Filed to story: Sweetheart Do You Still Love Me
“Got it.””In that case, let’s talk about something else. How have you been?”
Elspeth laughed lightly.
“Can’t you see how I’ve been doing? You people probably have been tracing my actions since the day I returned.”Although Jordan had been exposed, there was not a trace of embarrassment on his face. However, he realized Elspeth had said ‘you people’ instead of ‘you.’His usual smile emerged on his face as he said,
“Old Mr. Joneson is concerned about you.”Elspeth was disbelieving.
“With Grandfather’s personality, he would’ve sent someone to capture me long ago. He’s concerned about me, you say? No, what he’s concerned about is whether the Joneson Family can find someone even more powerful to leech off.””Anyway, you can think whatever you want. We have a long way ahead of us.”With a small smile, Jordan swiveled around and returned to the hotel.His last few words felt familiar to Elspeth, and only after careful thought did she realize that those were the words she once said to Callum. Callum, we have a long way to go. But was it true of her?She looked at Jordan’s retreating back, unable to shake the feeling that his words had some hidden meaning to them.The next day, the new drama kicked off, which meant that it was time to officially start shooting. After getting up at five o’clock with Yelena to put on her makeup, get dressed, and memorize her lines, Elspeth deeply realized the challenges of being an actress.After they finally began filming, a supporting character with a small role suddenly lost her temper.”Why do I only have a few seconds of screen time? Wouldn’t my makeup be wasted, then? This is ridiculous! I won’t do it!”Upon seeing the actress throwing a tantrum right after the filming started, Elspeth narrowed her eyes and stepped forward.Seeing that, Aiden immediately blew a fuse.
“Don’t do it if you don’t want to! How spoiled!”His assistant said in a small voice,
“But Mr. Aiden, it’ll be difficult to find a suitable replacement on such short notice…””There are so many actresses out there. Simply pick one from them. What’s so difficult about that?””The thing is, they’re not as pretty as her…”Hearing that, the girl became even more arrogant.
“I’m not trying to toot my own horn, Mr. Aiden, but with my looks, how about you give me a bit more screen time? I don’t want to make things difficult either; I’ll simply settle for a few more scenes in each episode…”Aiden was turning red with anger, but he couldn’t find a way to refute her.”So, you think you’re pretty with that crooked face and ghastly makeup? It’s always the ugly ones who have the most to say.”Elspeth did not hold back when scolding her; she knew what the girl was insecure about and deliberately picked on her weak points.Hearing that, the girl immediately rose to her feet and demanded in a harsh voice,
“Who did you just call ugly?”After taking a closer look, she found herself looking at a girl whose appearance was much more outstanding than her own, and her anger immediately skyrocketed.
“How are you any better? You must’ve gone under the knife many times to get that nose and face, didn’t you?”Elspeth possessed a set of refined features and a petite face. Her nose in particular was tall and sleek, making her look even better than the heroine, Yelena.The girl was filled with jealousy, envious that she had not been born with such a perfect face.Yelena bellowed furiously,
“Do you know whom you’re talking to?””Who can she be? She’s not any of the main actresses, so she’s probably just a side character like me…”At that thought, the girl immediately felt much better about herself-until she heard the next sentence.”She’s our investor, the president of Luminous Entertainment, Elspeth Lynwood!”Investor?! The girl’s face immediately turned pale.
With a pale face, the girl said in a small voice,
“I’m sorry, Miss Lynwood, I’ve gone too far. Please be the bigger person and spare me. I’ll do whatever you say.”
She’d boasted to her classmates that she was going to be filming a drama. If they found out that she had been kicked out, she would no longer have a place to stand in school.Elspeth narrowed her eyes.
“Whatever I say?””Yes, yes!”After flipping through a few pages of the script, Elspeth noticed that the girl was playing an antagonist who was trying to end her life by taking pills.
“This won’t do. Since she’s so eager to present herself, make her fall into the lake.”The girl’s face immediately turned white as a sheet.”If I fall into the lake in this weather, I might catch a cold…”
she stammered, clearly frightened.However, Elspeth only raised an eyebrow with an expression full of doubt.
“What, didn’t you just say that you’d do whatever I say? Why are you unwilling to do something as simple as jumping into a lake now?”At her words, the girl immediately wailed noisily, nearly falling to her knees in desperation as she pleaded,
“I’m sorry, Miss Lynwood! I won’t do it again! Please don’t make me jump into the lake!”Elspeth looked at the assistant who was whispering in Aiden’s ear earlier and noticed that he was avoiding her gaze. Hence, she asked with a smile,
“Mr. Assistant, is there anyone else who would suit this character?”The assistant had been bribed by the girl and was about to decline, but after meeting Elspeth’s sharp gaze, he hurriedly nodded in fright.”Yes, yes, of course there is.”After saying that, he pulled someone out from the crowd of actors. The girl was young with red lips and a seductive face, making her perfect for the role of an antagonistic woman.”Haven’t we got someone here? She looks better than this crooked- faced girl.”Elspeth glanced at the trembling girl nearby and said indifferently,
“Miss, please leave the filming set right now.”With one sentence, she easily ended the girl’s fate.A look of hatred flashed past the girl’s eyes. After shooting a fierce look at Elspeth, she left in a huff.Upon seeing how tactful Elspeth was to take care of such a huge problem on his behalf, Aiden suddenly felt glad that they were working with Luminous Entertainment.The filming proceeded as usual, and as everyone knew that the investor was here to supervise the work, there were no more disturbances. Soon, it was noon, and Yelena came to look for Elspeth after changing out of her costume. They had been given a two-hour break, so she decided to take Elspeth for a stroll.”Since it’s your first time working at a place like this, I’ll take you out for a spin. Actually, if we ignore the filming, this place really isn’t bad at all.”Elspeth knew that this place was specially built for the purpose of filming, but she did not understand it. However, once she went out, she was met with an antique building across the street. It was a rather… unique sight.Upon seeing her interest, Yelena took her straight inside. In the building, a historical drama was in the works, and both the male and female leads were dressed beautifully. Yelena had not been aware, but when she saw the people who were currently drinking water inside, her face immediately darkened.”Let’s go somewhere else! I don’t think we should stay here!”Elspeth felt dubious after seeing her expression change instantly, but she instantly understood after taking a look at the people inside. It really was a small world-they had bumped into Emma.”Why not? She’s not the one who bought this piece of land, so why can’t we stay here and have a look?”As long as she didn’t affect Emma’s filming, Elspeth thought it wouldn’t be a problem even if she took a nap in the building. Yelena pouted.
“It’s mostly because I keep recalling what she said last night whenever I see her. What’s she boasting about? She’s not even his official girlfriend, so what is she being so proud of?”Yelena had always had a fiery temper, but she normally did not have any nemeses and would not reveal this side of her often. However, now she was venting all of her boiling temper on Emma, and her tongue was as sharp as it could be.”It’s fine. You know what, I’m kind of curious about how good her acting skills are. Let’s go in and take a look.”Yelena nodded reluctantly, and the two waltzed in.Emma noticed Elspeth at first glance, but because she was still in the midst of filming, she could not spare Elspeth any chatter and could only put her all into her acting, intending to show her skills off to Elspeth.Seeing that, Elspeth chortled.
“Yelena, what do you think about Emma’s acting skills?”As Yelena was still young, her acting skills were naturally not as good as Emma, who had close to five years of acting experience. She merely said,
“Not bad, I suppose.”In other words, she meant that Emma was extremely good.Elspeth took a look before shaking her head.
“If you ask me, I think her acting skills are just average at best. It’s mostly her looks; it helps cover up most of her flaws.”Elspeth had never taken part in acting before, but she had her own understanding of it, which greatly shocked Yelena.”Oh, uh…””Also, look at her posture earlier. It’s clear that she put too much power into it. And she can’t keep up her bearing either.”While
Emma was having her break, she could hear everything that was being discussed around her.Immediately, she spat angrily,
“Does Elspeth know what she’s talking about? She hasn’t even acted before and she’s talking about how bad my acting skills are?”Next to her, her manager joined in on her barrage and said,
“She’s just an outsider who knows nothing about acting. Just take her as someone who’s arrogant and spewing nonsense.”However, Emma did not want to leave things as they were. She instantly rose to her feet and walked toward Elspeth.”Elspeth, I heard you said that I’m bad at acting.”Not expecting her to find out about her short critic from earlier, Elspeth burst into laughter.
“I didn’t say you were bad. I just meant that you needed more practice.””What do you know about acting? Have you acted before? Have you attended an acting academy? You don’t know a thing about acting, yet you’re here picking at my acting skills. Elspeth, you’re just jealous that I’m more outstanding than you!”However, to Elspeth, her words meant that she had hit her weak spot.She spread her arms and admitted,
“Indeed. Those things that you just mentioned, I have none of them.”Hearing that, Emma scoffed coldly.
