Chris was annoyed when he heard Merry's answer. He realized that the most important thing for Merry was that she could eat well and play to her heart's content. The woman didn't care for him at all. But of course Chris could not express his frustration straightforwardly.
The man sighed as he ran his fingers through his black hair which was still half wet. Chris began to question why he bothered coming to Jakarta. Could it be that he turned out to be the type to torture himself?
While Chris was deep in thought, Merry stared at him in surprise. She didn't know why Chris continued to stand in front of her while rubbing his wine glass. The man's expression kept changing, but he looked gloomy as time passed by.
"Brother Chris?" Merry called him with her face looking worried, but the man did not answer. She frowned and tried again, this time with a louder voice, "Brother Chris!"
Still, the man remained as if he had not heard Merry.
Merry got up from the couch with the instant noodle container in hand and walked over to Chris. She tiptoed beside the man before shouting, "BROTHER CHRIS!"
Chris jumped and nearly spilled the wine glass he was holding. He turned to Merry with an annoyed expression, "Why are you screaming? I can hear you very well." He protested.
Merry rolled her eyes, "I've called you many times, but you didn't respond. What are you thinking just now, Brother Chris?" She asked.
'I'm thinking of what to do to get your attention!' Chris wanted to shout it out, but he held back.
He shook his head and replied curtly, "None of your business."
Merry shrugged and sat back down on the sofa to finish her noodles. When finished, Merry leaned back on the sofa, rubbing her stomach. She let out a satisfied sigh and closed her eyes. This lifestyle reminded Merry of her life at home before she ran away and became Lilia's assistant.
"Jean is here now. What would you do?"
But Chris's voice broke the calm Merry felt. The man sat in the window seat watching her.
Merry bit her lip and tried to find a solution. Jean couldn't possibly be in Jakarta for very long, right? That man wouldn't be able to leave his job for too long. But Merry had a feeling that Jean would abandon his job and stay in Jakarta if that's what Lilia wanted.
Then, what should Merry do?
Her gaze fell on Chris's figure. Merry put on her biggest smile and said in a voice as sweet as honey, "Brother Chris, you are a very nice person, right? Since you are so kind, you don't mind if I stay over here, do you?"
"I will return to Surabaya tomorrow."
Chris's short answer crushed Merry's hopes to pieces. Her smile turned stiff as she stared blankly at Chris.
"Why so fast?" The question automatically came out of Merry's mouth. Somehow, that fact made Merry's mood worse. She didn't want Chris to leave her!
Merry frowned, trying to understand her own feelings. Why didn't she want the man to leave? Was it because if Chris left, there would be no one to protect her from Jean? Yes, definitely true, it must be because that reason that her mood had become this bad!
Chris studied Merry's conflicted expression. He shook his wine glass as he asked half jokingly, "Don't you want me to go?"
"Yes!" Merry's excited reply surprised Chris, "I don't want Brother Chris to leave!"
Joy and contentment filled Chris's heart. Had Merry finally realized his feelings?
But Merry's next words made Chris' mood that was hovering above the clouds sink to the ground.
"If Brother Chris leaves from here, where will I sleep? Clifford stayed in the standard room with a single bed! Do you want me to share the same room with Clifford?" Said Merry. The way she spoke sounded like she was threatening the man.
Chris's face turned as dark as the storm clouds. He gritted his teeth and said in an icy voice, "Don't talk nonsense! You can use this room. I already paid for two months, so don't think about anything weird!"
Merry's eyes flashed with joy, but a second later she was turning grim again. Hearing that she could use this room didn't make Merry's mood better.
She could not hold back and asked, "Brother Chris, are you still going?"
When she asked that, Merry's tone sounded very serious as she looked at Chris with a pleading look. The woman's face was so cute that it made Chris's heart melt.
"Of course not." Chris answered without thinking. The man then frowned, surprised by his own answer. But when he saw the look of disbelief on Merry's face, he added, "My work here is not finished, so I have to be here a lot."
