CHAPTER 146: UNWANTED ATTENTION

After chatting a little with Mira, I finally went down to the ground floor and walked toward the drop-off area while texting Mr. Silo that I was done for the day.

"Oh, Helcia, are you heading home by taxi?"

I stopped the moment someone called my name. I already knew that voice. I sighed before lifting my head and, just as I expected, Samuel was sitting in the lobby like he owned the place.

He rushed out of the script reading room earlier like he had something important to do... yet here he was, relaxing and annoying me again.

"No, someone is picking me up," I replied with a small, forced smile.

"Who? Your husband?" Samuel asked again. But for some reason, I felt like he was mocking me. Maybe because he thought my husband was the useless Brixton.

"I don’t think we’re close enough for you to ask about my private life," I answered. I still smiled, but my tone turned firm. A clear warning that I wasn’t joking.

Just like what he always did during script reading, he showed me that stupid smile of his again. "Why are you so defensive? I’m just asking."

"And well... if you were taking a taxi, I was going to offer to take you home," he added, pretending to be a gentleman.

I raised a brow, wondering why this man kept pestering me since day one. Did he still want to push me into doing that sex scene for the drama? Or even worse... did he want to sleep with me in real life?

Everyone in this industry knew that some actors loved to target newcomers because newcomers were usually naïve, easily tricked with promises of "helping their careers," and still believed that senior actors had the power to raise them up.

When in reality, it was the opposite. Those bastards only saw newcomers as nothing but free sluts. After those men got what they wanted, they would throw the girls away like trash.

I even heard rumors about some newcomers who got pregnant, but the fathers—the senior actors—refused to acknowledge it. With money, the scandal disappeared, and the girls were left ruined.

It would be more accurate to call them life destroyers rather than pussy wreckers.

So yeah, that was exactly why I strongly suspected that he wanted to drag me into sleeping with him while promising to help me get more jobs easily in this entertainment industry.

"What a pity..." Samuel said with a soft sigh. "I really wanted to get to know you better. Maybe then, our chemistry would improve too."

Chemistry, my ass. If he really wanted to build better chemistry, he should do it with Mira since she’s the female lead.

I held myself back from rolling my eyes as I answered, "We can try improving our chemistry at the next script reading."

Samuel looked taken aback by my firm answer. Maybe he rarely received rejection, considering he was a famous actor with a huge fanbase.

He looked like he still wanted to convince me to go home with him, but fortunately, I saw Mr. Silo’s car stop at the drop-off area. "I’m sorry, but my ride is here." I smiled politely at him. "See you later, senior."

Before he could say anything else, I had already walked quickly toward the drop-off—well, almost running, to be honest.

As soon as I got into the car, Mr. Silo looked at me through the rearview mirror and asked, "Young Madam, what happened?" Then he added, "You look a bit pale."

Pale?

I looked at my reflection through the rearview mirror and finally noticed how pale my face looked. "I’m... fine, Mr. Silo," I quickly reassured him before he worried too much. "I’m probably just tired after working all day."

It was strange though. I didn’t feel sick at all. Why did my face look like I had just seen a ghost?

[You’re probably scared of him, Host.]

I frowned a little. What kind of ridiculous statement was that? How could I possibly be scared of Samuel? Yes, he was a jerk, but at least he hadn’t done anything creepy like touching me without permission.

[Making someone uncomfortable all the time is also considered creepy, Host,] Penny replied calmly. [But there’s more. Your fear might come from your past trauma.]

[Remember, the last time you had a scandal with a man, your career fell apart piece by piece until you couldn’t survive in this industry anymore.]

I swallowed hard. She was right.

I knew I had a strong person backing me now, but still... it was hard to completely ignore my old wounds. It felt like all those scars had already been carved into my soul, so even if I had a new body now, the trauma would continue to follow me like a ghost.

’I won’t let that happen again,’ I told Penny firmly in my heart.

That horrible scandal started just because someone snapped a photo of me talking with a man in a slightly hidden place. But earlier, Samuel and I were talking in the lobby, in front of so many people.

Therefore, they could clearly see I wasn’t doing anything inappropriate with him.

As long as I didn’t spend time alone with any actor or male producer, I believed everything would be fine.

Yeah... it had to be fine.

I hugged my arms around myself to feel a little safer and gently tapped my back. But even that small action didn’t escape Mr. Silo’s attention.

"Young Madam, are you sure you’re alright?" he asked softly.

I quickly put my hands down and flashed him my sweetest smile. "I’m fine, really! I was just a bit cold." I reached behind the seat and pulled out a blanket. "See? All warm now."

Mr. Silo still looked doubtful. He probably noticed me talking with Samuel earlier since the lobby and drop-off area weren’t that far apart. But thankfully, he didn’t push the topic any further.

"You can sleep if you’re tired, Young Madam." he said gently. "I’ll wake you up once we arrive."

I nodded, settling into the seat. "Thank you, Mr. Silo."