After three more scenes, it was finally Elara’s scene again, and she went back to the stairs where she was supposed to act her part.
"Who was the one singing? I have heard this voice before. I always thought it was you, Seraphina. If it wasn’t you, then who...?" Mason looked towards the stairs, where he couldn’t find anyone because Elara was hiding behind the railings.
Seraphina looked at Carla, signaling her to go up to check what was going on.
"It’s nothing, Peter. That was just my teacher, who is preparing for my next singing lesson. You know how the university focuses on vocals. I want to be at least able to stand beside the lead singer," Seraphina said before she held Mason’s hand and pulled him towards the exit.
The camera then focused on Elara, who stood behind the railings, looking at Mason’s back.
She lifted her hand as if wanting to call him, but before she could call the man, someone held her hand.
"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Carla grabbed Elara’s hand a bit too tightly, and Elara winced in pain.
"What are you doing? It’s hurting," Elara’s eyes brimmed with tears.
Carla’s eyes flashed with malice.
"You dared to open your mouth to sing? Hasn’t Seraphina already warned you against it? No matter what, you are not to sing around Peter. But it looks like you don’t understand. Let me teach you a good lesson this time," Carla said before she grabbed Elara’s hair and pulled her towards the staircase.
Elara’s character, already malnourished, staggered towards the staircase.
The ropes were already tied to the belt around her waist to lessen the momentum and speed.
Carla acted professionally till then, not applying any unnecessary force, but then...
"I hope this will put you in your place," Carla whispered in her ear before she pushed Elara.
The camera immediately followed Elara’s movement.
The producer stood from his seat when he realized the speed at which she was falling was a bit too much with the tensile strength of the rope and the impact might hurt her head.
"Quickly! Add another mattress. Hold it," The producer shouted, not caring about the shot.
Director Han furrowed his brows and looked up, his pupils dilating when he realized Elara was about to hit the railing corner and it would split her head open.
The props team quickly moved. They grabbed the mattress, ready to push it in the direction she would fall in.
"Elara!" someone shouted from the crowd, and before they could see who it was, a man ran towards her.
Elara, who had expected to hit the mattress and cover her face, forming a cocoon shape, opened her eyes when she didn’t feel the pain she thought she would.
Someone took the pain on her behalf, and she looked at the man who did.
"Gosh!" The man groaned under her.
Elara’s eyes darkened when she saw who it was.
"Elara, are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere? Let me see," the man said before he cupped her face.
Elara, who didn’t want people to misunderstand and create rumors, snapped his hand.
"I am fine," she said.
Andrew looked at her cold eyes before he stood with the help of the crew members.
"What kind of lousy preparations did you guys do? Don’t you know how risky such scenes are? Didn’t you check the rope and the grip? What if something had happened to my wi—" Andrew stopped himself in time, his eyes landing on Elara, his mind jogging up the memories of the divorce papers they both signed.
"Sir, we had checked everything, but it looks like Miss Carla accidentally pushed Miss Elara a bit too strongly," one of the props team members said.
Andrew looked up at Carla, whose pupils dilated when she noticed the anger in her brother’s eyes.
"What were you—"
"Get away from her," Mason said as he walked to where they were standing before he grabbed Elara’s hand and pulled her close.
"Are you okay?" He asked, his eyes raking over her face before he examined her hands, and was about to get on his knees to examine her feet when the girl stopped him.
"Nothing happened to me. Thanks to Mr. Lloyd for saving me just now. I am sure Miss Carla didn’t mean to harm me. She must’ve gotten into the role too much. It happens. After all, we are not professional actors here." Elara smiled before waving her hand to dismiss the matter.
Everyone praised Elara for her professionalism, while Beatrice looked at Carla, who gritted her teeth because her plan had failed since it wasn’t something she would be able to pull off again.
"Dude, what has gotten into you? First, you are the meal Beatrice brought to you, and then you forgave Carla so easily. This was a good chance for you to taint her name. Don’t you know a couple of paparazzi are hiding among the crew?" Mason asked, well aware of what she suffered in that household.
Elara smiled.
It was precisely why she was acting so polite and going along with the drama. She had seen the ID card of the man who was wearing the blue hat and pretending to be a prop artist.
Others might not know, but she has been observing him, and from the way he was stealing some photos, her suspicions strengthened.
"That’s exactly why I am being polite. I could’ve exposed her, but it would’ve been temporary. I want to destroy them slowly. Permanently," Elara said.
She stood from the stool and walked out to tell everyone she was ready for the shoot again, only to hear Andrew ask the director to wrap it up for the day.
Elara knew the man would definitely use this opportunity to talk to her, and she was honestly in no mood to do so.
Besides, she had scheduled a dinner with her grandfather. Thus, she informed the producer that she was leaving and thought she needed some time off; no one said anything.
"Andrew, what brought you here? I thought you said you would be busy since Uncle Heather would return today." Beatrice subtly touched his hand.
The man, who was looking for Elara—the only reason he bothered to keep the work aside and come here was that he was missing her—looked at her impatiently before sighing.
"I came for Elara. And for Carla. After all, it was their first day of acting," he said.
Beatrice’s smile faltered. The man didn’t even bother to mention her name.
"Hey, you are talking like I don’t matter to you at all." She slapped his hand in a joking manner, and the man smiled.
"You know that’s not the case. You are very important to me," the man said, and Beatrice smirked as she saw a few members known for gossiping stop.
She was sure they heard it themselves, and it was more than enough for her to exert her dominance here.