Ch. 2076..2080
Chapter 2076
Ding!
Around evening, while Isabel was still snuggling peacefully in Roland's arms, she was rudely awakened by her phone ringing. She opened her eyes.
The phone was on Roland's side, so he swiftly passed it to her.
It was Amanda calling.
She promptly answered the call, "Hey, Amanda, what's the matter?"
Amanda said solemnly, “Isabel, there’s something | need to tell you."
"Go ahead.”
“After that surveillance footage surfaced online yesterday, Isabella's manager approached me, and she has been pretty much pestering me the entire day today as well. She asked if you will post a statement on your page to help Isabella. Essentially, she wants you to claim that everything that happened between you two was an inside joke and to ask everyone to stop harassing Isabella over it. She says that if you do this for Isabella, they will give us anything you want."
Isabel yawned lazily and slowly sat up. She leaned against Roland's shoulder and said disinterestedly, "No." She would never do anything that went against her moral code. Besides, before Roland managed to help her prove her innocence using that video, Isabella had gone at her relentlessly.
Besides, she was the one who started this entire thing, to begin with. If she had not gone and tampered with the dress, none of this would have happened at all.
To simply forgive Isabella for everything that had happened was an insult to herself. This was the code of ethics her father had lectured her on as a child.
Amanda hesitated briefly before stating, "Isabel, | think helping her out this one time will be a good boost to your public image. Besides, Isabella's team has a lot of good resources that we can use as leverage."
Isabel scowled. "What would people think if | suddenly spoke up for her now? Will they think that I'm so benevolent and gracious, or will they think that I'm being fake?"
Everyone knew what sort of person Isabel Ross was like. She was known for being very blunt, and some would also say that she was the type to hold a grudge.
Why would someone like her ever speak up for Isabella, especially after considering what happened?
Amanda processed this silently for several seconds before muttering, "True, but Isabella does have a lot of resources that we can use."
Isabel was set on her decision. "| don't care."
There were plenty of remarkable acting roles going around, and it was impossible for Isabella to hog all of them anyway. Besides, she had enough high-value roles as it was already, and it was important to learn to be content with what she had.
Amanda chuckled. "Fair enough. We won't help them then. They had it coming anyway." Isabel smiled and agreed, "Yeah."
After hanging up, she tossed the phone aside and looked at Roland, immediately meeting his clear and beautiful eyes. He had been looking at her the entire time during her conversation with Amanda, so he must have caught the gist of what they were talking about.
She lay on his chest and had the urge to tell him everything." Amanda said Isabella wants me to help her out and say something to salvage her reputation. They said that they would give me anything | wanted. Anyway, | said no." She looked at Roland with a fixed stare.
Roland listened to her without any trace of expression on his face. He hardly even blinked. He merely grunted a short’ hmm’ in response, and that was it.
Isabel suddenly asked, "Roland, do you think I'm being too harsh?"
He told her, "No, you've done well.”
Isabel was taken aback by this.
Everyone was turning on Isabella, but she was not going to help her. What would Roland think of this?
Roland seemed to notice her troubled thoughts written on her face and remarked, "You're not actively sabotaging her. You're just minding your own business from this point on."
The entertainment industry was very competitive. One could only imagine that it was very tempting to take advantage of someone when they were at their lowest. It was very noble to not stoop to such low tactics.
It was especially the case in this context, where Isabel had not instigated anything the entire time. It was Isabella who tried to ruin her but had her plans backfire on her.
Isabel was not actively plotting against Isabella even when things turned out this way, thus it was considered very noble as far as things went.
Chapter 2076
Ding!
Around evening, while Isabel was still snuggling peacefully in Roland's arms, she was rudely awakened by her phone ringing. She opened her eyes.
The phone was on Roland's side, so he swiftly passed it to her.
It was Amanda calling.
She promptly answered the call, "Hey, Amanda, what's the matter?"
Amanda said solemnly, “Isabel, there’s something | need to tell you."
"Go ahead.”
“After that surveillance footage surfaced online yesterday, Isabella's manager approached me, and she has been pretty much pestering me the entire day today as well. She asked if you will post a statement on your page to help Isabella. Essentially, she wants you to claim that everything that happened between you two was an inside joke and to ask everyone to stop harassing Isabella over it. She says that if you do this for Isabella, they will give us anything you want."
Isabel yawned lazily and slowly sat up. She leaned against Roland's shoulder and said disinterestedly, "No." She would never do anything that went against her moral code. Besides, before Roland managed to help her prove her innocence using that video, Isabella had gone at her relentlessly.
Besides, she was the one who started this entire thing, to begin with. If she had not gone and tampered with the dress, none of this would have happened at all.
To simply forgive Isabella for everything that had happened was an insult to herself. This was the code of ethics her father had lectured her on as a child.
Amanda hesitated briefly before stating, "Isabel, | think helping her out this one time will be a good boost to your public image. Besides, Isabella's team has a lot of good resources that we can use as leverage."
Isabel scowled. "What would people think if | suddenly spoke up for her now? Will they think that I'm so benevolent and gracious, or will they think that I'm being fake?"
Everyone knew what sort of person Isabel Ross was like. She was known for being very blunt, and some would also say that she was the type to hold a grudge.
Why would someone like her ever speak up for Isabella, especially after considering what happened?
Amanda processed this silently for several seconds before muttering, "True, but Isabella does have a lot of resources that we can use."
Isabel was set on her decision. "| don't care."
There were plenty of remarkable acting roles going around, and it was impossible for Isabella to hog all of them anyway. Besides, she had enough high-value roles as it was already, and it was important to learn to be content with what she had.
Amanda chuckled. "Fair enough. We won't help them then. They had it coming anyway." Isabel smiled and agreed, "Yeah."
After hanging up, she tossed the phone aside and looked at Roland, immediately meeting his clear and beautiful eyes. He had been looking at her the entire time during her conversation with Amanda, so he must have caught the gist of what they were talking about.
She lay on his chest and had the urge to tell him everything." Amanda said Isabella wants me to help her out and say something to salvage her reputation. They said that they would give me anything | wanted. Anyway, | said no." She looked at Roland with a fixed stare.
Roland listened to her without any trace of expression on his face. He hardly even blinked. He merely grunted a short’ hmm’ in response, and that was it.
Isabel suddenly asked, "Roland, do you think I'm being too harsh?"
He told her, "No, you've done well.”
Isabel was taken aback by this.
Everyone was turning on Isabella, but she was not going to help her. What would Roland think of this?
Roland seemed to notice her troubled thoughts written on her face and remarked, "You're not actively sabotaging her. You're just minding your own business from this point on."
The entertainment industry was very competitive. One could only imagine that it was very tempting to take advantage of someone when they were at their lowest. It was very noble to not stoop to such low tactics.
It was especially the case in this context, where Isabel had not instigated anything the entire time. It was Isabella who tried to ruin her but had her plans backfire on her.
Isabel was not actively plotting against Isabella even when things turned out this way, thus it was considered very noble as far as things went.
Chapter 2077
Isabel's eyes shimmered with joy as she felt understood.’ Roland, you're pretty wise, aren't you?"
Roland chuckled dryly. "I’m not an idiot."
"lm not saying you're an idiot. I’m complimenting you."
At Isabella's place, Isabella was resting on a recliner while her assistant was focused on massaging her shoulders.
Even though her assistant's technique was comparable to that of a professional masseuse, her body was still filled with tension. Everyone on the internet was hurling all sorts of obscenities at her, and they were dragging her name through the mud.
Since Decker refused to help, Isabel was her only lifeline. She was holding out for good news coming from Isabel's end.
After all, she had publicly apologized to Isabel online.
She needed Isabel to respond to her apology and forgive her, then throw in a few good words for her. Hopefully, that would be enough for the public to come to forgive her or at least quell their anger.
Ring! Her phone rang.
It was her agent calling. She snatched the phone and picked it up before the second ring. "What did Isabel say? Is she going to help me?"
Her agent spoke somberly, "No, she refused. They said that they wouldn’t agree no matter what we offered them."
Isabella's expression changed sharply, and she cussed out loud, ‘That b*tch, those two complete pricks! They're trying to ruin me!"
Her agent held her tongue and let her vent for several seconds before stating dryly, "You were the one who started it. Anyway, the heat is slowly dying down, at least, compared to when the surveillance footage first came up last night. This means Isabella and her team are not trying to stir the flames and make things worse than it already is, so consider this a sign of goodwill.”
‘They're indirectly trying to ruin me by refusing to help me!’
‘Alright, that's enough, Isabella. As long as they're willing to let us off the hook, there's no need to fixate on this
anymore. There's still a chance for us to turn this around."
Isabella nearly sprang out of her seat when she heard there was a possibility to turn things around. "What do you have in mind?”
"I've spoken to the fashion house, the one who made the dress that you cut up. We agreed on paying them ten million dollars to reimburse them for the damage done. As for public opinion, we will just have to wait it out. Since Isabel is not trying to stir the flames, I'd wager people will move on from it after a few more days. After that, we'll have to splurge a little on public relations to reverse the damage done. What | need from you is to lay low and let the entire thing pass."
Isabella was upset at being reprimanded like an unruly child but held her tongue. "Okay." She added anxiously, "Are you sure Isabel is not going to try to get revenge and do something? She's very cunning, | know it." Her agent assured her, "As long as you don't keep poking the bear, nothing is going to happen, understand?"
When it came down to it, Isabel’s temper was very easy to navigate around. As long as you didn't provoke her, she would not see any reason to cause you trouble either. She was known for being very easy to work with. In all frankness, Isabella's agent would have loved to work with Isabel if she was not already stuck with Isabella.
Good times never seemed to last as long.
Soon, it was Monday again. Isabel had to head down to Manchester to join the crew to continue filming for "Legend of the Goddess".
She woke up at the crack of dawn and looked at the man who was also just waking up. She nudged herself closer to him and burrowed her face into the crevice between his neck and his shoulder as she spoke to him softly, "Roland,
I'll be going to Glanchester today."
"Sure."
“Will you miss me?"
“Of course." He turned to her and pressed the tip of his nose against hers as their eyes met. She blinked.
Roland stared at her for a while before pressing in toward her. He planted his lips onto hers. Isabel finally picked up after Carla called her what must have been ten times.
She was still buried under the quilt with Roland who was hungrily kissing her like he was trying to suck her life essence out of her. She told Carla frantically, "I’m running late today. Could you tell the director to leave without me? I'll get to Glanchester by myself later this afternoon.”
Chapter 2078
Isabel was not sure whether to sum it down to the passion of first love or if Roland was truly that obsessed with her. Whichever it is, they continued at it until it was nearly noon before she was finally on her way out.
Before leaving, he pinned her against the door again and showered her with endless kisses.
She had put on a hat and a mask so that she would not be recognized. Then, she walked out of Roland's apartment complex and stepped into the car already parked outside waiting for her.
Inside the car was Ben the driver, her two bodyguards, as well as Carla. After she got into the car, she motioned, "Let's go to Glanchester." Ben revved the engines.
Isabel took off her hat and mask, then she noticed Carla casting strange looks at her. She threw a glance at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Isabel, your face and your lips are so red. Have you been using your boyfriend's skincare products?"
Isabel felt herself steaming red immediately, and she playfully pinched Carla's cheeks and cried out, "Looking for trouble, aren't you?"
Carla laughed it off and cried for mercy, "No, no, it was my mistake!" Isabel made sure to pinch her cheeks one more time before releasing her.
Carla steered the conversation back to serious topics." Anyway, the crew has already left for Glanchester. Either way, the filming is not going to begin until tomorrow morning, so we just need to get there by tonight and everything can still proceed on schedule.”
"Sure." Glanchester was a neighboring region of Westchester.
The drive to Glanchester was relatively smooth. Isabel even got to take a brief nap before arriving at the hotel the film crew had reserved.
While Carla was helping her take their luggage into the hotel, something else was happening back in Westchester. A luxurious car clad in gold was just swerving out of the Westchester airport.
The car went straight to the entertainment company where Isabella was signed to.
Awealthy-looking young lady stepped out of the car accompanied by a host of bodyguards. After revealing her identity to the reception, they were allowed access to the office of the director of the company without any hassle.
An hour later, Isabella dragged her tired body into the lobby. She was there because her company suddenly summoned
her to the head office on short notice. She had been viciously crucified on the internet since she woke up that morning and was too tired to protest anymore.
