Chapter 167: Chapter 167: A Twist of Fate

Nina Walsh’s eyes flickered when she heard this.

She hadn’t come to cause a scene without a motive. She wanted to use this uproar to force Arya Thorne to give her the role in *Scorching Sun*. After all, Arya Thorne had never mentioned it to her before.

Nina Walsh was certainly not willing to take the fall in the struggle between Cheryl Stuart and the company without getting any tangible benefits.

“So we’re just going to let the thing with Cheryl Stuart go?” Nina Walsh asked.

She knew Cheryl Stuart’s background. What rich second-generation heiress? It was all a persona fabricated by the company for hype.

With her family’s meager background, she couldn’t even break into the lowest tier of Aethelburg’s elite social circles.

However, relying on the fame and connections she had built over the years, she managed to get along quite well in the circles of genuine heirs.

She had previously asked Roman Lynch and learned that Cheryl Stuart had even been the girlfriend of Lynn Jennings’s older brother—the same Lynn Jennings who was at The Caldera Resort that day. The Jennings family’s status in Southaven was more or less on par with the Lynch family’s in Aethelburg. For Cheryl Stuart to have latched onto a family like that showed she had some skills.

Of course, Arya Thorne couldn’t actually do anything to Cheryl Stuart.

In the past, she wouldn’t have minded leaking some of the dirt she had on her to the gossip accounts. But now, the person backing Cheryl Stuart was not someone she could afford to provoke.

Under these circumstances, it was best to simply maintain the most basic, superficial goodwill between a former employer and their artist.

But if Nina Walsh were the one to make a move, that would be a different story.

Arya Thorne looked at Nina Walsh. “On the surface, our company parted ways with her amicably. If we were to make a move behind the scenes now, it would surely give people something to talk about. But if *you* want to let off some steam, the nature of it is different. After all, Cheryl Stuart was the one who dragged you into this during her livestream, causing you to face public censure.”

Arya Thorne’s words were subtly instigating Nina Walsh to take matters into her own hands.

Nina Walsh didn’t need to use the company’s people. With the Lynch family backing her, if they knew she had been wronged, would they really not step in to stand up for her?

It wasn’t as if Nina Walsh was unaware of Cheryl Stuart’s true background.

Hearing Arya Thorne’s words, Nina Walsh couldn’t help but sneer inwardly.

Both of them had their own little schemes, each wanting the other to be the one to stick their neck out.

“That doesn’t seem right,” Nina Walsh said with a frown. “I’m just a newcomer, after all, and she’s a senior from the company.”

Arya Thorne: “…”

’What’s with Nina Walsh acting like some well-mannered little princess now? When she stormed into my office just a moment ago, did she forget that I’m her boss!?’

Arya Thorne thought she was just cunning. ’The moment she runs into someone even slightly tough, she wants to back down.’

Arya Thorne picked up the cup in front of her, her tone becoming cool. “Since you yourself think it’s fine to leave it at that, I certainly have no objection.”

The meaning was clear: it was time for her guest to leave.

After leaving Arya Thorne’s office, Nina Walsh was still fuming.

Even though she had now secured the lead role in *Scorching Sun*, she hadn’t forgotten how Cheryl Stuart had used her as a pawn in her dispute with Arya Thorne! And Arya Thorne, in the end, hadn’t agreed to get justice for her.

Seeing the furious look on her artist’s face, the young assistant following Nina Walsh felt a sense of unease.

The assistant was about to ask if they were heading back to the film set. After all, her hot-tempered client had skipped out and gone straight from the set to the company today. ’The director is probably still at the set, cursing up a storm! But what can I do? I can’t persuade her.’

But before the assistant could get the words out, she heard Nina Walsh’s voice.

“Wait outside for now,” Nina Walsh said.

As she spoke, she got into the minivan and shooed the driver out as well.

Sitting in the van, Nina Walsh took out her phone. After a moment of thought, she ultimately decided to call Roman Lynch.

Of course, she couldn’t give in in front of Arya Thorne; that would make it seem like Arya could order her around. But there was no way she could just swallow her anger.

Before making the call, Nina Walsh felt a little apprehensive.

Over the New Year, she had clearly felt Roman Lynch grow much colder toward her. He no longer indulged her without limit as he had before. Even for several private gatherings in Aethelburg, Roman Lynch hadn’t invited her to come along, despite seeing her at the old family residence.

This gave Nina Walsh a sense of crisis.

She didn’t want to incur Roman Lynch’s disgust; otherwise, she would truly have nothing left.

Nina Walsh hadn’t informed Roman Lynch beforehand about taking a break from her studies to enter the entertainment industry.

She knew that people in his circle generally looked down on those in show business. She worried that if she told Roman Lynch first and he disapproved, her insistence on going her own way would only displease him more. So, she had decided to act first and report later.

However, Nina Walsh hadn’t expected that news of her career choice had probably already reached the Lynch family’s ears, yet Roman Lynch had never once reached out to her.

Now, having to call Roman Lynch, she couldn’t help but feel apprehensive.

Jessie Sterling went to the film set during the day. Ever since she’d taken Victor Morgan’s advice and hit the brakes on the “do everything myself” approach, she had found herself with a lot more free time.

Besides, the weather in Aethelburg after May Day was mild, so visiting the set to check on the cast and crew wasn’t a big deal.

Jessie Sterling was planning to go straight home from the set, but to her surprise, she received a call from Serena Lynch a little after three in the afternoon.

Serena Lynch asked if she had time to hang out tonight.

She had returned to the training base in the southwest after the start of spring and had just recently come back to Aethelburg with her results, giving her a few days off.

Jessie Sterling was free, of course, and agreed immediately.

The two arranged to meet at a private wagyu restaurant.

Serena Lynch was as fiery as ever. When she entered, she was carrying a bottle of wine.

“Swiped this from my brother’s wine cellar,” Serena Lynch said as she sat down. “I heard it’s from an auction. It might not be a famous label, but it’s supposed to have some story behind it.”

Jessie Sterling: “Then it must be good stuff.”

“Hahaha, that’s true!” Serena Lynch said with a laugh. “By the way, have you been close with Cheryl Stuart lately? I saw online that she has a new TV series and even brought on some newcomers from your company?”

The newcomers from Jessie Sterling’s company weren’t particularly noteworthy, but Cheryl Stuart had recently been contributing forty to fifty percent of the traffic on Weibo.

She terminated her contract with her former agency, quickly established her own studio, then took on a new script and joined a film crew in a short amount of time.

This series of moves, every single one of them, sparked considerable discussion online.

So, when fans dug into the new faces among the supporting cast of Cheryl Stuart’s new series and discovered they were all newcomers signed with Apex Films—and apparently recent graduates from this year’s film academy—how could they not be curious?

Cheryl Stuart didn’t bring on people from her old agency, but instead worked with people from its mortal enemy. No matter how you looked at it, something fishy was going on.

Jessie Sterling didn’t know whether to call it luck or not. In any case, those young actors from her company had gotten their first chance at exposure, and the buzz around them wasn’t half bad.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep