Chapter 217: Cute.
Meanwhile...
Melissa sat in Manager Kang’s office, her legs crossed. She was just staring at Manager Kang, seated in the other seat, watching him smirk every once in a while.
"Haha! Just look at how angry the people are," he laughed, turning to Melissa. "Melissa, you are a genius. If not for you, I wouldn’t have thought of this."
"Manager Kang, you’re very humble. I’m just learning from you," she mused. "You’ve started a lot of scandals and leaked information in the past to get people out of your way."
Manager Kang laughed out loud while she chuckled.
"So? How is Simon doing?" she asked, changing the topic. "Is he still sulking?"
"Don’t mind him too much. He had taken that loss in the role to heart because he expected to get it." He shrugged. "But once he hears the good news, I’m sure he’ll come around."
"Don’t wait for him to hear the news, Manager Kang. Tell him he’d get it soon," Melissa uttered with certainty. "We need Simon to practice his lines because I’m sure the production will soon reach out to us."
"But Melissa, Simon is already disappointed because we already celebrated before we even heard the result," Manager Kang felt hesitant. "If we make that mistake again—"
"How do you think Cedrick will flip this situation?" She cut him off. "Even if Cedrick is picked up by a newbie manager, I don’t think they could even flip this situation to their favor. The entire Novera hates him from his previous scandal you created yourself, Manager Kang."
She shrugged. "Besides, if you leaked Simon’s audition clip and a few others who auditioned for the role, it’ll be clear to everyone that Cedrick did some underhanded means again, right?"
"..." Manager Kang pressed his lips together, more hesitant now. "Melissa—"
"Manager Kang, I know this sounds a little too excessive for you, but it’s our roles on the line," she stressed. "Simon needed this project, and I need this project as well. But he is the priority right now since we need him to get his role first."
Manager Kang thought about it deeply. Messing with Cedrick was not a problem for him because Manager Kang knew no one would protect that man. Even though an agency took him in, they would be no match for them.
But if he kept messing with a few more actors, the production would surely notice that there was someone who was purposely doing this. It scared him, of course, knowing the director was merciless on those who messed with his projects.
"Fine..." in the end, Manager Kang nodded. "I’ll do my best."
"You should, Manager Kang," Melissa nodded at him with a polite smile. "Otherwise, you will be in trouble if someone else finds out about it."
"Me?"
"Mhm." Melissa blinked innocently. "You are our manager, aren’t you?"
This woman surely is getting bolder! Is she going to throw me under the bus if things go south?
Manager Kang secretly clenched his teeth, grasping what Melissa was doing. Surely, Melissa was cunning, and people just didn’t know it. What she said just now was that only Manager Kang would suffer if anyone found out he had anything to do with this and the following plans Melissa had concocted.
Is this why she asked me to do all of this? Tch. Fine, never mind. It’s not like this is the first time I’m doing this. And... heh.
With that thought in mind, Manager Kang cleared his throat and nodded at her. "I’ll leak the audition clips later," he said.
"Once people see his audition clip, they will be even more riled up," she rocked her head. "I’ve seen the clip, and I’m really shocked by how good he is."
"Melissa, he’s Simon. Why did you even choose him if he isn’t good?"
She arched a brow and glanced at him, keeping her answer to herself. After a while, Manager Kang’s brows snapped up.
"By the way, Melissa, what about Pixy and Megan?" the manager asked out of pure curiosity. "Aren’t we going to tell them about the good news?"
"What good news?" she tilted her head to the side. "Never heard of one. Is there?"
Studying the look of innocence on her face, Manager Kang quickly grasped what she meant by this. He shook his head.
"Of course," he laughed. "Nothing. No good news for them."
A look of satisfaction quickly turned up on Melissa’s face, making Manager Kang secretly roll his eyes.
Even though I don’t like those whiny girls, Melissa actually scares me. I’m sure if she got the role, she would be trying to console Megan and Pixy while telling them she would find a way to help them get parts.
Just like how Melissa took credit for giving Megan and Pixy’s audition slots when the production was the one who sent an invitation for those two. Even though the invitation was just for minor roles, it was still an invitation. Yet, Melissa took credit for it so shamelessly, and somehow, those two fools believed her.
It wasn’t that Melissa and Manager Kang were different. They were both greedy and would do anything to get their goal, even if it meant trampling on others. Their difference was that Manager Kang acknowledged that he was abusing his power.
Melissa? She would present herself as an angel, but underneath all of that, she was... evil. Worse than him. And at some point, he couldn’t help but wonder just what else was Melissa capable of.
"I’ll send the audition clip to someone I trust," Manager Kang sported a smile at her, not wanting to dwell on his growing fears of her. "I’m sure it’ll work, Melissa."
As promised, that night, clips of Simon and a few actors who had auditioned for Ryker’s role were leaked. And as expected, Simon’s audition role went viral.
****
[Penthouse]
It was already deep in the night, but Lola was still awake. Seated on the couch in the living room, she scrolled through her tablet when she caught a new article. The corners of her mouth curled up into a smirk, seeing a few leaked audition clips of a few actors, including Simon.
[My god, my baby Simon! He’s so good!]
[I just had goosebumps watching Simon’s audition clip.]
[Wow, I’m actually speechless.]
[Why did no one tell me this is a two-hour-long audition clip?] said another commenter on the two-minute video.
Lola scrolled through the comments as the post quickly became viral, only a few hours after it was released. Yet, Lola was happy. She happily turned the tablet and faced Atlas, who was quietly reading something beside her.
"See?" she grinned. "Told you they’re going to do this!"
Atlas fluttered his eyelashes and read the article before he turned to her. The second their eyes met, she giggled mischievously.
"Told you not to worry about me," she winked at him. "I’m good."
Without a word, he raised his hand just to pat her head. But his hand hadn’t landed on top of her head when she suddenly disappeared from his side.
"Good night, Atlas~!" she yelled, already jogging up the stairs as if she were a bolt of lightning. "See ya tomorrow~!"
He watched her go, closing his fist and resting it on his lap. A subtle smile turned up on his face, watching her figure on the mezzanine until she was out of sight.
"She stayed up just to show me that," he muttered with a light chuckle. "Cute."