there was a bitterness in his c
Ophelia checked the time. Earlier, she’d purposely shaken off Kenneth’s men, and by now, they’d likely be closing in.
She added, “You’ve been following me these past few days, so you should know I’m with Chloe now. If you ever want to change your life, you can find me anytime.”
Eric flashed his small canines again and gave her shoulder a playful squeeze. “Elia, your shoulders aren’t that broad. Don’t carry everything on your own. There are too many people in the slums. You can’t save them all.
She lowered her gaze and mused, ‘He’s right. I’m no savior.
“Be careful,” Ophelia said. But when she looked up again, Eric had already disappeared from where he had been leaning against the tree.
The following day was Valentine’s Day, and it conveniently fell on a weekend. Sharon’s movie, On a Snowy Day, officially hit the theaters. By noon, the box office had already surpassed 10 million dollars.
On the other hand, Emily’s teen flick, Sprout, was quickly torn apart online not long after the first screening.
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Chapter 44
As viewers saw the male lead, Rex, with a constant scowl and zeer acting skills, and the female lead portrayed as an airhead, naive and clueless, fans who had come specifically for Rex were ft deeply disappointed. Not a single cent of Sungate Entertainment’s hefty promotional budget had paid off.
By B PM, On a Snowy Day had grossed over 27 million dollars, and it was projected to reach 30 million dollars by the end of the night.
When Ophelia got Sharon’s call, she had just finished dinner with Chloe and Wyatt, courtesy of Lisa.
“You got any plans tonight?” Sharon asked.
Ophelia replied, “Why?”
Sharon said, “The movie’s doing great. James is gathering some people from the industry for a small get–together. I want
you to come with me.”
Sharon’s voice was so loud that everyone nearby could hear her Ophelia then noticed Lisa’s eyes light up at the mention of James.
Ophelia thought, ‘Oh… I almost forgot. James is a total heartthrob for the older ladies.
She then asked, “Where’s it at?”
“I’ll send you the address in a bit,” Sharon replied
After hanging up, Lisa scooted closer, asking. “Miss Spencer, are you going to see James?”
“Yeah. So do you want me to pass along a message or something? Ophelia had never been a fangirl, so she couldn’t quite grasp the whole celebrity obsession thing.
“That’s not necessary.” Lisa looked like she wanted to say more but held back. “I just wanted to ask if you could snap a picture for me. I want to see if he’s as handsome in real life as he is on TV Her eyes sparkled with girlish excitement as she spoke.
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After a brief hesitation, Ophelia let out a quiet sigh as if resigned to the situation. She responded, “Uh… Sure. I guess.” Half an hour later, Ophelia arrived at the entrance of Skyline Lounge, where a decent crowd had already gathered. “Over here, Elia!” Sharon was wearing a mask and a pair of oversized black–framed glasses.
The bar had a square layout. The first floor was an open seating area with a dance floor, while the second floor had several private glass rooms that offered a clear view of the space below.
Sharon waved toward one of the rooms upstairs, then led Ophelia up and into one of the private booths,
Once inside, Sharon said to everyone, “This is my friend, Ophelia Sinclair.”
A huge chunk of the film’s box office success could be credited to Sharon, so when everyone heard that Ophelia was Sharon’s friend, they immediately stood up to greet Ophelia.
“Hello, I’m James Guinnes.” The man sitting in the middle was the first to stand up He looked to be in his forties, dressed in a casual beige outfit and was a bit slimmer than he appeared on V
Another man followed suit. “I’m Thomas Collins
Then, another chimed in Tm the producer, Riley Carson
Ophelia smiled faintly, nodding at each of them in greeting.
“Wait. Are you Sharon’s designer?” Riley asked, his expression showing that he found her somewhat familiar.
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Everyone in the room turned their attention to Ophelia. They were curious about the founder of La Reverie–it was surprising to them that she was so young.
“So you’re the one behind Sharon’s success? I really owe you a huge thank you.” Thomas immediately picked up his glass and respectfully raised it toward Ophelia.
Everyone there knew about what had happened with Sharon recently. At that time, she was on the verge of being blacklisted, and it was almost sure that her movie would flop.
But, to their surprise, not only had she turned things around, the movie had gained a lot of buzz. It turned out there had been a mastermind behind it all, guiding her from the shadows,
After learning who Ophelia was, the people in the room became even more enthusiastic than before. They naturally included her in the conversation, occasionally asking for her opinion.
James was both an artist and director at Silverline Media, and he also owned his own studio. This movie was his debut as a self–invested, self–directed, and self–acted project. From the looks of it, his first step into directing was a success.
When Ophelia heard that James was planning to invest in and direct another project soon, she recalled that in her previous life, after Emily’s movie became a huge hit, it was through James that she made even bigger strides in her career.
But this time, Ophelia wasn’t worried about Emily having that same opportunity. Instead, Ophelia thought that she could use James to bring down Sungate Entertainment.
Ophelia reflected. ‘If I’m not mistaken, that seven million dollars Emily used to pay for the dress was likely company funds, meaning Sungate Entertainment now has a financial gap. With the movie’s poor box office performance, what will Emily and Nathan
