Just having awoken from deep sleep, Alexander was in a daze. He stared at Isabelle for about two seconds before lowering his gaze to his hand that was clutching her wrist. Frowning, he tried to think of why she would reach out to touch him. Sleepily, he muttered coldly, "What are you trying to do?"
Just then, he recalled that he had gone to the mansion in the mountain. He looked around doubtfully, confirming that he was indeed in the bedroom at the mansion in the mountain. He returned his gaze back to Isabelle before asking straight forwardly, "How did you know about this place? Who allowed you to come in?"
The minute he finished asking, he caught sight of the shirt that she was wearing. He frowned, realizing that under the blanket, he was not wearing anything. Memories of the two of them deeply entwined on the bed flashed, and he returned his gaze to Isabelle once again. Kiss marks littered her porcelain skin that was not covered by the shirt...
Alexander exerted more strength with the hand he had on Isabelle's arm. "Last night..."
That two words were enough to put Isabelle in a frenzy. What was destined to come would come... Instinctively, she started to explain, "I heard that you were sick so I came to give you some medicine..."
She stopped midway, not knowing how to continue explaining.
Even though he had been in a daze, he could still vaguely make out what had happened. The bitter substance in his mouth was medicine and she had kissed him to stop him from spitting it out... Alexander's lips moved and his cold expression warmed slightly.
Isabelle continued to panic as he remained silent, not saying a word. She hesitated momentarily before continuing, "I never expected that would happen last night..."
Before she could finish her sentence, her arm was roughly cast aside by him. Shocked by his strength, she staggered backwards. Before she could stabilize herself, his haughty voice sounded, "What do you want?"
The suddenness of those four words left Isabelle speechless. Unable to process them, she looked at him in confusion.
Alexander saw her gaze and, reading her expression, continued, "Previously, you climbed into my bed for a role in 'To the End of Time'. This time, I slept with you, what do you want in return?"
Isabelle's heart sank.
Initially she had requested for a role, but that was because she was afraid that he would find out about her love for him. But now, he saw her as a woman that used her body for favours.
Isabelle clenched her lips, refusing to speak.
Alex waited, but seeing how Isabelle was not prepared to speak, he broke the silence. "Why aren't you saying anything? After plotting with such effort, getting me medicine, taking care of me, and even finding this place, isn't it all for more benefits?
"You mentioned that you didn't expect to sleep with me..."
Alexander stopped, realizing he was not making sense. Sinking into silence, he swallowed. Staring straight into Isabelle's eyes, he seemed to be reading her mind. In an emotionless tone, he continued, "Unless you weren't looking for any benefits from coming here..."
Isabelle didn't expect him to figure it out so easily... Subconsciously she tightened her fists, trying desperately to keep calm, and said, "Two days ago, I went to Global Entertainment for an audition for the second lead in 'Alluring Times' but failed."
It had never occurred to Isabelle that she would end up continuously hiding her feelings, continuously portraying herself as an object used for transactions. She could feel the sharp pain from her palms but showed no signs of the pain and said, "The film has a star-studded line up and has gained attention even before the show started filming. If you really want to reward me, give me the second lead role."
Wordlessly, Alex continued to stare at her. Suddenly, his eyes sank. Wrapped in his blanket, he jumped from the bed. Taking large strides towards her, he grabbed her by the wrists, yanking her forward. Alexander dragged her out of the bedroom, down the stairs, heading straight for the door. His actions slowed momentarily before he pushed Isabelle out the door without hesitation. With a loud and resounding "bang", he slammed the door shut.
Alexander's series of actions were swift and unexpected, not sparing Isabelle any time to react. By the time she came back to her senses, she had already been thrown out of the mansion by him.
But all her things were upstairs....
Just as Isabelle was hesitating on whether or not she should knock on the door to retrieve her things, the tightly shut door swung open. A series of loud swishes resounded as her things were rudely tossed onto the ground. Before Isabelle could react, the door slammed shut.
Her bags weren't zipped, the contents spilling out, littering the entire floor.
She stood stunned. After she managed to gather her senses, she knelt down and started filling the contents into her bag one by one.
After she packing, she took one last look at the tightly shut door. Pursing her lips tightly, she turned around silently, walking away with heavy steps.
Alexander returned to his room and, as he reached for the pack of cigarettes on the bedside table, he found a packet of fever medicine on the table. Isabelle had bought him fever medicine. His eyes dimmed. He took the medicine and dumped it in the trash bin before lighting up a cigarette. He walked towards the window, taking deep puffs. As the smoke entered his body, he started to relax.
From the window, he could see the back view of Isabelle leaving. His fingers trembled. He lifted the cigarette, taking another deep breath. He then left the smoke in his mouth for a while before blowing it out slowly. Clouded by the smoke, he could still see her entering her car. After about half a minute, the car started and left.
