Chapter 768
“What’s going on?” Claire glanced at the chaotic trio and lowered her voice.
“That’s Sienna’s parents and her brother. They’re here to shake down the director for cash.”
When an actor got hurt on set, the production absolutely bore responsibility.
The studio was already covering all of Sienna’s medical bills. Accidents happened during filming, and they had solid contracts in place.
But paying out an extortionate lump sum directly to the parents was out of the question. Besides, the production was fully insured, so any official payout would come through those channels.
There would undoubtedly be a settlement, but that was Karla’s job to negotiate on Sienna’s behalf. She would never authorize transferring those funds into her parents’ grubby hands.
Sienna was severely injured, not dead.
Yet here these two were, wailing through the hospital corridors like they were mourning at a funeral.
It was only thanks to Karla’s strict damage control that the press hadn’t gotten wind of this circus.
If the media got hold of these people, the PR nightmare would be catastrophic.
The director was trapped. Listening to Beatrice demand an exorbitant payout made it obvious they weren’t going anywhere.
She had the audacity to claim that abandoning their crops and livestock to visit the hospital meant the director owed them full compensation for lost wages.
Every time Karla intervened to defend him, Beatrice accused her of conspiring with the studio to steal Sienna’s fortune.
She even threatened to hire a lawyer and sue Karla into bankruptcy so she wouldn’t get a dime.
Karla could only laugh at the absurdity.
God was her witness, she had never coveted a single cent of Sienna’s money. She had bent over backwards for the girl’s career.
Sure, she took her standard managerial cut without hesitation.
But without Karla pulling the strings, Sienna would never have amassed her wealth in the first place.
Given Sienna’s critical condition, handing control of her finances over to these vultures was not an option.
They had dragged Hunter all the way
here, making it blatantly obvious they intended to blow the money on him: Karla kad even overheard them Whispering about buying Hunter a house and a new car.
These people weren’t parents; they were parasites.
“Is Sienna still unconscious?” Claire frowned.
The parents exuded pure, unadulterated greed. It wasn’t that Claire judged people from rural areas the folks back in The James Village were wonderful, salt-of-the-earth people.
But this couple looked like absolute nightmares.
Every other word out of their mouths was about money.
The director looked like he was about to blow a gasket from the harassment.
“Let me be crystal clear. The studio is covering every cent of Sienna’s medical treatment. We’re also hiring top-tier private nurses for her recovery. She doesn’t need your Care.”
“As for your travel expenses, lost wages, and your abandoned farm animals, that
was your choice to come here. The studio owes you nothing for that.”
The director wasn’t a pushover either. Forewarned by Karla about the family’s nature, he wasn’t about to hand them a single dollar.
Giving in to extortionists just created a bottomless pit. The second the money ran out, they’d be back demanding more.
If he had known they were lurking in the lobby, he would have skipped the hospital visit entirely.
Thinking of this, he shot Karla a slightly resentful look.
If she had given him a heads-up, he wouldn’t be cornered by these lunatics.
And that bleach-blonde kid had actually tried to swing at him earlier.
The director made a mental note of the whole debacle.
If Sienna didn’t recover, it wouldn’t matter. But if she did, he’d think twice before
casting her and dealing with this baggage again.
Ignoring his glare, Karla simply reached over and took the takeout bags from Dane. She then called out for Trixie to join her for dinner.