The Truth Always Prevails

After returning to the room, Isabella abruptly recalled that she had forgotten something extremely important. She still hadn’t found out how things had gone after releasing that video last night. 

She opened her computer and quickly browsed for the information she was looking for. 

The video where Vivienne had failed the scene 33 times was already a hot topic. The comments section was filled with scoldings, while Isabella’s surprisingly good acting had gotten favourable comments. Following that, everyone was starting to suspect that the post that claimed that Isabella was sleeping around the set was false. 

Closely after, one after another, there were anons revealing that Vivienne had used the excuse of filming to act on her private grudge. She had maliciously slapped Isabella while filming a scene, she even slapped her assistant, and she would throw her weight around and trouble the crew members, etc…

Up until the end, all the artistes and production crew members who didn’t like Vivienne continued piling on the hate, exposing everything she had done behind the scenes, and completely destroyed the false image that the fans had of her. 

Makeup Artist Amy: I did not like Isabella at first, because Vivienne trying to make trouble for her and implicated us crew members while doing so. For example, for the sake of making Isabella wait, she would do things like finding faults in her makeup and continuously getting me to redo it, this happen everyday. Back then, I felt that I had been dragged in by Isabella, so I hated her for a long period of time. Actually, it wasn’t her fault at all. 

I know someone’s going to find trouble with me for saying this, but my conscience won’t rest until I say this out. On that day when Jason's fans came to the set to make a ruckus, if Isabella hadn’t used her arm to block a rock for me, I would have gotten a wound on my face! 

Errand Boy Dan: Frank and outspoken? More like crazy jealous. Vivienne is a malignant tumour on set, she acts arrogantly and throws her weight around. She’s practically late every day and leaves early without saying anything. She even orders people around with her nose pointed in the air, completely not treating us workers as humans. In a single day, I have to run back and forth dozens of times just for her. Does she seriously think I’m one of her family’s servants? 

As for Isabella, although she usually keeps to herself and seems a little distant, she always treats us workers politely. Every time we wrap up filming, she thanks everyone. Even when we were biased against her and didn’t reply to her, she still continued to do so every time. 

Director’s Assistant: Words are cheap, but I’d still like to say a fair word. It was only on the first day of filming that people sent things to Isabella. Normally, I don’t see her flirting around with anybody It’s normal for a beautiful woman to have a few admirers, I didn’t think that the news would get warped to such an extent! 

Cameraman: There’s nothing to criticise about Isabella’s professional skills. She has a good feel of the camera and gets into the right position by herself. Usually, she passes in a single take unless someone else makes a mistake. So I’m the most relaxed whenever I film her. As for Vivienne….. she’s probably the worst nightmare of any cameraman! She overdid her plastic surgery and her nose is shaped weirdly. However, she kept blaming it on my poor skills. Am I supposed to film you alone in those shots? 

Director Phil: The talk online about Isabella getting in through the backdoor is utter nonsense. That is not only an insult towards her, but an insult to our entire production crew. I was thinking of waiting until our movie starts screening to show her performance so that everyone can see the truth. However, since things have gotten to this point and are affecting the progress of our filming, I’m going to show some interesting highlights now. Everyone, see for yourselves! [Video]

Producer Wale: Ah, everyone has already spoken. Then let me say something as well! I see that many of you are saying that we suddenly got another 50 million funding because of Isabella’s sponsor. For the sake of clearing all these up, I requested permission from our investor and am revealing his identity now @LittleKoiPrince. 

Isabella had expected that many people in the crew were already on the last vestiges of patience towards Vivienne. Once a single person spoke up, the rest would then pile on. She hadn’t expected that they would praise her while criticising Vivienne, that was an unexpected reward. It felt good to have her hard work recognised after all. 

Producer Wales's tweet made her rather curious. She quickly opened up the page with the ID @LittleKoiPrince to see who that investor was…

She was rendered speechless. 

@LittleKoiPrince was verified on I*******m as: Longster Entertainment’s Acting CEO Julian Sterling. You’re the boss of a big entertainment company! Why is your ID this corny? It’s like you’re still in middle school!

She hadn’t anticipated that the investor who had joined at the last moment was actually Julian. This was beyond her expectations, but still within reason. After all, this was Jason's l first big film after returning to the country. It was only natural that his company would spend a lot of effort to support it.  

However, Longster really lived up to its reputation as the industry’s richest company by dropping 50 million on a mere second male lead role. 

All the misunderstandings were resolved with The producer's post. While the stains on her reputation had been thoroughly wiped clean, Vivienne was now saddled with the reputation of being an arrogant, despicable and trashy actress. Unfortunately, even though more observant people had already realized that she was the instigator behind the scandal scandal, there was no conclusive evidence. 

Everything that had happened up to this point were within Isabella’s predictions. However, she didn’t expect an even more shocking development would come later. 

Late last night, Vivienne’s manager Hannah Bells had posted on her story and page. 

She directly exposed how Vivienne had made use of her fans to slander Isabella. She even spilled the entire story of how she had used a second account to disguise herself as one of Jason's fans in order to rile them up and use them to attack her. 

She also revealed something even more shocking: Vivienne was actually a mistress posing as a rich heiress! 

