It was a party to celebrate the completion of the filming for the movie, The Great Palace. The film crew gathered at a famous hotel for a meal.
As the female lead of this movie, Lucille Jenkins was, of course, one of the attendees.
After having a couple glasses of wine, Lucille felt a little dizzy. She went to a corner of the room and sat down. Taking out her phone from her bag, she thought, "Alexander has been on his business trip for almost a month. He should be back today, right?"
All of a sudden, a shadow flitted across her line of sight. A man then took his seat beside her.
It was Brian Arnold, the director of the movie.
"Oh, Lucille, your performance in this movie was outstanding," Brian commented while inching closer to Lucille. Despite being in his forties, Brian had been hitting the gym quite often. He looked rather charismatic. However, his eyes were sparkling with a straight gleam.
"Thank you, Mr. Arnold," Lucille replied with a slight smile. Then, she calmly distanced herself towards the other side.
Brian wasn't going to give up; he approached her again and subtly touched her waist with his fingertips. He whispered, "I'm going to shoot another movie in a few months, and I would like to have you play the female lead again. What do you think?"
Silence—
Lucille's stomach was churning at the smell of wine and sweat wafting off Brian's body and perfumed her nostrils. As she moved to the other side again, she answered, "Mr. Arnold, I am flattered. However, I have only graduated from art school. I am convinced that my acting is definitely not good enough for me to play in a movie."
She then took a good look around her.
The other guests pretended to chat among themselves. Yet, their gazes had betrayed them, for they had been checking her and Brian out from time to time. Lucille could see contempt in the depth of their eyes.
Lucille did not have a portfolio of what she did during her studies at her art school. However, she got the opportunity to become the female lead in a television series with eighty million dollars invested the moment she made her debut. She was now popular. Anyone would guess that she had a sugar daddy.
"Not at all, I can see that your acting is pretty remarkable," Brian responded and pinched her waist twice. Brian was mesmerized by Lucille's pleasant fragrance. He deliberately lowered his voice and stated, "I saw that you've been riding a taxi to the film site. Is it because your sugar daddy has abandoned you?"
Lucille was rendered speechless.
How she wished that the man Brian mentioned would just throw a cheque worth tens of millions in her face and abandoned her.
She had been thinking about it for so many years, but her wish remained as a wish.
Brian took Lucille's silence as a hint that he had guessed it correctly. With a confident smile, he continued, "Lucille, I admire you a lot, whether it's your acting skills or your very person. If you were to sleep with me for a week, then my movie's female lead would be your role to take. Besides, I will also introduce you to Alexander Luther!"
"Alexander?" Lucille parroted. Brian had managed to pique her interest. Her trimmed brows were raised. It seemed like she wanted to know more about it.
"That's right, the chairman of the Windwalker Group is a friend of mine!" Brian thought that Lucille, who had just graduated from art school, would definitely not be acquainted with such a big shot. After all, she was already considered lucky enough to have a sugar daddy.
Brian continued to blow his trumpet, "My movie has just received investments from Joyish Entertainment, which is under the Windwalker Group. Alexander often invites me to dinner.
"If you follow my instructions, I'll take you to see him. Once you get to know him, you'll definitely be wealthy for the rest of your life. Maybe I'll even have to work for you in the future!" Brian remarked.
At this moment, Lucille's phone rang.
When Lucille took out her phone, Brian caught a glimpse of the name 'Alexander' on the display.
While Brian was still in a daze, Lucille had already finished answering the call. She quickly rose to her feet and picked up her handbag. She smiled at Brian and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Arnold. I have something to attend to, so I need to leave first."
"Alright sure..." Brian trailed off.
He watched Lucille walk out of the private room. His mind was still affixed on the moment he had glimpsed Alexander's name on her phone.
When they started to film the television series, someone had sent Lucille's details over. Brian's hunch told him that she definitely had a boyfriend. However, he had never seen Lucille being picked up in a luxury car all along. It had always been a taxi.
That day, Lucille was dressed gracefully, and her beauty had surely taken everyone's breath away. Bewitched by her, Brian had mustered up his courage to approach her. Little did he expect that he would be scared out of his wits when he saw the phone call Lucille had received.
"This Alexander Luther can't be the one from the financial news, right?" Brian thought.
Lucille did not care what Brian was thinking. After returning to a high-class residential district, Lucille took the elevator upstairs. She unlocked the door to her apartment using her key card. It was pitch-black inside.
Fortunately, that man had not arrived yet.
Lucille changed her shoes hurriedly and rushed over to the kitchen to take out fresh ingredients from the refrigerator. She boiled water in the pot and chopped some vegetables. She was caught up in her chores.
The next second, someone held her waist from behind.