Ch. 2016..2020

Chapter 2016

Isabella let them go on for a while before revealing, "| wasn't the one who bought it. A friend of mine gifted it to me." "How very generous! Who is this friend?" "That's more than generous. That's a whole statement by itself!” "Isabella, are you sure this friend of yours is just a friend?”

They all cast playful looks at her while speculating about the identity of this friend.

Isabella smiled, satisfied with the attention she was drawing from them. She said nonchalantly, "We're just regular friends right now. It's not what you girls are thinking.”

Her friends exchanged looks with one another, concealing a deep glow of envy and faint hatred underneath their eyes. What kind of common friend would gift such an expensive gift?

They were sure that Isabella had managed to land a wealthy benefactor, and it did seem like she was very fond of this secret benefactor of hers.

"Isabella, I'm so jealous." "Me too, | hope | can find someone as benevolent as this friend of yours one day." "Oh, don’t say that. I'm sure you'll find someone for you one day,” she said with a self-indulgent air.

In this circle, there was nothing more satisfying than knowing that you had things better than others and that you were the subject of their envy.

That was when she spotted Isabel from the corner of her eye.

The first thing she spotted was Isabel's curly hair that fluttered like wings with every step she took. She wore a bright red dress that strapped itself nicely around her figure. Its design was immaculate and perfectly complimented her build while highlighting her fair and beautiful skin. Coupled with her blessed features, she looked like a princess who had stepped out of a fairy tale, thus it was impossible to not notice someone radiating such a fine aura around her.

She immediately drew the attention of countless photographers from countless media outlets, and lights flashed all around her as pictures were taken left and right.

Isabella's eyes darkened instantly. Even the jewel on the necklace she wore around her neck seemed to dim for an instant.

When Isabel passed her, she still made a point of greeting her with a polite, friendly smile. She acted as if they were close friends.

This was not surprising considering how she had always made a point of being friendly with Isabel in public. It was to a point where some media outlets speculated that the two were close friends behind the cameras and flashing lights.

Now that they had media attention on them, Isabella made sure to keep up the charade.

In the past, Isabel may have played along, but circumstances had changed now since Isabella breached the unspoken contract of neutrality with her actions. The last thing she wanted was to keep up appearances with Isabella.

She walked right past Isabella without acknowledging her at all.

The atmosphere suddenly grew awkward.

The media reporters and photographers were just as flabbergasted by what they were seeing.

The few emerging actors who were with Isabella were floored by this as well.

Everyone was aware of what happened between Isabel and Isabella a few days ago and that things might be tense between them. Still, it was jawdropping to see that Isabel would not even bother to greet Isabella for the cameras.

How very bold!

The smile on Isabella’s face was wiped away instantly, transforming into an ugly scowl.

The photographers were experts and immediately snapped a picture of her reaction. They were ecstatic to have captured her reaction which would surely garner plenty of traffic to their sites.

This was all the fuel the netizens needed to kick off yet another storm of debate. The reporters were already composing their next viral headlines.

The gala was primarily an award show dedicated to some of the most successful TV shows and actors of the recent period.

Although the awards themselves were not prestigious in terms of overall career development, it was still going to provide a respectable boost to the reputation of whoever took home the awards.

The venue was filled with allocated seats with the names of the celebrities and actors written on them. When Isabel entered, the ushers escorted her to her seat in the front row.

The center section of the front row was reserved for some of the most prestigious and senior members of the entertainment industry. Isabel was assigned to a seat slightly left of the center.

 

Chapter 2017

Chapter 2017 "Hey, Isabel!" She had only just sat down when she heard someone calling her name.

She turned around and saw her friends in the entertainment circle, Triss and Ramona, seated behind her. They were fellow actors, and she had known them since the very first film she was part of four years ago.

They were adapting a certain web novel that was hardly known to the public at all to the big screen. Due to the lack of funding, the crew almost had to call off the project halfway through the filming when Isabel secretly had someone else fund the film to not expose herself. The project ended up being a success after that.

It was a drama with a cast of female leads, which turned out to be her, Triss, and Ramona playing the protagonists. The reception of the film turned out to be great, partly attributed to the remarkable plot, and it took off in the mainstream in no time.

It simultaneously helped her, Triss, and Ramona propel their careers.

Triss and Ramona had started their acting careers earlier than her. Triss was the one who got started earliest, but due to her rejecting the advances of a certain investor, her career never managed to take off. She owed her current fame to the film they shot together back then.

