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She may have a round face, but she was natural and adorable. At first, her bearing and face shape did not work in her favor against a strong and perseverance character such as Nicole Block.
It never crossed anyone’s mind that she would come out looking good after styling.
She not only inspired Nicole Block’s forbearing temperament, but also had a kind of natural indifference and conceit.
This was a fairly complicated person.
After all, she was once a princess of an empire, high above the masses.
There was no one above her other than the emperor. Her arrogance was bred in the bone. Even with her country and family in ruins, she could not get rid of it, despite falling in the hands of the enemy.
Hence, she had to hide.
But she could not hide them all, so he made such a character with all kinds of temperament.
After Laura came out, Nathan nodded approvingly.
The first scene was played by Marie.Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.
This was a fight play. A middle-aged actress would be running the lines with them. The captured princess was thrown into the Imperial correction chamber in Kyrma Empire to be a courtesan, and the middle-aged actress acted as the correction matron, in charge of taming the disobedient Nicole and subduing her.
The performance soon began.
The correction matron sat upright there while Nicole was forced onto her knees by a few strong men.
Fixing her gaze at her, the matron adopted a stem outlook. “”I heard you refuse to learn dancing?”
Nicole Block just entered the palace. Although her country and family were in shambles, she had the bearings of a royal attitude and conceited.
She stared at the matron indignantly. Her eyes were firm and cold.
“I am a princess of the Yepa Empire. why should I acquire the lowly expertise of a performer? Kill me as you please, but you can never break my spirit!!”
Just then, a whip fell on her body.
Nicole felt the pain and snorted, and the matron sneered.
“Princess? The Yepa Empire has long gone, and now you are just a humble sinful slave. His Majesty was merciful to spare your life and put you into training. Instead of thanking your lucky stars, you’re stupid and stubborn to claim yourself a princess. Do you want a rebel?”
The matron’s tone was stern. Nicole’s face turned pale out of pain.
After a while, she bit her teeth and spit, “Pah!”
The provoking demeanor threw the matron into a rage.
She raised the whip, assuming the position for another go when she was held back by the palace attendant beside.
The palace attendant whispered in her ear, “Matron, His Majesty specifically pardoned her and sent her to be taught in the correction chamber. His Majesty may one day summon her.
We’d be in a tight spot if we hurt her.”Eyes fixating on him, Zoe was sort of bought into it.
However, at the thought of those sweet nothings in the study, she found it hard to let them go.
Her face sank. She looked at Henry seriously and said, “Archie, I don’t know why you married me or how long this marriage will last, but I hope that if one day, you wish to end this marriage, you’ll let me know in advance. I don’t mind you falling for another woman, neither do I mind a divorce, but I take offense when it comes to betrayal, no matter what kind of relation we are, as couples or business partners. Do you understand?”
Henry ‘s face sank.
He darted a cold stare at her and solemnly replied, “You don’t mind me falling in love with another woman?”
Zoe felt like she got a stab in her heart.
Zoe could not make out why she had this feeling.
She and Henry weren’t a real couple, and they were only together because of another reason. She had no right to stand in the way if he found his true love one day.
Hence, she nodded.
“And you don’t mind getting divorced?”
She nodded again.
Henry sneered.
Her gentle face became cold and gloomy.
He got up and went out.
Zoe was a little taken aback.
Before she snapped out of her thoughts, Henry came back with two red booklets.
These were their marriage certificates.
Zoe’s eye was twitching. She didn’t know what Henry was going to do, but, her gut was telling her that it would not be to her liking.
He walked towards the front of a table and picked up a lighter. Suddenly the two red booklets were set ablaze.
Zoe widened her eyes.
“Henry Han, what are you doing?”
She pounced, trying to snatch the ignited marriage certificates.
Nevertheless, Henry stopped her.
Grabbing her by the hands, he pressed her against the wall.
“Zoe, I’ve told you, I, Henry Han, will only have one woman and marry once in this lifetime. Since you always think I’m kidding, I will prove it to you today. Our marriage certificates are burned. From now on, don’t you dare to divorce me! Never! Don’t even think about it!”
Zoe merely made a passing comment.
Why did he make a fuss? She didn’t mean it seriously.
She felt her wrist hurt by his strong clutch.
She turned at the wrist with difficulty, only to find that she could not pull away from his clench. Thus, she surrendered.
“Alright, alright, I’ve got it. Will you let me go first?”
But Henry didn’t loosen his grip.
Keeping an eagle eye on her, he said roughly, “Then, are you still thinking about divorce?”
Zoe rolled her eyes.
“Mr. Han, it was you who had an affair.
Who gives you the right to ask me about it?”
Henry finally broke into laughter.
As if he was reminded of something, Henry rubbed her hair and murmured, “Silly girl!”
Zoe was confused and speechless.
Fortunately, Henry finally let her go and explained, “She’s an important person in my life but not the kind you’re thinking of.”
