Chapter 81

"Of course not, how could we get married that quickly?"

Zoey shook her head right away, shooting down Claire's guess.

Claire nodded and dropped the subject. "By the way, starting tomorrow, I'm planning to work with the crew for a couple of days. We're almost done filming, and if any issues pop up that we can't handle right away, it'll be a pain later."

Zoey chatted with Claire while they cleaned up the dining table.

Claire nodded. "No worries about Gabriel and Travis. As long as they don't try to play puzzles with me, I'm cool with looking after them."

Zoey just smiled.

Claire had been sent abroad by her family since she was a kid, and the two of them were like kindred spirits. Now they helped each other out like sisters. Even without being blood-related, they were each other's most important family.

The next day, Zoey headed to the set.

The director saw her come alone and wanted to assign a couple of staff to take care of her, but she turned him down.

"No need to worry about me. I'm not acting, just handling the sound recording."

Hearing Zoey's firm refusal, the director dropped the idea.

When they took a break at noon, Zoey went back to the designated lounge to rest. James showed up with two cups of coffee.

"Need something from me?" Zoey asked.

James looked at Zoey, whose stunning beauty shone through even in plain casual attire. A flash of amazement crossed his eyes.

With his most charming smile, he sat next to Zoey and handed her a cup of coffee. "Ms. Cavendish, this movie is almost wrapped up, and it's hard for me to let go of the time we've spent working together.."

Zoey felt a bit awkward, as she hadn't spent much time with the crew.

Without getting a response from Zoey, James continued, "Ms. Cavendish, from the first moment I saw you, I knew you were extraordinary. I believe your future achievements will be even greater."

He added, "I truly hope that in the future, we can still have a chance to work together. As long as you're happy, I'll do anything, and I absolutely won't tell Mr. Windsor about our secret relationship."

Zoey looked at James with a complicated expression, speechless.

She thought, 'Is James offering to be my lover? And without any title, just for the chance to act? Do I seem like the kind of woman who would settle for any man who comes along?'

If it weren't for the fact that James had stood by her side when she was being bullied by others in the crew before, Zoey would have already thrown the coffee in his face.

"Mr. Garcia, if there's a suitable role, I'll contact you for an audition. But I prefer actors who rely on their talent, and I'm not someone who is fickle."

Zoey's face darkened slightly as she made her stance clear.

James was stunned, not expecting Zoey to reject him.

After all, whenever he took the initiative to offer himself, he had never failed.

But Zoey's attitude made him respect her a bit, and he realized how abrupt he had been.

James immediately stood up and bowed deeply to Zoey. "Ms. Cavendish, I'm really sorry about earlier. I hope you won't hold it against me."

Zoey quickly motioned for him to stand up. "It's okay. Actually, Mr. Garcia, you're a very talented actor. You'll definitely have plenty of roles in the future."

James nodded, feeling too embarrassed to stay in the lounge any longer. After exchanging a few more words with Zoey, he quickly left.

A man with a work badge saw this scene and immediately went to a corner to make a phone call.

"Mr. Miller, I have a way to get Zoey to go to that abandoned construction site alone."

As the sky darkened, Zoey felt a bit tired from the busy day. Seeing the crew wrap up, she prepared to drive home.

James's agent, Calla Gray, was anxiously asking around the set, "Have you seen James?"

The staff shook their heads, and Calla approached Zoey. "Ms. Cavendish, did James come to see you earlier?"

Zoey replied honestly, "James only came to chat with me for a bit at noon and left soon after. Maybe he went home. You should call him."

Calla immediately said, "There's only one car, and James didn't take it. I also called him, but his phone is unreachable. What should we do? There's only an hour left before he has to be at the city center for a magazine shoot."

She added, "It's a top-tier magazine. If he's late, they might even expose him in the entertainment industry, not accepting any excuses. James has just started making progress. If he gets a reputation for being difficult to work with, how will he continue in the industry?"

Hearing Calla's words, Zoey felt something was off.

Just as she was about to suggest Calla call the police, her phone suddenly rang.

Zoey looked at the unfamiliar number on the screen, hesitated for a moment, but quickly answered, "Hello, who is this?"

A long-missed voice came through the phone. "Zoey, if you don't want your lover James to get hurt, come to the abandoned construction site on Willow Street in the suburbs. Otherwise, I'll have someone scar his face, making him unable to act again."

Zoey frowned deeply, never expecting that James's disappearance would actually be related to her.

She just didn't understand how Bobby misunderstood her relationship with James.

Before Zoey could speak, she heard James shouting through the phone, "Ms. Cavendish, don't come. I heard them say they want to bury you alive...!"

James's mouth was clearly gagged, and a cold glint flashed in Zoey's eyes.

No matter what, James was implicated because of her this time, and she had to try her best to save him.

"Alright, I'll be waiting for you. You must arrive within an hour. Otherwise, for every minute you're late, I'll add another cut to his face. By the time you arrive late, you'll only see a bloody mess on his face."

Bobby's sinister laughter came through the phone, and Zoey's face grew darker.

After hanging up, Calla asked Zoey with some uncertainty, "Ms. Cavendish, was that James I heard just now?"