Chapter 100 Why Can't I Be Friends with Her? I'm Willing!
Isabella watched Charles from a distance as he put on his fake show of affection, narrowing her eyes.
She walked over, her gaze sweeping across Charles's face. "Violet already broke up with you. Don't you think it's pathetic how you keep pestering her? Haven't you heard that a broken mirror can't be put back together?"
Charles's face immediately darkened when he heard this.
He clenched his fists and glared at Isabella with a gloomy expression. "What I say to Violet is none of your business! Mind your own business, you idiot!"
In his mind, the reason things between him and Violet had gotten to this point was all because Isabella, that disgusting thing, had stirred up trouble. If she hadn't taken those photos of him and Juniper and shown them to Violet, would Violet have made such a fuss?
Charles hated Isabella to the core. Not wanting to deal with her anymore, he just looked at Violet and said:
"Violet, we've known each other since we were kids. We've been together for so many years. Can you really bear to watch all these years of feelings be destroyed just like that?"
"Seems like Violet was never the one who destroyed this relationship, right?" Isabella looked at him with amusement. "I really don't understand how you have the nerve to say these things."
Seeing Isabella interrupt again, Charles's face turned furious. He glared at her fiercely. "Get lost! This is all your doing! Stay away from our Violet!"
Violet couldn't take it anymore and slapped Charles across the face. "You're the one who should leave! Don't you dare insult Isabella again!"
Charles's eyes widened in shock.
He couldn't believe Violet had actually hit him.
"Isabella, let's go." Violet grabbed Isabella and left.
She was completely disappointed in Charles.
She could tolerate everything else, but she absolutely couldn't stand Charles's attitude toward Isabella.
Charles stared at Violet's retreating figure for a while before snapping back to reality.
He couldn't accept that Violet, who used to love him so much, would actually hit him for Isabella!
Charles caught up with them, forcing down the anger in his heart as he said:
"Violet, please, stop hanging out with someone like Isabella. Have you thought about why we've become like this? It's all because she's been stirring up trouble between us."
"She's the one who got Juniper expelled. She's the one who created this rift between us. There are so many great people out there—why do you have to be friends with someone like her?"
Violet was furious when she heard Charles's words.
She stopped and stared at Charles coldly. "What right do you have to talk about Isabella? What's wrong with me being friends with her? I want to! And you—what are you anyway? You can't even score a fraction of what Isabella scores. How dare you come here and trash-talk Isabella?"
Charles didn't expect Violet to bring up grades.
His grades had always been terrible, but Violet had always said it didn't matter, that she didn't care about grades.
The person who once said she didn't care about his grades was now mocking him for them...
Charles's face twisted immediately. "Violet? How can you say that to me? You said before..."
"What did I say? That bad grades don't matter? I said that to protect your pathetic self-esteem! You kept saying you'd find your own path, that you'd learn guitar—that was all lies too, wasn't it? You wanted to use the money I gave you to take Juniper on trips, right?"
"Playing games was real, but making money from gigs was a lie, wasn't it? All you do is hang out at bars playing games and wasting your life—what else can you do? You're trash, you're nothing! Why would I like someone like you?"
When Charles heard Violet say he wanted to use the guitar money to take Juniper on trips, his face froze.
How did Violet know?
He had never mentioned it.
Seeing Violet speak so eloquently, Isabella felt satisfied. "Beautiful!"
Charles opened his mouth, about to say something, when he saw a man in a suit and gold-rimmed glasses walking toward them.
"Hello, are you Violet?"
The man walked up to Violet and spoke with a smile, as if he knew her.
Violet looked at the man who suddenly appeared and pointed at herself in confusion. "I am. Are you looking for me?"
The man nodded and handed over a business card. "Yes, I'm Ralph Cook, an agent from Celestial Entertainment Group. We spoke on the phone before—do you remember?"
Violet certainly remembered. This Ralph had called her about signing a contract, and later, after listening to Isabella's advice, she had called back to decline.
"You rejected our company's contract offer over the phone, which I thought was a shame."
Ralph said, "I see your musical talent, so I came here to find you and discuss it with you in more detail."
Violet looked at him in confusion. "Discuss what?"
"The terms." Ralph smiled and got straight to the point. "We can offer you a base salary of $100,000 a year to sign with us. Are you satisfied with this offer?"
Violet gasped. "A hundred thousand dollars a year?"
That much?
For a high school student, a hundred thousand dollars was an astronomical figure.
Many moderately successful singers probably didn't even make a hundred thousand a year, and this was just the base salary.
Ralph watched Violet's amazed reaction and knew this offer had won her over.
No newcomer could ever refuse this number.
Ralph's eyes swept over Violet repeatedly. He knew that as long as he made good use of her looks, her figure, and her musical talent, earning back that hundred thousand for the company wouldn't be difficult.
It looked like he was offering her better terms, but in reality, for him, it was a sure win.
Violet was tempted and secretly tugged at Isabella's sleeve, whispering, "This is the company I told you about."
Isabella glanced at Ralph coolly.
Rather than calling him an agent, he was more like a businessman, his face full of a businessman's calculations.
She pulled Violet aside and said in a low voice, "A hundred thousand dollar base salary seems high, but Celestial Entertainment Group is very complicated internally. They're known for using high base salaries to sign talented young artists, but they'll definitely make that money back from the artists."
"If you can't sing, they'll make you act. If you can't act, they'll make you do business entertainment, make you serve drinks, or even sleep with people..."
"Once you sign, it won't be up to you anymore. And their contract terms will only include parts that benefit them. If you want to break the contract later, the penalty won't be as simple as just a hundred thousand dollars."
"By the time you realize what's happening and want to get out, it'll be too late. They'll use every means possible to keep you there until they've squeezed out every last bit of your value."