After I Stopped Loving Him (Isabella and Ethan) novel Chapter 852

Isabella took a sip of her coffee and looked up. “You’ve been writing novels for years. You know better than anyone how messy it gets when someone copies your work.”

“If she really goes down that road, even if we have proof and take her to court, it’ll drag on forever. And honestly, just thinking about it makes me sick. The stress alone is enough to drive anyone crazy.”

“The only time it’s easy to deal with is when they copy you so much and so obviously that there’s no way to deny it. Then you just gather the evidence, report it, and the platform will take her stuff down pretty quick.”

Laura fell quiet for a moment before letting out a sigh. “Yeah, it’s a headache. People will do anything for money, I guess.”

“But Isabella, we shouldn’t stress too much. Even if she starts her own studio and gets into short-form dramas, she probably won’t dare to plagiarize outright. At least not where everyone can see. What she will do is try to steal our writers, probably by offering them bigger paychecks.”

Isabella nodded, her lips curling into a wry smile. “No doubt about it. She’s always got it out for me. If she didn’t try to poach our people, I’d be shocked. She hates me that much.”

“There’s not much we can do about that, though. It all comes down to whether our people want to leave or not.”

“Still, I’m not losing sleep over it. Whatever happens, I’ll deal with it. I’m not scared of anything.”

She took another sip of coffee, almost as if she was reassuring Laura and herself at the same time. No matter what came their way, she’d find a way to hold up, even if the sky fell down.

Natalie didn’t know anything about this business. If she jumped in just to compete with them, she’d get a reality check soon enough. So many people had tried the short drama scene, and most of them ended up losing money. Even some of the lead actors who got famous from these shows knew when to step back. Once they’d made enough, they moved on to other things.

“We should branch out, try new things. Games, animation, that kind of stuff. Short dramas still have a market, so we can keep making them for another year or two. By then, if our new projects are stable, we can walk away from short dramas altogether.”

Laura already owned property, but she was thinking about buying more for the rental income. That way, even if their business hit a rough patch, she’d still have rent coming in each month. Honestly, her dream was just to be a landlord and live off the rent. No stress, no drama. That was the kind of life she wanted.

“Now’s not the time to buy,” Isabella said, shaking her head. “The real estate market’s about to go downhill. Give it another two years, prices will drop so much people won’t believe it. Tons of folks will have to sell at a loss, and the economy’s only going to get tougher.”

“Every industry’s struggling. More people are losing their jobs, and there are a lot of foreclosures. If you really want more property, wait a couple of years. You’ll get better deals. But honestly, only buy if you need a place to live.”

“If you’re thinking about flipping houses or renting them out, I don’t recommend it. It’s getting harder to find tenants. Haven’t you noticed there are fewer out-of-towners in Cabinda lately? Not as much foot traffic. Who are you going to rent all those places to?”

“Shops are closing left and right. Take a walk around, you’ll see ‘For Lease’ signs everywhere or just empty storefronts. The days when owning a shop could support a family for generations are long gone. At this point, just finding someone to rent it is a win.”