No one was happier than Mia at the news that Amber’s career had been revived. It worked in her favor since she wanted nothing more than to control and destroy Emma. She had originally given up on Amber, but she had somehow managed to turn the tables and win a top 10 model award while Mia and Emma were squabbling amongst themselves.
“Congratulations, Amber! As one of the award winners, you’ve been invited to the Model Elections Bright Night Gala. Famous artists from all the major companies will be in attendance, along with plenty of industry contacts. You’ll need to make the most of this opportunity. There are also rumors that a special guest will be there that night.”
Of course, Emma is also invited, but Mia held up Emma’s invitation letter and tore it in half. “Don’t think she’ll be able to make it,” she said triumphantly.
“Mia, do you think that’s a good idea?” Nathan asked, leaning on the edge of the table. He couldn’t help but laugh mockingly as he looked down at Emma’s torn invitation. “If the organizers ask, we’ll just say she deliberately chose not to show up. She may have been the company’s top model before, but a high-class is still just a Mia,” he said firmly with a sinister look on his face. Emma may not let them interfere with her jobs anymore, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t still plot against her. After all, she still belonged to the company. Event organizers always contacted the company directly, not the artist.
After Mia left with a victorious smile on her face, silence fell between Nathan and Amber. Finally, Nathan spoke up. “Amber, don’t you think the judges’ decision was a bit strange?”
Amber froze, an uneasy look sweeping across her face briefly before she managed to hide it. “Did Emma say something to you? Stop trying to shift the focus back onto Emma every time something happens to you. Did you do something behind the scenes to influence any of the judges?” Nathan asked, looking at her with a disheartened expression. He lifted her jaw and looked straight into her eyes as he continued, “I’m more familiar with the darkness in this industry than you will ever be. I almost involved my mother because of you. If you betray me, our relationship is over.”
“Nathan, I’m just as surprised as you that I won the award,” Amber said, forcing herself to remain calm and act normal. “I’d hate to find out you’d done something unethical behind my back. Emma and I are at this point because of you, so don’t you dare betray me. I’m pregnant with your baby. I’d never do anything so reckless.” Their unborn baby was still her ultimate ace in the hole.
He studied her face intently for a few more moments before making his decision. “Fine, I trust you. If God wanted to destroy someone, all he had to do was make them do crazy things, and Amber was the craziest.”
Amber had no idea she was playing with fire. She was too busy dreaming about standing on the stage and accepting her award. Global made some changes to their upcoming jobs once they were notified of Amber’s status as an award recipient. Nathan gathered all the company’s higher-ups for a meeting and told them that Emma had lashed out at Mia, threatening to cancel her contract. He wanted them to focus on Amber and other newcomers instead of Emma. The rest of the team had no choice but to accept his suggestions once he told them that Emma was planning on leaving sooner or later.
While Nathan was having his meeting, Emma was shooting the ISN commercial. After the shoot was done, Lisa quickly approached her with a jacket covering her up. “Now that the shoot is done, do you want to go back to Global and discuss the TTQ contract with Nathan?”
“I don’t want to talk about TTQ right now,” Emma replied. “There was no way Global would be lenient with her now that Amber had won that award. Global’s higher-ups were focused on profits, and TTQ posed too much of a risk. It would definitely be rejected if she tried to present it now.”
“Emma, you have to be careful,” Lisa warned. “Mia, Nathan, and Amber are working to get rid of you. Who knows what they’ll do behind your back?”
Lisa helped Emma remove her makeup and change back into her own clothes. Then, she slowly escorted her out of the studio, waiting as she interacted with the fans standing outside the set.
“I just need to stay out of their way until the awards ceremony,” Emma said, smiling.
“Should we find evidence proving that Amber bribed the judges, Lisa?” Emma asked.
“It wouldn’t be beneficial for us to do that,” Lisa replied. “We’d risk offending the judges and hurting our cause. I’m sure that’s exactly what Nathan wants. Let’s not risk it. We already hold her life in our hands. There’s no need to do anything else.”
Emma had thought everything through carefully. If Amber was brave enough to do something like this, then she could certainly be prepared. Was she even brave enough to betray Nathan? What else was she willing to do, Emma wondered. There was no need to stop Amber from accepting her award. After all, she would still succumb to their plans in the end and descend into an abyss of her own making.
“Where should we go now?” Emma asked. “Let’s go to Kaleidoscope. We can pick up Eric from work.”
Emma’s eyes twinkled with anticipation. Now that she had finished work, all she wanted to do was be with her husband.
Lisa smiled slightly. The relationship between Emma and the big boss improved by the day. She couldn’t help but be happy for her.
Since it was only 5 PM, Emma and Lisa went to the cafe across the street from Kaleidoscope. Once they had sat down, Emma sent Eric a text: “After work, please come to the hotel across the street. I want to have dinner with you, Mr. Roberts.”
Eric had just finished an extremely long meeting when he saw the text come through. He immediately replied, “Do you want to come up and keep me company in my office? It’ll grab everyone’s attention if I come up there. It’s best if I don’t.”
Despite her text, she actually wanted to go. She wanted to see how grand her husband’s office was. After all, he wasn’t such a big name in the industry for nothing.
“Come to the lower-level garage,” Emma suggested. “I’ll have Luke bring you up through this secret entrance. Kaleidoscope wouldn’t be the entertainment empire they were if they didn’t have ways of ensuring client confidentiality.”
“In that case, wait for me. I’m on my way,” Eric replied.
Emma put on her coat and headed to the company’s private garage with Lisa, where Luke was already waiting. Lisa, not wanting to be a third wheel, excused herself while giving Emma a glancing smile.
Luke then escorted Emma through the secret entrance and up to the CEO’s office on the 42nd floor.
“Ma’am, just let Mr. Roberts know anytime you want to come to the office, and I’ll come get you,” Luke said. “You don’t need to worry about privacy at Kaleidoscope. The entire staff signs an NDA when they’re hired. If anyone breaches their contract or spreads gossip, there’s a million-dollar fine. It’s a pretty convincing deterrent to stop anyone from saying anything, no matter what they see or hear.”
Of course, Eric would rule his empire with an iron fist, she thought, amused.
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