Chapter 16

“That’s not fair.” Ava stood up. There was anger on her coquettish face. “If Gracie wasn’t her mother, would you still have picked her? Also, she was late. The role shouldn’t belong to her, but the person who was chosen before.” “You mean you deserve to play the role?” Amber scoffed in disdain. Ava’s face paled. She looked more pitiful now as she looked at the judges with teary eyes. The judges looked at each other. What she had said made sense, but they knew very well that she was not a suitable candidate. Zac would not have picked her if it was not for the fact that there had been no one else before. Now that the precious Isla was here, who would go for Ava? Zac slowly stood up and looked coldly at Ava. He said irritatedly, “Don’t you know how bad you performed? I wouldn’t dare even speak if I were you.” “You…” Her cheeks were flushed. She stared at him in disbelief, as though she had not expected him to hurt her like that. He did not care about her and just walked over to Isla directly. He was no longer his wild and lazy self, so he stretched his arm while smiling brightly. “Hi, I’m Zac.” The young man’s smile was as bright as the sun. It was rather glaring. Isla was stunned as she shook his hand lightly. “Isla.” Their obvious attitude embarrassed Ava completely. Especially the mockery and sympathy in their eyes, which made her want to jump into a hole. She swore that she would never let Isla go! When it was all over, Isla rejected Theo’s kind offer to see her off and headed to the bathroom after informing Aimee. Enemies were bound to meet on a narrow road, so she bumped into Ava. “Is–” Ava instantly reacted. She pretended to call out to her after concealing her feelings. “Sister.” Isla was cold. “You’re in my way. Move.” “Are you still mad at me?” Ava did not let her go. “What happened that night was a misunderstanding. I–” Isla stared at her with sharp eyes. She was brutal. “Stop acting. There’s nobody here. What do you want exactly?” Ava was stunned, but she did not bother pretending anymore. She crossed her arms and leaned on the wall before she said smugly, “I want you to give the role to me.” “Why should I?” “I can get Harry to forgive you.” Ava had a winning smile on her face. “He has been ignoring you, right? As long as I put in a good word for you, he’ll definitely–” “Ha!” Isla could not help but scoff. “You think I care?” The smile on Ava’s face froze. What had Isla said? “Do you really think I don’t know what you guys have been doing in secret?” Isla’s face suddenly turned grim, and her eyes were like knives. “Stop bothering me. Scram.” Ava got goosebumps from her stare. She felt a chill go down her back. How had that happened? Harry was the trump card she could use to control her. Why did it not work anymore? Isla pushed her. Just as she was about to walk away, she felt Ava pull her wrist. Almost without hesitation, she slapped her. Ava was stunned, and ferociousness flashed through her eyes. Just as she was about to fight back, she saw Amber standing by the bathroom door. She instantly covered her face, looked at Isla, and sobbed, looking wronged. “Sis, I already gave you the role. Why did you hit me?” Isla saw her but said nothing and just went into the bathroom. Ava was dumbstruck. Why was Isla going off script? Amber, who had not expected to see such a thing, walked away after some hesitation. Ava quickly wiped her tears, intentionally showing her swollen face as she told Amber in a panic, “Did you see what happened? She didn’t do it on purpose. Can you keep it a secret?” “Like I care.” Amber did not even look at her as she said irritatedly, “Get out of my way.” Ava was pissed, but she could not show it. She could only suppress it. Isla left after washing her hands. Ava was unwilling to let her go, so she went after her. After walking for a while, she suddenly heard a man’s voice at the turn up ahead. She looked around and pushed Isla after confirming there was no surveillance around. Isla did not see that coming and fell forward. She fell into a warm embrace a second later. She smelled a familiar fragrance, and just as she managed to stand up, she heard a cold voice coming from above. “How much longer are you going to hug me?” She was pushed away before she even managed to react. Then, she saw a pair of cold eyes as soon as she lifted her head. “Noah?” She was stunned. Surprise flashed through her eyes as she threw herself at him with a smile. “Why are you here?” He remained cold, blocking her while frowning. “What are you doing?” “This is a public place, Ms. Isla. It’s inappropriate for you to be clinging onto a man, right?” A lady’s voice suddenly came. She sounded upset. “What does me clinging onto my man have to do with you?” Isla said while looking at the source of the voice. Only then did she notice that there was a woman behind him. She was wearing a light purple dress, her dark hair was long and shiny, and her features were pretty. There was smugness to her cold charisma and hostility in her eyes. She recognized her. She was Celestial Entertainment’s star, Kate. Why was she with Noah? Kate’s face changed when she heard that. She instantly looked at Noah. His pupils shrank, and confusion flashed through his face. He was shocked that Isla had confirmed their relationship in front of an outsider… Kate was secretly relieved when she saw that Noah was shocked. She took a step toward Isla and said coldly, “Please respect yourself, Ms. Isla. This is Mr. Noah of Payne Group. You can’t just cling to him at will. I hope you won’t say such a thing again to avoid any misunderstandings.” Isla was confused. What did her talking to her husband have to do with her? She took a good look at Kate and sensed a love rivalry in her hostile eyes. She then looked at Noah, who remained cold and intimidating. He had no intention of explaining whatsoever. Her heart sank. Had he fallen in love with someone else? Was that why he was so cold to her? Kate enjoyed being looked at, so she inched closer to Noah instinctively. There was disdain in her eyes as she stared at Isla. Isla was annoyed that they were so close, yet Noah did not object…