After hearing Tiffany's words, Hwang Na-ri's entire body shook in anger as she roared at Tiffany without restraint, "Tiffany!"
Tiffany noticed Hwang Na-ri's eyes had turned red from anger. With a calm and cold voice, she responded, "Don't you think, considering all the times that the Hwang Family has cleaned up after your arrogant behavior, that a simple apology and bow is already a merciful request from you?"
"If not because we are blood related and the fact that you are a part of the Hwang Family, you would already be defending yourself in court right now. Did you think you'd still have the chance to be standing right here, acting arrogantly towards our guests?"
"It's either you apologize today or you let Miss Jung hit you back. With so many witnesses, I refuse to believe that you can still ignore what's right from wrong."
Tiffany's words were so powerful that it gave everyone a definite conclusion: Tiffany was firm on her decision.
Hwang Na-ri's face turned red as she clenched her fists by her sides. In the end, she let out a laugh, "Tiffany, don't think that I don't know what your motive is. Is it because you heard that grandfather plans to give his shares to my child that you decided to scheme against me?"
Under the current situation, at a grand event like this, if Hwang Na-ri didn't use her child as a s.h.i.+eld, she was afraid she wouldn't be able to escape unscathed. So, she stuck out her belly, reminding everyone that she was currently pregnant and that they couldn't act recklessly towards her.
Hwang Na-ri was well aware of the advantage that she held!
_"How annoying. Just because she's pregnant, does that mean she should be let off the hook?"
_"How shameless. How could G.o.d allow someone like her to fall pregnant?"
_"Is she going to get away with what she's done, just like this?"
Hearing the discussions around her, a smile naturally appeared on Hwang Na-ri's face. She knew, as long as she had a child in her stomach, Tiffany did not dare to do anything to her. So, she simply scoffed and turned to leave. But, Tiffany suddenly grabbed onto her wrist and held her back...
"I didn't say you could leave..."
"What can you possibly do to me?" Hwang Na-ri asked.
"Since we've gotten to this point, let's calculate everything you owe, all at once. Did you want me to tell everyone about how you bribed a doctor to remove my uterus, or do you want me to tell everyone about how you teamed up with my mother's secretary to get her kidnapped?"
Hwang Na-ri suddenly began to tremble...
"I've already kept all your witnesses and evidence in a safe place. It's either you shut up and apologize right now, or I'll get the police to ask you to lower your precious head."
"You...you can't possibly have..."
"Go ahead and try..."
The two sisters kept their conversation between themselves, not allowing a third person to hear. However, Tiffany's words were lethal enough towards Hwang Na-ri.
Hwang Na-ri was so frightened that her face suddenly went pale before it slowly turned red. In the end, she could only grit her teeth as she said, "Tiffany you are despicable as always."
"Did you think you deserve to be treated fairly?" Tiffany asked back.
Tiffany's smile appeared warm and gentle, but to Hwang Na-ri, it was full of mockery.
"Fine, I'll apologize!"
Everyone was surprised by these words. They didn't know how to react to Hwang Na-ri's sudden change.
Tiffany let go of Hwang Na-ri's wrist and gestured for her to immediately apologize.
Hwang Na-ri had no choice but to walk over to the heiress of Jung Corps. As she got down on her knees and bowed, she said, "Miss Jung, I'm sorry. I was wrong, I hope you can forgive me."
"Three times," Tiffany emphasized.
Hwang Na-ri held back her anger as she apologized to the heiress three times.
"It's all over now." The heiress originally thought that no one would be able to deal with this pregnant lady. But, no matter how shameless she was, she was up against Tiffany.
Tiffany!
The heiress was completely convinced by Tiffany's abilities.
"Is that enough?" Hwang Na-ri asked, after bowing three times in a row.
Tiffany looked towards the heiress and the heiress nodded her head in satisfaction.
"I hope this does not happen again."
Hwang Na-ri glared at Tiffany. But, there was nothing she could do...
"You can return to your seat now, Miss Hwang. You better watch where you walk from now on. If you accidentally lose your child, I don't want the public to think that I schemed against you."
Hwang Na-ri was asked to return to her seat and not to leave...
Hwang Na-ri's chest rose up and down; it was obvious that she was trying to control her anger. But, what could she do? The person before her was the flawless Tiffany and she was hopeless around her.
So, all she could do was return to her seat under the gaze of all the guests...
