Teresa Green never expected that she would accidentally stumble upon her fiancé's infidelity scene when she simply returned to the office to pick up something!
Hearing the discordant sounds coming from the office, she thought it was one of her junior artists causing trouble. Just as she was about to knock on the door, she heard a sweet and charming female voice say, "Nolan Clark, when can we finally be together..."
Teresa was stunned.
That voice... It sounded like Selena!
Selena Clark was the biggest star under Teresa's management, and the 'Nolan' she mentioned was none other than Teresa's fiancé, Nolan.
But... how was that possible?
Nolan and Selena were biological siblings!
It must be a misunderstanding, right?
Teresa impulsively shook her head.
"Sweetheart, be patient," the man spoke lazily, and who else could it be but Nolan, "The company has just gotten on track. We still need her for a lot of things."
"Fine then," the woman huffed, then maliciously added, "She surely doesn't know, I'm actually not your sister at all."
What?
Teresa suddenly felt dizzy, not only was her mind blank, but also a humming noise buzzed in her ears!
By the time she finally recovered, the conversation inside had ended, leaving only the sound of breathless gasps, relentlessly tearing at her nerves, reminding her of the brutal reality.
She wasn't hallucinating, nor was she dreaming. Everything was real.
Three years ago, she and Nolan co-founded The Starry Entertainment. Nolan promptly signed Selena, even personally introducing her as his sister. Teresa, completely unsuspecting, poured all her efforts into Selena and single-handedly elevated her to stardom!
However, it turned out they had been deceiving her all this time!
Teresa's body quivered violently, her heart pounding with humiliation and even more so with rage.
Tears gushed uncontrollably as she clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle her sobbing.
She couldn't let them discover her presence. If she unmasked their lies right now, wouldn't that be letting them off too easily?!
Thinking about all the emotions and effort she had given these past three years, Teresa forcefully wiped away her tears before silently slipping out of the company building.
Back at home, she immediately checked the office surveillance footage.
Nolan and Selena could not have possibly anticipated that she had just installed security cameras in all the offices two days ago. She had installed these cameras because of Selena, but little did she expect it to come in handy so quickly.
It seemed as though even fate couldn't bear to see her being deceived any longer, Teresa thought to herself, a bitter laugh playing on her lips.
Quickly enough, Selena's face appeared on the screen, her eyes tightly closed, her cheeks flushed, clinging onto Nolan.
Perhaps her heart had been numbed from the immense pain, but Teresa was eerily calm at what she saw.
Swiftly, she saved this specific clip and transferred it onto a portable hard drive.
After doing all of this, she went to the bathroom, washed her face with cool water, and cleansed herself of the cold tears that had stained her face.
Looking up, reflected in the mirror was a face pale but still stunningly beautiful.
However, anyone who laid eyes on her would inevitably sigh at the waste of it all.
On Teresa's right cheek, there was a baby-palm-sized red birthmark.
It was because of this birthmark that she had once believed in Nolan's honeyed words.
And also, because of this birthmark, despite her astounding talent, she could only reside behind the scenes.
Otherwise, why would she invest all her energy on Selena, selecting scripts for her even late into the night, elaborating character details, and even drink till she suffered from gastric bleeding, all to help her secure roles.
But now, all her contributions to Nolan and Selena have become a joke.
It's only now that she truly understands, why Selena always harbored inexplicable hostility towards her, why Selena always likes to stick to Nolan. Several times, she even witnessed Nolan and Selena intimately embracing each other.
But Teresa always regarded them as siblings, thinking it normal for them to be close.
Siblings, huh.
With clenched fists, Teresa's eyes seemed to ignite something.
At this moment, her mobile phone by the poolside rang.
Seeing the name "Nolan" displayed on her screen, she bit her lip.
She calmed her emotions before she answered the call with a composed “Hello”.
“Where are you?” Nolan inquired rudely. “Haven't you been in contact with Jaeden Walton, the director of 'The Story of Maria' recently? How is it? Has he agreed to let Selena play the lead female role?”
The main investor for "The Story of Maria" is The Hampton Group, a leading domestic conglomerate. The Hampton Group spans across multiple sectors including finance, communications, real estate, e-commerce, etc., with abundant resources.
Nolan has always wanted to meet Danny Hampton who is the heir to The Hampton Group and currently serves as the CEO. But Danny is known for his low profile. Even if Nolan is the boss of the Starry Entertainment Entertainment, he does not hold enough merit to personally handover his business card to Danny.
His only way to establish a relationship with the Hampton Group was through this drama, therefore, he valued 'The Story of Maria' greatly.
Teresa clearly understood his intentions, and so, she recently started meeting Jaeden frequently. Last night, Mr. Walton finally loosened up and agreed to give Selena another chance.
Originally, she was almost 70-80% certain that Selena could get the role, but now…
"Mr. Walton still remains hesitating, he is still unsatisfied with Selena's audition," she said softly, trying not to reveal any oddities in her tone.
"This Jaeden!” Nolan said with resentment, “If that's the case, there can be no mistakes in The Classic Award tonight. If Selena wins the Best Actress Award for TV Drama, I won't believe that Jaeden won't change his mind. You should go and find out the attitudes of the sponsors and the judges."
Teresa hadn’t realized until this point that every time Nolan called her, his tone was always condescending.
She clenched her fists, looked at herself in the mirror, and slowly put on a smile, "Alright".
…
At 5 o'clock in the evening, the red carpet ceremony began.
Tonight’s venue was glittering with stars, but Selena was extremely popular recently and was one of the last ones to appear on stage.
Teresa appeared in the audience section next to the red carpet, wearing a mask and not attracting any attention.
Soon after, a dressed up Selena appeared. She was arm in arm with Nolan, smiling as she walked onto the red carpet.
The cheering was deafening, Selena really lived up to her reputation as the most noticeable actress this year.
"Wow. That is Selena and her brother Nolan, isn’t it?" An audience member shouted, "She's really fortunate. Her own brother is the big boss of the company. He keeps pouring resources into her career. It's no wonder Selena has rapidly rose to fame in recent years!"
Hearing this, Teresa's eyes flickered.
Indeed, all of All-The Starry Entertainment Entertainment's best resources were allocated to Selena. In addition to that, as her manager, she was extremely devoted to Selena.
Every role that Selena played, was carefully selected by her. Moreover, in order to leave a good impression on the directors, Teresa would always demonstrate the role to Selena in advance and engage her in numerous rehearsals. As a result, she earned a reputation for her acting skills in the industry.
Despite all this, Selena would occasionally throw a tantrum. During those times, Teresa would always treat her as a sister, coaxing her with gentle words.
When on set, Teresa would act as a stand-in for her whenever possible. All the parts that carried any risk, Teresa would shoulder them all. However, she never publicized these instances. Instead, she framed Selena as a "dedicated" and a worker who "fought tooth-and-nail". This painted a positive image earning countless goodwill.
If not for this, how could Selena have accumulated such popularity within a short span of three years?
Regrettably, it's difficult to build fame and goodwill, but it's all too easy to destroy it. Sometimes, all it takes is one... video.