As for Ramona, she was the daughter of a famous director. Her favorable background aside, she was a very gifted actor and had always been favorably rated by moviegoers and casual fans.

Isabel got along very well with them. They helped each other out a few times in the past and had built a good rapport, so their friendship continued even till this stage of their career.

Triss wore her head in a low ponytail and wore a dress that made her look cool and mysterious. As for Ramona, she opted for a bright pink skirt and went for the adorable lolita look instead.

Isabel smiled brightly when she saw them. "When did you two get here?’

Ramona told her, "We got here roughly ten minutes before you. We saw you taking pictures with your fans back there." Triss added, "We didn’t want to disturb you, so we came in first."

Isabel smiled and did not seem like she had much to say.

Triss was very prideful and held herself to a high standard. Chances were that the reason she chose to not approach Isabel on the red carpet was that she did not want people to accuse her of suckering up to Isabel who was one of the most popular actresses of the day.

“By the way, Isabel, we ran into Isabella just now when we got here. Did you see her?" Ramona asked cautiously. Triss did not make any further remarks, but there was a gleam of curiosity in her eyes.

Isabel said bluntly, "Yeah, | did." "And then? Did you say anything to her?" Ramona was curious about how their interaction had gone down, especially considering what she knew of Isabel's temper.

Isabel told them, ’I didn’t say anything to her and just ignored her. | came in right after that.”

Ramona and Triss were stunned in silence for a moment.

Triss blurted out, "You ignored her with the reporters watching?" ’Yeah." "Did she talk to you?” Ramona asked. Isabel thought about it. "I think she said something to me."

The two were too stunned to know what to say. Then, they promptly reached for the phones to check their feed.

It did not take long before they looked up at Isabel.

Triss told her, ‘Isabel, you two are trending again." Ramona added, "Right on the top of the trending charts, everyone is talking about how you ignored Isabella.”

Triss continued to scroll through her phone for a moment before stating, "It looks like it's only Isabella's fans who are upset about that." "Really? Let me see." Ramona looked at her phone.

It seemed like they had successfully piqued Isabel's interest as well.

Nobody else was trying to pile in on her? Now that was a surprise.

She reached for her phone and took a look for herself.

Sure enough, the only ones upset at her were Isabella's fans.

The neutrals mostly commented on how cool she was and expressed how they admired her bold and unyielding attitude.

As for her fans, they were out in full force posting the group pictures she had taken with them just now and remarking how nice she was to everyone, how kind and caring she was. They must have been worried about the blowback from her ignoring Isabella.

Most of the neutrals were relatively rational and interpreted this as Isabel not wanting to engage in Isabella, that it did not mean anything beyond that. However, there were still some who tried to stir up some drama, but they were quickly heckled off before they could cause any damage.

 

Chapter 2018

Isabel was quite pleased with this. Not only did she not have to face ridicule, but people were even largely complimentary of her. She briefly went through the comments before swiping off to her messaging app to text Carla.

She asked, "How much did you spend on buying food for those girls just now?"

Carla sent her a receipt. She had bought plenty of food and coffee for the fans just now which totaled up to a humble sum of several thousand dollars.

Isabel promptly transferred over ten thousand dollars to Carla's account. Carla told her, "Isabel, that's too much."

Isabel was very gracious. "Keep the rest for yourself. You've earned it." Carla replied joyously, ‘Thank you so much!"

Isabel smiled and put away her phone.

Carla had been with her since she started her acting career, and she was a very attentive and loyal assistant. In addition to helping her with her day-to- day affairs, she would also help liaise with her fans. She more than deserved the bonus.

"Isabel, you have to teach me your secret. Why isn't anyone trying to slander you?" Ramona said with a tint of envy. Triss remarked with a smile, That's the best outcome possible." Isabel commented, "Netizens these days are very reasonable."

Ramona expressed with a sigh, "They may be reasonable, but you haven't seen how quickly the situation can spiral out of control if several bad seeds stir up the pot. This one time, | forgot to give a certain shareholder a toast during a party, and the very same night, people kicked up a hate campaign that made all the other neutral netizens buy into it and band up against me. | was lucky that my dad dealt with the situation for me.”

She suddenly realized that Triss was with them and quickly dropped the subject. "Never mind. No use wallowing about the past."

Isabel was also aware that Triss had a particularly awful experience in the past when people slandered her online which left a permanent mark on her reputation for quite a while. She merely grunted and dropped the subject as well.

Meanwhile, Isabella had also sat down on the other edge of the front row with several people separating her and Isabel. Even from a distance, she was casting a vicious glare at Isabel, her eyes filled with spite.

