Jean was looking at Julia and smiled as she spoke. "I need to apologize to everyone here about my
relationship with Terence."
She gave a bow as she continued, "Terence and I are just friends. He helped me choose a birthday gift
for Director Guo.
The last thing I wanted was to cause this misunderstanding. So I would like to say that I am genuinely
sorry. Please focus on the movie and not my personal life."
But despite her denial, her ambiguous attitude towards the relationship aroused the curiosity of the
media more.
Jean was in the hot seat. They bombarded her with questions, but she was ready with her answers.
This went on for a while until she was finally able to get rid of them.
The new movie offered a good distraction as they turned their attention toward Director Guo. As Jean
stepped off the stage, Julia approached her.
"Jean, what’s going on?" Julia looked angry. "Director Guo said you recommended me to him. What
does this mean?"
Jean chuckled. "Director Guo promised that he wouldn't tell you. Alas! He broke his promise."
"Spare me the hypocrisy!" Julia cut her off. "What the hell do you want, Jean?"
Jean smiled. "Yes, it was me. I recommended you to Director Guo. Why? Is something wrong?" she
asked Julia.
"Why don’t you just tell me what the hell you want?" Julia didn’t believe that Jean would be kind enough
to get her the gig.
Jean began to lose patience. "Look, I knew it would mean a lot for you to get an opportunity like this.
And you’re my sister, so I recommended you for the part. Besides, I owe you one.
I know things are tough for you right now, and I’m just trying to help. I mean you’re single now, and I
just can’t bear to see you struggle on your own like this."
Jean was smiling but her words felt like a knife in Julia’s heart.
"You’re the reason I am in this position," Julia muttered coldly
"Don’t be ridiculous," Jean retorted. "You can’t blame your failed marriage on me." Jean let out a
reproachful laugh. "It’s your fault that you lost Terence. And it gave me a chance to get him. Things are
going well between us, and you should know that we plan to get married soon. I hope that you will give
us your blessing when the time comes. After all, you are my sister."
Jean’s smiled broadly. "You know that no one's blessing would mean more than yours."
"Just tell me what you want!" Julia hissed. Her face darkened.
"Stop worrying, Julia. I just want you to have a chance to act—no ulterior motives. Do you honestly
think I would go through all the trouble to set you up?" Jean said coldly.
She could sense that Julia was still hesitant. "Look, no one's forcing you," Jean said as she was getting
ready to leave. "You don’t have to accept it if you don’t want to."
Jean was looking at her watch now. "Terence is waiting for me, so I need to go. But there‘s still time
before the shooting. So take a moment and think about it."
Jean said goodbye to Director Guo and left. Julia felt like a loser. This was something she had always
wanted, and the opportunity was finally within reach. But it was given to her by the one person she
hated most. It made her feel sick to her stomach.
Consuela saw that Julia was going to confront Jean so she made a point to give them some space. But
she wanted to hear how their talk went. As soon as Jean left, she approached Julia. "So? What did she
say?"
Julia had a worried look on her face. She told Consuela about the encounter and what Jean had said.
"Consuela,
what do you think she’s going to do?" Julia asked worriedly. "I honestly don’t know,"
Consuela said, frowning. "But this can’t be good."
"Yeah, I know," Julia said despondently. "I know Jean could never be this thoughtful. But on the other
hand this is a great opportunity. So should I take it or not?"
"Don’t make any rash decisions," Consuela said in a calm voice. "You have an audition with Director
Zhang tomorrow. It’s also a female supporting role, and he is a lot more experienced than Director Guo.
If you nail the audition, you can consider both roles and choose whichever one is best for you."
Julia smiled. She had just remembered the audition with Director Zhang. "You’re right," she said.
"That’s what I’m going to do."
Julia woke up early the next morning, eager for the audition. She wore a loose-fitted outfit and pulled
her hair up into a high ponytail. She didn’t wear any make-up and looked like a fresh-faced college
student.
Julia had been an actress for a long time and was used to wearing heavy make-up, but she felt
comfortable and care-free without it.
Director Zhang was busy setting up the audition at the production house. Julia didn’t expect to see
Samuel there.
It looked like the other actresses auditioning were equally surprised, and it made for good gossip as
they waited. But Julia ignored them and focused on calming her nerves.
"Samuel? Why are you here?" It seemed that Director Zhang was also not expecting Samuel.
"Come on, you know I had to come." Holly smiled at the director. "Whoever gets chosen today is going
to star opposite me. So I have to know who the supporting actress will be."
"Oh! You naughty boy!" Director Zhang laughed.
After making small talk with the director, Samuel headed straight to Julia. "How’s it going? Nervous?"
he asked.
"A little," Julia said anxiously.
"Don’t be. I’m here for you." Samuel laid a comforting hand on Julia’s shoulder. "I’ll be watching you out
there later. If you’re nervous, you can watch me go first. Got it?"
"Yeah, I got it." Julia smiled and gently shoved Samuel. "You’re becoming more and more indecisive,
do you know that?"
He smiled. "I’ll go first."
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