Helen only paid attention to the two of them when Isabelle handed Annabelle some water.
From afar, it looked like Isabelle and Annabelle were having a friendly chat. However, Helen could see that there were invisible flashes of swords between the two of them.
Helen watched with great enthusiasm; she couldn't help but raise a hand to support her chin. Half-way through the show, she thought about Alexander who didn't come on set today because he had no scenes to shoot. In the blink of an eye, she pulled out her phone and sent Alexander a text. She took great pleasure in others' misfortunes.
"Mr. Smith, conflict between your beloved and Annabelle is happening on set."
~*~
In the afternoon, Alexander had a video conference with Global Entertainment's higher executives. As he sat behind his desk, he stared at the computer monitor with employees sitting around a meeting table and earnestly listened to their reports.
Suddenly, his phone screen lit up. His eyes instinctively swept over to see that he'd received a message from Helen. He glanced over the message before abruptly grabbing his phone.
Through the computer's webcam, Alexander's actions were seen on the big screen by those in Global Entertainment's meeting room. In the middle of his confident and composed speech, he stopped abruptly.
In all these years, Mr. Smith had never slipped up during a meeting. This was the first...
Whilst everybody was looking at one another in dismay, Alexander suddenly got up, put on a jacket, turned towards a screen of employees, and said hurriedly, "I have matters to attend to. Today's meeting is adjourned."
He didn't give people on the other side a chance to react. He raised his hand and immediately closed the computer shut, then picked up his phone and walked out of the hotel room.
Alexander speed-walked over to the elevators and incessantly pushed the button to bring the elevator up. Seeing the red number gradually jump up from the first floor, he burned with anxiousness. Then it stopped on the fourth floor. Alexander angrily raised his hand and pushed the button to stop it. Then he immediately turned around and walked to the stairs.
~*~
When Isabelle finished talking to Annabelle, she calmly returned to the set just as the director's ten minutes were over. They started shooting for the second time.
Helen maintained her best condition, as she had in the first scene. Perhaps it was because Isabelle had gotten everything out of her system, so she was in good spirits and her performance was perfect in comparison to before.
The director nodded at his monitor, satisfied with both of their performances. He gestured over at Annabelle, who stood far away, to enter the scene.
As for Annabelle, who knew what she was thinking... As the director gestured her over, she didn't even react.
The director furrowed his brows, gesturing at her again. Annabelle still didn't make a move. In the end, her manager went over to her, slightly anxious, and reached out to give her a push. Then she snapped out of it and walked over to the set.
Annabelle's condition didn't seem good, but she hadn't made any big slip-ups so far. Just when the three women stood opposite one another, Annabelle, like the first time, viciously stared at Isabelle.
"Cut!" The director screamed, raising the microphone. He relentlessly shouted at Annabelle, "Annabelle, what is wrong with you? The same mistake?! Why did you get it wrong TWICE? I told you before, you have to stare at Helen. Helen! She is your love rival, not Isabelle. You don't have a deep grudge against her!"
Such a simple scene had two consecutive retakes. No wonder the director was so angry, which was why his tone was a little heavy.
Annabelle was yelled at quite harshly, but because it was her fault, she didn't have a fit. All she could do was blush and awkwardly apologize. "Sorry, sorry, director, I'm so sorry."
The director didn't care for Annabelle's apology this time, immediately waving his hand to signal for the crew to re-position the props.
The three women's make-ups weren't messed up, but the make-up artist rushed over to take a closer look just in case.
Helen was surrounded by a bunch of people. She let them prep her up as her eyes roamed over the grounds. Just as she expected, she saw Alexander's figure come rushing from afar.
Helen waited for Alexander to draw closer before she raised her hand to disperse the crowd around her.
She casually took a few calm strides towards his side and said, "You arrived sooner than I imagined!" Helen looked Alexander up and down. "Ah, Mr. Smith, how worried were you coming over... You're sweating, and... Did you just run here? Your hair's all messed up..."
Alexander simply didn't care about Helen. Without any expression, his eyes swept through the set before landing on Isabelle, who was resting in her chair. Her head was turned as she was talking with Camila about who knows what. She was smiling brightly, and there wasn't a hint of any conflict in her disposition.
In that instant, Alexander realized that he had been played by Helen. Hence, his cold eyes moved to her, and he turned his gloomy face around, about to leave.
"Aye, Mr. Smith, don't go!"
Helen caught up with Alexander's footsteps. Completely fearless, she looked him up and down before saying with too much enthusiasm at his misfortune, "Mr. Smith, you're drenched. You didn't run all the way over here, did you? Yeesh, perhaps you really did... Your hair's all messed up from the run... but you're still good looking..."
Alexander knew Helen's personality. The more you paid her attention, the more energy was wasted, and so he immediately ignored her chatter. His footsteps hastened.
Helen couldn't quite catch up. The distance between the two of them slowly increased, so she may as well have stopped. She looked around to discover that she was quite far from the set.
Yet, to prevent others from listening in, she only slightly raised her voice to Alexander in front of her, who kept walking ahead. She said cautiously, "Mr. Smith, I didn't trick you. She was actually arguing, but from what I could tell, she beat that person. I wouldn't be too sure if that person won't strike back at her at a moment's notice."