_"Although I don't know what the Third Miss said to Hwang Na-ri to make her submit, the result was f*cken satisfying."
_"Seeing this woman being defeated completely cures my anger."
_"I can't believe the Third Miss actually managed to make her bow and apologize. She dealt with this difficult woman so easily."
Hwang Corps' staff all cheered inside. Just like the heiress from Jung Corps, they were helpless towards Hwang Na-ri's arrogance. After all, she was pregnant, so they had to be cautious around her.
But, when it came to Tiffany...
...she easily made Hwang Na-ri admit defeat!
The heiress of Jung Corps had witnessed an impressive show and Tiffany also helped her retrieve her pride. So, she looked at everyone and smiled, "I've long heard that the Third Miss is a very wise woman. She sure lives up to expectations."
"With a person like this in charge, no wonder Hwang Corps is continually on the rise. Third Miss, I am well and truly impressed by you."
"You are too polite, Miss Jung. I'm sorry that you had to go through all this tonight."
"A small matter like this is nothing," the heiress replied. "If Miss Hwang doesn't mind, could we perhaps be friends?"
Tiffany resolved a huge crisis in front of so many people, so the staff were naturally convinced by her.
Seeing that the atmosphere returned to normal, Elder Hwang couldn't help but smile proudly.
If there was one person in this world that could stand her ground in front of both the good and bad, then that would be Tiffany.
In the end, he brushed off his old friends and weaved through the crowd towards Tiffany and Taeyeon. All of a sudden, he raised Tiffany's right hand, "I would like to take this opportunity to announce a very important decision..."
"I'm sure no one will have any objections towards this. From today onwards...I have decided to step down from my position as chairman and hand it over to my third granddaughter, Tiffany!"
Hearing this, everyone was stunned as they held onto their red wine gla.s.ses and looked at each other. At this time, the most shocked person was none other than Hwang Na-ri, who directly jumped right out of her seat.
As the announcement came too sudden. It was practically like a huge bomb had been thrown upon them...
At first, the staff did not know how to respond. But then, Taeyeon suddenly started clapping. Everyone quickly joined in as they erupted into an applause.
_"That's great!"
_"Wow, amazing!"
Not only was there clapping, but because of their excitement, the staff also erupted in sharp screams and cheers. They were truly convinced by Tiffany. If it was someone else, they may not have easily accepted it.
This was a true example of a well-deserved result!
"Fany ah , there are so many eyes on you. Do you still want to reject my offer? Grandfather doesn't expect you to focus 100% of your energy on Hwang Corps, you simply need to protect the Hwang Family's foundations and pa.s.s the company on through the generations. That's all you need to do for grandfather to be satisfied."
Tiffany looked at Elder Hwang and then turned to look at Taeyeon. Finally, she placed her gaze upon the out of control Hwang Na-ri and nodded her head, "Grandfather, I'll do the best I can."
"Great, that's great," Elder Hwang took a deep breath like he had lifted a huge load off his shoulders. Now that Tiffany had finally agreed to take over Hwang Corps, he no longer needed to worry about the future of the company.
However, just as everyone was celebrating that Tiffany had accepted the role of chairwoman, a shrill scream suddenly resonated from the crowd, "Blood...She's bleeding!"
[Hwang Corps to undergo changes: Tiffany takes over while Hwang Na-ri has a miscarriage!]
[Sisterly fight reaches new heights: Hwang Na-ri gets kicked out of Hwang Corps three times; resulting anger leads to miscarriage!]
[Tiffany a winner at life: leads the box office and becomes chairwoman of Hwang Corps at the same time]
The hottest news in Seoul at the moment was focused around Tiffany becoming the chairwoman of Hwang Corps and Hwang Na-ri having a miscarriage and being sent to the hospital.
Of course, it was true that Hwang Na-ri had started bleeding at the Annual Celebration, but the child in her stomach was fine after the doctors stabilized her condition.
Hwang Corps' Annual Celebration was the highlight of the year, but no one expected that it would end because of Hwang Na-ri being sent to the hospital.
Inside the quiet VIP hospital room, Hwang Na-ri was hooked up to a drip as she leaned weakly against the headboard. Her face looked pale and exhausted.
Elder Hwang walked in with his walking stick and sat down on the edge of Hwang Na-ri's bed, while a.s.sistant Leng and Boah stood to one side. Although there were plenty of people watching over her, none of them were people that she wanted to see.
"Grandfather, don't you think you were too ruthless?" Hwang Na-ri suddenly said with a raspy voice after a moment of silence. Tears slowly seeped out of her eyes, "I am your granddaughter as well. Why do you only dote on Tiffany?"
"You've given Tiffany the entire Hwang Corps and haven't left me with even a dime..."
"Do you know how much hate I feel?"
After hearing Hwang Na-ri's words, Elder Hwang lowered his head for a moment before looking up and saying, "The most important thing for you right now is to take care of yourself. The doctor said you almost had a miscarriage."
"Grandfather...how could you go to such extremes?"
"Hwang Na-ri..." Boah spoke up on behalf of Elder Hwang, but Elder Hwang held her back.
"Perhaps, to you, I may seem really cruel because I am the most ruthless towards you," after a short pause, he continued, "But, have you ever wondered why?"
Hwang Na-ri looked away without responding.
It was almost like Elder Hwang's mistreatment of her was the entire cause of everything that had happened.
"Grandfather once loved you and even hurt Tiffany for over 20 years because of you. But, what did I get in return? Na-ri, be honest with me. What did you do to Fany ?"
Hwang Na-ri suddenly froze. She did not dare to look Elder Hwang in the eyes because of guilt.
"You've done plenty of bad things in the past, but grandfather has always turned a blind eye to it. However, I never expected that you'd team up with the hospital to get my Fany 's uterus removed."
"Then there's Boah. Over the years, she's upheld her responsibilty towards the Hwang Family. Even though she's not your birth mother, she's sacrificed herself and her own daughter just to make you guys feel comfortable. Yet, what did you do in return? You actually found someone to kidnap her."
As soon as Hwang Na-ri heard Elder Hwang mention these two incidences, her eyes grew big in shock, "Did Tiffany tell you..."
"I knew from the start," Elder Hwang directly cut in, "From the very start..."
"In other words..."
"In other words, I spent everyday facing such a cruel granddaughter but never got to see her turn back. Instead, I found myself becoming more and more disappointed in her. As a result, grandfather no longer feels an ounce of sympathy towards you," Elder Hwang said coldly.
Hwang Na-ri thought about the act she had been putting on for so long and how she thought she had the Hwang Family playing into her hands.
Hwang Na-ri's heart suddenly turned cold...
In fact, she began to laugh at herself inside. It seemed, she had been too self-centered.
"I guess all of you viewed me as an idiot?"
It turned out, in front of the Hwang Family, they had already seen through her from the start...
"You guys really know how to put on an act. No wonder you created an actress like Tiffany. You should all go and be actors," Hwang Na-ri yelled at Elder Hwang and the others, "Leave! All of you! I don't want to see any of you! Get lost!"
So this was the true humiliation that Tiffany gave her.
She was so humiliated that she wanted to dig a hole and bury herself inside.
Elder Hwang and the others did not say another word. They simply called for the personal caretaker and asked her to watch over Hwang Na-ri before they left the hospital and disappeared from Hwang Na-ri's sight.
"Miss Hwang, you need to get some rest. By the way, the Hwang Family is surrounded by good news. I looked at the photos in the newspaper and it appears that Miss Tiffany is also pregnant," the caretaker suddenly pulled out a newspaper to show Hwang Na-ri after Elder Hwang and the others left.
"What did you say?" Hwang Na-ri turned to look at the woman.
"Although she's trying hard to conceal it, most doctors can easily tell that she is obviously a few months pregnant..."
Tiffany is also pregnant?
That's impossible!
Because of the caretaker's words, Hwang Na-ri immediately s.n.a.t.c.hed the newspaper out of her hands and scanned Tiffany's photo in detail.
"Even if she found out that I tried to get her uterus removed, it's true that she can't fall pregnant! You're lying to me!"
"Miss Hwang, although I'm already retired, I still have over 20 years experience. If I say she's pregnant, then it's certain. It's up to you whether you decide to believe me or not," faced with doubt, the woman simply emphasized what she saw.
In reality, it really wasn't hard to tell.
But, because of the previous rumors that Tiffany couldn't fall pregnant, no one thought otherwise.
Hwang Na-ri tried to imagine Tiffany's recent figure in detail. In the end, her lips curved upwards in self-mockery, "Is there any difference to me whether she is pregnant or not? I've already lost everything..."
