Chapter 1224
“Did he tell you? Where is Felix?” Jean Rollins asked. She didn’t know what Shawn had said, but her daughter’s face was pale and stricken.
Madeline’s eyes filled with frantic tears. “Mom, Felix isn’t answering! He’s ignoring me! I’ve called him dozens of times over the past few days, and he hasn’t answered
a single one! He won’t reply to my texts! Is he done with me?”
Jean’s heart broke for her daughter. “No, no, sweetie. Don’t think like that. Mr. Quigley must just be busy.”
“This is different! He’s never treated me like this before!” Panic clawed at Madeline’s chest.
Jean tried to stay rational. “You’re scaring yourself over nothing. As long as he still feels guilty about Melanie, he will never abandon you.”
But the panic refused to fade, and all of Madeline’s fear rapidly curdled into blinding hatred for Claire.
“It’s all that bitch Claire’s fault! She ruined everything the second she came back!”
Jean scoffed in agreement. “Exactly! Every time that woman shows her face, Mr. Quigley turns cold toward you. If only she would just drop dead. Then we wouldn’t have to worry about her getting a cut of the Quigley estate.”
Madeline’s breath hitched, a dark thought blooming in her mind.
Yes. If Claire suddenly died, all her problems would disappear.
Once production training began, Claire’s schedule went into overdrive.
Her new role demanded a massive new skill set.
She was playing an epic female lead who rose from the ranks of a general to become an empress.
The script was packed with intense horseback riding and battlefield combat.
The director was a stickler for realism and cinematic grandeur, insisting on practical locations rather than green screens.
As a result, every actor had to master archery and horseback riding.
As the starring general, Claire also had to undergo rigorous training in the Long- Tasseled Spear technique.
Three days in, Claire felt like she had been hit by a truck.
Every muscle in her body screamed in agony, but she possessed a fierce work ethic. No matter how brutal the rehearsals got, she never uttered a single complaint.
The male actors in the cast quickly grew to respect her, and they bonded over the grueling schedule.
But in every group, there was always an outlier.
Rowan Ross, the actress cast as the second female lead, was a classic industry plant backed by heavy financial sponsors.
She had zero acting experience, yet her debut was a major supporting role in a blockbuster film. Money talked.
On her very first day of training, Rowan threw a massive fit over the physical exertion and called in sick before lunch.
For the next two days, she was a complete ghost.
The director didn’t bat an eye.
As Sandra explained to Claire, Rowan’s role was relatively minor Since she brought heavy capital into the project, the director was perfectly happy to turn a blind eye to her diva behavior. NovelPeak.org
On the fourth day of training, Sandra pulled Claire aside with some juicy industry gossip. The director had supposedly kept the writers up all night rewriting the script.
“Did you hear what they changed?” Claire asked, genuinely curious.
Sandra sighed, looking deeply regretful. “Word on the street is they scrapped every single one of the female lead’s intimate scenes.”
Claire blinked.
That was actually a tragedy.
Her character had four different romantic arcs in the movie.
And all four male co-stars were incredibly gorgeous!
The director was known for shooting phenomenally steamy romance scenes, yet he had axed them all without a fight.
Sandra leaned in. “Apparently, the new primary investor demanded it. They threw an absurd amount of money at the project, bumping ou production budget to the highest possible tier. For that kind of cash, the director was more than happy to rewrite history.
Money truly ruled the world.
That afternoon, the director arrived at the training camp in high spirits, announcing a
mandatory cast dinner to celebrate the new funding.
As the leading lady, Claire had no choice but to attend.
She arrived early and grabbed a seat as the rest of the crew slowly filed in.
To Claire’s shock, Rowan actually showed up, dressed to the nines in a stunning designer gown.
Compared to the rest of the
cast-who had just survived a brutal
workout, showered at the hotel, and
shown up bare-faced in casual
clothes Rowan looked like she
walking a red carpet.