Chapter 105 Brotherly Rivals
"It's not Aurora, it's Luna, the character Aurora plays," James corrected.
Aurora quickly nodded and said, "Yeah, it's Luna, not me. David, don't mix it up."
David was taken aback by Aurora's words. He furrowed his brow, sensing a trap in her statement, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was.
The three began rehearsing their scene. Since it was a romantic scene, physical contact was inevitable. However, Aurora seemed off today, overacting every move. What was supposed to be a simple hug almost turned into her clinging to David. A pretend hand-hold turned into her actually grabbing James's hand. Although Aurora apologized each time, James and David exchanged glances and understood her intentions. They found an excuse to end the rehearsal early.
As Aurora left, she turned and asked, "Did you get it all?"
A scruffy middle-aged man with a camera, Percy Faith, appeared behind her. He smiled and nodded, "Crystal clear, Aurora. If these get out, you'll get a ton of attention. How are you gonna thank me? How about letting me sleep with you, just once?"
He reached out to touch Aurora's face, but she slapped his hand away.
"Get lost. I'll wire the money to your account," Aurora said coldly.
Percy laughed and hid again. Sneaking into the set to take photos was a big no-no in the industry. If anyone saw him, the photos would be useless.
"Wait." Aurora, about to leave, stopped and turned back. "Send me some of the photos of James. I need them."
"Sure, but remember, don't leak them before my report goes out, or it won't have the same impact," Percy reminded her.
"I know better than you," Aurora nodded.
Aurora then headed towards the Sophia Hope Foundation, confident that Percy would send the photos to her phone before she arrived.
Sure enough, her phone started buzzing with notifications before she even reached the door. She looked at the photos of her and James from their scene. The emotions in James's eyes were so genuine that it looked like they were really in love.
Aurora smirked as she approached the foundation's entrance.
Meanwhile, Emily was playing games with the kids at the entrance. After a few days of rest, the kids' health had improved significantly. Emily, who thought she could easily win, found herself out of breath after running around, while the kids were still full of energy.
Emily silently cursed her body's previous owner for being so out of shape.
"Emily," Aurora called out. Emily turned and nodded, seizing the opportunity to say, "Let's take a break. Aurora needs to talk to me."
The kids scattered. Emily sensed Aurora's murderous intent, but when she looked, Aurora had hidden it well.Emily: [No matter how well you hide it, I know you're here to get back at me. Let's see what you've got.]
Emily grumbled internally, her thoughts reaching Sophia inside the building. Hearing about revenge, Sophia quickly came out to check on Emily and relaxed when she saw it was Aurora.
Emily: [Seriously? The same old trick? Tricking James and David into a scene and then getting someone to take photos? Aurora, can't you come up with something new? You did this to David before, and now again. Percy the reporter, huh? Let me think of a way to alert the crew to catch him and smash his camera!]
While Emily was still figuring out how to inform the crew, Sophia had already texted James and David.
James and David, still on set, immediately started searching for Percy. With the Smith family's resources, they quickly caught him.
When they found Percy, he was processing the photos. Seeing the intimate shots of Aurora and themselves, James and David's faces turned icy. If Emily and Ella saw these, it would be disastrous. They had everyone else leave the room, and soon Percy's screams echoed from within. When the door reopened, James and David emerged, leaving a badly beaten Percy behind. The photos had been deleted.
Meanwhile, Aurora was trying to show Emily the photos with a flimsy excuse.
"Aurora, I need your help picking out some clothes. I'm torn between a few options. Can you help me decide?" Aurora asked.
Emily knew what Aurora was up to but played along. "Sure."
Emily: [I've got nothing better to do. Let's drag this out and give Brian time to find Percy.]
Little did Emily know, Percy had already lost all his photos and was unconscious.
Aurora scrolled through her phone, showing Emily the photos. Emily pretended to critique how the clothes would look on Aurora, though she was just repeating Aurora's thoughts.
Emily's comments made Aurora feel like she'd found a kindred spirit, making her hesitate to show the incriminating photos. But revenge won out in the end.
"Emily, what do you think of this one?" Aurora said, sliding to a photo of her and James holding hands, gazing into each other's eyes.
"How did that photo get in there? Quick, swipe back!" Emily said, preempting Aurora's next move, catching her off guard.
"Hurry up, what are you waiting for?" Emily laughed at Aurora's expression and reached for the phone, revealing another photo of James hugging Aurora.
"Oops, wrong way. Sorry, I should swipe this way, not that way," Emily said, continuing to swipe through the photos, each one showing James and Aurora together. Aurora was getting confused by Emily's words, which were exactly what she had planned to say.