After all, everyone in the Hwang Family already knew about her bad deeds. Would anyone still show her pity?
No!
"I'm sure you will make a fair sum of money if you reveal this to the paparazzi," the caretaker joked.
Over the past few days, because of the end of the year, everyone's attention was focused on the FT Awards.
The FT Awards was a recognition from professionals in the field. This year's main judge was the previous winner of The FT Lifetime Contribution Award. Under him were 2 team leaders and over 20 well-experienced artists, actors and directors. Elder Kim was one of these team leaders.
As it was almost time to announce the nominees for all categories, the judges were frantically trying to get their votes in. However, Taeyeon only signed Tiffany up for The Best Newcomer Award using 'W.H.'.
The Best Newcomer Award...
On the surface, it appeared like an easy award to win. But, in reality, there was a large number of nominees and they were all equally talented.
Meanwhile, the audience votes had also begun. As soon as voting started online, fans immediately flocked to cast their votes.
At this time, a small interlude happened.
Because Tiffany's character in her latest film was very popular, plenty of fans decided to cast votes for her. So many fans tried to log on at the same time that the website ended up cras.h.i.+ng. When voting finally resumed, it was discovered that the organizers had wiped a few of the nominees' votes completely clean. This was because they believed that some fans had cheated and cast multiple votes.
"Cheating? Does our Tiffany need to cheat?" Sunny was sitting in front of the computer.
Seeing that the other nominees had hundreds of thousands of votes while Tiffany's were only two figures, Sunny couldn't help but point out the injustice.
"Up until this point, the FT Awards has always been fair. If the organizers say that someone cheated, then they cheated," Sooyoung said as he held onto his coffee cup and leaned against Sunny's seat.
"What do you mean?" Sunny glared at Sooyoung.
Seeing his wife's reaction, Sooyoung immediately put down his coffee cup and sat down beside her, "Of course I'm not trying to say that the Madam is cheating. What I mean is...someone deliberately gave their compet.i.tors fake votes."
Sunny nodded her head, "It only counts for 20% of the total, is it necessary?"
"How is it not necessary?" Sooyoung began to explain, "Perhaps, you don't view any significance in this 20%. But, as long as it could be a deciding factor for the final results, other people aren't going to stupid. Why wouldn't one fight for every single vote they can get?"
"What should we do now?" Sunny asked in a frustrated manner as she looked at Tiffany's votes.
She had only ever been the manager of a model, so she didn't know much about the film and television industry. There were many underhanded methods that she wasn't aware of.
"Right now, it's still impossible to find out who did it..." Sooyoung replied with a dull tone.
"So, Tiffany can't do anything but to take the blame?"
"It may not be a bad thing," Sooyoung said with a deeper meaning.
Sunny did not understand what Sooyoung was thinking; she simply trusted her husband. But, she couldn't help but feel a little anxious. After all, this decided whether Tiffany would win an award fairly.
"That's enough. We should believe in the Madam and get some rest." Sooyoung noticed Sunny still looked troubled, so he directly lifted her in his arms.
"Sooyoung..."
"I almost forgot, there's something I want to discuss with you," Sooyoung said gently after he put her down on the soft bed.
"Huh?"
"I've already discussed it with my parents. I want a d.i.n.k (Dual Income, No Kids) family!"
Sunny was stunned for a moment before she asked, "Is it because I can't fall pregnant?"
"How long have we been married? It's normal to not have kids yet. There are plenty of couples that don't have kids until they've been married for a few years. What do you mean you can't fall pregnant?" Sooyoung couldn't help but knock her on the head. "Can you stop a.s.suming that you can't fall pregnant? What if I'm the one that has a problem?"
"You're strong and healthy, how could you have any problems?"
"Well, that's what I told my parents. I told them there's something wrong with me, so they wouldn't get any weird thoughts."
"What?" Sunny's voice increased in volume, "How could you say that to your parents? If I suddenly fall pregnant one day, would they think that I've had an affair?"
After hearing this, Sooyoung burst out laughing, "You always speak before thinking."
"But, I remember that you've always liked kids..."
"If I have to compare kids to you, I like you much more," Sooyoung suddenly hugged Sunny and buried his head into her neck, " You probably don't know how much you mean to me. I don't want you to spend every day just thinking about having kids."
Hearing this, Sunny was quite surprised...
Out of nowhere, her eyes began to heat up as tears naturally rolled out, one drop at a time.
Although their ident.i.ties weren't significant or famous, Sunny knew that she was holding true happiness in her arms.
"Who cares about having kids...I haven't enjoyed the relations.h.i.+p between the two of us enough yet."
Sooyoung sat up and smiled as he kissed her tears away. Just as he was about to move down to her lips, Sunny suddenly gripped onto his hands and said apologetically, "I have my period..."
"What bad timing..." Sooyoung flipped over and lay on his back.
"Unless...you don't mind getting a little b.l.o.o.d.y?"
"What are you thinking about? Go to sleep!" Sooyoung tapped Sunny on the head. After a gentle show of violence, he pulled his woman into his arms and hugged her to sleep.
He wasn't Taeyeon, so he knew that what he wanted to give Sunny wasn't any award, empire or glory; all he wanted to give her, was a warm and happy home.
The next morning, after the vote-clearing incident, Tiffany's vote count once again caught up to the others. Her fans were indeed powerful and loyal.
But, that night, her votes were once again cleared...
Inside the living room of Hyatt Regency, Taeyeon looked at what had happened and furrowed his brows, "I think we can lock down on the culprit very soon."
Tiffany lay down on Taeyeon's lap and said in a gentle voice, "We can't avoid this. Even if my votes keep catching up, it may still end up getting cleared."
"But, you must not know, if someone is suspected of cheating three times, they will immediately be disqualified from audience votes."
"The public won't care if you've been framed or not. All they know is, your votes are always the highest, but keeps getting cleared."
Being in the industry that she was and holding onto the position that she had, even if it was someone else, as long as they stood in someone’s way, their result would be the same.
Thinking of this, her heart sank a little.
Perhaps the person that was playing tricks was determined to make their actress win. But, they couldn’t forget that Tiffany was also competing for the same award this year!
They were influential, but that was only because Taeyeon didn’t normally get involved with the voting process of the FT Awards.
But, this time, they had impacted Tiffany. If someone dared to touch his wife, there was no way he’d let them off easy. Especially when she would be disqualified from receiving audience votes after three warnings. He couldn’t possibly let them effect her votes.
It was impossible!
So, the next morning, a good show played out in front of everyone. Every single nominee was suspected of cheating. In fact, the numbers were more dramatic than the first two times. As a result, not only did the organizers clear all the votes, they also changed the rules for voting.
Each ID number could only vote once and votes from the same IP only counted as one. All the nominees had a fresh start in a fair race.
If anyone dared to compete with Taeyeon, they had to consider their abilities.
Otherwise, they were shooting themselves in the foot!
That night, just as the final votes were piling in, Tiffany received a phone call from Elder Kim, “You don’t have anything that you’d like to ask of grandfather?”
“I’ll let the heavens decide,” Tiffany replied with a smile. “I’ve already done everything I can and should. I have no regrets.”
“That’s the true Kim family spirit…”
Elder Kim originally wanted to praise Tiffany a little more, but her phone was suddenly snatched out of her hand by Taeyeon, “Old man, it’s getting late. Fany needs to sleep.”
“Rascal! Don’t you want to do anything for your wife? Shouldn’t you be asking me to help out behind-the-scenes?”
“Fany doesn’t need help,” Taeyeon replied confidently.
“Fine…”
Seeing Taeyeon’s childish behavior, Tiffany couldn’t help but warn, “Don’t treat grandfather like that next time.”
“I just want you to get some rest. Plus, he’s obviously trying to get acknowledgment of his existence. Don’t let him have his way.”
Hearing Taeyeon’s words, Tiffany couldn’t help but laugh. In the end, she leaned into Taeyeon’s embrace and fell asleep…
…
The next day, outside the Starshine Entertainment Building, it was time to announce the final five nominees. Out of the ten newcomers only five would be selected and, of course, out of the five only one of them would eventually receive an award.
Elder Kim was involved with the voting process, so after the first round of voting, the judges placed the 5th and 6th ranked together to compare.
The actress in the 5th place starred in a surrealist film called ‘Survive’. And sitting in 6th place, was Tiffany…
Tiffany was 6th!
Elder Kim did not understand this result. With Tiffany’s acting abilities, she was more than capable of at least ranking in the top three. Why did she have such a small amount of votes?
“I think we should just eliminate Tiffany. After all, she is relatively new amongst the newcomers, whereas, there is no doubt that the other nominees have more experience, so they must have better acting than her.”
