However, Jessica Reynolds completely missed the subtext in James Lockwood’s words. She sat down on the sofa and put on a pitiful expression as she looked at him.
"President Lockwood..."
The moment she spoke, Jessica Reynolds’s voice was full of grievance. "You know, I’ve been in the business for less than three years. All my achievements during this time have been thanks to the company and Beau’s team."
At this, Jessica Reynolds pouted her cherry-red lips and blinked pitifully. "But I’m just naturally reckless. Beau has told me off about it several times. I really am trying to fix this bad habit, but sometimes I still do or say inappropriate things without even realizing it."
James Lockwood frowned deeply as he watched her, seeming to sense what she was getting at.
’She can’t be planning to bring up the promotional campaign right now, can she?’
’In front of Miss Sterling?’
’She really knows how to pick her moments!’
Sure enough, Jessica Reynolds lowered her gaze and continued with a dejected expression, "You know, if I did something wrong, you could have just told me directly. I really want to learn from you. I would love for you, President Lockwood, to give me more guidance."
"But now you’ve had the promotions team halt my media exposure. It doesn’t just affect me; it affects the company, too."
She looked up at James Lockwood. "President Lockwood, you don’t have to deny it. Keaton wouldn’t dare do this unless you ordered it."
James Lockwood’s expression was grim. He couldn’t lose his temper here, not in front of Miss Sterling. Since Jessica Reynolds didn’t know who Miss Sterling was, he had no justifiable reason to call her an idiot.
He glanced furtively at Miss Sterling, who was leaning back casually on the sofa, an amused, half-smiling expression on her face as she watched Jessica Reynolds’s little performance of confessing her "faults" and pouring out her "grievances."
Composing himself, James Lockwood sat up straight and looked at Jessica Reynolds seriously. "You don’t need to tell me all this. We all know perfectly well whether what you did was intentional or not."
"Halting your promotion was my decision, and it was the company’s decision. And you don’t need to feel wronged, because you haven’t been wronged in the slightest."
Jessica Reynolds froze, apparently not expecting her tactful approach to be met with such a firm rebuttal from James Lockwood.
Her face stiffened, and she blurted out, "President Lockwood, I don’t understand. What could I have possibly done for the company to treat me like this? To go so far as to halt all my promotions? Do you know what a huge blow this is to my rising career!"
"No matter how big the blow, you’ll have to take it. Otherwise, you’ll never learn your lesson!" James Lockwood said righteously. "The artists of my Locke Media can be lacking in professional skill, but their character and conduct must be upstanding and honest."
"You want to know why? Fine, I’ll tell you!"
It seemed James Lockwood couldn’t be bothered to dance around the issue with her any longer. He was also afraid that if this dragged on, Jessica Reynolds would say something even more shocking and thoughtless. So he decided to just lay his cards on the table in front of Cecilia Sterling.
"The day of the press conference, don’t you remember what you did?" James Lockwood asked, his gaze cold as he stared at Jessica Reynolds.
Jessica Reynolds faltered as scenes from the press conference flashed through her mind.
’She had...’
The next second, her dazed expression turned to one of slight shock. She remembered!
Seeing her reaction, James Lockwood continued, "Did you think that just because I wasn’t there that day, I wouldn’t notice someone was missing from the press conference? The main cast was supposed to appear together. Every actor had to be there. Why didn’t Lily Sterling go on stage?"

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