Chapter 820
“But don’t you worry, sweetie. There’s always a way to fix a mess like this.”
Emma had been preaching that same empty promise for weeks, yet absolutely nothing had progressed. Liliana was losing her damn mind.
But she hadn’t come here empty-handed. Forcing a patient smile, Liliana leaned in. “Mrs. Everly, I think the smartest play right now is to completely destroy any hope Amara has left for Finnian.”
“If Amara aggressively rejects him and makes a reconciliation impossible, he’ll eventually give up. That’s when I can swoop in and win him back.”
Emma nodded approvingly. “My thoughts exactly. My son is just temporarily confused, obsessed with a little tramp who doesn’t even want him.”
“Thank God that girl still seems totally wrapped up with Keith. We just need to keep a close eye on her and ensure she doesn’t try to lock her claws into Finnian.”
The two women plotted late into the night. Miles away, completely oblivious to the target on her back, Amara had finally finished crying. Knowing she couldn’t let herself wallow forever, she violently forced the heartbreak aside, buried herself in script revisions for hours, and finally crashed from exhaustion.
The next morning, Amara pulled herself together and headed to set. The second she stepped onto the lot, the shift in the atmosphere was glaring. Everyone was practically tracking her with hungry, awestruck gazes. A few crew members even jogged over to practically grovel, laying on the flattery so thick it made her want to gag. It was absolutely absurd.
Brushing them off, she ducked into her dressing room, grabbed her notepad and folding chair, and planted herself right next to the director’s monitors, exactly as she did every other day.
The first shot of the day was a solo sequence for Keith. Hitting his marks flawlessly, he delivered the emotional beats and cleared the scene in record time. Mr. Frost called for a quick five-minute break before jumping straight into Keith’s next monologue.
During the downtime, Amara was completely immersed in her script
notes when a shrill voice suddenly t
cut through the air above her.
“Amara I just got off the phone with, Aunt Emma She completely despises you. She will never let you join the Everly family, so you can forget about trying to marry Finnian.”
Amara didn’t even need to look up to know who it was. Raising her eyes, she was
met with Antonia’s incredibly smug, self-satisfied smirk.
“Antonia, are you out of your mind?” Amara asked flatly.
Antonia’s smug grin instantly vanished, her face contorting with rage. “Excuse me? Who are you calling a psycho?”
“I’m calling you a psycho,” Amara stated, entirely unfazed. “Why on earth would you just assume I have some master plan to join your family?”
“I have absolutely zero intention of being with Finnian. Why would I give a damnif his mother accepts me of not? Coming over here to spew this garbage at me makes you look completely deranged.”
“You don’t want to marry him at all?” Antonia eyed her suspiciously.
Even though Emma’s relationship with the main branch of the family wasn’t perfect, every single Everly practically worshipped the ground Finnian walked on. In fact, it was hard to find anyone in Wye shigh society who didn’t idolize the man. He was the absolute pinnacle of wealth, power, and perfection.
Having grown up listening to endless legends of his cutthroat brilliance, Antonia held him in the highest regard. Hearing Amara so effortlessly dismiss him felt entirely incomprehensible.
Amara realized that in a weird way, Antonia and Hogan Everly were exactly the same—they both suffered from the delusion that every woman on earth was hopelessly in love with Finnian.
She scoffed. “When did I ever say I wanted to marry Finnian? The man I plan on marrying isn’t him.”