After the film wrapped up, it was time for the busy promotional period.
Sophie Smith looked at the schedule Julia Brown handed over, feeling a bit of a headache as she saw the packed itinerary.
"Sophie, don’t be discouraged. What star doesn’t want a full schedule? You need more appearances so people can remember you," Julia said.
What Julia said seemed to make sense, and Sophie could only internally agree.
She suddenly remembered something—Edward Harrison had mentioned he successfully auditioned for a leading role in a TV drama. She wondered how it was going and realized she should call and ask him.
"Edward, has the TV series started filming? How are you feeling about it?" Sophie eagerly asked as soon as the call connected.
"Well..." Edward hesitated.
"What’s wrong?" Sensing something off in Edward’s tone, Sophie asked, "Is there some kind of change?"
"Yes, the filming is about to start, but the investors suddenly decided not to use me. They said if the producers insisted on me, they’d pull their funding."
"What? How could this happen? Why did they suddenly change a settled matter?"
"Little Sophie, don’t worry, it’s okay." Edward comforted softly from the other end, even though he was the one facing difficulty, he kept consoling her.
"By the way, who are the investors?"
"The Golden Era Consortium."
That must be Asher Land’s idea. Why did he want to replace Edward? Though he had seen Edward twice, he didn’t know his name.
"Edward, I’m hanging up now. I need to find Asher Land to get to the bottom of this."
Edward still wanted to say something, but Sophie had already hung up.
"What do you want to clarify?"
Sophie turned around and bumped into Asher. She felt a sudden panic and took a few steps back.
"Tell me, what do you want to ask?"
"Was it your idea to replace Edward?"
She wasn’t sure if Asher would understand what she was implying. Her words were simple, but if Asher was the instigator, he would surely know what she meant.
"Yes." Asher answered crisply. As expected, he was the mastermind behind it all.
"Because he’s the one you like."
Sophie felt helpless. Why did he have to involve Edward in their disputes? "Yes, I like Edward, but that’s just my unrequited, self-indulgent feeling. There’s no possibility between us emotionally. I don’t understand what you’re trying to achieve with this?"
"I did it because my woman has another man in her heart."
Unrequited? Self-indulgent?
Why did he feel uncomfortable upon hearing those words?
Sophie was momentarily speechless. She knew Asher’s personality well, his character was very strong-willed and domineering, with extremely strong possessiveness.
"Can you give Edward a chance? I promise I’ll keep my distance from him."
"Is that all?" Asher was clearly not interested in her promise.
"Then what else do you want?" Edward was the closest person to her. Whenever something happened, he was the first one she thought of. Agreeing to keep her distance from Edward was already her biggest concession. Just what more did he want?
"Sophie, is this your attitude when asking for a favor?" Asher stood with arms crossed, looking down at her.
"Fine, whatever you say goes. Whatever you want me to do, I’ll agree to. Just please give Edward a chance, don’t replace him."
"Is that your word?" A smile of successful scheming flashed in Asher’s eyes. Even though Sophie felt a bit apprehensive, she had to bite the bullet and agree for Edward’s sake.
"Alright, come with me."
"Where to?" Sophie asked out of habit.
"Didn’t you just say whatever I say goes, that you’d agree to whatever I want you to do? Why are you still asking now?" Asher used her words against her, and she couldn’t help but feel regretful internally. It was settled now, Asher had clearly got her cornered.