Early the next morning, Mia, Ashley, and Nathan held a meeting at the office to discuss Mia’s new role as Emma’s manager. Nathan hadn’t invited Emma, telling her it was only an administrative meeting with no significant decisions to be made.
However, Ashley already knew Mia’s trick. Tensions rose as she saw Emma as a chess piece to move around as she saw fit. No matter how famous Emma was, Mia wanted complete control over her.
Ashley placed Emma’s current job offers onto the projector screen. There were 13 of them, including multiple offers from well-known magazines. Nathan was shocked, realizing the public had great respect for Emma.
However, Ashley didn’t reveal the specific offers Emma was considering, which included ones from Creative Century and Star Age, two big superstar factories offering large sums of money.
With Emma’s career on the rise, a small studio like Global Pictures could no longer provide much help. The contract Mia was trying to control Emma with could no longer bind her.
It seemed that Mia had forgotten the incident with Secret and still believed Emma’s success was due to luck.
Mia said, “Thanks to the magazine cover, Emma is extremely popular. She has gained quite a bit of fame in both European and North American markets. If we take advantage of this and use my industry contacts, we can easily get her onto multiple stages. However, she needs to be obedient toward me; otherwise, I will destroy her.”
It appeared that tonight’s celebration dinner for Emma would be more like an announcement dinner for Mia, the manager who had been blacklisted in Mexico but had returned to New York in the blink of an eye to continue wreaking havoc on the world.
After the meeting, Ashley went to Emma’s office and filled her in on what had happened. Mia was planning a career for her overseas, which would be an ideal path for most models, but Emma was no longer 17 years old. She couldn’t start her career over from the beginning. Emma replied, “I have a plan.”
Emma looked at Ashley sincerely and said, “Thank you.”
Ashley smiled and nodded. “Emma, this is actually a good time for me to step down as your manager. I know you’ll only get better and better, and I’m not good enough to stay by your side. You’ve taught me so much and helped me understand a lot about this business. We have a confidentiality agreement, so don’t worry about me revealing your business to others. I just hope that in the end, Global will let me go.”
Ashley was determined to keep her own career going. She knew Emma would always be in charge of her own career, and she knew she’d never be able to truly use her managerial skills unless she moved on to another artist. She was impressed by Emma, but she also had her own goals.
“As you wish,” Emma nodded. Ashley asked, “Are we still friends?” Emma calmly replied, “Of course.”
“My photos, I’ll leave them with you. It’ll serve as a warning for me. I’ll keep an eye on you, Emma. I’ll watch with pride as you leap onto the international stage,” Ashley said. “I wish all the best for you too,” Emma responded.
Ashley knew she had completed her mission, and it was time for her to retreat. She had learned that Emma never showed mercy to her enemies, but she’d never made things difficult for her friends.
So, of course, Ashley preferred to be her friend. As the sunset over New York City, the night sky became densely dotted with stars. Emma was on her way to the celebration dinner, well-prepared for a battle with Mia.
On the car ride there, Eric held Emma’s hand, giving her strength.
She looked at him and smiled. “No need to worry about me. I’m used to these things by now. I’m prepared for a big fight.”
“Even if Mia is a tough enemy, I just care about you,” he said.
“Eric, there’s no need for you to wait up for me tonight. Be good and go to bed early. You work so hard every day. Don’t tire yourself out because of me,” she squeezed his hand. “I promise I won’t allow myself to lose tonight.”
“Okay,” he replied, “but if Mia makes you suffer at all, I’ll get Kaleidoscope to step in.” He drew her close and kissed her gently on the forehead.
The longer they were together, the more he understood her, and the more his heart ached for her. She had gone through so much in her journey from caterpillar to butterfly. The road to Revival had not been smooth for her.
Emma lifted her head and looked at the mole on Eric’s earlobe. That was his mark, the one that charmed her and made her feel completely dizzy. “I’m not giving you a chance to step in,” she told him. “I’ve already prepared a gift for Mia. How dare she dream of being my manager? She may have the nerve to think it, but I’m not going to give her the chance to say it.”
By now, Emma was quite experienced at destroying her enemies. He looked at her and saw the confidence in her eyes. It seemed he really wouldn’t need to step in after all.
At seven o’clock, Emma arrived at the celebration dinner. At the same time, Amber was walking into the East River Hotel. As Global’s reach was limited, only a few notable people had made it to the dinner. Though Emma was the subject of the Night Celebration, it was obvious that Nathan was just trying to lure her in. His real intention was to let Mia up on the stage to announce her new position.
When Emma got tired of mixing with the guests, she sat down to rest. At this time, she found a waiter and whispered some instructions into his ear. He nodded obediently. Then, to the cheers of the audience, Nathan walked up the red carpet onto the stage. He turned and smiled at the crowd.
“Today, in addition to celebrating Emma becoming the North American spokesperson for Isn, we also have an important decision to announce,” he said. He was wearing a handmade brown suit and looked stunningly handsome on stage. “The role of artist director at Global Pictures has been given to my sister, the accomplished talent manager Mia Davis. Let’s welcome her to the stage to tell everyone about the good news.”
Mia stepped on the red carpet wearing a long silver dress and a pair of five-inch heels. She had a proud expression like a queen as she looked around at the dinner guests. Her gaze landed on Emma, her eyes suddenly becoming scheming and sinister, and her smile twisted maliciously. Seeing this, Emma furrowed her eyebrows and turned away.
Mia stepped up to the center stage. “Hello, everyone. My name is Mia. Starting tomorrow, I will take on the role of artist director here at Global. I also have one more important announcement to make.”
Mia stared at Emma like a tiger locked onto its prey. “I’m pleased to announce…” As soon as she began, the waiter Emma had spoken to earlier suddenly appeared on stage with his cell phone in his hand.
He handed it to Mia, breaking her off mid-sentence. After looking at the phone’s screen for a moment, she looked up and glared at Emma. She was surprised, angry, and unwilling to accept what she’d just seen.
Emma maintained a smile as she returned Mia’s gaze. She knew her smile was painful for Mia to look at. Mia cleared her throat nervously and turned her attention back to the crowd. “I’m pleased to announce that early next year, we’ll be forming an amazing new musical group. We already have a few well-known artists involved, so everyone keep your eyes peeled for this exciting new brand.”
Nathan looked at Mia confusedly as she returned from the stage. She was supposed to say that she was Emma’s new manager. Why did she suddenly change her mind? He thought. He followed her off stage. “Mia, what’s wrong?” he asked. “The company has already agreed to you being Emma’s manager. Why didn’t you announce it?”
“Emma,” Mia exclaimed, grinding her teeth. Nathan turned to look at Emma. “She intervened,” he thought. How is that possible? His face turned red. “What did she show you?”
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