Chapter 102
Hearing Simone’s words, a flash of joy lit up Cohen’s eyes. “Thank you, Blackthorn,” he said, hands pressed to his sides as he boned again and again. Even as he left, he was still dazed with happiness from the imexpected good news.
Before coming. Colen honruly thought Simone’s promise from a ninth ago was just empty words, nothing to count on
Plus, he was signed by Sky Pictures, Colien thought that after that huge falling out between Simone and the company, there was almost fine wory she’d pick him.
But then Coben remembered how Simone had holdly walked away from Sky Pictures a modleage. That gave him the courage to take a chance. He never expected she’d give him an opportunity.
That afternoon, after sitting through a string of auditions, Simone was starting to god off. But the moment Gohen spoke his first line, she lifted her ryelids and sat up a little straighter
Colien had never played a lead before,
re, but he was a real pro. His acting and instincts were spot on, and he’d gotten under David’s skin. In that
hr was Davidd
When the audition ended, Cohen nervously clenched his hands, watching Simone’s face for any sign. The silence dragged on, and bit by bit, the hope faded from his ryes,
Just when Cohen thought it was hopeless, Simone il
flashed the director an OK sign and said, “Cohen is David. He’s our lead”
Simone had the final say on the set. When she picked someone, the director always respected her choice,
A wave of shock and joy crashed over Coben. He was so overwhelmed that his eyes turned red. He bowed and said, “Thank you, Blackthorn Thank you. Director 1 promise I won’t let you down. I’ll give this role everything I’ve got.”
This was his first lead role since he started out, and in a big production, too. Right then, Cohen felt like all those years of playing bit parts had
nally been worth it
With the male lead decided. Simone went back to rest.
Night had fallen over the oldineighborhood on the east side of the city.
Claire broke down, sobbing as she pressed a kitchen knife to her own throat. She glared at Felix and Linda with wild, desperate eyes. She asked, “How can you just decide my life for me?”
Not long ago, Claire’s younger brother, Jackson, had fallen from upstairs and hit his head, suffering severe brain damage. The hospital said the surgery would cost over 100 thousand dollars.
Felix was a drunk with no real job, and the family barely scraped by on what Linda made running a had 30 thousand, still 100 thousand short for Jackson’s operation.
small
restaurant. After years of saving, they only
To scrape together the money for Jackson’s surgery, Felix and Linda had decided to marry Claire off to the landlord’s simple–minded son ini
I his unties. When Clare found out, she completely broke down,
on’t hurt yourself!”
Sering Claire with the knife at her neck, Felix started to panic. He shouted anxiously, “Claire, put the knife down! Don’t
For a split second, seeing the panic in Felix’s eyes, Claire thought maybe he did care about her. But the next thing b
be said hit her like a slap to the
Felix said, “Be a good girl. The landlord’s family is coming with the bride price tomorrow. If anything happens to you, how am I supposed to explain it to them? While Claire was still i shock, he quickly snatched the kuife from her hund
Claire stood there, silently mocking herself for being such a fool.
Shur thought, “He only ever cares about Jackson. He never once truly cared about ine. He isn’t worried I would get hurt, he is just afraid that if something happened to me, lied lose the landlord’s bride price:
Tim telling you, I’m not gening married! I still want to go to school Claire screamed, her voice raw as she stared desperately at Felix and Linda.
Felix took a drag from his cigarette and scoffed, “School! What for? Girls end up married anyway. Even if you graduate, you’ll barely make enough
“But that guy’s almost forty! I’m only eighteen, Claire protested, her voice shaking.
Felix just shrugged. He said, “So whatt His family’s loaded”
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Chapter 102
Claire suddenly let out a bitter laugh. She said, “If you want to pay for Jackson’s treatment, go get a loan or borrow from relatives. But I’m not marrying anyone?
Felix instantly blew up. He cursed under his breath, “A loan? Borrow money? We’d have to po
family is filthy rich. If you marry in, you’ll live a good life. You should be thanking me
back! Claire, don’t be so ungrateful. The landlord’s
Knowing Felix would never budge. Claire tumed to Linda, pleading, “Mom, I don’t want to get married. Please, help me
Linda’s heart ached. Claire was her flesh and blood, after all. She said. “Felix, maybe we could…” The sharp look from Felix made her fall silent.
Linda had always been afraid of Felix and didn’t dare say more. She looked at Claire helplessly and said, “Claire, the landlord’s offering 130 thousand dollars, and they’ll even put this house in Jackson’s name.
“I know it’s unfair, but their family’s so rich. You won’t suffer if you marry him. We’re doing this for your own good.”
Claire’s face went even paler as she listened to Linda. She gave a bitter smile and said, “For my own good! How can you even say that?
I’m a person, not some things you can just sell off. How could you treat me like I’m just a piece of property?”
now, even
All these years, even though her parents kept throwing her into the fire over and over, Claire still clung to a shred of hope for them. But n that last bit of hope was completely crushed.
Felix’s face twisted in annoyance. “Shut up!” he snapped, then slapped Claire hard across the face. His voice was cold and vicious as he added. “You’d better beluve. I brought you into this world, so you owe me
Without caring about Claire’s struggles, Felix grabbed her by the hair and shoved her into the storage room
Hearing the lock click, Claire started pounding on the door, shouting at the top of her lungs, “Let me but!”
Felix just barked, “Stay put”
No matter how hard Claire banged on the door, nobody care. She thought, ‘No way. I can’t just sit here and wait for whatever happens next. She glanced at the tiny window in the storage room, and suddenly, an idea popped into her head.
She dug through a pile of junk, found a few ropes, tied them together, and tossed the makeshift rope out the window. Their place was only on the second floor, not too high, so climbing down wasn’t a problem.
it took all her strength, but Claire finally managed to climb down. Once she was out, she wandered the streets alone, not knowing where to go or having anywhere to turn.
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AD
