Chapter 132: Is the Marriage Over?
The Jenkins Group was a sponsor that joined before the fourth livestream. Amelia had heard from Jeffrey that The Jenkins Group would also be involved in developing artists later on.
So it was normal for them to come over now to confirm advertising and such.
But... Amelia kept thinking about what happened this morning.
Amelia looked back at Eloise, who had already looked away.
"Because of The Jenkins Group?" Amelia asked.
Eloise gritted her teeth. Seeing that the other party had already seen through her, she stopped beating around the bush.
"You dare say you don't want to work with The Jenkins Group?" Eloise said. "The Jenkins Group controls the jewelry and luxury goods industry, which would greatly benefit our business. And usually, it's just other staff from The Jenkins Group who show up, but this time Mr. Jenkins came to oversee things personally - you can see how seriously they're taking this!"
"Besides," Eloise looked at Amelia strangely, "you should know this too - even though in Shadow City, The Jenkins Group is just one of the three major powers, they're very mysterious. I should... why am I telling you all this!"
Amelia smiled without confirming or denying.
Of course Amelia knew all this better than Eloise.
Not just The Jenkins Group.
The Brown Group and The Adams Group both had their own trump cards.
Otherwise, how could they establish themselves in Shadow City?
"I won't drop out of the competition," Amelia looked at Eloise and said. She knew that because of a series of changes, Eloise's mindset had shifted, which was normal.
"In the finals, we'll compete on our own merits," Amelia said.
"You!" Eloise got angry and reached out to tear off the mask Amelia was wearing, as if wanting to see who was really under that mask.
Amelia spotted Eloise's intention first and knocked her hand away.
"That's going too far," Amelia warned.
Eloise pressed her lips tightly together, staring hard at Amelia.
"I'm not as bad as you," Eloise said. "You're backed by Jeffrey, aren't you? Now everyone in the industry knows you're Jeffrey's person!"
Amelia looked at Eloise. Before, she had always thought Eloise was quite a nice person.
But now she realized she had misjudged her.
When there's no absolute conflict of interest, everyone can probably stay calm.
But once interests clash, conflicts arise.
"Jeffrey and I just have a working relationship," Amelia explained calmly, whether the other party believed it or not.
But Eloise just sneered.
Clearly she didn't believe it.
"My performance deserves my ranking," Amelia ignored Eloise's attitude and just said what she needed to say.
"Even if you try to make excuses, it's useless," Eloise sneered. "Lika, you can't shake off the labels of fake charity and trading favors for advancement. Your reputation is already ruined."
"You might be able to handle Jeffrey, but The Jenkins family and the netizens have sharp eyes."
"This time The Jenkins family got involved midway because they value the show's potential and the contestants' abilities."
"You can't keep using shady tactics to get ahead. I will definitely get The Jenkins family's resources!"
Amelia looked at Eloise with pity.
Being able to get second place showed Eloise's ability.
But she was talking complete nonsense.
"Lika, we're ready here, you can come for rehearsal," a staff member called from over there.
Amelia picked up her equipment and looked at Eloise one more time.
"You clearly know I was constantly suppressed in the first two episodes, and this is what you call me using shady tactics to get ahead?"
After saying this, Amelia went to the stage to do sound checks.
You can never wake someone who's pretending to be asleep.
Isabella came too, of course.
But this time Isabella didn't come to talk to Amelia or give her trouble.
This actually surprised Amelia.
Isabella just looked at her with a smug, contemptuous gaze, only glancing once before heading backstage.
When Isabella went backstage, she saw Eloise looking gloomy.
But she didn't care about Eloise.
Normally, she would have thrown some insults at Lika.
But after that blackmail incident came out, she didn't dare speak carelessly anymore.
Who knew if there were other hidden recording devices nearby?
So what if Lika didn't drop out?
Lika's reputation was already completely ruined.
As long as Lika dared to go on stage, she'd make Lika experience what it's like to be cyberbullied!
Before, she had only temporarily let her off because she wanted to cooperate with her to suppress Amelia.
Did she think she could stay lucky forever?
...
The whole day was busy.
Amelia scheduled herself very fully.
She had too many things to do and couldn't handle it all.
She knew that after taking off her mask in a few days, she would essentially be starting a direct confrontation with William and Isabella.
York's words kept coming to mind.
Even though she had planned it countless times, would it really go smoothly?
She understood The Brown Group's power better than anyone.
After finishing rehearsal, she didn't go greet York.
But as she was leaving, she saw him looking at her.
After thinking about it, The Jenkins Group was an investor after all, so Amelia nodded slightly to be polite, then turned and left.
Just the right amount of politeness, a very ordinary greeting.
In any setting, no one would know that just a few hours ago, he had proposed marriage to her.
York smiled silently.
Really keeping her distance.
But that's okay, he wasn't in a hurry. He could take his time.
Staff and contestants nearby came over to greet him after rehearsal ended, everyone very enthusiastic. York responded calmly.
Isabella and Eloise also came over to say hello.
But York's attitude didn't change much. When he looked up again, he found that Amelia had already disappeared around the corner.
Amelia knew York was watching her.
But she didn't want to stay.
Since she had already temporarily declined him this morning, she shouldn't be wishy-washy about it.
Thinking about it, Amelia felt she should relax a bit.
She'd been too tense lately.
Before, she was too anxious about the divorce, and now that it was settled, she should relax.
With that thought, Amelia opened her phone and saw the address Jeffrey had posted in the group chat for tonight.
Jeffrey: This is to celebrate being single, why don't we go to Moonlight Bar? We can book a private room, drink and chat there, and go dance in the club downstairs.
Mia immediately replied: Yes yes, I've wanted to go for so long. I heard the quality of guys there is really high, but Dash never lets me go!
Dash: Mia!
Mia: Dash, we're all going together, it's not like I'm going alone. And I didn't say I wanted to order anyone, just mentioning it.
Soren: Yeah yeah, I want to go too!
Finally, Jeffrey asked: Amelia, what do you think? You're the star of the show this time.
Amelia thought about it and felt going to Moonlight Bar was fine. Everyone wanted to go, and they were all in their twenties - as long as they didn't bring underage kids.
So she replied in the group: Sure, see you at Moonlight Bar tonight!
At the same time, on the other side, William's phone vibrated.
William, who had been busy all day, looked at his phone and found it was a message from Harold—
"Did you get divorced? Want to come drink at Moonlight Bar?"