“I know, so hurry up and apologize to me, or I won’t let you go.”How arrogant and presumptuous… Did Callum really fall for someone like her in the past?Elspeth sneered inwardly. She lifted her head to look at Emma and commented in a calm voice,
“When I said your postures were too powerful, I wasn’t fooling around.”Emma’s eyes grew wide.
“What postures?””When you looked affectionately into the male lead’s eyes earlier, you could’ve slightly lowered your head to better express your coyness, and it suits the reserved personalities of women from ancient times more as well. However, you just stared at him boldly, so much so that he even forgot his lines.”As she spoke, Elspeth felt like bursting into laughter.”Real acting is capable of bringing your audience into your shoes so that it would be more complementary and genuine. Pray tell, Miss Walker, have you achieved that?”
Naturally, Emma refused to admit that she was bad at acting and said,
“You’re just all talk. Come and do it yourself if you can!”
Soon, the director was notified of this matter. Unwilling to admit that the actress he handpicked was incompetent, he said with a cold expression,
“Since you know so much, Miss Lynwood, why don’t you give us all a demonstration and let us have a look?”Elspeth had never acted, and it was impressive enough for her to have some insight. However, making her act was a deliberate attempt to embarrass her.Emma was certain that Elspeth couldn’t act as well, and she lifted her chin with a gleeful expression. Let’s see how she’ll turn the tables this time!Yelena knew that Elspeth had no experience in acting and immediately stood in front of her.
“You’re just being a bully now. Elspeth is an outsider. How would she know how to act?”The director’s expression soured as he said,
“I thought Miss Lynwood was here to start trouble by the way she talks, but I didn’t think she was just a cowardly chicken.”Elspeth let out a small laugh.
“I’m mostly afraid that the male lead wouldn’t be able to keep up.””The male lead is an award-winning actor whom I personally handpicked. The one who wouldn’t be able to keep up is you, isn’t it?”
the director refuted, thinking that Elspeth was being too full of herself.”All right, then. Let’s give it a go.”Immediately, the director got to work and brought over a costume for Elspeth to put on.However, she shook her head.
“I don’t need a costume.””Without a costume, the male lead won’t be able to get into his role. I was just giving you a chance by giving you a costume, but you don’t even know what’s good for you.”Feeling as if his good intentions had been looked down upon, the director grew upset.Upon hearing the dispute between the two, the male lead walked over and looked at Elspeth with a gentle smile. The girl in front of him emitted an air of confidence, and it was much more reassuring than Emma’s pomposity. In fact, he was rather looking forward to Elspeth’s performance.”Hello. I’m the male lead of this drama, Atlas White.”Elspeth recognized him; he was an up-and-coming award-winning actor who was on par with Blake.”Let’s start, then.”
She reached out and took the script, flipping a page before she decided on a scene.”Let’s do this part where the soldier is about to leave on a mission, and the female lead bids him farewell.”Emma chortled.
“Of course, you’re so confident. You chose the easiest part.”Elspeth smiled without replying.
Instead, she walked toward Atlas and asked with a soft voice,
“Can we start now?”Although they were the same person, Atlas had a feeling that she had already entered her role at the moment, and even her voice was filled with the meekness of a girl from the ancient past. With that in mind, he nodded in agreement.Elspeth stared at him, her face filled with expectation as she asked,
“Cassius, when will you return?”Atlas furrowed his brow and lowered his head, his thoughts unreadable as he explained,
“Deidre, you know that a soldier must protect his country…””Deidre knows that the country is more important to you than Deidre is, but Deidre can’t bear to let you go.”As she spoke, tears began to roll down Elspeth’s face, wetting her shirt. Her tears coupled with her beauty made her a pitiful sight to behold.Atlas immediately panicked. Upon seeing her tears, he felt his heart ache.
“Apologies, Deidre. I…”Before he could finish, a thin hand sealed his lips.”Please don’t forget about Deidre.”At that, Elspeth dropped into a bow with red eyes.”Deidre asks for nothing except three things. One, for you to have a long life; two, for your name to spread across lands; and three, that Cassius won’t forget about Deidre, that we will one day meet again.”
These words and Elspeth’s tear-ridden face made Atlas step forward and wrap his arms around her waist immediately.
“I won’t leave anymore. I’ll stay, even if I have to give up my name!”Elspeth slowly pushed him away, her expression returning to normal and even carrying a hint of a smile as she said,
“Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. White.”The sight was a feast for the eyes, and none of them was able to extract themselves from the farewell they had just witnessed.”Cut!”
