CHAPTER VI

Calleb knew what she was thinking, so he grabbed the phone and handed it to her. Andrea did not step aside to take the phone call, instead, she confidently pressed the answer button, right in front of Calleb.

"Andrea, where are you right now?"

"I was afraid the reporters would find me, so I found a place to hide," Andrea replied calmly.

"So, you're saying you aren't aware of the incident with Beth?" George asked in a patient tone.

"What's wrong with Beth? The place I have hidden in is quite remote, so I haven't been able to keep up with what's happening on the outside, what happened?" Andrea tried her best to sound curious.

"Thanks to your manager, Alcantara’s is now in a mess. Return to the office first, I'm going to arrange for you to hold a press conference. Andrea, I am depending on you to clear Alcantara’s name."

Press conference? More like another opportunity for him to throw the blame on Andrea...

Did he really think she was still that naive?

Andrea hung up the phone in disgust, when suddenly Calleb began to speak, "I've already saved my number in your phone. Anytime you need me, give me a call and let me know what you want to do."

"Thank you, Calleb..."

"You shouldn't be calling me that..." Calleb unfolded his legs and pulled Andrea to his side, "Call me something else...or I won't let you go."

Andrea blushed as she whispered shyly, "h...hubby..." A rare smile appeared on Calleb’s face.

"Come on, I'll drop you off at work. Remember what you promised...don't get too close to another man."

Andrea knew exactly what Calleb was referring to. She responded with a reassuring smile and a hopeful look in her eyes for Calleb to trust her. Calleb’s heart skipped a beat. Between the two of them, there was nothing more to say.

...

In just 40 minutes, Calleb had successfully driven Andrea to a location close to Alcantara’s Entertainment. As the King of Entertainment, he knew all the deepest, darkest secrets of the industry. Hence, he was curious as to how Andrea intended on turning the tables to retrieve her position as top model.

Andrea knew what she was getting herself into. It was clear that this was a game where she had to keep her cards hidden, whilst her enemies had already laid their cards on the table. If she couldn't change the outcome even after swapping out her entire hand, then she would have to admit defeat.

After stepping out of Calleb’s car, she accessed the building through a secret walkway. As soon as the staff spotted Andrea, the room was filled with mixed reactions of disgust, hate and mockery; as if they were sure Beth’s revelations were all under Andrea’s directions.

Andrea pretended not to notice. She walked over to George room and pushed open the door as her gaze met the back of George’s head.

"You're back..." George turned around holding back his anger.

"Tell me, what happened?"

"Andrea, are you certain you don't know about the incident with Beth?" George threw the newspaper reports in front of Andrea. He questioned her angrily, "If she didn't receive orders from you, how would she be brave enough to do this?"

"George, we are about to get married, why would I do something like this? Wouldn't that be pushing you away?" Andrea choked on her words as she looked at him innocently.

"Then, how do you explain why you placed the Crown's Star on your ankle at the show? You knew very well, that the biggest difference between you and Maggie are your legs..."

Andrea looked at George as he interrogated her. She thought back on the multiple times that George had protected Maggie in the same way. She once thought it was all because he was trying to protect his own growing career, so she was willing to endure being wronged and allowed him to stick up for another person. But from the looks of it now, the only person he wanted to protect all along had solely been Maggie.

"At the time, I had no way of wearing the Crown's Star on anywhere but my ankles. Maggie’s assistant was also present, you can ask him."

"I asked him already and he said you had made the decision yourself..." George pressed on.

"George, I am your fiancee, yet you choose to believe an outsider?" Andrea faked a look of disappointment as she continued to observe George reactions, "Yesterday...we were supposed to be signing our wedding papers."

"It's too late to say anything now, the damage is done. HF has already notified the court of their intention to sue Alcantara’s  for breaching the contract and thanks to your manager, the public's negative reactions towards Alcantara’s are now getting worse and worse. You need to take responsibility for this." George looked down at Andrea’s condescendingly. He gave off the aura of an almighty god passing judgment.

"You will be my wife soon, I don't want my wife to hurt my career. That's why...Andrea, for the sake of Alcantara’s, you have the responsibility to step out and explain to the public the entire mess was created by your manager for hype and has nothing to do with Alcantara’s..."

"Admitting that my manager was responsible is just like admitting I was responsible! Weren't you the one that called me to hastily substitute Maggie?" Andrea cried, "George, is it because I am to marry you, that I should be sacrificed?"

"I don't care. Being recognized was your fault." As soon as those words left his lips, George must have felt he had gone too far. He quickly calmed down and reached out his arms to give Andre a hug, however, she retaliated by pushing him away. "Andrea, I was just getting a bit impatient. Just this once...after we are married, I promise to treat you well..."

Of course, Andrea held back her tears and nodded, "I am doing this, not because I admit to creating this mess, it is because I want to protect your career. But, there will be no next time!"

"Yes...I promise, there will be no next time!"

In actual fact, George knew Andrea would fall for it again next time. Especially after they were married, according to Andrea’s character, she would be easily controlled by him.

"The press conference will be this afternoon at 3pm. We will have a meeting in a minute to go over your script."

"OK!"

Andrea stopped crying and forced herself to look into George’s eyes like always. But, as soon as she left the room, her eyes swept over with a cold gaze.

She couldn't immediately forget the jerk, but, she was going to stick by her decisions.

There was no way she was going to take on the blame for George’s wrongdoings again.

After thinking carefully, she returned to her own room and phoned her manager, "Beth, George is trying to use me as a shield."

"Ha ha! Andrea, tell me what you want me to do." Her manager was full of fighting spirit.

"3pm. I will announce I created the mess and apologize. Afterwards...I want you to anonymously release photos of George and Maggie being affectionate in the hospital..."

"Ha ha, sure! I've even thought up of a great headline 'Exposed! Alcantara’s boss has multiple affairs: The Biggest Cheating Scum!'"

Andrea couldn't help but respond with a laugh, before she began to apologize, "Sorry, Beth, for dragging you into all this."

"Andy, as long as you have made the decision to start a fresh, I will help you return to being the top model. In fact, not only that, I will help you become...an international supermodel!"