Chapter 68: Chapter 76

“How dare you…” Denise forgot her lines as soon as she spoke, and under the pressure of Angeline’s intimidating aura, her voice gradually grew smaller.

It was obvious to everyone that Denise had lost in this showdown of acting skills.

The director bellowed angrily, “Stop! Denise, do you even know how to act? You should fight back when Angeline has bested you!”

She’s bested me… Denise was stunned by the director’s words.

Meanwhile, Angeline took a glass of water from her assistant and regarded Denise with contempt.

Staring at the woman with envy, Denise clenched her teeth, livid at what the director said.

Denise’s acting skill was on par with Angeline’s back when the two of them entered the company in the same year.

At present, little did she expect she would be intimidated by Angeline’s acting to the extent that she couldn’t even utter her line.

There was no way she could admit defeat just like that.

“This is unfair, Mr. McKenna. Angeline acted completely off the script and affected my performance. I request a retake of the scene,” Denise said resentfully.

“Ms. Campbell, how could you say that?” Angeline responded calmly, “Firstly, those were exactly my lines as stated in the script. Second, with Alleria’s personality, she would never allow herself to be humiliated, even if she was in danger.”

“You’re being unreasonable!” Denise glared at her angrily as if she wanted to devour the latter.

“Ms. Campbell, maybe you should go back and read the original novel. Let’s talk after you get a better understanding of the character you play.” Angeline casually twisted the bottle cap in her hand and flashed Denise a faint smile, appearing unbothered by the latter.

She was clearly implying that Denise was unprofessional.

Derek Mckenna, the director of The Journey, was notoriously strict in the industry. He was only concerned about the quality of his film and never gave a hoot about the status of the actors and actresses.

As expected, his face immediately fell as he bellowed, “Denise, what Angeline said is true. If you can’t act, get lost immediately! Stop wasting my time!”

Denise felt utterly humiliated after being reprimanded publicly and regarded with mocking gazes.

Even so, she could only bite the bullet and apologize sincerely to Derek for her incompetence.

On the contrary, Angeline wrapped up filming smoothly and headed outside the set. Taking a portable fan from her assistant, she turned it on, enjoying the cool breeze blowing on her face.

At that moment, a bottle of strawberry-flavored soda rolled to her feet. Since no one came to pick it up, she squatted down and grabbed it.

When she saw the familiar brand on the bottle, a tender look surfaced in her eyes and a smile graced her face. “How long do you plan to hide, Floretta?”

Following her words, a tiny head emerged from under a tree not far away.

“Aww, Angel, why did you expose me so soon?” Floretta pouted unhappily, seemingly disappointed that her antics were cut short.

After telling her assistant a few things, Angeline walked up to Floretta with a smile. She then scooped her up and said worriedly, “You’ve lost weight. Have you not been eating regularly?”

Floretta touched her own cheek and sighed. “Daddy and I have had poor appetites ever since we ate your cooking.”

Angeline was surprised when she heard that. Does that mean Evander loves my cooking too?

No sooner had she pondered about that than puzzlement inundated her when an important problem occurred to her. “Whom did you come with?”

“Me.” A man’s deep, cold voice rang out.

She was bewildered to see Evander approaching them with his usual poker face. The surrounding temperature seemed to have dropped following his appearance.

Because of what happened in the dining room last time, Angeline felt somewhat awkward as she stared at him. “Mr. Golding, are you here to visit the film crew?”

Evander, however, was as calm as ever. He hummed in response before replying, “It was Floretta. She wants to come and have a look.”

Angeline didn’t notice anything amiss and hurriedly said, “I see. Let me inform Mr. McKenna so he can show you the shooting progress recently.”

In actuality, she wanted to take the opportunity to avoid Evander.

As she spoke, she turned around to leave.

Alas, the man’s deep voice rang out again before she could take her first step.

“There’s no need to alert him. I’ve already seen it just now.”

His words stunned Angeline. She couldn’t help but wonder how long had Evander and Floretta been watching nearby.

Thinking of that, she turned to look at the man and blurted, “Mr. Golding, did I disappoint you with my performance?”

“Of course not, Angel.” Floretta chimed in, “Daddy just praised you for your good acting skills. He even said this film will be a hit.”

Evander’s face darkened when he heard his daughter’s words. Wait a minute. When did I say so?

Angeline was dumbfounded for a moment before exclaiming excitedly, “Really?”

For some reason, when Evander saw her look of anticipation, he couldn’t bring himself to refute that and encouraged, “Yeah. Continue to do your best.”

“Thanks, Mr. Golding. I will.”

Although what Evander said was nothing special, Angeline’s mood was instantly brightened, and she hugged Floretta gleefully.

Putting both hands in his pockets, Evander’s expression turned tender. As he regarded her, an inexplicable feeling began to surge within him.

In truth, he would never lie.

Angeline’s performance earlier was indeed excellent. Judging from her current development in terms of acting skills, it would not take long until she earned herself a place in the entertainment industry.

Angeline didn’t have any important scenes to shoot that afternoon. Since Floretta insisted on her joining them for lunch, the former couldn’t bear to say no to the little girl. She got into Evander’s car, and they headed to a nearby restaurant.

With only the three of them in the private room, the large table somehow looked a little extravagant.

Evander wasn’t sure if Angeline was purposely distancing herself from him by sitting several seats away from him as she fed Floretta.

His face was gloomy as he inquired in a deep voice, “Are you afraid of me?”

Angeline didn’t dare to meet his eyes upon hearing that and smiled awkwardly. “You misunderstood, Mr. Golding.”

“Then why are you sitting so far away from me? It’s not like I’d eat you.” Evander’s tone was extremely frosty and tinged with a hint of dissatisfaction.

Since it was a private room and the media wouldn’t be able to take their pictures, he found Angeline’s behavior way too suspicious.

“I-I just picked a random seat. I’ll just move over with Floretta if you mind.” Angeline moved one seat closer to Evander while smiling sheepishly.

Before she could sit down, Evander suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her toward his side.

“Sit properly,” he ordered in a domineering tone as he picked up the fork on the table and began eating.

Angeline felt uncomfortable sitting beside him.

In truth, she deliberately kept her distance from him after much consideration, for everyone knew he had a fiancée.