Chapter 24

Chapter 24
|| KIERA STEVENS'S POV ||
I looked at her, speechless again. How far could she go to make me miserable?
It was Anastasia, standing a few feet away from her. Her lips carried a brooding smile. I avoided meeting her, especially the way, she always tried to look down on me. It wasn't like I was scared of her. The fact that she affected my mood always gave me the conclusion that I should stay far away from her.
Before we could say our objection, the assistant girl reappeared in our sight. Pushing her hair back haughtily, she introduced in a voice of mockery,
" Oh right..I forgot to introduce her to everyone. This is our leading Model, Anastasia Beverly. I am sure that you have already heard of her."
Molly fumed at my side. She interrupted raising her voice,
" But you didn't tell me anything about the duo. In fact, there was no mention of the leading model. This is absolutely breaching the contract. I am going to sue your company for this."
The assistant shot back coldly, sneering at us,
" Go ahead and do it! I will see what powers your artist has to bring us down. It's not like we have canceled the contract with her. She will have to share the screen only. Besides, her popularity will be boosted more by working beside Anastasia. Do you think that her popularity can be compared with your little artist?"
Molly opened her mouth to say something but I stopped her forcefully. This time, it was my matter of pride to prove myself in front of them. If Anastasia thought that she could pull me down with these small stunts, she was absolutely wrong. Five years ago, I ran away because I had Ryan inside me but this time, I wasn't going to commit the second mistake again.
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" The shooting is going to start in a minute, girls. We have chosen a perfect angle for both of you. Kiera, you are going to take the floor and lean against Anastasia.", the casting director explained the shot to me which made my face turn grim.
I needed to take the floor?
Molly barked glaring at the director who just explained the shot to us,
" What the hell? Did you mean that our Kiera is going to be the second focus? She can't take the floor. Make them stand or sit together. Whatever it is."
The director knitted her brows together, explained in a cold voice,
" This is an advertisement, not any movie. The shot is going to take me up to highlight their lips. If you aren't satisfied with the arrangements, you can go back."
Molly opened her mouth to continue arguing but I held her back. Since we signed the contract already, there was no going back unless I wanted to go through some legal battles which might be another black mark in my career. So, I stopped Molly, pushing myself hard to cooperate,
"Molly...let them do whatever they want but this is the last deal with them."
Despite her rage, Molly quickly shut up and glared at the director who just huffed before turning away to go for Anastasia.
Half an hour later, our shooting started finally. I had to shut down all the personal dramas with Anastasia in my head. The one big lesson that I learned from my mentor was that you have to put your 'professionalism' first if you want to achieve big in the industry. So, I followed their directions without question.
" Wow! This lady looks so sexy. Director, why don't you give her the position on the sofa? Her expression looks absolutely solid.", the cameraman showed the pictures to the director whose face just turned pale after listening to him. The cameraman was satisfied with my expressions despite being the second focus of the photo shoot.
The director glanced at our direction where Anastasia was rumbling about how bad the couch was. He spoke in a loud voice in our direction,
" Anastasia.. Please swipe the position with Kiera."
Anastasia's face darkened as she shot me a glare before saying,
" You..you did this, didn't you? You must have seduced the director to take my position. Or else why would he ask me to swipe position with you?"
I narrowed my eyes at her, rebuked sharply,
" Anastasia...I have nothing to do with this decision. It was you who told him to make me sit on the floor. Isn't it? Why are you cursing me now? You can ask him again because I don't care. As long as I am giving my best, I don't care where I am sitting."
She opened her mouth to say something but quickly sealed it up as she knew that I was spilling the truth. Anastasia had always been like this childish. She thought that making me sit on the floor would belittle my status. Stomping on her feet, she glared at me one last time before walking away.
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The shooting was finally done. It went smoothly except for the glaring parts from Anastasia. We swiped places and gave shots from different angles. As for the final shots that they were going to use for the cover, it was unknown to us.
It started drizzling in the evening. The crew had wrapped up to leave one after another already. We were waiting for our family car to arrive. The entrance was wide open for the crew as they were leaving one after another slowly.
When I started talking to Molly, someone exclaimed from the crowd, gasping in shock,
" Oh my god!! That's a Ferrari! Who owns it?"
Only then did I notice the direction of the parking lot where the Ferrari had just stopped? I felt an aching stab in my heart because I knew who owned it without telling. This golden color was my favorite Jasper. Although it wasn't a new addition, it cost millions at least.
Jasper came out with an umbrella in his navy blue suit and approached Anastasia like a gentleman. Anastasia just laughed arrogantly, emphasizing her words to make me jealous,
" See you later, Guys! My boyfriend is here to pick me up."
Jasper greeted them with a small nod then his eyes fell on me which I skipped staring back. I didn't want to let him see that I was hurting not because I was jealous but because I loved this man with my heart.
Anastasia pushed him forward, urging them after wrapping their arms together,
" Honey, let's get going. The rain is getting heavy."
They left together, seeming all loving as the crew members couldn't stop saying how perfect they looked together as a couple. I swallowed the pain in my heart and pretended to focus on the road for our car to arrive. It was just a matter of seconds when a Bugatti appeared in front of the building entrance. Everyone let out a loud gasp of surprise even me because I didn't know anyone who could afford to buy a Bugatti that cost at least a billion dollars. The most surprising fact was that there were few Ferrari following the car behind. It was nothing less than a Royal visit.
However, the people around me were more shocked when someone came out of the car in a black uniform to walk to our building. This time, it was me who was left stunned. Under everyone's watchful eyes, Matteo rushed to me, and courteously bowed before telling me,
" Miss, the car is waiting for you. Please come this way!"
Molly almost laughed herself out but held back before pushing me hard to go after him. He didn't give me a text or call to go to his place. Why did he want me to see this early?
But I had no room for objection. Whatever the don decides, I had to follow. While following Matteo, I saw the shock in Jasper's eyes and the jealous look in Anastasia's eyes.