Harold turned around and handed Lilia a folder, "I got a call from director Louis Spark this morning. Do you know him?" Harold asked.
Lilia received the folder while nodding. She remembered Adele mentioning that the woman had recommended Lilia to a director. It seemed that Adele's recommendation was approved by the director.
"The director told me that he wanted you to play the female lead in a music video by Ryan Fever, a singer who has recently become famous. I answered that I needed to discuss it with you first." Harold explained.
Average managers normally would accept a lucrative offer like this, but Harold would never have done that without Lilia's permission.
"Louis sounded sincere when he spoke to me and he has also sent his work contract. You can read it first before making a decision." Harold glanced at the folder in Lilia's hand, which contained the contract.
After they entered the meeting room, Lilia started reading the contents of the contract. When she saw the schedule for video filming, she was shocked, "They start shooting in two days? Isn't that too soon?"
Harold lit his cigarette and said, "Louis told me they would shoot as soon as you agreed to play a role in the music video. And they also promised that the shooting schedule wouldn't clash with your other work schedules. Looks like they were in a hurry."
Lilia frowned. Louis Spark sounded as if he was willing to do anything to get Lilia to play a role in the video. Normally, well-known directors didn't seem to need to humble themselves just to recruit a model.
However, Lilia was no ordinary model. She recently put on a great performance during Milan Fashion Week, making her one of the most popular models in Indonesia today. If a popular model starred in the music video, lots of people would be interested in watching it.
"What do you think?" Lilia asked Harold's opinion as her manager. She had never been in filming or acting herself, but she didn't want to waste Adele's recommendation.
Harold exhaled his cigarette before replying, "I think you should give it a try. Louis Spark is a very famous director, so this is a rare opportunity."
"Hmm…" Lilia looked back at the contract doubtfully, "But I have no intention of becoming an actress or anything like that…"
"Maybe you are not currently interested in joining the cinema world, but I'm sure that one day you will try a career there." Harold sounded confident, "Your experience in working with Louis Spark will be a rewarding experience!"
Lilia sighed, "I don't know why you are so sure about that. I didn't get into modeling because I wanted to be famous, you know. But I agree that this is my chance to have new experiences. Alright then, I'll play a role in this music video." She returned the contract to Harold.
"Good!" Harold snatched the document with a beaming face. The man seemed more excited about this offer from Lilia. Harold put the contract into his bag while asking, "How was the Ricardo Family party yesterday? Is everything going well?"
Lilia was silent for a moment. The party itself was going well, but then her car was run over and she had an argument with that arrogant Nora Pranasari, then Jean also appeared there.
"Lilia?" Harold turned to the woman with a suspicious gaze.
"The party was going well, really." Lilia replied quickly. She tried not to think about the moment when she was alone with Jean in the car, "Like you said, there were many famous celebrities who were also present at the party. The Ricardo family is amazing."
Lilia felt relieved when Harold nodded and started talking about another job offer for Lilia.
After meeting Harold, Lilia was preoccupied with the various jobs she had to do. She was so busy that she didn't have time to think about her unfavorable status—married.
Lilia's work lasted until late at night. When she finished shooting for Iva's beauty product commercial, it was already half past ten.
Lilia was stunned when she opened her cellphone. She had 12 missed calls. During the whole day, Lilia handed her cell phone to Merry so she had no idea what was going on. She checked the missed calls list. Vivi called her 3 times, so did Rachel. The rest was Harold's. They called around seven to eight in the evening.
Even though Harold was Lilia's manager, that man usually let Merry accompany Lilia with her job. Harold would only come if Lilia was facing an important or difficult job. That's why Harold wasn't with her at the moment.
Lilia frowned while staring at her cell phone screen. Harold wouldn't call her many times without a good reason. Vivi and Rachel should also know that Lilia was busy, so something important must have happened.
Just as Lilia was about to call Harold, she heard footsteps from behind her. The woman turned and saw Merry. The assistant was carrying a pile of clothes that Lilia had worn during the shoot. The clothes were given by the company that owned beauty products Iva as a thank you to Lilia.
"Sis Lilia, wait for me!" Merry exclaimed in a panicked voice. She was neither tall nor athletic, so she had a hard time carrying 8 outfits at once. Half of her face was covered by the piles of clothes and only her eyes were visible.
Lilia smiled slightly and took over half the piles to lighten Merry's burden. She draped the clothes around her arm before asking, "Did Harold call you earlier?"
