Chapter 149: Chapter 149: Omen

“Did I say you could? Who do you think you are? Filming without permission is what it is, so spare me the excuses.” Brianna Hudson glared furiously at Nina Walsh. “Take out your phone right now and delete the video!”

Nina Walsh, standing nearby, refused to back down. “Why should I? I told you, I wasn’t filming you. This is my account. I have the freedom to post whatever I want.”

“Your freedom? What freedom is that? The freedom to film people without their consent? Are you ignorant of the law? I have reason to believe you’ve infringed on my image rights. Now hand over your phone. I’ll check it myself.” Brianna Hudson didn’t give an inch.

’She didn’t even know who Nina Walsh was—just someone brought along by that person, what was her name, Arya Thorne. Why should she, Brianna Hudson, put up with a complete stranger?’

’There would be no reason for her to back down, even if she were facing Jessie Sterling and Lynn Jennings.’

Nina Walsh refused. She saw no reason why Brianna Hudson should be allowed to inspect her phone. The two remained at a standoff.

The moment Brianna Hudson saw Jessie Sterling and Victor Morgan approaching, before Jessie could pretend not to notice her, she had already shouted Jessie’s name—

“Jessie Sterling!”

Jessie Sterling was speechless.

’Clearly, there’s no slipping away now.’

But Jessie really didn’t want to get involved with Nina Walsh. She pulled her mask up, hiding her expression as she walked over.

Nina Walsh’s back had been to Jessie, so she hadn’t seen anyone approaching until Brianna called out.

When she heard Brianna Hudson call out Jessie Sterling’s name, Nina’s back went rigid for a moment.

’Her current partnership with someone like Arya Thorne was partly Jessie’s fault.’

’If it hadn’t been for that fight with Jessie at The Caldera Resort, Roman Lynch would never have cut off her credit cards, and she wouldn’t be in this position, needing to find a job.’

’Arya Thorne was just someone she’d met at a party, brought along by god knows who. In the past, Nina would have never given a second glance to someone from a family like hers.’

’But times had changed. Now she was broke. Thankfully, the Lynch family still kept a room for her, and she had been staying in the Lynch estate. To outsiders, at least, it looked like her connection to the Lynches was still something special.’

’Arya’s family was in the media business, and what made money faster than the entertainment industry these days? So when Arya extended an olive branch, Nina had reluctantly accepted it.’

’It wasn’t that she didn’t know who Brianna Hudson was. But in Nina’s eyes, Brianna was nothing more than the illegitimate daughter of some nouveau riche family from Port Caldoria. So what if she paraded around with the title of the official wife’s daughter? That was just a front for outsiders. Nina couldn’t stand people like that.’

But with Jessie approaching, Nina couldn’t help but want to avoid her gaze.

“Jessie, you be the judge! She filmed me without permission and refuses to delete the video. What’s wrong with her?!” Brianna Hudson said, her face a mask of indignation.

Before Jessie could say a word, a familiar voice cut in from behind her—

“What’s wrong?”

’Jessie breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t like Arya Thorne either, but now she could dump this whole mess on her. After all, Nina was her problem.’

Cheryl Stuart was with Arya Thorne.

When Brianna Hudson saw Cheryl Stuart, she let out a cold laugh. After explaining what had happened, she said, “So this is who you brought with you?”

Her tone was dripping with contempt.

Cheryl Stuart and Brianna Hudson had clashed countless times recently. Cheryl’s own position was hardly one she could flaunt, while Brianna’s own background couldn’t withstand much scrutiny. Everything depended on which of them Brianna’s scumbag dad favored more at the moment.

However, with Brianna set to marry the eldest son of the Jennings family, Cheryl didn’t dare provoke her too much.

Cheryl Stuart had no choice but to step forward. She looked at Nina Walsh and said in a placating tone, “Why don’t you just take out your phone, Miss Wyatt? Let Brianna have a look. It might just be a misunderstanding. We can clear it all up.”

Nina barely respected Arya Thorne; she certainly wasn’t going to give the time of day to one of her actresses.

She wasn’t part of the Southaven or Port Caldoria social circles, so she had no idea that Cheryl Stuart was currently dating Brianna’s scumbag father. This made her speak with even less of a filter.

“Just because a bunch of poor fans worship you in the entertainment industry, don’t tell me you actually think you’re somebody important. Important enough to order me around? Why on earth should I show you my phone? I said I didn’t film her, and I don’t need to prove anything to the likes of you!” Nina said, full of self-righteousness.

Cheryl’s face went pale. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had spoken to her with such viciousness.

Hearing this, Brianna could barely contain a smirk.

’She detested both Nina Walsh and Cheryl Stuart from the bottom of her heart. If they were going to fight, she was more than happy to sit back and watch the show.’

Cheryl was clearly no match for someone like Nina.

Her boss’s attitude toward her might have softened because of who she was dating, but Nina was someone even her boss had to coddle. How could Cheryl possibly dare to clash with her head-on?

Just then, Serena Lynch and the others returned to the hall.

Nina had been gaining the upper hand, but after hearing about the argument, Serena Lynch cut straight to the point. “Why not just take a look at what she posted?”

Brianna didn’t have Nina’s social media handle, but Serena did.

Hearing this, Nina stomped her foot. “Serena!”

’She secretly resented Serena for not giving her any face. She was practically half a daughter to the Lynch family, for heaven’s sake.’

Serena glanced up at her. “What’s the rush? It’s just a look. If there’s nothing there, Brianna won’t be able to force you to delete it.”

Nina was speechless.

As she spoke, Serena had already pulled up Nina’s social media account.

The latest video had been posted half an hour ago.

Most of the short video was a selfie, but toward the end, Brianna did indeed appear in the shot.

“See? I told you I wasn’t making it up! I saw her camera was still on when I walked over. I asked her to delete the part with me in it, and she refused,” Brianna said, glaring at Nina after watching the video.

Serena said, “Then just delete the video. You can trim out that last part and repost it later, can’t you?”

Nina pressed her lips together, saying nothing.

’Of course she knew Brianna was in the video. If you zoomed in, you could even see Jessie Sterling and Victor Morgan coming down the ski slope.’

’She had been carefully building this video account, and she had a considerable number of followers.’

’The people who appeared in her videos had to be influential; it was the only way to make her followers believe in the persona she’d created.’

’Arya had told her that the more online followers she had before her debut, the smoother her career would be. This was the age of online traffic, after all, and everyone loved watching a rich kid try to make it in showbiz.’

Serena didn’t know about Nina’s plans. To Nina, Serena’s suggestion to edit the video was tantamount to cutting off her livelihood.

But Serena’s tone was firm, and Brianna was standing right there, glaring like a hawk. No matter how wronged Nina felt, she had no choice but to comply.

For lunch, it was no longer just the same group of people from the previous night.

Both Nina Walsh and Cheryl Stuart had some connection, more or less, to their group.

Before the meal, Serena Lynch even sent Jessie Sterling a message, asking if she minded.

This time even Victor Morgan had asked Jessie Sterling if they should switch to another restaurant; they didn’t have to be sociable.

Jessie didn’t mind.

’The ones who should be minding are the ones who lost to her. Why should she be the one to back down?’

The moment they sat down at the table, Lynn Jennings plopped down in the seat next to Jessie, then mysteriously pulled out her phone to show her a message.

“You’ll never guess,” Lynn Jennings said.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep