Chapter 511: Chapter 511: Group Synthesis
He grabbed her hand and held it tightly in his. "Don’t go to the program anymore, I’ll find other resources for you."
Without thinking, Hannah shook her head. "No, I won’t let it go. I’ve worked so hard for those four months to achieve this; there’s no reason for others to take advantage of me."
Arnold Simmons lowered his head, pressing it against the young girl’s slightly cool cheek. "No one will take advantage of you."
With her arms wrapped around him, Hannah shifted restlessly, still refusing, "I don’t want it."
Arnold didn’t persuade her anymore, simply replying, "Alright."
Since the young girl wanted to hold on to it, he would let her, for now. Whatever was rightfully hers, he would ensure she got it back.
Hannah stayed with Arnold in the villa for two days.
The outside world, including the Simmons Clan, was still in turmoil, unaware that Arnold was alive and had returned to the country.
Within those two days, the man had turned off his phone, ignoring all messages. He devoted all his attention to catching up with the television programs and performances that Hannah had missed.
*
The morning of the third day, Hannah left Arnold’s villa.
She drove back on her own.
Jack Stewart rushed to meet her as soon as he received Hannah’s call. Seeing her safe, his tension eased, and he exhaled deeply while saying, "You don’t know how worried I’ve been, I thought you were going to do something drastic."
Without responding to his statement, Hannah sat down on the sofa and asked, "Have the show’s producers been looking for you these days?"
"They have been," Jack sat next to Hannah, giving her a situational report. "They have been ringing my phone off the hook. Initially, they were extremely arrogant and even threatened me saying we were breaching the contract. Little did they care that they were the first to act unreasonably."
Jack grew more and more outraged.
He knew the show made a grave mistake, accepting kickbacks to manipulate the voting results. This was illegal, and if there was evidence, they could be taken to court.
However, the consequences could be serious, hence those victims of vote suppression refrained from making a scene. After all, creating a controversy wouldn’t do them any good either.
"Hannah, don’t worry, there are many netizens supporting us online. I’m curious to see how much longer they can hold on. They had just called me, seeming at their wits’ end and intending to reconcile with you. Promise me you won’t relent."
Hannah nodded, then asked again, "When is our group show set to start filming?"
Jack waved his hand, "Not that soon. We had originally planned for a top-tier magazine shoot. But with the current tension, the magazine is on hold. They were initially interested in your popularity, so now they’re waiting for you to return."
"Just to clarify, you aren’t actually planning to return, are you?"
Jack looked at the woman across from him.
Hannah opened a pack of crisps, munching away happily. "Not for now. You start looking for scripts. I don’t have many requirements – just want to play a stunning beauty that brings nations to their knees."
"That should be easy, wait and see. I, your top-tier manager, will make sure you become the brightest star in the sky!" Jack asserted with pride. He then snatched away the crisp from Hannah’s hand, "Stop eating this junk. You don’t want acne."
*
The program arranged for the final eight members to move into a dormitory.
The conditions were decent; it was a pink-themed house.
On the day of their move-in, as per tradition, they live-streamed their activities. However, the comments rolling on-screen were not exactly friendly.
