Stella shut the door behind her. The flush of red on her cheeks vanished instantly.
Now, only cold indifference remained on her face.
It was now early evening. While Weston had been busy working in the bedroom, Stella herself had been
poring over the script for hours. Now devoted to the art of acting, she was well aware that she had
neither formal training nor any experience to speak of, so she had to rely on hard work and determination
to build up her skills. Bradley Lane once told her that she possessed a unique aura. Stella didn‘t quite
understand what he meant, but she did notice that while acting, she found it very easy to get into
character and completely empathize with the character she was playing. She had gone through the
scripts so many times now that she felt as if she truly inhabited that world.
She closed the script and sighed softly. Her character had noticed that everyone was paying more
attention to the heroine. At first, she told herself that it was understandable that the masters focussed on
the heroine since she had gone missing since she was a child. Slowly, however, she realized that the
more affection they showed to the heroine, the less attention they would give her, giving rise to envy and
jealousy.
It wasn‘t that the masters had been treating her badly, though. It was just basic human nature to feel
insecure and competitive when there were rivals. This had been true since time immemorial.
Stella had to admit that this was a well–written character, complex, dynamic, and multi dimensional. She
was petty and disgraceful, yet her fate was sad and tragic. Meanwhile, Weston was just about to be done
working for the day when his father suddenly called.
“Where are you?” his father asked in a glum voice. Weston had never been particularly close to his
father. To the outside world, Chris Ford appeared to be a loving father and Weston seemed like a
devoted son, but only the two of them knew that their relationship had soured almost to the point of
animosity.
As for the reason why, even Weston himself wasn‘t sure anymore.
“What do you want?” Weston asked tersely.
“Do I have to want something to call you?” answered Chris, irritated even though he did indeed want
something from Weston.
He didn‘t like the tone Weston used. He was his father, after all. He should be able to call his
own son without needing any particular reason. “If you have something to say,” Weston replied as he
massaged his temples, “then just say it. I don‘t have time for your long–winded speech.”
Weston realized that his temperature had increased, possibly because he‘d been slogging like a mule all
afternoon. In the past, something as trivial as a cold wouldn‘t faze him–he just needed a few hours of
rest and he‘d be as good as new.
But it hadn‘t been so this time. It seemed that this cold was hitting him harder than expected. “I‘ve heard
what happened yesterday,” Chris continued, seemingly not noticing anything wrong with Weston‘s raspy
voice. “What exactly is going on between you and Guinevere?” The Cohen family did not make too much
of a fuss about Weston‘s refusal to get a marriage certificate with Guinevere since it would hurt more
than benefit if they forced Weston to do what he didn‘t want to do. But if problems arose in the
relationship between Weston and Guinevere, things could get really worrisome. Weston listened quietly
to his father for a while before bursting into laughter that reeked of mockery.
..
“Do you still think that I have feelings for her?!” he taunted. The derision in Weston‘s voice was not lost
on Chris. “...but the way things stand now,” he muttered, “there is just no turning back. In any case, just
think of it as a plea from your father...” “Weston,” he added after a pause. “You must know how damaging
this would be to our family if the truth gets exposed, don‘t you?” Weston said nothing. “All the things that
the Fords have built through pain, sweat, and tears will be obliterated in an instant,” Chris continued.
“Doesn‘t that bother you? Our family will be turned into a laughing stock! And with your mom‘s weak
heart...” “Don‘t drag her into this!” Weston angrily interrupted. “You have no right to even talk about her!“
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