The rich father she was rumored to have wasn’t actually her father. In reality, he was her sugar daddy and he already had a wife and kids. 

Hannah's post contained extremely damning chat records and scandalous revelations. No matter what Vivienne tried to say, she still wouldn’t be able to talk her way out of this. 

Currently, there was only one path left for her. Quietly going into retirement. 

As for a comeback, in the unpredictable and tumultuous entertainment industry, her chances of coming out of retirement were virtually zero. 

After Hannah had violated the ethics of her profession by exposing the secrets of an entertainer under her management, her own career as a manager was basically over as well. What sort of conflict did she have with Vivienne that pushed her to cause their mutual destruction? It was a mystery. 

After the matter blew up, Starlight Entertainment tried to delete the post and end the gossip, but unfortunately, they couldn’t resolve the situation. Instead, the netizens became even angrier. 

In order to appease the enraged public, Starlight attempted to do damage control by releasing a statement saying that they would launch a thorough investigation regarding the role Vivienne played in slandering Isabella. The company didn’t touch on the matter of her being a sugar baby, but they basically expressed that they would investigate further. They were clearly unwilling to let go of Vivienne, whom they had spent so much money developing. 

Isabella didn’t have any scenes to film today, so she had originally planned to spend the day relaxing at home. 

After freshening up, she tied her hair loosely and headed downstairs.

The house was quiet.

Too quiet.

For a second, she almost forgot she wasn’t in her own space.

She stepped into the dining area.

Saviee was already seated, quietly drawing on his board, his small legs swinging slightly under the chair.

At the head of the table—

Alexander.

Dressed now. Composed. As if the earlier moment hadn’t happened at all.

Saviee’s eyes lit up the moment he saw her.

He immediately tapped his board and held it up.

“Good morning.”

Her expression softened instantly.

“Good morning, baby.”

She walked over and lightly tapped his nose before taking the seat beside him.

A plate had already been set for her.

Still warm.

She noticed that.

Didn’t comment on it.

Alexander poured a glass of water and slid it toward her.

No words.

She took it.

“Thank you.” She smiled

A pause.

She picked up her fork, then glanced at him.

“You woke up early.”

A faint pause.

“I usually do.”

“Even after drinking?”

“I wasn’t drunk.”

She let out a small huff of amusement, shaking her head.

“Of course you weren’t.”

A quiet beat passed again.

Then—

“I saw what happened online,” she said, more casually than she felt.

He didn’t react much.

Just continued cutting his food.

“It’s settled,” she added. “Better than I expected.”

“I know.”

She looked at him again.

There was something about the way he said it.

Too certain.

But she didn’t press that.

Instead, she took a breath.

Paused.

Then—

“…Julian invested in the production.”

It wasn’t a question.

He nodded once.

“He did.”

Her fingers stilled slightly against the table.

“I didn’t know.”

“He didn’t announce it.”

She studied him for a second longer, like she was trying to read past his calm.

Then she gave a small nod.

“…Still.”

Another pause.

Then, softer—

“Thank you.”

That made him stop.

Just slightly.

His gaze lifted to hers.

“For what?”

“For… that,” she said vaguely. “The investment. The opening ceremony. Everything.”

Her voice wasn’t dramatic.

If anything, it was quieter than usual.

More sincere.

She didn’t look away this time.

“I know it wasn’t random.”

Silence stretched between them.

Not heavy.

But deliberate.

Then—

She exhaled softly.

“…Why are you helping me?”

This time, she held his gaze fully.

No deflection.

No teasing.

Just a direct question.

For a brief second, something shifted in his expression.

Subtle.

Almost unnoticeable.

Then he answered—

“I don’t like seeing you cornered.”

Simple.

No explanation.

But it landed.

Her fingers tightened slightly around the fork.

That wasn’t what she expected.

Not something so… direct.

For once, Isabella didn’t have a quick response.

She looked down briefly, then let out a quiet breath.

“…You make it sound like I’m always in trouble.”

“You are.”

She blinked.

Then narrowed her eyes at him.

“Excuse me?”

His tone didn’t change.

“You walk into problems like you already know how they’ll end.”

A pause.

Then, calmer—

“But you handled this one well.”

That made her scoff lightly.

“You clearly weren’t there yesterday.”

Her voice dropped just a little.

“Because that wasn’t exactly graceful.”

He didn’t argue.

Didn’t soften it either.

“You didn’t panic.”

She stilled.

“You didn’t rush to defend yourself,” he continued. “You waited.”

His gaze held hers now.

“Then you chose when to respond.”

A quiet beat.

“That’s control.”

Something about the way he said it—

Not praise.

Not comfort.

Just… fact.

It made her chest feel strangely tight.

She looked away first this time.

“…You’re giving me too much credit.”

“I’m not.”

Another pause.

Then—

Her lips curved slightly, but it wasn’t her usual playful smile.

Softer.

“Careful,” she murmured. “If you keep saying things like that, I might start thinking you believe in me.”

His response came without hesitation.

“I do.”

That—

That one lingered.

For a second longer than it should have.

Isabella didn’t speak.

Didn’t joke.

Didn’t deflect.

She just looked at him.

And for the first time...

The space between them didn’t feel like distance.

It felt like something quietly… closing.