There was only a handful of people badmouthing Isabel online, but there was a whole flock of them laughing at Isabella's expense!

She was accused of being fake and of being an ass-kisser!

These ridiculous comments stewed in Isabella's mind. She was furious and wanted nothing more than to march up to Isabel and slap her in the face!

She was Isabel's senior, and Isabel only managed to upstage her by luck. How dare she refuse to acknowledge her in public? What gave her that right, what gave her the arrogance?

Isabel needed to be taught a lesson in humility! She refused to stomach this any longer. She would not have it!

Shortly after that, most of the guests arrived and the event officially commenced.

After the host made an opening speech, they went right to the award ceremony.

Several categories of awards were handed out and soon, they had arrived at the final and most anticipated category of the night.

The title of the category was the Popularity Award. In other words, the heralded award went to the most popular male and female actor of the year.

The male actors nominated for the award included a certain actor that Isabel had worked with in a very famous and successful TV show. There were two other nominees who both had swarms of die-hard fans rooting for them. Isabel was nominated for the female category of the award along with two other older actresses and Isabella.

The results were announced by the award presenters without any delay. The winner of the male category was the same actor who had worked with in the past while the winner of the female category was none other than Isabel Ross.

Isabel stepped onto the stage with the winning male actor, and they accepted the award together to the thunderous applause of the gala. They each delivered a short and sweet acceptance speech before walking off the stage with their trophy.

When she walked past Isabella, she was met with a venomous glare in Isabella’s eyes. It looked like she was going to spit poison out of her tongue at any second.

She merely cocked an eyebrow in response before heading back to her seat. The awards ceremony had come to a close, and the live broadcast ended as well.

For the next sequence of the night, the media were not invited and were kindly asked to leave. Meanwhile, the rest of the attendees of the gala prepared for the banquet of the night.

The banquet was held in an adjacent section. Isabel, Triss, and Ramona followed everyone else to the adjacent hall. Shortly after entering, Isabel spotted Decker.

He was wearing a handsome suit and held a glass of wine in hand. He was surrounded by several important-looking men who seemed to hold high positions.

Chapter 2019

The high-level executives were not the only ones there. Several recognizable figures in the entertainment circle were eagerly waiting to talk to Roland as well.

Showered with lights from every direction, he carried himself with fine dignity like royalty. His young and handsome looks attracted the attention of countless passersby, especially the young and beautiful actresses.

Isabella was one of these young actresses drawn by Decker's looks. She affectionately took his arms into hers and greeted him with a smile.

Decker cast a quick smile at her before continuing his conversation with the others.

Everyone was shocked.

Isabel could hear someone in earshot exclaiming, "Oh my God, when did Isabella start seeing President Rockwell?" “Are you talking about that handsome man Isabella is with? President Rockwell? That name sounds vaguely familiar." "The Rockwells from Southboro."

"My God, so it is him! He’s so young and handsome. How did Isabella pull this off?"

"Heh, this explains how she managed to take the female lead and guest star spots from Isabel back then. Decker was her connection the entire time.”

"In that case, how did Isabel manage to get them back? Does she have someone even more powerful backing her?" "Who knows?"

Isabel turned around to look at the group gossiping about these affairs.

They seemed to have noticed her staring and quickly scuttled away.

She could not be bothered. She took Triss and Ramona with her and chose a seat slightly farther away from Decker.

"Isabel, Decker looks very influential. Do you think Isabella will use his help to make things difficult for you?" Ramona lowered her to a whisper and asked worriedly.

Triss seemed concemed as well. Isabel remarked with a brisk smile, "She already did that last week." Ramona and Triss stiffened for a moment before catching on to her meaning.

Isabel was confirming their suspicions that Isabella had taken advantage of her connection with Decker to seize the female lead and guest star role from her. But so what? It still ended with Isabel reclaiming what was rightfully hers.

This showed that even someone like Decker could not lay his hands on just about anything he wanted. Triss and Ramona wondered if it was Amanda, Isabel’s famous manager who helped her take back the roles. It was either that, or there was someone more powerful helping her behind the scenes.

Isabel assumed she had managed to avoid having to confront Decker, but she bumped into him again as soon as she walked out of the washroom.

He seemed to be waiting for her. He was the only one in the empty corridor, and he leaned gracefully against the wall with a cocky grin.

Isabel saw him the moment she stepped out of the washroom. Her expression stiffened immediately, and she proceeded to walk past him.