Chris wanted to hit himself for answering like that. No matter how important his job was, he couldn't leave Surabaya for too long! He must have gone crazy for letting a woman influence his mind!
But when Chris saw Merry's eyes glow again, he felt he had done the right thing. The man would not be able to forgive himself if he disappointed or saddened Merry. Was this the power of love?
*****
That night, around nine o'clock, Lilia posted a clarification on her social media account.
[Lilia]: "I don't plan to step down from filming or return with William Anggara. Please stop making false rumors!"
In just a few minutes, Lilia's post was scattered all over the place. Even the official account for the film 'The Chosen Kingdom' helped spread the post.
[The Chosen Kingdom]: "@Lilia is the female side character in this film. The shooting process went very smoothly and on schedule. We film crews declare that we do not tolerate anyone who dares to spread fake news!"
The official account post was accompanied by several photos of Lilia taken from the first day's photo shoot. All of this helped make Lilia even more popular online.
On the other hand, Shirley's clarifying post received the opposite reaction. Of the many netizens who left comments, more than half of them openly badmouthed her and typed all sorts of insults.
All of this obviously?made Shirley furious. She slammed things in her room and made a tremendous mess.
Lisa, her assistant, was standing trembling in the corner of the room. One hand covered her right cheek, which was flushed from being slapped by Shirley. Her tears fell down the assistant's face as she cried silently.
As an assistant to a famous actress, she was used to being treated harshly by Shirley. But she only found out today that in Shirley's eyes, she was no different from a slave.
"You still have enough shame to cry?!" Shirley snapped, glaring at Lisa. She trotted over to the young woman and grabbed her hair, "You were the one holding my cellphone while I was shooting! Only you can hijack my account and send photos of the conversation!"
"Shirley, calm down a little." Melly, the actress's manager, grabbed Shirley's arm and pulled her back. Even though her voice sounded calm, her expression showed intense anger.
This afternoon, when Melly read the news about the post on the internet, she immediately flew to Jakarta to meet Shirley. She had ordered her agency's public relations team to remove the post, but Melly had no idea that things would get this bad.
Melly glanced at Lisa, then looked back at Shirley. She massaged her forehead which started throbbing painfully, "What's the use of you scolding her? Didn't I tell you from the start that you need to bring more assistants to Jakarta? But were you listening? No you didn't! You only brought Lisa here!" Melly's voice was filled with sarcasm.
Shirley opened her mouth to protest, but Melly wasn't done talking.
"Lisa is only one person! But she has to take care of you as well as spy on Lilia Pangestu for you! I won't be surprised if someone manages to steal your cellphone in the midst of all her busy life!" Melly continued to rant her irritation.
"Oh, so now you are blaming me?!" Shirley glared at her manager, "Didn't you say that I can't bring many assistants to keep my image?! I was planning on taking seven to eight assistants with me! But after the paparazzi found out about it, you scolded me! How could this incident be my fault ?!"
Melly took a deep breath as she asked for more patience to face this actress, "I'm not saying it's completely your fault." She said with the remaining patience she had, "I just didn't expect that you would look down on Lilia Pangestu like that. What did she do to offend you?"
Shirley snorted and crookedly, "She didn't offend me!" She exclaimed, "I just don't like her!"
The actress couldn't bear to hear everyone praise Lilia. They all said that the amateur model was very popular, very kind, very elegant, and much more. Plus, Lilia seemed to have a special relationship with that man.
Melly took a deep breath, "Shirley, whatever your reasons are, I want you to keep your grudge to yourself. Even if you have the title of queen of film in Berlin, you have to remember carefully where it came from!"
The threat shrouded in advice had Shirley's breath caught in her throat. She looked at Melly with a mixture of disbelief and fear.
The manager continued, "This situation has become a big problem now. If you still want to keep your reputation, you must immediately apologize to Lilia in front of everyone tomorrow. I'll talk to the film crew and find out who stole your cell phone."
Shirley bit her lip with a furious expression, but she didn't say anything.
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