Zoe was suspicious of his words.
Seeing her questioning look, Henry smiled again.
“I’ll take you back to Eqitin later. Then you’ll know I’m telling you the truth.”
There was a quick change in Zoe’s facial expression.
Back to Eqitin?
She opened her mouth, trying to say something but held her tongue.
He came up to her, took her hands and pressed her to sit on the bed. Then, he leaned over to kiss her cheek.
“It’s getting late. Go to sleep. Good night!”
She enjoyed sound sleep until the break of dawn.
The next day, Zoe took Victoria to Nathan’s office as promised.
Annie and Julia were also at Nathan’s office.
Annie was taken by surprise to see Zoe.
“Sister, why are you here too?”
Zoe faintly threw her a glance. Annie adorned a proud princess look today, wearing a white dress matched with a jacket of the same color.
Following behind her was another girl.
Zoe knew her. She was Annie’ss distant cousin, named… Marie Witt?
Marie rose to fame as an online celebrity and signed with Annie’s studio. Her relationship with Jessica and their resemblance on appearance earned her the title as Annie Jr.
Because of this title, she was doing well in the entertainment industry.
Annie was also glad to cultivate her. After all, nothing could highlight her beauty and excellence more than a AnnieJr.
Zoe sneered in her heart at the thought of it, and coldly blurted. “Is this your office?”
That meant, why couldn’t I be here?
Annie’s face froze.
She got embarrassed by Zoe’s mocking.
But she was not in a position to take Zoe face on. After all, she had been keeping the image of a lady and socialite in the entertainment industry and there were many reporters at present. Making a scene in public would ruin her image.
Compared to her scruples, Zoe was at ease.
She was not a celebrity anyway, so she could do as she pleased.
Julia came forward and stretched out her hand to Zoe.
“Long time no see, Ms. Zoe.”
No matter how reluctant Zoe was, she shook hands with Julia.
Julia was a veteran in this circle. Although she was lacking in moral standing, she deserved respect due to her seniority.
Nathan had arrived earlier. Knowing that they all arrived, he ordered his assistant to take them
to the studio at once.
The party of five entered the studio and found the equipment set up.
Two groups of actors were performing on a spacious stage, seemingly here for audition as well.
Nathan, with several other staff, was sitting in the auditorium watching their performance.
When they walked by, Annie greeted him gently, “Director Nathan, here we are.”
Nathan then looked up and swept a glance at her before his gaze fell on Zoe.
He smiled, “Everyone is here now. Have a seat!”
Then, he pointed to the seats around him and told the deputy director next to him to pass him several copies of the script.
Distributing the scripts to Marie and Victoria,
he said, “Take a look at the script first. If you two have no problem, you can go for hair and makeup. Let’s start with a line each and go from there.”
On hearing this, Marie’s face changed.
“Director Nathan, I thought this role was already mine? Why do I need an audi…?”
Before she could finish, Julia shot her a cold look.
Nathan assumed a scowling face.
“I did promise Annie to give you a chance for audition, but I didn’t say I would adopt you without an audition. Nicole Block might be a supporting role, she is critical too. Don’t even think of this role if your acting isn’t up to standard!”
As Marie’s face went through a series of colors, anger stirred her to clench her fist.
By right, although Nathan never promised the role to Marie during their discussion, the situation should not be far off from it.
After all, she was joining the cast, bringing funds along with her. It was no easy feat for Nathan in preparation of this project these past few years. Naturally, he wanted to succeed in this make-or-break moment.
Her eyes scoured the room and finally landed on Natalia.
She suddenly knew something.
The matron seemed to be aware of this, and could only suppress her temper.
For a moment, she sneered.
“If I can’t teach you a lesson, but I can do so to others. Bring them to me!””
There was silence on the stage.
No one came up.
Marie stared at the vast stage dumbfounded.
Natalia curled her lips.
In costume dramas, many scenes were difficult to set up, so most of the time they needed to act in front of the green screens.
Nathan was testing them in mind on their acting without props.
For a moment, Marie seemed to realize this and she wore a sullen look..
She was a online celebrity, and had not learnt acting skill. she never went through formal acting class. Although she was involved in a few plays throughout the years, these were small productions.
The actors she worked alongside with were basically of the same level. She was not fond of learning, and made no progress in acting.
Moreover, she did not carry any passion for this drama. Costume drama needed hard work. The boundless war and fighting scenes in this drama were laborious.
If it weren’t for the importance of the role and the production, she wouldn’t do it!
Because of this, she didn’t take it seriously at all. She thought she could make it without much effort.
Nonetheless, how was she to act without any supporting actors?
The matron was already onto the next line.
“I can’t lay a finger on you because you’re the princess of Yepa Empire, but they are merely enslaved prisoners. No one will say a word even if they die. Today, you’ll learn. They’ll live if you behave well. Otherwise, don’t come blaming me then!”