"Excuse , Miss Thornton, Manager Jennings is in a eting, so today might..."
"That’s fine, since I have so free ti today, I’ll wait here until she’s done."
Anna Thornton said this without regard for her assistant’s attempts to stop her, forcefully pushing open the office door.
"Oh, isn’t Manager Jennings right here?" Anna found the supposedly eting-bound Jane Jennings still in the office and raised her eyebrows slightly, unsurprised, "Looks like the eting was canceled last minute; I’m quite lucky."
Seeing Anna barging into her office unannounced, Jane glared at her inefficient assistant.
"You’ve worked with for a while now, how can you still mix up my schedule? Go out and reflect on it yourself."
"Sorry, Manager Jennings, I thought the morning eting hadn’t ended yet."
The assistant bowed apologetically and exited the office with her head lowered.
Anna watched them salvage their dignity with their acting skills but did not expose them.
"Now that the eting’s over, it seems Manager Jennings has ti to discuss my career plan, right?" Anna found herself a chair, sitting openly across from Jane Jennings.
Jane glanced up at her: "I still need to accompany Florian to negotiate an endorsent contract with a renowned international luxury brand this afternoon. I don’t have much ti, so get straight to the point."
"Actually, I just wanted to ask if you’ve seen yesterday’s episode of ’Food and Love.’ It was my first variety show appearance after signing with Dynasty Entertainnt; I wonder if I t your standards?"
"I’ve been too busy and haven’t had the chance to watch it. These specific projects are supposed to be managed by your agent; I oversee such a big company and unfortunately can’t look after everything. But I did notice the feedback on your popularity post-broadcast, and you perford well. Keep up the good work."
Jane’s last words of praise sounded more like a routine remark, and Anna didn’t feel any genuine encouragent from her.
"Do you really think I perford well? Just last night, I almost got forced out of the entertainnt industry." Anna said in a tone filled with lingering fear.
"It’s nothing, every artist has to go through a phase of being criticized. The more people criticize and dislike you, the more people know your na."
"But last night, there suddenly surfaced a lot of baseless accusations against . Those accounts look like they were employed as trolls."
"Impossible, you’ve just signed with a dostic company and shouldn’t have rivals yet. Could it be that you’re being too sensitive? Or did you possibly offend soone when you were developing abroad?"
Jane nonchalantly comforted her with a few words, seeing that Anna’s expression turned serious, as if she was seriously contemplating sothing.
Then Anna recalled sothing, her lips subtly curling as if she’d caught onto a clue: "I was quite well-behaved abroad; if I’ve offended anyone, it’s likely since returning ho. I’ve offended two, actually. One is our company’s highest-profile Actress Ford, and the other... is you, Manager Jennings."
The color on Jane’s face stiffened slightly at these words: "What do you an?"
"Oh, nothing much, just a bit strange. Manager Jennings, you’re always portraying yourself as endlessly busy, never having ti to manage my affairs. How do you know I’ve been targeted online?"
"Didn’t you just say so yourself?"
"I only said I was almost forced out of the entertainnt circle but hadn’t ntioned any specifics. How co you knew many people were criticizing ? True, I was bad-mouthed last night, but later at night, it diminished. Manager Jennings, you didn’t have ti to watch my show; how did you have ti to notice the online discourse about ?"
Anna’s inquiry genuinely stumped Jane Jennings.
It turned out that her earlier act of troubled deanor was a ploy to get Jane to relax during conversation and inadvertently reveal flaws.
Yet, for Jane Jennings to have occupied her current position at such a young age, she wouldn’t be easily manipulated by Anna’s tactics and quickly adjusted her expression: "You’re overthinking it. Dynasty ranks among the top entertainnt companies in Aethelgard; our PR departnt collaborates with several high-traffic communities, compiling daily discourse feedback about our artists. I learned about last night’s concentrated black fan growth from their report."
"Really? Can I take a look at my own data?"
"Checking your follower growth on social dia is pretty straightforward. Detailed analysis is primarily for marketing purposes."
"Since Manager Jennings is paying such close attention to my data, can I anticipate upcoming work arrangents?"
"We’ll discuss that later." Jane checked the ti, "I’m due to et with Florian’s partners soon. If you have any work-related queries, you can arrange for your agent to discuss them with in a few days."
Jane had resolved to brush Anna off, saying this on her way out, intending not to continue the conversation.
The more evasive Jane was, the more suspicious Anna felt.
If last night’s affair was orchestrated by Jane, Anna had so unresolved notions... She felt this woman’s hostility towards her wasn’t solely because she sided with Marilyn Ford; there must be other reasons!
Anna ca with the intent to negotiate with Jane and wasn’t about to be dismissed without results.
Worst case, she’d follow Jane to the contract signing, seizing any opportunity along the way to extract so film resources from Jane.
Jane had just stepped out of the office, yet as soon as Anna followed, she was unexpectedly silenced from behind by soone.
Not just one person; as Anna struggled, she noticed several hands simultaneously restraining her.
Soone covered her eyes, pushing her towards a corner on the first floor.
What’s happening now?
Kidnapped in broad daylight?
Is this a joke?
Where are the company guards? Is no one intervening?
...
anwhile—
Jane had just arrived downstairs when she encountered Conrad Sterling in the company lobby.
Apparently, entertainnt companies were rarely graced by President Sterling’s presence, given their predominantly female staff, a sudden buzz filled the air.
Jane greeted him excitedly: "Mr. Sterling... President Sterling, what brings you here today? Any important instructions?"
"Just casually looking around." Conrad swept the room with a stern gaze.
Although he said casually, the atmosphere was uncontrollably tense.
Even Jane instinctively straightened her back, proactively reporting to him: "Miss Ford has completed filming for her recent cao; later she’ll co to the company for a eting to discuss the direction for selecting scripts for her next project.
"Mhm." Conrad nodded perfunctorily.
He seed neither to listen closely nor show much interest.
So what was he "casually looking around" for?
Due to Conrad’s unexpected visit, Jane canceled her original eting with an important client, decided to show him around the company, showcasing quite a bit of enthusiasm.
Conrad posed very few questions, yet it was Ethan accompanying them who seized the opportunity as Jane introduced the company’s expanding roster of artists and improved quality of new hires over the years: "How about Miss Thornton? She’s considered one of Dynasty’s newer signees. Does she have great developntal potential?"
Upon ntioning Anna Thornton, Jane’s enthusiasm noticeably diminished.
"Why the sudden interest in her?"
"Well... Miss Thornton is my goddess now!" Ethan scratched his head, explaining bashfully.
"So this is your inquiry, not on behalf of soone else?" Jane’s gaze inadvertently shifted towards President Sterling, her expression slightly softening.
"Anna rarely visits the company; most interaction with her is through her agent. After all, she has a child, limiting much of her work flexibility, so she’s asked to opt for lighter variety show engagents on her behalf."
"Did she specifically ask you to secure variety shows over film roles?" Ethan doubted his ears.
"If there’s a relaxed and suitable film available, I will try to secure it for her as well." Jane adopted a more gracious tone in front of them than she did with Mary and Anna.
But Anna wasn’t the type to easily give in and request favors; her ambition to make it big in the showbiz arena was huge.
If she was truly inconveniencing herself in the na of childcare, thus avoiding film roles, that wasn’t her style!
Even Conrad detected the insincerity in Jane’s words, furrowing his brows in dissatisfaction.
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