My coldhearted ex demands a remarriage

Chapter 34:

At this, Elva couldn’t hide her irritation, her voice dripping with scorn. “Unbelievable! A total newcomer with zero acting experience snatches the lead role from Lise? Something shady is definitely going on.”

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence.

It seemed Elva had conveniently overlooked the reason Kristopher had accompanied Lise—it was to help her snatch the role from Carrie, not the other way around.

“Elva, please, that’s enough,” Lise began, reaching out to Elva in an attempt to quell any further outbursts.

However, her voice faded to a whisper, her strength waning mid-sentence.

Suddenly, she clutched at her chest, her legs buckling beneath her as she slowly sank to the floor.

“Lise!” The worry was evident on Kristopher’s face as he ran to her side and wrapped her in a tight embrace.noveldrama

Swiftly, Elva dialed for an ambulance.

In the midst of the turmoil, Elva managed to locate a lounge chair for Kristopher to gently lay Lise down, then she spun around and fixed Carrie with a fierce glare. “If anything happens to Lise, you’ll answer for it!”

Lise spoke up cautiously. “Elva, this isn’t Ms. Campbell’s doing. It’s just my frail health.”

She raised her eyes to Carrie, giving a feeble smile. “Ms. Campbell, I apologize if I’ve alarmed you. My health is fragile, and emotions often overwhelm me. You shouldn’t hold yourself responsible. This isn’t your fault.”

Elva’s gaze, however, bore into Carrie with undisguised accusation. “How can you say it’s not her fault? If she hadn’t competed with you for the role, would you have exhausted yourself with endless rehearsals and schedules? If something dire happens, how could someone like her possibly make amends?”

Everyone bristled at Elva’s domineering and irrational accusations.

With the influential star and the CEO of Norris Group on one side and an unproven newcomer on the other, the silence was heavy with unspoken tensions.

Even Stewart could only offer Carrie a look of empathy, his head subtly shaking as if to advise her to bear the moment.

Ruby, unable to contain herself any longer, stepped forward to speak her mind, but Carrie halted her with a gesture.

Carrie’s eyes searched Kristopher’s, seeking confirmation of his thoughts.

With a face drawn tight with tension, Kristopher fixated on Lise, completely oblivious to Elva’s sharp accusations. Carrie, utterly ignored by him, felt the sting of neglect as keenly as a knife twisting deep within her chest, sending waves of pain and an icy chill cascading through her. With a barely perceptible, rueful smile, Carrie cast her gaze downward. Indeed, she mused silently, expecting anything from him was a fool’s hope.

She opened her mouth to voice her thoughts. Before she could utter a word, Lise, her face deathly pale, interjected anxiously, “Kristopher, I’m really not feeling well. Is the ambulance on its way yet?”

Her fingers tugged at Kristopher’s sleeve with desperate gentleness as she spoke. This plea seemed to snap Kristopher from his distant thoughts. He turned decisively to the director, his voice resolute and commanding. “Double the investment. The Norris Group will ensure every Parisian scene from the novel is brought to life, exactly as written. Lise is the only one who should play this role.”

The original narrative had the characters roaming through Paris, weaving their drama around the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the grandeur of Versailles. Budget cuts had initially rerouted the story to a less illustrious locale near Orkset.

Though Carrie outshone Lise in talent, Lise’s celebrity status, amplified by the promise of increased funding, tipped the scales yet again.

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