Chapter 3

Walter's eyes lit up when he heard my words. "Who is it?"

"Sonia Turner."

Walter frowned, thinking for a long moment. "Never heard of her."

"She mostly does films and rarely gives interviews, but her acting is genuinely excellent. Her image also suits this role better than Nikita's."

Walter pondered for a moment. "Do you have her contact information?"

I nodded and made a call, which was promptly answered.

After giving Sonia a brief rundown of the situation, she went silent for two seconds to consider things before agreeing to it. "Okay."

Sonia flew in to join the production that very afternoon. She arrived at 7:00 pm, dropped off her luggage, and went straight to the set.

Walter had her test two scenes. After watching her, he was completely mesmerized. He muttered under his breath, "Her acting… It's miles ahead of Nikita's."

I stood by without saying a word.

Nikita was a product of the influencer machine. Whatever role she took on, she was always just herself.

But Sonia was different. She was the kind of actress who could fully inhabit a role. With the same lines and the same camera angles, Sonia could transform the entire scene the moment she stepped into frame.

Walter made the call on the spot. "She's the one."

The production had already shot a week's worth of footage with Nikita, and every one of her scenes had to be reshot. That meant a full week's progress had been wiped clean, and everyone would have to work overtime to make up for lost time.

We usually wrapped up after ten hours of shooting, but that day, we shot a full 16 hours. However, not a single person complained.

This series was Walter's life's work, and everyone else's as well. Nikita might not have cared, but the rest of us did.

At 2:00 am, I finally made it back to my hotel room. I was so exhausted I barely had the energy to clean myself up. I collapsed onto the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.

All of a sudden, my phone buzzed, so I picked it up and saw a text message.

"Well, how's it going? Without my permission, your little show's not going anywhere."

The sender was Dwayne Ferguson—Nikita's boyfriend and my sworn rival back in high school.

Back then, Dwayne's grades had always ranked steadily below mine. He was perpetually in second place, and I was perpetually first. So when I got into Northbridge Academy of Performing Arts, he didn't.

However, he never accepted defeat. Determined to make it in the same industry as me, riding the wave of online fame, he became a thirst-trap influencer. Eventually, Nikita took a liking to him, and the two started dating.

Staring at that message, I suddenly felt energized. I texted him back.

"Yeah, you're something else. You can't beat me on merit, so you ride a woman's coattails instead."

He replied instantly, "What are you so smug about? Don't think that I'm not aware you're secretly crushing on my girlfriend. But you're just not as good-looking as me, so you have no choice but to admit defeat."

I nearly laughed out loud. Me? Crushing on Nikita?

My standards weren't that low. I didn't fall for just any woman who came along.

"Some people accept everything that comes their way. Make sure you don't end up with the wrong person."

Dwayne was furious.

"Don't get cocky! I know you've been prepping for this series for six months, and now it's shut down, so you're not shooting either. My girlfriend is a top-tier celebrity. Do you really think Walter will give her up? We'll just leave him hanging for a month, and he'll come crawling back begging for mercy!"

I stared at the screen for a few seconds and was thoroughly amused. Dwayne considered Nikita a top-tier celebrity with just half a million followers across all platforms?

She was nothing but a student with such poor grades that she couldn't even get into college. Then, she lucked out, got scouted for her looks, and landed a couple of roles in some short-form dramas.

Did Dwayne really consider her a big shot after just a few months of filming? She had essentially no acting skills and no proper education. He was the only one who saw her as a prize.

I yawned and replied, "Is that so? Hope it works out for you."

After sending that final reply, I closed my eyes and fell asleep immediately.