“No doubt?” Elder Kim cut in and scoffed. “The FT Awards isn’t based on experience, it’s based on skills.”
“Elder Kim, those that are sitting here, all have decades of experience. Don’t you think we can tell who can and can’t act? If you’re so good, why don’t you tell us, out of the 10 nominees, who can’t act.”
“You want to talk to me about acting?” Elder Kim wasn’t willing to admit defeat, so he asked for someone to fetch the two films submitted for the two women that were currently in 5th and 6th place. Of course, at a time like this, he had to use comparison to prove his point, “Since we’ve gotten to this point, let’s look at their acting in detail.”
“There’s no point looking at when they entered the industry and how many films they’ve produced, let’s skip that and jump straight to acting ability.”
After speaking, Elder Kim asked for the staff to skip to the climax of both films and broadcasted it on the screen behind them…
The female lead of ‘Survive’ played a blind engineer. To highlight small details, she purposely wore her clothes the wrong way around, and when bullied, she could only kick and punch into thin air. She perfectly portrayed the pitiful nature of a small, insignificant woman.
Then there was ‘W.H.’. The female writer played by Tiffany was worried that she had contracted the virus, so in the scene they were viewing, she was examining her body in the bathroom. From imagining herself turning into a monster to confirming that she had not been infected and looking relieved, her entire performance was extremely smooth and complete. In fact, in just 3 minutes, she displayed a perfect transformation of emotions.
Both women were flawless…
From a glance, it was indeed hard to decide on a winner between the two. However…
…after they finished watching the excerpts from the two films, Elder Kim smiled and said, “It’s not that I want to protect anyone in particular, but there is no reason that Tiffany’s acting makes her deserving of being eliminated.”
“In that case Elder Kim, are you trying to say that we should eliminate the actress from ‘Survive’?”
“I didn’t say that. The young lady’s acting is versatile and full of spirit. I just want to question whether the actresses that are ranked higher, are as flawless as them? I simply don’t understand why, the two actresses with the best acting are ranked 5th and 6th.”
“What are you guys trying to do? I know the higher ranked actresses have more experience and it is time for them to be rewarded, but is the FT Awards that cruel and realistic? This is not an award based on experience. If you want to comfort them on their hard work, you can go buy them a lolly. But, when it comes to judging the FT Awards, it’s best to put away your casual approach.”
After his warning, Elder Kim presented everyone with the profiles and film excerpts of the top 4 actresses. Since ‘some people’ weren’t being fair, then they had no choice but to do some overtime and discuss everything in detail.
“Also, may I ask for the reason why you are all so certain about eliminating Tiffany?”
Hearing this question, everyone fell silent.
“Absolutely ridiculous…”
“Are you guys blind to good acting?” Elder Kim couldn’t help but stick up for what was right and get justice for his granddaughter-in-law. But, Elder Kim had no idea that the real trouble was yet to come.
"Since you guys are seated in this position and are judges, please display your professionalism and objectiveness. What you should be focused on, is an actor's abilities and not their experience."
"I've already said what I needed to say. If you still feel the need to eliminate Tiffany, then I have no objections. But, please provide a reasonable explanation for your decision. Otherwise, the public and I won't be easily convinced," Elder Kim crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned back in his chair. "Let's go around the table. Tell me what you honestly think."
Everyone hesitated for a moment before a senior film critic adjusted the gla.s.ses on his nose and responded, "The FT Awards represents the highest quality art form in the country and is currently held in the highest regard. The person we choose, not only needs to be great at acting, but also needs to be respected by the public."
"The reason I want to eliminate Tiffany is simple, it's because she has too many enemies in the industry. She has a bad reputation, she's arrogant, and she's broken too many rules within the industry."
"When it comes to acting, all 10 nominees can act. But, while some stick to their responsibilities, others create headlines all day long."
"She hasn't produced many films, but news about her has continuously carried on from the beginning of the year until the end. That's why I don't like her."
Elder Kim nodded his head and asked the others, "What about you guys? Do you also think this way?"
"More or less..."
"Me too..."
"If this is your way of being objective, then you should do some research into the other nominees. Do you truly understand all of them?" Elder Kim questioned. "I would like to know, how does Tiffany have a bad reputation?"
Everyone was suddenly faced with a difficult question. But, they maintained their opinion.
