Chapter 139: The reason to live?
After Aren returned to his hotel room, he sulked until the next day.
He seemed as if he had gone into depression, not leaving his room even once.
He only ordered food to be brought to his room and nothing else.
He didn’t even notice Lisa’s absence.
She had changed her residence from Aren’s hotel to a rented luxury apartment in Blemure City’s A province.
A province was the city’s most developed and luxurious province, known for a high cost of living. However, it also meant that she was now closer to film studios and production houses.
She could reach any audition before others or get news faster.
Meanwhile, Aren was currently in B Province with his moderately expensive hotel.
B province housed the majority of the city’s top amenities.
Even Sun University and Ariana’s university were here in this province.
Nonetheless, Lisa hadn’t appeared, and he didn’t even care to remember her, lost in his own grief.
As for why she had suddenly changed residences, it was on Ember’s suggestion, given to her via her manager.
Staying in the same hotel as Aren was too risky.
Paparazzi were currently busy hounding Titan Crest Entertainment-related news; however, once that matter began getting older, they would once again set their sights on popular celebrities.
If any of them followed Aren or Lisa, they would discover that they had been staying in the same hotel, fanning the rumors already in the fans’ minds of their dating.
Ember clearly forbade Lisa from dating anyone right now. She needed to focus on her career.
As for the agency’s plans for her, Sun Talent Agency wanted to present Lisa as the pure and innocent girl-next-door, evoking the "mother coddling their little girl" emotion in the fans.
The best fans she could have were the possessive kind. These kinds of fans would target any trolls brutally, protecting her from any negative PR while supporting her in every way.
They would watch her dramas, no matter how awful, like a parent would do for their child.
They would protect her from any insults, while not believing most rumors.
They would tear apart any celebrity or person throwing shade on her.
However, there were downsides to this image as well. Some fans would become too obsessed and turn into stalkers.
Many streamers and celebrities have suffered harassment at the hands of their stalker fans. There were even cases of deaths where stalkers would kill their idol because of their dating rumors, feeling betrayed.
However, with the bodyguards Ember provided, that shouldn’t be a problem.
This was the career path they had crafted for her.
Lisa had been reluctant to leave at first, but after hearing the reasons, she couldn’t retort anymore.
She could feel that the agency had meticulously thought of the best career path for her.
As for Aren, she left without telling, waiting to see how long it would take for him to realize that she wasn’t there.
She wanted to know how much she mattered to him.
Would he even notice that she was gone?
She hoped that he would.
However, even after waiting the whole day, and even until midnight, her phone never rang with Aren’s name on it.
Even after she woke up the next day, there was no missed call or message from him, making her feel a pang in her heart.
Did he really not notice she had left?
Did she not matter in his eyes at all?
But she didn’t know his pain was a hundred or even a thousand times greater than hers.
He was having difficulty even staying alive, constantly wondering if he should just die.
He even cancelled today’s shooting and didn’t go to the set, leaving it to Livia to inform the crew of his ill health.
The crew showed concern for him and wished him a speedy recovery and then began to shoot the scenes that didn’t feature him.
Lisa also noticed that he didn’t appear on the set that day, only to know afterwards that he was sick.
She felt angry at herself for being selfish all this while. She never once thought that he might be suffering, only caring about herself that he didn’t notice her disappearance.
She decided to visit him that day, only to be joined by Tyler and June Webb as well.
However, once they reached the hotel and knocked on his door, they were surprised to see him.
Even though he opened the door and welcomed them, there was no trace of life in him.
His eyes had lost the shine they previously radiated.
It was as if he had lost the purpose for living.
As if he didn’t want to continue living.
Even his vibrant face had reduced to gloomy with puffed eyes, likely from lack of sleep and continuous crying.
They couldn’t understand just what had happened to him.
Did someone from his family die?
Only that reason could remotely justify his current state.
"Aren, what’s the matter?" Lisa asked with a concerned expression. "You were all right yesterday morning, so what happened?"
Seeing his state, they realized he wasn’t suffering from a cold or fever; it was something else, something worse.
Aren gazed at her with a blank expression, a slightly mocking smile forming on his face. However, the ridicule wasn’t directed at her, but at himself.
"Lisa... why do you live?" His voice was neutral, without any emotions.
Lisa, on the other hand, was puzzled by his question.
What kind of question was this?
Was this some kind of philosophical question?
Had he been reading some profound philosophy?
Still, she pondered a little before listing her reasons for living.
"Well, I live because I don’t want to hurt my family. They will be sad if I die." She then smiled innocently. "Also, I’m afraid of dying," she added.
Aren nodded and turned to the other two, asking, "What about you both? Why do you live?"
Being put on the spot, they both gave answers similar to Lisa.
Tyler: "Because life is fun. I want to become rich and have more fun. I want everyone to know my name and be my fans. I don’t want to die before reaching my goals."
June: "Similar reasons to Tyler and Lisa. Other than that, I want to marry and have kids someday. I want my kids to be proud when they see my dramas and movies, similar to how my parents are proud of me when they brag to their colleagues and friends."
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(A/N -Thanks for reading. ^..^)
