Chapter 74

Eliza woke up from the nightmare, her cold sweat soaking the pillow. She looked up and saw that it was already the next morning. The sun outside the window was very bright. She wiped her sweat, let out a sigh of relief, and lay back on the bed. She didn’t know why she had such a dream. It was clear that something similar had never happened to her before. Everything in her dream was real, as if she had really experienced it. Moreover, the fire was so big. If it was real, she must have been burned to death.

Taking a deep breath, she told herself that yesterday’s movie must have made her brain chaotic, so she had such an inexplicable dream. Eliza closed her eyes. Before she became sober, her phone rang. It was from her biological father, Luca. “You’ve run out of money again?” Eliza closed her eyes and said lazily, “Dad, don’t drink like this every day.” “Even though you used to be a special-forces soldier, you are old. If you drink like this all the time, your body will collapse sooner or later.” “You should go out and find a job.” “Eliza.” Before she could finish her words, Luca interrupted her. “I called you to say goodbye to you.” Say goodbye? Eliza suddenly opened her eyes and sat up from the bed. “Where are you going?”

“Didn’t I tell you that after I retired from the special forces, I was a bodyguard for several years?” “The employer came to me a few days ago and asked me to go back to protect her.” “I’m at the airport now.

I’m in a hurry, so I won’t say goodbye to you in person.” Eliza’s hand, which was holding her phone, trembled slightly. “Dad, actually… I was just worried about you. I don’t dislike you.” “Don’t… don’t go.” “If you are short of money, I can give it to you.” “Don’t go…”

2102 Even if Luca was in good health, he was still an old man in his fifties. She didn’t want him to do that kind of life-risking job anymore. Although she always said that she disliked Luca, she knew that Luca was the person who treated her the best in the world. He did not take care of her in the past 18 years.

However, in the five years after their reunion, Luca had taken good care of her. He taught her martial arts, fighting, and how to protect herself. If it weren’t for Luca, she wouldn’t be able to play the martial arts substitute role so well. “Good girl.” Luca, who was on the other end of the line, sighed and said, “I’m not going back for money, I’m only returning a favor.” “I’ve been afraid of dragging you down for the past five years, so I didn’t dare to contact you too much. When I go abroad in the future, I’ll have lesser contact with you.”

“Eliza, you have to take care of yourself.” Eliza bit her lips, her tears falling silently. “Then be careful when you’re abroad.” “I will.” Luca smiled faintly. After a while, he seemed to think of something. “You have to keep the jade pendant I gave you last time. Don’t let it be seen by others. Do you hear me?”

Eliza’s heart sank when he mentioned the jade pendant. “That jade pendant… I lost it.” The last time when she came out of Luca’s house, she was kidnapped by Michael’s people. She had been busy after that. When she remembered that jade pendant, she could no longer find it. She had also returned to the alley where she had been attacked and inquired about the police who had investigated the case that day but still could not find it. “I’m sorry, dad.” Eliza did not say anything about her being attacked. “I was careless.” Luca on the other end of the phone was silent for a long time. “Perhaps this is fate.” Luca sighed. “You don’t have to blame yourself. That jade pendant isn’t worth much.” “Actually, I don’t know if giving you that jade pendant is good or bad…”

Perhaps it was destined that Eliza and that family would not reunite. It was not a bad thing to think about it now. “Just treat it as if you’ve never seen that jade pendant.” “Take good care of yourself, hide your birthmark, and live a good life in the future.” Eliza pursed her lips. “Dad, do you have the photo of that jade pendant?” “I’ve been feeling bad for losing mom’s relics. I’ve posted a reward post on the Internet recently, but I didn’t see any photos. I just saw it once and I couldn’t describe it…” “There are no photos!”

Luca’s voice suddenly became serious. “I’ve told you not to look for it!” “Even if there are no photos, you can’t look for it again. That’s all!” After that, he sighed. “It’s time for me to board the plane. I’m off.”

“Remember, don’t look for it again!” Eliza frowned and wanted to say something else, but the only thing left on the other end of the phone was a beeping tone. She sighed in confusion. When she called again, Luca had already turned off his phone. Helplessly putting down the phone, Eliza turned on her computer.

The reward post she posted earlier for finding the jade pendant had received replies from several people, and even private detectives left their contact information to ask her to find them. Eliza took a deep breath and deleted the post. She didn’t understand why her father had such an agitated reaction. That jade pendant was only her mother’s belongings. Why did he have to be so mysterious? Eliza couldn’t figure it out, so she simply didn’t think about it. At this time, she received an email. She opened her mailbox and saw that it was a new script from the scriptwriter. Eliza roughly glanced at the new content which was quite different. The second female lead, who was previously blindly in love, became a workaholic, and the emotional scenes with Jay turned into an embellishment. It was also because of the fact that half of Eliza’s emotional scenes had been reduced, that Eliza did not film any scenes with Jay in the following filmings. When she was filming together with Jay again, it was the day of the Golden Bull Award.

The award ceremony was held in the evening. Jay’s assistant began to shout at the set early in the morning. “Hurry up and make up for the best actor, Mr. Carr!” “In the afternoon, Mr. Carr is going to prepare for the award ceremony at night!” “It’s obvious that Jay will win the best actor award this year. Be careful! He will be announced as the best actor!”

“What’s so great about it?” The makeup artist who made Eliza up whispered, “It’s not time for the award ceremony yet, but now they act like he has won the award. How annoying!” After that, the makeup artist looked at Eliza and curled her lips. “And I heard that the former girlfriend of Jay has been disqualified. I don’t know why she was added to the list again a week ago.” “It’s said that her chances of winning are pretty high.” She hit Eliza with her elbow. “Do you think we’ll be able to see the two of them on the battling field tonight?” Eliza frowned and thought about it, then smiled. “Tonight is indeed their battling field.” But it was not like the battling field where ex-boyfriend met ex-girlfriend. After all, Eliza knew very clearly that Jay and Madeleine did not break up at all. The ‘battling field’ she spoke of…was of another kind.