CHAPTER 137: YOU’RE STUCK WITH ME FOREVER

"Do you think there’s anything we can use to clear her name in the future?" I asked after all of my old belongings were moved into an empty room inside the manor.

Lando walked around the piles of boxes with his crutches. Honestly, I didn’t have much left since I had sold most of my branded bags and clothes to pay off my debts.

But something that caught his attention instantly was the photo album sitting on top of a stack of boxes. "I’m not sure yet," Lando said. "Maybe I’ll ask Mr. Mercer to look into these."

I raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Mercer?"

Lando turned to me. "The detective I hired. He’s actually been trying to find Helena’s old manager, but he disappeared for a while," he said while opening the album in his hands.

"Disappeared?" I frowned. "I didn’t know that."

I thought my old manager, Jasper Thorn, was still working at DN Entertainment like usual. But if he suddenly went missing, then something was definitely wrong.

"I don’t think this case is simple," Lando said. "That’s why I didn’t tell you anything yet. I still haven’t seen the whole picture."

I gave a small, tired smile. "I understand."

Besides, hearing bad news about my old life every day would only affect my acting later. Maybe it was better to wait until Lando collected more information before stressing myself again.

"Helena didn’t have many friends, did she?" Lando suddenly asked as he flipped through the old photos.

I walked to his side. "I don’t think so," I said. "When she fell from the top of her career, she didn’t have a home to return to or anyone she could talk to."

Most photos in the album were just pictures of myself, and some were from when I still lived in the orphanage.

Looking at those photos again, I suddenly realized that in the past, I didn’t even know who to call when I wanted to take a vacation. I always went alone and asked strangers to take pictures of me.

"But at least... because she was used to being alone, she could still keep going even after losing everything." I sighed. "Or... maybe not really."

I guess dying after falling from the third floor wasn’t exactly something good.

"No one can go through life well if they’re alone," Lando said softly. He closed the photo album and looked at me. "At the very least, you need one person beside you to make sure you’re okay. For me... that person was Henry. I probably wouldn’t even be alive now if I had truly been alone back then."

I smiled when he talked about his past—something he rarely did with me. "Tell me about that."

He told me a short story about how Henry and his wife moved overseas just so they could take care of him. After hearing it, I finally understood that Henry wasn’t just a butler, he was family. He was someone who cared for Lando far more than his own father ever did.

"If he’s that kind, then why did you threaten to cut his salary?" I puffed my cheeks, remembering something I had forgotten for a long time. "Husband, you can’t treat someone like that. He’s basically your second dad!"

"Threaten him?" Lando raised an eyebrow. "Threaten him for what?"

I said, "He told me you said you would cut his salary if I didn’t use your card at least once a day. Husband, his daughter will suffer if you do that."

Lando froze for a moment, not even blinking. Then he finally said, "I never said that." He added, "Besides... I’m the one who sends money to Shelly, his daughter."

I gasped, staring at him in disbelief. I never expected Henry would lie to me about something so crucial!

He made me think my husband was cold toward his staff... but now it turned out Henry was the one lying.

"But why are you so against using my money?" Lando continued. "I gave you my card so you can use it anytime."

I tilted my head, thinking hard. Maybe... if I said the right thing, he would finally think about telling me who he really was. "Husband... I’m just scared your money will run out if I use it too much." I whispered, "What if one day your father stops paying the staff or stops paying the bills for this house?"

Lando was taken aback, as if he finally realized how impossible it was to pay for a whole mansion with just a normal employee’s salary.

Even if he acted like Zentra’s owner trusted him a lot, having an entire mansion and so many staff was still too much. So it was normal for me—who pretended not to know who he really was—to assume that his father was the one paying for everything.

"We... maybe we can move somewhere smaller, like an apartment?" Lando said, sounding unsure. "Would you leave me if we don’t live here anymore?"

Instead of being honest with me, he now sounded like a nervous husband trying to test his wife’s loyalty. But honestly, I couldn’t blame him. There were so many gold diggers out there who would drop their husbands the moment the money ran out.

But sometimes that happened because those husbands only showed love through money, not through real affection or emotional support.

Meanwhile, Lando and I... we had never done anything very romantic. The most we had ever done was hold hands and maybe share a quick kiss on the cheek, and usually it was me who did it.

But he was sweet. He cared about me in his own ways, whether by giving me small gifts or simply checking on me. He treated me with such a soft and steady kind of affection that I felt like he was more than enough.

"We can live in a hut, and I would still stay with you." I smiled brightly at him. "But don’t worry, husband. Even though I’m not as rich as your father, I can still earn money. And if I become a famous actress someday, I’ll help you so you won’t need your father’s money anymore."

Before Lando could speak, I added, "Besides, like you said earlier, no one can live completely alone. Since I don’t have any family or close friends... you’ll be stuck with me forever."

Lando let out a soft laugh and gently patted my head. "Then I’d be happy to be stuck with you forever."

I had lived most of my life alone, but now that I had a husband, why would I ever want to go back to that lonely life? As long as he didn’t hurt me, I had no reason to leave him.

"Alright, I think I should go back to my room now," I said. "I have my first script screening tomorrow for the youth drama. I don’t want to look bad, so I need to practice a few more times."

Lando replied gently, "Look bad? I don’t think you will. Marissa sent me some videos of your audition, and I always thought you were really talented."

I cupped my cheeks, feeling my face heat up after hearing his words. "Why do you always watch my audition tapes? They’re not even that good."

"Well, since you’re working at my company—I mean, the place I work at— it’s normal for me to check my actress’s performance," he said.

When he called me "my actress," I almost melted on the spot. It sounded just as dangerous as when he called me "my wife."

This wasn’t good. If he kept calling me with names like that, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate at all.

"I still need to practice more." I slapped my cheeks lightly to wake myself up. "I really need to go now. Let’s meet again at dinner."

Before Lando could say anything else, I quickly walked out of the room. Because if I stayed any longer, I knew I’d want to talk to him instead of practicing my script.

No. That couldn’t happen. I had to work hard if I wanted to complete my mission!

===

Even after reading my script over and over for two days, I still felt like I wasn’t good enough, or maybe it was because I was simply too nervous.

When I entered our screening room, I met Tommy Wood again, the one who acted with me during the audition.

"Helcia! I’m glad to see you here!" Tommy walked toward me with a big smile. "I heard from my manager that you’ll be playing Mia, but I really still can’t believe that both of us got accepted."

Right after he said that, I started hearing whispers from people around us.

"How could he not expect that? Didn’t she get in through nepotism?"

"True. True. She’s Kai Brixton’s sister-in-law, so obviously she can be the main lead even as a newcomer."

"Why are you guys even surprised? This industry has been full of nepotism since forever."