Cassandra bit her lip to hold back her tears. The sadness of Lyndsy and her family filled the whole room.
She never really cried for herself, but she tended to cry a lot for others. Rufus clenched his fists as he watched Cassandra suffer quietly.
"Please get well, Lyndsy. Take care of yourself, because you still have a film to shoot. We've only done half the scenes. I will instruct the crew to finish other people's parts first. We can shoot your parts when you recover,"
Rufus spoke suddenly. Lyndsy and her mother stopped crying abruptly upon hearing his words.
She looked at Rufus incredulously with tears in her eyes. Cassandra turned her head too, confused about what Rufus just said.
Keep shooting? How could she shoot a movie with a face like that?
Rufus, fully aware of everyone's confusion, remained calm.
"We'll ask the director to modify the angles. We just have to avoid shooting from the front. We can also edit the shots later. Don't worry, everything can be fixed digitally. All you have to do is focus on your recovery," he explained.
His words seemed to reassure Lyndsy's mother as she turned to her daughter happily.
"Did you hear that, honey?! You can keep shooting movies!" she beamed.
Stunned, Lyndsy kept looking at Rufus wordlessly. She could not believe that Rufus, a prime investor, would be willing to hire a disfigured actress to star in his movie. That would be so risky!
"Your scars can be treated. Stem cell therapy abroad is very good now. I know a doctor who specializes in such field and I would be happy to introduce you to him later,"
Rufus continued to say. Every sentence that came out of his mouth left everyone more and more surprised.
Eventually, Lyndsy calmed down. Rufus seemed to have succeeded in reassuring her.
She wiped away her tears and focused on comforting her mother instead.
"I'll be fine, Mom. I promise I will take good care of myself,"
she said, sounding calm and strong. The helplessness and panic she displayed just a minute ago were now totally gone.
"Cassandra, the business of the studio is going to depend on you for a while,"
Lyndsy said to Cassandra with full trust.
"Don't worry, Stella and I will take care of it for you,"
Cassandra replied, very glad to see Lyndsy calmer than before. She then looked at Rufus gratefully.
Seeing her thankful expression made Rufus's heart skip a beat.
He seemed to have hit two birds with one stone. His decision, not only calmed Lyndsy down, but also managed to lift a huge burden off of Cassandra's shoulders.
But... Remembering the lack of progress in Victor's investigations, once again, made him feel uneasy.
All evidence currently pointed to the action director. He was the one responsible for the safety of the wires and the one who tested the equipment the day before. Now that there was an accident, it only made sense that he would receive full accountability.
In his gut, though, Rufus felt that it was not that simple.
He hoped that he was only worrying too much.
"What? Rufus allowed Lyndsy to continue shooting the movie?"
Amanda exclaimed in shock as she watched the press conference held by Lyndsy's Studio and TY Entertainment on the entertainment channel. She could not believe what she was hearing!
"Yeah. Now, everyone knows that Rufus is the chairman of TY Entertainment and he did everything he could to protect Lyndsy after her accident. People are saying he did it for Cassandra,"
Ivy chimed in. She let Amanda see the news on purpose to make her feel bad.
"Wow, who does she think she is? Cassandra is a nobody!"
Amanda yelled, refusing to accept what the news was saying. There was so much hatred in her face.
"Cassandra is a woman with a lot of tricks up her sleeve. You have to be careful when dealing with her,"
Ivy said with concern. She pretended to empathize but in reality, she was glad that Amanda was so pissed.
She didn't like Amanda and seeing how she reacted when things didn't go her way gave Ivy satisfaction. She hated how Amanda played her and pretended to be sincere in helping her when, in reality, she was not.
Now, she knew who Amanda really was. She was not at all the innocent and caring girl she pretended to be. Instead, she was a double-crossing, vindictive bitch.
This time, it was her turn. Ivy was determined to use Amanda as a pawn in her plans to prove that she was not just some gullible girl.
"I'm not afraid of her! I don't care what tricks she has up her sleeve. I am Rufus's fiancee!"
Amanda screamed hatefully as she pounded her desk with her fist.
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