Essie was surprised when she received a call from Mandy.
Apparently, she had already arrived in Dragon City and since she wasn't really familiar with the place,
she asked Essie if she could tour her around and take her to some good shopping spots.
Right after her phone call with Mandy, Essie remembered that Eva had also arrived in the city
yesterday to prepare for the initial audition of War Emperor. She quickly dialed her number and invited
her out so that the three of the could have a happy get-together.
Dragon City was a paradise for shoppers: you could buy everything from cheap goods to the most
expensive luxury products. The city was committed to fulfilling the needs and wants of everyone in
every consumption level.
Essie went to the hotel to pick up Eva first, and together they went to the shopping street to look for
Mandy.
Mandy was in a Starbucks. She looked gloomy all alone but the moment she saw Essie coming
towards her, her face brightened up and a big smile appeared on her face.
"Have you been waiting long, Mandy?" Essie asked with a smile.
"No," Mandy responded, smiling back. "I just got here from the hotel!" As she said that, she caught a
glimpse of Eva beside Essie. It surprised her because she didn't expect her to be there. "You two have
been staying together recently?" she asked.
"No," Eva answered, chuckling a bit. "I arrived here yesterday to take part in a play's initial audition
process. I want to try my luck and see if I can snatch the main role!" Despite that, Eva was somewhat
confident about her chances of getting the main role. "How about you, Mandy?" she asked. "Are you on
a holiday here or something?"
"Yes," Mandy answered. "I've taken a few days off of work because I want to go shopping. I originally
invited Essie but you should really come along! I hear it's really nice here. Also, the three of us haven't
really been together for a long time," Mandy suggested, a warm smile on her face.
"You know what, sure!" Eve exclaimed. "I am always busy, so busy looking for acting jobs and doing
some extra work on the sidelines that it's been really rare for me to be with any of my friends!" Eva
enclosed Mandy and Essie in one big hug.
After they had their coffee, they went to the market to see what if they could find something nice to buy.
The moment Mandy saw the Hermes store, she immediately walked towards it and entered. Eva was
not really interested in luxury items because she could not afford them. If she barely had the ability to
buy food and clothing, how would she able to afford such unnecessary riches? Essie, on the other
hand, never bought luxury items mainly because she was a designer. Instead of spending her money
on overpriced goods, she just made her own clothes and bags.
After Mandy went around the store, she took a fancy platinum-colored crocodile skin bag and put it in
front of Essie. "This is the one, Essie," she said excitedly. "This will suit you and your style very well!"
Essie jokingly rolled her eyes. "I'm never short of those things," she said, chuckling. "You know that."
"True, true," Eva added, chuckling as well. "Well, look at mine." She showed off her bag to Mandy.
"Latest limited edition of Summer 100℃, still not on the market!" Recently, she had been promoted
from being Essie's model to being a spokesperson for her brand. Because of that, she would receive
bags and clothes for free.
Mandy sighed, also rolling her eyes. "You two are not fun to shop with! I cannot believe you have better
stuff what's in here!" she said in a fake-angry tone. She couldn't help but find her whole act absurd, so
she ended up laughing hard.
Essie laughed as well. "Even though we don't have any plans on buying bags here, we can still give
you some solid advice," she said.
At that statement, Eva couldn't help but pout. "I want to buy them, too, you know," she said gloomily.
"But everything in here literally cost at least one hundred thousand dollars! Even if I work for a day I
wouldn't be able to make enough money to afford them!"
Essie held her shoulders and rubbed them to comfort her. "Hey now," she said sweetly. "I'm sure you'll
be known as this country's best actress soon. Once you get that role in War Emperor, everyone in this
country will definitely love you and support you. And they'll give you gifts like this!"
Eva leaned her head against Essie's chest and sighed deeply. "To be honest, I don't expect much,
though I am confident with my skills. I am almost sure that Jim will ruin my chances of being part of that
project!"
"Eva, you need to stop thinking that!" Essie firmly said. "Also, even if you don't get the female leading
role, you will definitely land a supporting role. As long as you are good at acting, which I know you are,
it really doesn't matter what role you have in a drama. People will love and support you! Haven't Nicole
and Zoe told you this?" she continued.
Zac was one of the investors in the broadcasting company that would air War Emperor. Now, even if he
wouldn't be able to choose the female lead, he, however, would be able to decide who to cast in the
minor roles.
After hearing what Essie said, Eva's eyes widened. She straightened up immediately, her face all
flushed.
Eva wasn't that greedy about getting the leading role, but if the opportunity presented itself, she would
definitely take advantage of it.
When Mandy heard what they were talking about, her face became awash with an expression that was
somewhat peculiar. "How are you so confident?" she asked Essie. "Have you found some kind of a
backer?" While her statement was accusatory, the smirk on her lips made it clear that she was just
teasing her.
"Not a chance," Essie responded in a faux angry tone. "I'm just comforting her as a friend. She has
good looks and excellent acting skills. I know deep inside that she will definitely be chosen for a role."
"You're right," Mandy said. "But you know what's the truth? Eva would have been incredibly popular by
now if she just pulled the right strings and sided with the right people," she mysteriously said, her smile
meaningful. "Tell me Essie, you became popular thanks to that variety show Beauty on Runway, right?
Who did you have to call to make that happen?"
Eva looked scandalized. "What? Our Essie is a talented designer who is loved by the professor at
Istituto Marangoni! She has beauty, grace, and great personality—of course thousands of people will
be fascinated by her!"
"You can stop that now," said Essie, patting Eva's forehead. "You're great, too."
Mandy looked at them, pursed her lips, and rolled her eyes. "Stop trying to hype each other up. I know
how the entertainment industry works. If you don't have a way in, no matter how talented you are or
how hard you work, you won't be famous."
"Girls," Essie said, annoyance now evident in her voice. "Let's stop talking about this topic before it
gets out of hand. Let's just continue looking at beautiful yet incredibly expensive handbags." She
wanted them to stop talking about it because if it continued, she felt that she would only be compelled
to have Zac's identity revealed.
They shopped until high noon, and when it was time to have lunch, the three women went to a well-
known steakhouse to have a meal.
Being a foodie, Eva's eyes immediately lit up when she saw the delicious food they ordered.
She ended up ordering two sets of full menus in order to try everything in the menu. Surprisingly, she
finished them all with great ease. It was as if she had been eating such an amount of food ever since
she was born.
Mandy was speechless. "Wow, Eva," she said, mouth agape. "Aren't you afraid of getting fat? Look at
how much you ate!"
Eva only smiled and waved her hand to signal a no. "My blood type is B, so my body is better at
digesting food than others. I've been eating like this ever since I could remember and not once did I
gain too much weight!"
With a mocking smile on her face, Essie said, "That's right. When we were little, while all of us were
watching out weights, she just ate what she wanted. Yet she is the thinnest person among us!I It's
unfair because people with a type B blood will never have a problem in life, unlike the rest of us!"
"Shut up, Essie," Eva said, chuckling. "I am too thin. I don't like it." She then heaved a deep sigh and
began to feel down because she recalled the way Jim looked at her breasts. She crossed her arms in
front of her chest to hide her main point of insecurity and then looked Essie up and down. "Why do you
have a perfect figure?" she suddenly asked. "Your fats are all in the right places!"
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