After stepping into the office, she put on her usual charms." Boss, is there something urgent that you needed me for?" Her boss, Jerome, rose and said curtly, "Miss Houston wants to see you." "Which Miss Houston?" she asked suspiciously.
Jerome glanced in the direction of the adjacent cubicle, and then informed her cautiously, "You'll know her when you see her. She’s someone with status, so you'd better be careful of your tone when you talk to her."
Could it be some rich lady who wanted her to star in a movie?
Whatever the reason this person wanted to meet her for, she knew she had to make a good impression, especially considering how Jerome introduced this person.
She gave him her word. “Alright, | understand."
Jerome stepped out of the office, and the office suddenly grew quiet.
Isabella stood motionlessly and stared at the adjacent cubicle.
It was oppressively quiet, and the uncomfortable silence lasted for a long time. The silence made her feel unbearably nervous. Just when she was debating if she should call out for this mysterious Miss Houston, she heard the door open with a creak. Ayoung lady wearing a tailored dress with a cashmere shawl thrown over it stepped out of the adjacent cubicle.
Despite having minimal makeup on, she looked very dignified. As soon as she appeared, she cast a sharp, dagger -like stare at Isabella.
Isabella greeted her nervously, "Good afternoon, Miss Houston." She sized her up, swooping her eyes all over Isabella. "So, you are Isabella?" There was a contemptuous tone in her voice, and the tone of her voice suggested that she held herself far above Isabella.
Isabella answered politely, "Yes, did you need something from me?"
Chapter 2079
"Heh." Clarice scoffed, "| expected Decker to have better taste than this." Decker?
Decker?!
Could this mean that this Miss Houston was...
Isabella suddenly recalled Isabel's mention of there being a certain fiancee of Decker's. So, this was the Miss Houston that hailed from Southboro?
Isabella looked at Clarice evasively and explained vainly," Miss Houston, you must have been mistaken. Nothing has ever happened between me and Mr. Rockwell. A lot of people claim that he has something going on with me, but that’s not the case at all."
"Oh? How so? Why would you say that's not the case?”
"It may seem like that on the surface, but he never had the slightest bit of interest in me all along. | swear to you that nothing has happened between me and him since we've known each other!" she said with an earnest look in her eyes.
She was telling the truth. Decker had barely touched her despite her best attempts of getting into bed with him. The look in Clarice's eyes sharpened. "If he doesn't care for you, why has he been financing you?"
“He's had his eyes on Isabel Ross since the very beginning. She's the reason he even bothered to come to Westchester. The problem is Isabel did not reciprocate his feelings and turned him down.
“After that, he approached me and helped me take away Isabel's resources, but | wasn’t expecting Isabel to have someone even more powerful backing her. It did not take long before she reclaimed everything | managed to take from her.
"Speaking of which, | think Mr. Rockwell invested in that show Isabel is filming right now. | am sure he has feelings for Isabel because he just showed me a lot of attitude after he found out about what | did to Isabel.”
Till now, Isabella could not figure out why Roland even approached her if he had his eyes on Isabel since the beginning. One way or another, she was sure that he had been gunning for Isabel the entire time.
Clarice asked with a frown, "Isabel Ross?" Isabella clarified, "She's a very popular actress." Clarice ordered, "Show me her picture."
Isabella hurriedly reached for her phone and searched for Isabel's picture online. Upon entering Isabel's name in the query, her picture was the first to pop up on the display. She handed the phone to Clarice.
The moment Clarice recognized Isabel's face, her heart dropped. So, it was her!
It was the same woman who had barged into her engagement ceremony with Decker five years ago and later got thrown out of the venue!
She remembered how she saw the same woman showing up online after that, and that was how she found out that this woman had become a celebrity.
She did not think much of it at the time because she assumed that Decker had cut off all ties with this woman. Who would have thought that after five years, Decker would make the lengthy trip to Westchester to find her again?
It had been five years! She knew that Decker had been seeing countless other women in this span, but why was it this particular woman that he remained obsessed with?
Her eyes glowed with spite as she turned to Isabella. "Are you sure this is the woman that Decker is into?"
Isabella swore adamantly, "Absolutely certain. May God strike me down if | lie to you."