The director was the first to return to his senses and called for a halt.As if awakening from a long slumber, Atlas realized what he had just said and done, and he immediately flushed red.”Atlas, what’s wrong with you? Your lines were supposed to be ‘I understand. Await my return, and I shall make you my wife then.’ What the heck did you say just now?”
The director was unhappy with Atlas’ mistake and frowned.”I’m sorry, director. Miss Lynwood’s acting was so good that I couldn’t hold myself back.”
Knowing that his skills were not a match for hers, Atlas rubbed the back of his head embarrassedly.”Please don’t say that. You’re great at acting too, Mr. White.”However, her intention was not to exchange praises with Atlas. She looked at Emma behind her, whose eyes were wide with disbelief.How could it be? How could Elspeth be so good at acting? She refused to believe it!Clearly seeing Emma’s doubts, Elspeth smiled and said,
“Although I have not undergone any professional training, I know how to express my feelings with my actions. Once you’ve mastered the true essence of acting, as long as you can memorize the script and aren’t afraid of the stage, it’s impossible not to act well.”At her speech, Emma was at a loss for words. As a trained professional, being criticized by a mere layman made her head heavy with shame.Upon seeing Emma’s defiant look, Elspeth smiled and said,
“By the way, I’m not completely clueless to professional knowledge. When I was living abroad, I met someone called Payton Schwartz, who took me in as his apprentice and taught me much of what I know.”Elspeth had not wanted to learn acting either. And to be honest, she was not interested in acting at all. However, Payton was Sonny’s brother, and when he saw that she was studying medicine, he was unhappy with her for being biased and insisted that she learned to act, so she was forced to learn a lot about acting.Payton Schwartz?Hearing that, the director perked up and abandoned the furious Emma to ask,
“Are you talking about the acting professor from Konig University, Payton Schwartz?”Payton only accepted five students a year, and those who were able to receive his guidance were mostly outstanding actors or at least movie stars. Payton had only one apprentice in his life, who was so well protected that no one knew who that lucky person was. He had never thought that it would be the girl in front of him.Immediately thinking that he had greatly misjudged her, the director asked with a flattering grin,
“Miss Lynwood, are you interested in this show? I’ll give you the role of the second female lead. What do you think?”Elspeth shook her head pridefully.
“I don’t want it.””Then… The female lead! I’ll let you be the female lead!”The director couldn’t resist inviting Elspeth into the cast. After all, if she agreed to take part, they wouldn’t have to do much to promote the show. All they had to do was say that Elspeth was Payton’s apprentice, and thousands of people would be there to watch the show. This was the greatest benefit to him.Instantly, Emma grew upset. Looking at the director’s shameless attitude, she said angrily,
“Director, I’m the chosen female lead right now. How could you simply give up the role to someone else? If you insist on doing this, I’ll tell Callum to withdraw his funds!”The director looked troubled, all of a sudden at a loss for what to do.
Elspeth let out a light laugh.
“That’s enough. I don’t act, and I won’t join the entertainment circle either.”
After politely refusing the director, she looked at Emma and blinked.
“So, Miss Walker, do you understand what I’ve just said?”All at once, Emma felt like a replacement. Why could she only get what Elspeth didn’t want? At that thought, she was even more infuriated and instantly took her costume off, wailing that she would leave the filming site.”My goodness, please don’t leave. I was out of my mind earlier, but you’re the female lead, how could I give that to someone else?”The director was a guileful man. Knowing that he was unable to convince Elspeth, he hurriedly rushed over to hold Emma back.Callum had invested three hundred million in this drama and was their largest benefactor; he was so focused on inviting Elspeth that he nearly forgot about this fact.”Didn’t you like Elspeth more? Go to her, then. I won’t take part anymore. We’ll withdraw the funds!”Boiling with anger, Emma took out her phone, her voice full of sobs as she said,
“Callum, someone is picking on me onsite. Can you come over?”With that, she hung up, looking all smug and prideful.”Just wait and see. Callum will be coming over in a while, and you can be arrogant all you want when he immediately withdraws his funds then!”Elspeth waited quietly without saying a word. Knowing Callum was about to come here, she felt mixed emotions emerging in her heart. Her chest grew tight and heavy.As expected, Callum soon reached the scene. His eyes swept through the crowd, and to his surprise, he spotted Elspeth and Yelena amongst them.Upon seeing him, Emma immediately rushed forward with a coy expression.