The media were in a frenzy. What does Eric Roberts mean by this? Does he intend to sign Emma Miller? Is this some kind of joke? Whatever the explanation, the reporters no longer dared to focus on Emma. Instead, they shifted the blame to Global Pictures.
Global’s troubles began, and at first, Amber Lee’s assistant received the blame. If he couldn’t even handle such a small matter, what else would he do wrong? Emma seemed unfazed by the uproar, maintaining an expression of unruffled calm. She changed her clothes and left the event. As she stepped out of the side door, she spotted Eric Roberts’ sports car waiting for her.
“Get in quickly,” he said. Emma got in the car, exceptionally grateful for what he had done. “Thank you for today,” Eric’s eyes slightly narrowed as he smirked. “Did you think I would allow someone to bully my wife in front of everyone?”
“Actually, I didn’t deserve your help. I intentionally allowed everyone to figure out who I really was,” she explained unapologetically.
He looked her straight in the eyes. “I know, but you should have asked me for help. Sacrificing yourself to get back at someone is a bit self-destructive, don’t you think?”
“Maybe. Where should I drop you off?”
“Your home. Aren’t we a married couple now?” Emma replied. Since she had made the decision to get married, she was not going to go back on her word nor feel any regret.
“Are you sure? Not only are we married, but tonight is our wedding night,” Emma blushed but nodded firmly. “I am very thankful that you didn’t reveal our relationship, but from now on, I insist that you stay neutral. I want to rely on myself to do what needs to be done.”
Eric did not protest. He enjoyed the idea of a woman who did not want to use him as a stepping stone to her own advancement. He decided to sit back and see what Emma could accomplish. The couple set off.
Not long after, Emma received a phone call from her manager Lisa. “Already found evidence of Amber’s pregnancy. What do you want me to do with it? Also, viral. What’s the plan?”
“Lisa, are you willing to stick with me?”
“Do you even have to ask?” Lisa replied.
“Or earlier, but I need to be clear. By doing this, you’ll be going up against Global Pictures,” exclaimed.
“We should…” [Applause] [Laughter]
Emma hung up, and a peaceful silence settled in the car. But deep down, Emma was nervous. What did Eric think of her? She began to speak, but Eric interrupted. “No need to explain. I heard your conversation just now. I heard it all. But I have one question: Have you always been this honest?”
They had pulled up at a red light, and Eric took the opportunity to reach out and gently turn her face toward him so he could examine her with his eagle-like gaze. “I’ll always be honest with you, and I really mean that,” Emma said, revealing her loyalty. “I don’t want you to misunderstand what’s going on and think badly of me.”
Eric was taken aback for a moment, but then he said, “If I were you, I would take things even further.” He must have guessed by now what was going on between Emma, Amber, and Nathan. His offer of support deepened Emma’s appreciation for her new husband. She vowed to herself that no matter what, she would remember that day and the promises she made to Eric forever.
Meanwhile, Nathan was really in disbelief from receiving the news of Emma’s exposure on stage. At this same moment, he received a call from Justin Taylor, notifying him of Bellamy’s intention to take Global Pictures Entertainment to court for breach of contract. Instantly, Global had gotten itself into a heap of trouble, and rumors were spreading across the internet like wildfire.
Amber focused on the video of Emma’s performance on stage, pulled Nathan towards her. “Look, she wanted to be recognized. She knows the biggest difference between us is our legs. She did it on purpose.”
“Amber, Emma isn’t like that, and you know it. It’s not the first time she stood in for you. So what you’re saying is that you trust her?”
“Don’t be stupid, Nathan. Someone’s going to have to take the blame for all this. Do you really want to lose the Bellamy contract? Do you want to tell everyone that you were the one who asked Emma to stand in for me? If you do that, it’ll be the end for us. What are you suggesting?”
“For the sake of Global Pictures, you need to make an announcement. You need to tell everyone that you were completely unaware of any of this and the whole thing was just Emma trying to create hype. You can say that’s why she went behind our backs and pretended to be me. I guess under the circumstances, that’s all we can do,” Nathan nodded in agreement.
But as he was about to pick up the phone to contact Global’s head of PR, he received a call from his assistant. “Quick, Mr. Davis, check headlines! Emma’s manager has just broken his story.”
Nathan quickly jumped online to search the news feeds. To his disbelief, he saw that Emma’s manager was already a step ahead of them. She had revealed that Nathan had forced Emma to stand in for Amber multiple times over the past three years. She had even posted pictures of the two models as proof and claimed that Emma had been bullied for many years.
Seething with anger, Nathan contacted Emma’s manager, Lisa. “Are you crazy?” Lisa’s laughter resounded on the other end of the call. She calmly responded, “I wanted to leave your lousy company for a long time,” and hung up the phone. “Nathan, this is definitely Emma’s doing,” Amber said.
“Quick, we need to cover it up somehow,” Nathan immediately started contacting his connections in the media. He quickly had them prioritizing posting the announcement he had prepared earlier, alleging that Emma was just trying to grab the spotlight. In no time at all, Emma and Global Pictures Entertainment were trending.
Nolan was aware of the relationship between Emma and Eric Roberts, and no one was brave enough to risk offending Nathan Davis. So, at first, Emma was definitely on the wrong side of public opinion, attracting an avalanche of hateful comments. Just as it started to look like her reputation had been damaged beyond repair, the term “Emma stand-in” jumped to the top of search rankings.
Search results were all leading to the news Lisa had released earlier, that Emma was the real victim. Lisa’s story had come out first, and the online community made their own decisions. On top of everything else, the fact that Emma had filled in for Amber so many times without causing any trouble and was still being used became the deciding factor. Opinion turned strongly in Emma’s favor.
In disbelief, Nathan picked up his phone and contacted his PR team, ordering them to spend however much it took to discredit Emma and bury her news. Meanwhile, Eric was on calls with his contacts. “If Eva’s name disappears from the search rankings, you and your company are done.”
