Chapter 2

Walter slumped in complete defeat. After a long silence, he struggled to speak again. "Is there a third option?"

He looked up at Nikita on the screen, his eyes red-rimmed. "I put serious effort into casting Jeremiah. His acting and image fit this series better than anyone else's. And he hasn't done a single thing wrong! I can't just replace him for no reason! Also, there's absolutely no way I can pause production."

Nikita's expression shifted, and she took on an impatient tone. "Mr. Casson, I'm not negotiating with you. I'm simply informing you of your options."

She said each word clearly, "If I go back now, my boyfriend will break up with me. And if I lose my boyfriend, will you take responsibility for that?"

I had been standing to the side watching the entire exchange, and finally, I couldn't hold back any longer.

"Do you mind if I talk to her for a bit?" I asked.

Walter looked at me, hesitated for a moment, then handed me the phone. I took it.

When Nikita saw me, she raised an eyebrow and shot me a look of utter disdain.

I ignored it and kept my voice calm. "How about this—both you and your boyfriend can come back together. Let him join the filming as my stand-in. For intimate scenes, the two of you can shoot them together.

"I promise you, I won't have any physical contact with you at all. That way he can keep an eye on you on set, and you won't have to worry about him breaking up with you."

Walter looked at me with gratitude written all over his face. This was indeed the most viable compromise anyone could come up with at the moment.

But Nikita let out a soft laugh. She looked me up and down, her gaze sweeping over my face, then drawled slowly, "You? My boyfriend as your stand-in?"

She leaned forward a little, as if confirming something amusing. "Don't you think you should take a look in the mirror and see if you even deserve that?"

Then, she leaned back against the couch, her tone dripping with condescending pity. "You're nowhere near as handsome as my boyfriend. I won't agree to it. He will only take on the role as the male lead. There's no way I'm letting him be anyone's stand-in."

My grip on the phone tightened.

Then she shifted her gaze past me to Walter and raised her voice.

"Mr. Casson, if you won't replace him, then I won't be filming anymore! Go find yourself another female lead. With everything that'll go to waste, you'll be losing a lot more than just a month!"

Walter shot to his feet, snatched the phone back in fury, and roared, "No way! We signed a contract!"

Nikita laughed with an arrogant look in her eyes. "A contract? What does it even matter? Don't you forget, I'm a trending actress with half a million followers across all platforms. This production is banking on me to bring in the views. What are the rest of you even worth without me?"

With that, the screen went black. She had hung up. When Walter tried calling again, her phone was already off.

Walter hurled his phone to the floor in rage, the screen shattering into a spiderweb of cracks. "How arrogant!"

He paced the room, grinding his teeth in rage.

"If you don't want the role, then screw it—we're not filming!" he shouted at the empty air, then collapsed back into his chair in defeat.

The room fell silent for a long time.

More than ten minutes later, Walter looked up at me. His eyes were bloodshot, but he had calmed down.

When he spoke again, his voice was hoarse. "Jeremiah, since Nikita's not coming back, we need a new female lead. Do you know anyone? Or do you have any recommendations?"

I was taken aback for a moment. Then, a face flashed through my mind.

"Mr. Casson, I know an actress. She's not well-known, but her acting is excellent."