"Uh…" Merry used a hand to wipe the sweat off her forehead, "Y-Yes, that's right."
"What happened?" Lilia asked while observing Merry's expression closely.
Merry automatically looked away, "It's not something important…"
"Merry, Harold called me 6 times in a row. He couldn't possibly do that unless something important happened." Lilia demanded, "Tell me what happened."
Merry hesitated for a moment. Her eyes moved back and forth as if looking for an escape, but she finally gave up. Merry pulled Lilia out of the studio building with a serious expression. It seemed she didn't want others to hear what she had to say.
As Merry was busy looking around to make sure no one was around, Lilia's mind started to guess what was going on. Did something happen to the Pangestu Family? Did one of her rivals get into an accident again? The sound of Merry's sigh broke Lilia's reverie.
The younger woman leaned towards Lilia before whispering, "Have you and President Jean signed the marriage certificate?"
For a moment, Lilia's mind turned blank. When she finally recovered, Lilia immediately asked, "How did you know?"
Lilia remembered Robert's request to keep her wedding a secret and felt regretful. It hadn't been a day since she married Jean, but she had broken her promise to Robert.
Hearing Lilia's cold tone, Merry shrank even more. She began to explain, "Around 7 pm last night, someone posted a photo on his blog. In the photo, everyone can see Ms. Lilia walking into the civil registry office while holding hands with a man. The photo made everyone in an uproar." Merry looked at Lilia with a look of curiosity and fear, "Is… is that true?"
Lilia groaned and covered her face with both hands. Apparently that's what happened. No wonder she got so many missed calls!
Merry watched Lilia with concern. She would open her mouth to comfort the model when the sound of a car roaring interrupted her. Merry turned to the source of the sound and recognized the approaching car.
"Sis Lilia, let's get in the car first. We can continue this conversation in the car. I'm afraid there are paparazzi around here!" Merry said while pulling Lilia's arm.
Clifford went out from the driver seat and opened the door for them. After the two of them got into the car, the man started driving the car.
The first thing Lilia did after getting into the car was to call Harold. His phone kept ringing without being picked up, making Lilia even more worried. Was the manager so busy that he didn't have time to answer the phone?
On the umpteenth ring, the call was finally answered. The sound of lively conversation and pounding music filled Lilia's ears. She hurriedly pushed the cellphone away from her ear. Was Harold in the bar?!
Lilia waited for the commotion to die down before putting her phone back to her ear, "Hello, Harold?"
"Have you really married him?" Instead of answering Lilia's greeting, Harold immediately asked that question.
Lilia paused for a moment before asking, "How are the conditions on the internet now?" She intended to explain it to Harold later, but she wanted to know how bad the upheaval in the virtual world was right now.
On the other end of the line, Harold was heard with the sound of exhaling cigarette smoke. After a while, the man finally replied, "Very calm. Everything was well arranged."
"Huh?" Lilia frowned. She knew that it is impossible to cool off a hot news rage like a famous model's wedding in a few hours, "What do you mean?"
"The blog that posted the photo deleted it immediately." Harold said dryly, "The blog owner claims that the photo was only edited, so netizens immediately stopped making a fuss. Plus, someone deliberately removed your name from the current topic."
Harold felt even more frustrated as he explained that to Lilia. Even though he was Lilia's manager, he wasn't the one who did it. To be precise, he didn't even get the chance to do anything.
Aphrodite's agency had a separate department that was dedicated to regularly monitoring news about their artists online. As soon as Lilia's alleged photo appeared, the department head immediately informed Harold. But the situation in cyberspace had calmed down before the man could do anything.
Harold lowered his head and studied the photo sent by the head of the surveillance department. The secretly taken photo showed a tall man wearing a gray suit holding Lilia's hand. The handsome man's face made Harold regret not having him hit back yesterday in Milan.
Note:
-Please support my other title in the webnovel application
"Hidden Marriage With My Imperfect CEO" : https://www.webnovel.com/book/hidden-marriage-with-my-imperfect-ceo_17881455306500805
"Trial Marriage Husband : Beautiful Wife For Satisfy The Wild CEO" : https://www.webnovel.com/book/trial-marriage-husband-beautiful-wife-for-satisfy-the-wild-ceo_18245634206004805
"The School Prince Is My Beloved Pet" : https://www..webnovel.com/book/the-school-prince-is-my-beloved-pet_18028780605998105
Follow current nov𝒆ls on freew(𝒆)bnov𝒆l.(c)om