"Fine, since none of you have anything to say, it must mean you truly dislike Tiffany and won't vote for her sincerely; I won't force you. I'll simply show you one last thing," Elder Kim waved at a staff member and whispered a few words into his ear.
No one could predict what Elder Kim had planned. All they could do was wait as the staff retrieved behind-the-scenes footage from 'W.H.'.
Elder Kim disregarded everything else and directly broadcasted the footage onto the screen.
He allowed everyone to clearly witness how Tiffany filmed her fight scenes in water, how she escaped from the jungle and how she put in all her effort to practice when no one was looking...
"When it comes to filming, she puts in as much effort as everyone else. In fact, she may suffer a bit more than the average actor. Did you all think that the film was easy to make? She worked on it, one step at a time. How could you disregard the hard work of others because of your prejudice?"
"I have no say when it comes to her other ident.i.ties. But, when it comes to being an actress, I don't understand why you are all against her."
"Also, when it comes to reputation, it seems we are living in very different worlds. From what I know, Tiffany's fans truly admire her and she is loved by almost everyone in Seoul. I don't understand why you think she is full of enemies. And arrogant? Huh? Please explain!"
Everyone lowered their heads, unable to refute.
"How about this, let's postpone the selection for another day. I'll let you all go home and think things over carefully before we come to a decision."
Sometimes, one could not explain why they disliked someone. Perhaps, these people did not like that a simple woman like Tiffany could perform better than a man.
"Let's postpone until tomorrow. We can come to a decision tomorrow."
Everyone probably felt that Elder Kim was asking for the votes to be reviewed, simply because he was trying to justify for Tiffany's flaws. This was the first time something like this had occurred during the FT Awards.
"No matter when it gets postponed until, my decision is firm," the man with the gla.s.ses said, before he stood up and left the room.
This was destined to be an unhappy discussion.
Of course, this was not something that was unexpected of the FT Awards. After all, the judging panel consisted of well-experienced professionals. So, for the sake of art, they would argue over the smallest detail. But, it did not sound good when news of the disagreement spread to the ma.s.ses.
After all, with Elder Kim and Tiffany's relations.h.i.+p, Elder Kim was bound to be suspected of being bias towards his granddaughter-in-law, regardless of what he did.
"Is there even a question as to who would win the FT Award? It's bound to be Tiffany."
"According to sources from within the industry, a decision was already set, but Elder Kim refused to accept the results. It seems, he is determined to make Tiffany win."
"Is the FT Awards going to lose its usual fairness?"
During this incident, the votes that belonged to Tiffany were cleared, while the nomination that belonged to her, was considered as 'having back-up'...
For Tiffany, the situation seemed a bit bleak.
"President, how should we handle the matter?" Sooyoung asked worriedly as he stood inside Taeyeon's office. "I don't understand why these people are so blind."
"Although Elder Kim attracted a lot of trouble, he actually did something good for once. At least he gave Tiffany a chance to have the votes reviewed."
"What if the results don't change?"
Taeyeon did not respond, so Sooyoung did not dare to continue asking. After all, the problem this time was a lot more difficult than usual.
"We need to solve the displeasure that these people have."
He did not expect them to be objective, but he at least hoped that they wouldn't use a casual reason to eliminate Tiffany from top 5.
"I never thought that receiving an award would be this difficult," Sunny said as she supported Tiffany while they strolled through the gardens of Hyatt Regency.
"It has never been an easy task to achieve. Just like it wasn't easy to become a supermodel," Tiffany sighed.
"But, doesn't your heart ache? You were originally deserving of the award, but now, even if you win, you will simply feel relief rather than excitement."
"I believe that the organising committee will give me a fair judgment. The FT Awards is, after all, the FT Awards, they will definitely protect its glory."
"You are always so confident," Sunny grinned disdainfully, "If I was you, I would have given up hope a long time ago."
Tiffany was unfazed because she had long expected that plenty of people would compete for such a precious award...
Plus, she was never one to sit around and do nothing.
While Sunny was in a panic, Tiffany smiled as she shook Sunny's arms, "Don't worry. What is mine, is mine, no one can take it away from me."
"You have a plan, don't you?" Sunny suddenly realized an underlying message to Tiffany's words.
"I will simply get the fairness that I deserve," Tiffany said with a deeper meaning as she turned her head.
*********
(1) yesterday I'm fall asleep... Sorry