Alexander waited till the car was out of sight before lifting his hand to take one last puff. He then extinguished the cigarette on the ashtray. He stood on the balcony for a while longer before turning to his room to retrieve his phone. Entering a number, he waited for connection, then said, "Leave the second female lead role for 'Alluring Times' empty, I have someone in mind.
"Also, clear my schedule, I want to act the second lead role for 'Alluring Times'.
"There is nothing wrong. After acting in the lead role for so long, the second lead would be a good change. Besides, I didn't intend to take up any more films.
"Okay, that's it for now. Just do as I say."
Before giving the other person a chance to speak, he hung up the call.
After his high fever, his body was yet to fully recover. He threw the phone on the bed before lying down in fatigue. Somehow, his eyes would subconsciously look towards the trash bin at the side.
He stared at the bin for a long while before staggering to pick up the box of fever medicine inside.
Alexander stared at the box, a dim light flashing across his eyes.
~*~
Isabelle drove straight to York Garden after leaving Alexander's mansion. Without any fame or job, she spent the following four days cooped up inside the mansion. In these four days, Alexander never once came home.
One night, maybe due to her long afternoon nap, Isabelle tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. She reached for her phone and looked at the time—it was close to 12 am. She then looked at the empty half of the bed thinking, 'He probably won't be back again tonight.'
If he came back, she would get anxious. But if he didn't, she couldn't help feeling disappointed.
Isabelle pulled away her blanket, leaving the bed. Walking towards the balcony, she looked out into the night, an expression of loneliness clouding her face.
In his heart, he must have never thought of her as his wife... For the majority of the past five months, she had been left alone to guard this empty room.
Isabelle looked out a while longer until her phone rang.
Returning to the bedroom, she reached for her phone and saw a long stretch of unfamiliar numbers.
Who would call her at such a late hour?
She hesitated before answering. With a gentle voice, she asked, "Hello, who is this?"
The caller ignored her question, going straight to the point, "Next week, you will officially enter the crew for 'Alluring Times' as the second female lead."
The hand grabbing the phone tightened in an instance. Never would she have expected Alexander to inform her personally. Taking a deep breath, she replied calmly, "I understand. Thank you... Ale..." Isabelle was about to say his name but stopped herself, correcting it to, "Mr. Smith."
Her words seemed to have entered the sea, there being no chance of a reply.
If not for the buzzing sound from the phone, she would have thought Alexander had hung up.
After a long while, so long that Isabelle started to wonder if he had forgotten to hang up and started debating on whether she should hang up herself, his cold emotionless voice came through.
"Forget it. There is no need to thank me. You exchanged for it with your body. But I must say, it was definitely valuable to be able to get a second lead in 'Alluring Times'..."
Alexander seemed to have more to say, but he suddenly stopped, and after about two seconds, the line went dead.
Even though Alexander didn't manage to complete his sentence, Isabelle was sure it wouldn't have been anything nice.
She had been trying to figure out his actions for the past few days. It was him who had asked her what kind of reward she wanted, but when she had complied, treating her own body as a transaction tool, he became so infuriated he wanted to strangle her, even tossing her out the mansion.
After his phone call, she finally understood his anger... He must have thought she was overestimating her body.
She should have thought of this way earlier, shouldn't she?
He had no intention of sleeping with her, from the very beginning. So how was her body worth a second lead in 'Alluring Times'?
If it wasn't for his fever, he probably wouldn't have wanted to touch her... right?
She must be the only woman in the world that was despised after being slept with...
Similarly, she must be the only wife in this world who found out her husband's phone number only after five months of marriage.
Her lips couldn't help curling upwards. She smiled deprecatingly at herself, sorrow clouding her eyes.
'Alluring Times' was a highly anticipated film that Global Entertainment had spent twenty million on. After preparing for two years, even an internationally acclaimed production and filming crew were engaged.
With such gimmicks, it was enough to garner attention even before the filming had started, blazing up on facebook. The film had a star-studded cast with the exception of Isabelle. Even a small side role in the film was a nationally acknowledged famous second lead.
On the first day, there was a simple ceremony. All the actors were present except for the second male lead.
The official shooting would start on the second day and the first day was solely dedicated to an opening ceremony. The whole crew for 'Alluring Times' would be invited to a dinner so they could familiarize with each other before the actual shooting.
By the time Isabelle rushed over, the banquet hall was already full.
She had done research on all the crew members before the filming had begun. She was well informed on all the crew and actors in the film.
Everyone had entered the industry long before her, so it was necessary for her to be polite, greeting them one by one. The producer of 'Alluring Times' was seated in the front row. Just as Isabelle was going to shake his hand, someone beat her to it, reaching out their hand in greeting, "Mr. Johnson, long time no see."
A women's voice, crisp and sweet came from the person in front of her.
Subconsciously, Isabelle tilted her head. Annabelle was beside her, smiling as she shook producer Johnson's hand.
