Chapter 3

The director, Jonah Jones, gestured for me to calm down, saying, "I know it's not much, but—"

"Two?" I couldn't hide my delight.

Jonah froze.

I held my hands apart to show the size and asked, "Are they the soft, sweet dinner rolls I saw yesterday? The ones that were this big?"

Jonah was speechless.

Meanwhile, I was grinning from ear to ear. "Thank you, Mr. Jones! That's so generous! At the construction site cafeteria, a roll that size costs three bucks each!"

The live stream comments blew up again.

"Oh, my God! This bitch is acting again."

"The Greenwoods serve her gourmet meals every day, and she's acting like she's never seen good food before."

"I feel bad for Jeffrey Greenwood. The family pampers his wife with luxury, and she turns around and plays the victim on TV."

"Does she seriously think this makes her look cute and down-to-earth? Does she think it'll make us like her?"

"What a bitch!"

At dinner, Wendy shoved her phone in front of me and exclaimed furiously, "These commenters are awful! Listen to this headline the producers posted. 'Elite Trophy Wife Tries Too Hard, Backstabs In-laws for Sympathy.' What are they talking about?"

Both my cheeks were stuffed with cherry tomatoes. I glanced at the headline and smiled. "We're eating. Stop reading that stuff. Let's eat!"

Then, I placed a serving of green beans onto her plate. Wendy stared at the vegetables, deep in thought.

Only then did I remember that her in-laws gave her 500 thousand dollars a month. Food like this probably wasn't exciting to her.

"Elizabeth, your prize is here."

I spun around immediately. Jonah was carrying a plate with two huge dinner rolls.

"Thank you, Mr. Jones!" My eyes lit up, and I reached out eagerly.

Jonah smiled, then flipped his wrist. Both rolls plopped to the ground, bouncing twice before settling into the dirt. They were covered in dust.

"Oh, no! They fell!"

Without hesitation, I picked one up and stuffed it into my mouth. "I won't waste it!"

Jonah's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

Wendy lunged forward and yanked the roll out of my mouth. "What are you doing? It's filthy!"

"It's fine!" I snatched the roll back and brushed some dirt off it. "See? It's totally edible."

"You…" Wendy stared at me in shock, her eyes suddenly turning red.

Halfway through taking another bite, I froze. Looking at her reddened eyes, a thought occurred to me.

"Are you hungry too?" I tore the roll in half and peeled off the dirty outer layer. "Here. This part is clean."

Wendy shook her head.

"Really. I'm not lying. The inside never touched the ground."

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"I don't want it," she said, shaking her head again.

I immediately stuffed the half-roll into my mouth. "More for me, then. Don't complain when you're hungry later."

"Just eat your bread!"

For some reason, Wendy's voice cracked.

I didn't think much of it. I casually cleaned off the dusty crust I'd peeled away and ate that too.

The dinner roll was unbelievably good. By the end, I was even licking my fingers.

Suddenly, while I was halfway through my second roll, the door to the control room burst open. A hand shot out and snatched the roll right from my mouth.

Marla stood over me, furious. "Are you done pretending?" Then, she turned toward Jonah and said, "She's had enough to eat. Lock her up. Let her go hungry for a few days."

"Mmph!" My mouth was still stuffed with bread.

Two staff members grabbed me by the arms and pulled me to my feet. Wendy tried to stop them, but someone pulled her back.