She Outshines Them All (Athena and Matthew) novel Chapter 289

Chapter 289
Early November.
After over a month of hard work, Athena finally left Surban and prepared to return home.
While resting at the camp, she opened her laptop and browsed domestic news online.
With just one glance, she stumbled upon some juicy gossip about Zayn.
The headline read, “Zayn Donovan acts like a boss on set, refuses to follow the script, leading to production shutdown.”
The content roughly said that while filming The King of Military Dogs. Zayn refused to act in an explosion scene, claiming it was too dangerous. He demanded that the explosion be done with special effects, even though the crew had hired professionals to ensure safety. Despite these precautions, Zayn still refused to perform the scene and got into an argument with the director on set, causing the crew to stop working.
There was even a photo attached to the news.
The background of the picture looked like an outdoor shooting location. Zayn was dressed in military uniform, speaking to the director. Based on their facial expressions and body language, it indeed seemed like they were arguing.
The comments were overwhelmingly critical of Zayn.
[Those bastards are like this. Once they get famous, they become arrogant and start acting like big bosses. Zayn is no _exception.]
[So what if he’s ex-military? So what if he’s won the Hero Medal? He’s not a soldier now, but an actor. He’s already different from ordinary people. Of course, he has to put on airs.]
[This movie has a low budget and is almost finished filming, but he’s acting like a tyrant on set. Every day the crew stops working, more money gets burned. I feel sorry for the staff…]
[There are many explosive scenes in movies and television shows, but no one has been killed by the explosion. He’s still a soldier. Why is he so afraid? Isn’t his family quite rich? He might as well stay at home and live off his old age…]
Athena knew that there must be something going on.
This movie did not feature any big-name stars, and the investment was not high, with a budget of only around 6 million dollars.
Zayn accepted a modest newcomer’s fee and took on the movie out of his deep passion for the military. There was no way he would refuse to do a scene out of fear of danger.
In any case, she firmly supported Zayn.
Two days later.
The plane carrying Athena landed in Kitmore City.
She turned on her phone and saw the news reporting that Zayn had decided to terminate his contract with the production team after failing to reach an agreement. Now, he would have to pay them a hefty termination fee.
She thought for a moment and called Zayn. “Zayn, I’m back in Kitmore City. I saw on the news that you had a conflict with the crew, and they accused you of acting like a boss. What’s going on?”
Zayn’s voice was calm. “This movie tells the story of a military dog and special forces soldiers working together to hunt down terrorists. One very important scene in the film features the king of military dogs spotting a bomb dropped by the
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enemy. The dog grabs the bomb and races away from the team, sacrificing itself.”
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He went on, “The director chose an old, distinguished military dog to film this scene, making it carry a real bomb to its death. I couldn’t accept such an arrangement, so I immediately stopped the director and insisted that the crew use special effects or props to depict the dog’s sacrifice instead. But the director insisted on absolute realism and demanded that Bello, the name of the military dog, be sacrificed. He even mentioned that Bello had cancer and didn’t have long to live, suggesting that if the dog could die in this film, it would touch more audiences and die for a worthy cause.”
He sighed. “We were unable to convince each other, so the scene couldn’t be filmed.”
Athena said without hesitation, “Zayn, you did the right thing. I firmly support you. But isn’t anyone concerned that a real military dog, one that has earned honors, was killed just for a movie shoot?”
Zayn said, “Bello was adopted by the kennel a few years ago and does not belong to the military. I have looked into it. The owner of the kennel signed an agreement with the production team, clearly stating that Bello could be sacrificed for the needs of the plot. Additionally, in the agreement I signed with the production team, I have no authority to interfere with their filming. If I insist on saving Bello, it would be considered a breach of contract.”
Athena said bluntly, “How much do you need to compensate? I can help you with that.”
Zayn said, “I received a salary of 200 thousand dollars for this film. According to the agreement, the compensation for breaching the contract isn’t very high. However, if filming continues, even if I save Bello, there will be other military dogs that will be used in place of Bello, so I’ve decided to withdraw from the production. Once I withdraw from the production, the film will either be canceled or need to be reshot, and I will have to compensate for all the losses, which is about… 30 million.”
Six million dollars was an astronomical figure for ordinary people.
Moreover, he only received a salary of 200 thousand dollars, yet he would have to pay a compensation of six million dollars. It was also an exorbitant amount.
However, Athena didn’t even bat an eye. “Six million dollars is nothing to me. I can help you pay.”
After a few seconds of silence, Zayn didn’t seem very surprised and said with a faint smile, “Alright, I’ll consider this money as a loan from you. I’ll pay you back whenever I have enough money.”
Athena said, “I’m not short of money. You can pay me back whenever you want.”
Then she asked, “Zayn, where are you now? I’ll go find you.”
Zayn said, “I’m at CineCraft Studios, negotiating the contract termination with the production team and discussing the adoption of Bello.”
In the country, Valemont City was recognized as the economic and financial center, while Kitmore City was known as the cultural and tourism hub as well as the center for the entertainment industry.
Located in the northeast outskirts of Kitmore City, CineCraft Studios was considered the largest film shooting base in the country, producing the vast majority of historical dramas, fantasy dramas, costume dramas, palace-dramas, war films, and
more.
It was normal for Zayn to film there.
When Athena arrived there, she saw Ryan and Jaden were also present.
Actually, the Donovan family was also prepared to help Zayn with the compensation. However, although the Donovan family was not short on money, it was indeed a bit difficult for them to take out about 10 million dollars all at once,
Ryan was ever planning to lend money to Zayn, so when Athena arrived, money was no longer a problem.
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The production team didn’t expect Zayn to be so resolute, directly breaching the contract for the sake of a dog. It left them feeling quite frustrated.
Zayn, even if you pay the compensation, your reputation will be ruined,” said the director, unaware of how powerful Zayn’s connections were. Given that Zayn was not very famous and was already in his fifties, the director felt this was his last film and spoke to him openly without much hesitation.
He added. “As the only lead actor, how could you ruin an entire film just for a dying sick dog? Who would dare to hire you for a film in the future? So many people’s efforts are now in vain, and the film isn’t even finished. How can you face the staff who have worked with you for three months?”
Zayn gently patted Bello’s head and said calmly, “Bello may be insignificant to you, but to me, he is a comrade and a hero. A hero should not be treated this way by anyone.”