“Isabel,” Decker called after her softly.

For a brief instant, Isabel felt like she was transported to that period more than five years ago now when they were still head over heels in love.

It was only a passing instant, and she was quickly snapped back to the present.

She ignored him and continued walking.

"Isabel, how did you get connected to Carter Corporation?" he asked with a sharp connotation in his voice.

Isabel stopped as this grabbed her attention.

Carter Corporation?

She speculated that Decker must have contacted the showrunners of "Legend of the Goddess" and "The Wonder" after everything that had gone down to find out more details. They must have told him about being contacted by Carter Corporation, initiated by Roland, and how they were told to concede the roles back to her.

This must be how Decker figured out that she had connections to Carter Corporation. She sneered, "Decker, do you think | need anybody's help just to deal with you?" Decker grinned like a fox. He pressed two steps closer toward Isabel, "How did you pull it off then? What, all by yourself?"

It was not hard to see the mockery in his smile.

Chapter 2020

Chapter 2020 "Yes. | have what it takes to get the Carter Corporation on my side," Isabel declared with steel in her voice.

"Heh." Decker chuckled dismissively before interrogating her, "What exactly is it that you have that Carter Corporation would be willing to help you?"

He sized her up a few times upon raising this question. Isabel squinted. "Keep staring at me like that and I'll poke your eyes out. Want to try me?" Her voice was ferocious.

Deckers seemed to be taken aback by her vicious demeanor. He collected himself and formed that same smile again. "Would you mind telling me who your inside connection in Carter Corporation is?"

"No." Isabel shot him down, "But what | can tell you is that the nature of my relationship with Carter Corporation is perfectly legitimate. We are equals unlike what's going on between you and Isabella."

Amere actor would prop herself on equal footing with Carter Corporation, one of the most prestigious corporations in Westchester? Who would believe that?

Decker scoffed and changed his approach this time. "Sure, so who is your boyfriend in Carter Corporation?" Isabel made a face before expressing disappointedly,"

Decker, how old are you? Is this the only thing you have on your mind. Is that the only kind of relationship you can ever comprehend?"

Decker smiled slyly. "So, you're saying that this person in Carter Corporation helping you is just a friend?"

"Yes, we are just friends. Plain and simple,” Isabel said bluntly.

"| see. How did you become plain and simple friends with this person?" Decker asked while inching closer toward her. Isabel cocked an eyebrow. "I'm not telling you."

Decker peered at her quietly.

Isabel was done fussing about this with her, and she turned to leave.

"So, you don't have a boyfriend right now?" Decker asked stoutly.

She ignored him and continued pressing forward. Her strides were quick and steady, and she held herself with a prideful attitude, unafraid of the man behind her.

Decker broke into a jog so that he could cut off her path. He stared defiantly into her eyes and asked, "Isabel, have you not dated anybody else since you left me five years ago?"

“What business of yours is it whether | have a boyfriend or not?" she asked irritably. Decker displayed a satisfied grin and expressed, "You still can't forget about me, can you?" Isabel was silent.

On that night five years ago when Decker had slapped her mercilessly across her face, she had felt completely crushed. There must have been something about the overwhelmed state of mind at the time that somehow awoken all of her slumbering memories. It was shortly after that when she packed up everything and left Southboro to return to Westchester.

Her heart continued to ache for a while after that, but more than anything else she was consumed with the desire to storm back to Southboro and give Decker a beating for what he had done to her. Still, she acknowledged that their relationship was over. She sorted out her thoughts and decided to find something to do for

herself to keep herself occupied.

That was when she decided to enter the entertainment industry and plunged herself into a hectic but also fulfilling lifestyle to the point where she could not find time for dating, much less seeing other people.

After a prolonged silence, she asked, "Decker, have you used the washroom yet?"

Decker was caught off guard by this. "No, what's the matter?"

"Why don't you use the washroom now?" Isabel said while rolling her eyes, "Good time to look at yourself in the mirror as well.” Decker regarded her silently.

Upon noticing his reluctance to respond, Isabel lapped around him and continued walking back into the venue.

She only managed a few steps when his voice came from behind again, "Isabel, if you come back to me, | promise that | can give you everything you'll ever need. | just cannot give you a public label as my girlfriend just yet. However, | swear that our children will be the first successor in line to the Rockwell assets."

Isabel stopped. What the man said was utterly ridiculous, and she could not laugh even if she tried.

She looked back at him. "Decker, are you hoping that our hypothetical kid turns out like you in the future?"