Now that her solo shoot had ended, it was time to get ready for the cover shoot. Emma stepped out of the studio to allow time for the next set to be arranged and to change her clothes. However, when she returned to the dressing room, she found Amber’s assistant standing guard at the door.
“Nathan’s inside with Amber. He’ll have to wait,” Gary said brusquely.
Emma just glanced at Gary before gently pushing him aside and opening the door. Inside the room, Amber and Nathan were intertwined on the couch, passionately kissing. The scene was eerily like the night when Emma had first discovered the two of them fooling around. He couldn’t decide if they were deliberately trying to hurt her or if they were just completely oblivious to anyone else.
Unlike the night before her wedding to Nathan, Emma wasn’t angry or hurt. They no longer had that power over her. Now she only had disdain for them. Tearing the door open and seeing Emma, Nathan pushed Amber off his lap.
“We’ll continue back at the hotel tonight,” he said, straightening his collar. “I love you, Nathan.”
Amber took the opportunity to declare her love proudly. After all, she had stolen Nathan, the best thing Emma had ever owned, or so she thought. It was hard to tell what brought her more satisfaction—stealing from Emma or having someone to love.
“I love you too, babe,” Nathan stood up, all business again. “You’ll both be doing your photo shoot together in a moment. Make sure to coordinate well with each other and don’t cause any trouble. And I’m talking to both of you now.”
“Nathan, don’t you know Emma by now? She’s just here to cause trouble, isn’t she?” Nathan rolled his eyes a little but didn’t say anything. After all, Amber had been the one to insult Emma during the interview earlier that day, but he didn’t want to point that out now and risk upsetting her just before the shoot.
Emma didn’t bother to respond to either of them. Using her fluent Spanish, she simply asked the stylist and makeup artist to continue their work. Nathan left the room with an angry expression on his face, passing by some staff. He took the opportunity to ask them how Amber’s solo shots had gone.
“She has a very promising future,” one of them responded. “She’s very beautiful,” said another. But when he asked them about Emma, they all smiled excitedly but didn’t offer an opinion. Emma had been so perfect; they couldn’t find the words to express their thoughts. But Nathan misunderstood their silence. If they had nothing to say about Emma, then Amber must have outperformed her.
The stylist had prepared one black and one white outfit. The plan was to make them appear like sisters. Both models knew that Emma was supposed to wear white, as the stylist had earlier said that lighter colors suited Emma. But Amber ran over and snatched the white dress for herself.
“Uh, excuse me,” the stylist stammered. “I thought Emma should wear that one.”
She was in a difficult position. “It’s fine,” Emma said without even blinking an eye. “As long as Amber is sure, she won’t regret it.”
But Lisa wasn’t willing to just give in to Amber. Standing behind Emma, she threw a verbal grenade at Amber. “You’re just addicted to snatching things from other people. What is it with you?”
“Emma already agreed,” Amber said, picking up the white dress and assessing her image in the mirror. “And what right do you have to say anything? You’re just an assistant.”
Lisa went to grab the dress back from Amber, but Emma stopped her. “She’s right,” she said. “That outfit suits her better.”
Lisa looked at Emma’s face for a moment and figured that she had a plan. She just wished she knew what it was. Aside from the color, there really wasn’t much difference between the two outfits. They were both form-fitting dresses with short sleeves and a high Mandarin-style collar.
Amber looked bright and lively in white, after all, and the detailed embroidery suited her. In truth, she was gorgeous. Amber knew what she looked good in; that’s why she grabbed the white dress to begin with. She couldn’t help but laugh to herself. Now the black was perfect for Eva’s dull personality.
“Black suits you well,” she said with a smirk. “And honestly, if Emma wore black, wouldn’t she be a natural backdrop to Amber?”
Emma smiled as she returned the compliment. “And white suits you.”
“We’ll be starting in a minute. Are the two models ready?” the fat photographer’s assistant called from outside.
Amber took a quick glance at Emma. Her heart’s starting to race. This was the first time she would share a stage with Emma. Her opportunity had finally come to show off her skills. She was going to make everyone realize that Emma was outdated and out of style.
The two models entered the studio to see a completely new set arrangement. This time, the backdrop was a modern street scene with a melancholy aura. The photographer watched as Emma and Amber stepped on the set. A sudden thought came to his mind. Not only did Emma have a strong modeling foundation, but she seemed to even understand photography. He could see from the way Emma chose her angles and worked with the lighting that she understood the use of complementing colors.
Why did Danilo suddenly have this thought? Because in the backdrop behind them, the focus was the white sky. If you think about placing something white on a bit, it disappears into the background. And what happens if you place something black on a white background? No matter how small it is, it becomes the focal point.
To confirm his guess, Danilo turned to his assistant and asked, “Did MSC change the background?”
“I think she only saw us carrying the backdrop in,” the assistant replied.
Danilo was even more impressed. Emma was indeed professional and understood how to take advantage of a situation. If she didn’t become famous, there was something wrong with this world. On the other hand, Amber had no sense of subtlety or complexity. She just thought that standing in front of Emma would make her stand out more.
“Everyone ready?” Danilo asked. “We need to get started. The first set of shots will have Amber standing in the foreground, holding Emma’s hand. Emma will be standing behind her. I want you both to look excited, like you can’t wait to see everything.”
Hearing that she’d be in the foreground, Amber smiled to herself. Picking the white dress had been the right choice. There was no doubt that this would be her chance to stand out. She turned around, grabbed Emma’s hand, and posed like she was anxious to move forward.
And what did Emma do? She simply placed her focus on a small street vendor pictured in the backdrop. The street vendor was selling beautiful fabric, and she appeared to be fascinated by it. By looking at her, you could feel how badly she wanted to stay and not be pulled forward. At the same time, she showed off the smooth curves of one side of her body while drawing Amber into the scene. But because her expression was so vivid, so alive, all the attention was on her, and Amber simply became part of the backdrop.