Helen clearly saw his footsteps stop when her words sunk in. Her lips curled into a smile, and she immediately turned around and walked back to the set.
Coincidentally, the director was already calling for someone to look for Helen. Seeing that she came back herself, he immediately signaled for their third take.
Before Helen stepped on the set, she looked all around her, searching for Alexander, who had been walking out. Who knows when, but he was already standing poised near the set.
~*~
Annabelle's manager noticed that Annabelle's condition was extremely poor. Just before she walked back onto the scene, the manager constantly advised her to get into character. Annabelle didn't say a word, but every now and then she would nod. At last, her eyes fell on Isabelle, who stood in front of her.
Isabelle's expression was gentle. From her eyes, she even released a soft and gentle radiance. When her eyes met Annabelle for a second, she even shot her a friendly smile.
As for Annabelle, every time Isabelle gave her a taunting or provoking smile, she would get angry and pent up with rage. Yet Isabelle stayed calm, as though she didn't even see her as anybody, like she was born to lose to her.
In that instant, Annabelle felt an unspeakable humiliation creep into her heart. She forcibly balled up her fists, and her emotions fluctuated like crazy.
For the rest of the filming, Annabelle's performance worsened. "Cut! Annabelle, can you still act? Such a simple scene, how can you continuously retake?"
"Cut! Annabelle, I've told you before. You have to ignore Isabelle - ignore! Do you not understand the meaning of 'ignore'?"
"Cut! Annabelle, did you just say something? Your lines are muddled and unclear!"
"Cut! Annabelle, Isabelle didn't even greet you, yet you looked at her and started saying your lines. Are you in a rush?"
The worse Annabelle was, the better Isabelle performed. Between the two of them, their comparisons were particularly transparent. To continuously retake seven to eight times, the surrounding cast and crew couldn't help but start getting annoyed.
"Just what's wrong with Annabelle? She can't even act such a simple scene."
"Right? From the start of the TV series, there's never been a scene with so many retakes!"
"Right! Does she even have any acting skills? She can't even compare to a new person like Isabelle..."
"Such a simple scene and yet everyone's here wasting time for her. We're going to finish real late today for sure! Damn it!"
The commotion in the surroundings stirred up everyone, which made Annabelle feel anxious deep down. It brought her even more pressure. In her next try, she entered the scene too hastily and said the wrong lines. It made the director so mad; he immediately smashed the microphone on the floor.
Instantly, the entire set fell silent. The director's face was livid as he stared furiously at Annabelle. He moved his lips and looked as though he couldn't even be bothered to yell at her. He immediately raised his hand and gestured towards Annabelle a number "1", which signaled to her that this was her last chance.
Perhaps it was because Annabelle was forced into a dead end where anyone would explode, but she didn't make any major mistakes despite her very stiff performance. Or maybe because the scene had taken up too much time and the director had lowered his standards, knowing that no matter if Annabelle filmed anymore, it would be a forced pass, that, with a gloomy expression on his face, he shouted out, "Pass!"
The sound of that word, it was like receiving a get-out-of-hell-free card. Annabelle secretly let out a sigh of relief, and the stiffness in her whole body instantly released itself. Her legs gave way, and she leaned on the table at the back of the cafe.
This was definitely the worst nightmare of her acting career.
Just as Annabelle thought her nightmare was over, a cold voice came from beyond. "Danny, since when has your standards become so low?"
Danny was the director's name.
The director had put all of his focus just now on filming, so he hadn't noticed when Alexander had arrived on set. After he heard Alexander's abrupt words, his head turned towards the direction of his voice. He looked over to find Alexander's frosty expression where he nearby with his eyes blankly sweeping over the three women on set. He walked over to where the monitor was.
Isabelle also hadn't noticed Alexander. Her body instinctively stiffened when she suddenly heard his voice. She sneaked a glance at him before slightly lowering her head, standing cautiously in her spot without moving.
In contrast to her, Helen, who stood beside her, looked like she was enjoying the drama of it all. Excitement radiated from her eyes as she looked at Alexander whilst holding in her laughter.
Just when Annabelle could finally relax after much difficulty, her performance was ruthlessly brought up again.
Everyone on set focused on Alexander.
Seeing him walk over, the director immediately called out, "Mr. Smith."
Without wasting time, Alexander headed straight for the monitor. He reached out and pressed it, replaying the scene that was just shot. His expression grew even colder. He raised his hand and pointed to the screen.
He said to the director in freezing voice, "Annabelle's acting skills are crap, why you never mentioned it before? I didn't put so much money into this TV series for you to fool the audience. You're blatantly insulting the audience's intelligence! Anyone off the street can act better than her!"
Alexander didn't hold back with his harsh and direct words. Though he wasn't loud, his voice discreetly reached every corner.
Annabelle's face instantly turned pale, left without a single trace of blood.
The people present couldn't help but secretly draw in their breaths.
Those words were quite ruthless... Regardless of what was on screen, Annabelle still had years under her belt of being a celebrity female star, so to be criticized as worthless by Alexander...
The director broke a sweat, chuckling uncomfortably. He said a few words to play up to Alexander, "So, Mr. Smith, how about this, we'll continue to shoot the TV series and let Annabelle compose herself before we re-shoot?"