"Anna, it's been a long time since our last film," he replied.
"I hope it'll be a pleasant working experience," Annabelle replied.
While she was greeting the producer, Camila seemed to have recalled something. She leaned over to Isabelle and whispered, "Izzy, Annabelle was the original second female lead for this show and when you became the new second lead, she was relegated to the third lead. She is someone who remembers her grievances and is a wolf in a lamb's skin, especially in front of the producer and director, you had better take note..."
Before Camila could finish her sentence, Annabelle turned around. Camila immediately quietened, smiling brightly at Annabelle. Similarly, the other woman smiled back, but her words were directed at Isabelle, "Izzy, long time no see."
Isabelle knew her quite well. She was an artist in Global Entertainment and had advanced the fastest. Even though they both come from the same company, Isabelle had never spoken, much less interacted with her. And Annabelle had always been haughty, never interested in speaking to Isabelle.
Annabelle greeted her so warmly and with such a passionate expression it seemed they were well acquainted. Isabelle couldn't help having her heart shrink slightly at that facade. Remembering Camila's words, it dawned on her that Annabelle must have found out that Isabelle was the one that had stolen her role. Even if she hated her now, she still had to act as though they had a close relationship. It had to be difficult for her.
Annabelle could put on a facade, and so could Isabelle. After all, both of them weren't willing to leave a bad impression in front of the producer.
Isabelle smiled brightly, as though she and Annabelle were indeed close friends. With a warm and welcoming voice, she remarked, "Anna, you're much prettier than the last time I saw you!"
Annabelle was well aware of the act Isabelle had on. Wearing an impeccable expression, she returned a warm smile. "No, you are the one that has blossomed."
Anna turned to look at producer Johnson, kindly introducing Isabelle to him. "Producer Johnson, this is Isabelle, the second female lead. Even though she just entered the industry, her acting skills are solid."
Isabelle was well aware that this self-introduction was to show producer Johnson her generosity towards a newbie. As for her acting skills... Annabelle had never seen them before so how could she even have a clue....
Even though that was what she was thinking, Isabelle kept a bright smile on her face. As she shook hands with producer Johnson, she continued with the act.
"Nice to meet you producer Johnson. Now, don't listen to Anna, there is so much that I need to learn and improve on. But I have often heard Anna speak highly of you and your work ethics."
If it was just simple boot-licking, to leave a good impression, Isabelle was fully capable.
Producer Johnson was delighted by Isabelle's words. Smiling brightly, he looked up at her, a tinge of shock staining his eyes.
The entertainment industry was saturated with beauties and a large portion had gone under the knife. One just had to pay a bit more attention to see the similarities or to discover the unnaturalness. But the woman in front of him had a clean beauty with delicate features, giving off a bright and fresh vibe.
Beside her stood Annabelle, who still wore a bright smile, but there was an unfamiliar coldness when she looked at Isabelle.
By the time she was finishing with her greeting to producer Johnson, the majority of the crew had already arrived.
Producer Johnson deliberately positioned himself beside Isabelle.
After everyone found their seats, Isabelle found that the four seats directly in front of her were empty.
Who hadn't arrived here yet?
Just as she was scanning the table to find out who was missing, the banquet hall door opened and in came three people.
The director for 'Alluring Times', the female lead Helen, and the male lead Jake.
Jake was the only male actor that had managed to get popular despite Alexander's monopoly over the industry. But he definitely couldn't surpass his adversary. If not for Alex's deliberate attempts to support him, bringing him along to every film he acted in, there would have been no way Jake could have gained such fame.
As for Helen, she was the female version of Alex, the nationally acclaimed goddess and best female lead.
"I'm sorry for being late, the traffic was bad," the director explained while smiling cheekily after he sat down.
Jake expressed his regret for being late before politely finding a seat.
As for Helen, she nodded towards the crowd lightly as a form of greeting before sitting down elegantly.
Seeing that almost everyone was here, the waiter came forward to ask, "Now that everyone is here, can we serve the food?"
The producer waved his hand saying, "Wait a minute, one more person isn't here yet."
The producer and director were the highest ranking people in a filming crew and now that they had both arrived, they chose to wait for someone instead of ordering the food?
Everyone looked around curiously and finally someone asked, "Who's not here yet?"
The director quickly answered, "Our second male lead."
Second male lead? Even the male lead was here, but they were waiting for the second male lead? Who exactly was he?
Even Isabelle couldn't contain her excitement.
In the film, the second female lead and second male lead had many interactions, but till now, she still had no idea who he was...
Looking at all the interested faces, the producer wanted to reveal the answer mysteriously, but just then, the doors to the banquet hall opened once again. Instinctively, everyone turned to look at the door. Producer Johnson swallowed his words before standing up in a hurry.
Noting his actions, the whole table looked towards the door.