Clarice scoffed, then she walked past Isabella and was gone in the blink of an eye.
Isabella heaved a long, exhausted sigh when Clarice was out of sight. After she regained her composure, she had a wide smirk on her face because she was celebrating
Isabel's eventual demise. ‘Isabel, oh Isabel, it doesn't matter how well-connected you are, there isn't a chance you'd be a match for the Houstons.’
She was feeling very irritable when she first came in here, but now she felt nothing but relief. She had a sense that Isabel's lucky streak was coming to an end.
In the Manchester hotel where the crew for "Legend of the Goddess" was staying the night, after Isabel greeted the director and her fellow actors, she went up to her room and began revising the script.
She made sure to memorize all the script for her scenes tomorrow, and after she was done, she checked the time on her phone. It was only slightly past evening, and she wondered if Roland was still busy at work.
She texted him a short message, "Are you still working?"
Roland replied shortly after, "| have a meeting coming up. I'll call you after I'm done."
Isabel smiled and replied, "Sure."
Chapter 2080
Isabel continued reading her script.
About forty minutes later, Roland gave her a video call.
She was all out sprawled on the bed when she answered.
His handsome, dashing expression was the first thing that popped up on the screen.
She immediately noticed the background and saw that he was still at the office. She asked promptly, “Are you still working?"
"Yeah, | need to meet a business partner later.”
“What kind of business partner?”
"He's from Liberty. We just finalized our letter of intent for collaboration last month.”
Isabel nodded, feigning understanding, and remarked casually, “In that case, | won’t take your time. Get back to it.” Roland frowned. “Okay, make sure you get some rest.”
"Yeap."
Isabel gave him one last lingering look before hanging up.
Her schedule over the following days was very tightly packed with countless shootings.
She worked non-stop from the minute shooting began the following day. She would work from dawn till dusk, and every minute of her free time was spent reading and revising the script.
It was also important for actors such as her to take care of their appearance, primarily their skin and the conditioning of their figure.
Even with her hectic schedule, she would still think about Roland in the dead of the night.
However, he was just as, if not more busy than her. They would only have brief exchanges over the days, nothing more than quick good morning or goodnight texts. Forget about video calls, they hardly had time to talk.
The week passed in the blink of an eye. Soon, it was the weekend.
After filming the day scenes, the director announced that the crew was allowed time off to recharge themselves since it was the weekend.
Isabel figured that Roland should be taking the day off work as well. She planned to call him first thing after she got back to the hotel.
However, just as she was about to leave the set, an assistant director went up to her and said with a brief smile, "Isabel, someone is looking for you outside.”
Someone was looking for her? Could it be Roland? She quickly walked out of the set.
It was still bright inside by the time they finished shooting. The moment she stepped outside, she saw a bright white sports carthat commanded attention.
When she showed up, the windows by the driver's seat were promptly lowered to reveal Decker inside. He was smiling at her quite suggestively.
Isabel's expression immediately zipped tensely, and she turned around and prepared to walk back inside. "Isabell" Decker called out to her.
She continued to press forward without the slightest intention of stopping.
"Do you want to know about Roland’s backstory?" He tried to grab her attention. Isabel stopped abruptly and looked back at him. “What did you say?”
Decker smirked. "Get in the car. I'll tell you about it.”
She refused, ‘You get out of the car and we'll talk out here.”
She still remembered how this vile man had drugged her the last time when they met. There was not a chance she was getting into his car.
Decker smiled wryly. “Don't worry, | won't do anything to you. | just want to talk in the car so that no one will see us and start gossiping about us.”
Isabel scowled and declared boldly, "I’m not afraid of having people gossip about me. | haven't done anything that | should feel guilty about.”
Decker froze. She gave him one last ultimatum. "You can either step out of the car and talk to me or scram.” "Heh." Decker chuckled. “Isabel, you're nothing like you were five years ago."
Five years ago, when she was by his side, she had always been so delicate and gentle. The only rare occasions when she would display her temper was when she was in a bad mood, but even in such instances, she was nowhere near as bold as she was now.
Isabel was not interested in explaining herself to him. She's always had this temper growing up. The only reason she behaved that way back then was because she had a case of amnesia and was a stranger in a foreign land. These factors combined made her very reserved and cautious then.