Chapter 110


    The rehearsal was over, but Eileen wasn’t ready to leave just yet. Her eyes darted around the room,


    lingering on theptop nearby.


    Egbert, with an icy expression, grabbed theptop and flipped it open.


    Eileen quickly walked over, excitedly saying, “Let me have a look!”


    Egbert shot her a nce, made some changes on the code right in front of her, and then handed her


    theptop. “Here you go.”


    Eileen held theptop close. The desktop was neat, and the video website isn’t essible. She


    blinked, let out a smallugh, and feigned disappointment, “Oh no, you’ve deleted everything and I


    can’t even open the website. What a shame. Can I borrow yourptop for the night? I don’t have one/


    I’ll return it tomorrow.”


    Egbert frowned at her innocent act.


    Eileen eagerly asked, “Can I? Can I?”


    In the end, Egbert agreed..


    “I’ll be off then, bye.”Eileen finished and quickly left.


    A few minutester, Egbert started to feel suspicious. The twoputers were linked. He took out the


    otherptop and remotely checked its background operations. Suddenly, a video of a man and woman


    getting intimate popped up on the screen.


    In the room next door, a blushing Janice was dragged by Eileen to watch the video. Janice didn’t really


    want to watch, but her curiosity got the better of her, “Wow, how can she bend like that…”


    Eileen nodded in agreement, “Impressive, right?”


    Suddenly, the screen went ck. Janice was shocked and shrieked, “Oh no, are we going to get


    caught?!”


    Eileen reassured her, “It’s okay, it’s just Egbert.” With that, she hacked into theptop’s system.


    Two minutester, theptop was back up and running, and Eileen resumed watching the video.


    But less than a minuteter, the screen went ck again. Eileen was pissed, “What a party pooper,


    Egbert!”


    Janice was scared now. She suggested, “Let’s just stop, Eileen.”


    With Egbert keeping an eye on them, they didn’t have much of a choice. Eileen shut down theptop


    angrily, “Fine, we won’t watch then.”


    A few minutester, there was a knock on Egbert’s door. He opened it. Unsurprisingly, Eileen was on


    the other side. She angrily handed him theptop, her face full


    of discontent.


    Egbert took theptop, his tone indifferent, “You’re quite good withputers.”


    All text ? N?velD(r)a''ma.Org.


    Eileen rolled her eyes, “And you’re quite interesting. Didn’t expect you to be so talented.”


    Egbert calmly responded, “Ms. Lopez, you’re quite talented yourself.”


    Ignoring him, Eileen turned and walked away.


    Egbert closed the door and returned to his sofa. Hisptop still had a file on it. It was a file he had


    looked over before, Eileen’s personal information.


    What Egbert was looking at now was thest line.


    “Ms. Camille Thomas of the Howard family was amissioner of the national anti-missile research


    and development project before retirement. Every summer, Eileen Howard would spend her holidays


    with Ms. Camille in theb, sometimes even receiving help from seniorb technicians for her summer


    homework.”


    Egbert tapped his fingers on the table and chuckled.


    The next day, the shooting was scheduled for the morning.


    Eileen was a bit upset with Egbert for not letting her watch the porn the day before, but Egbert brought


    her breakfast. It wasn’t the usual set breakfast provided by the crew, but a pricey muffin he bought


    himself. Eileen was no longer angry, and she started to warm up to him again.


    Today, Eileen and Egbert stood in the shooting scene. Upon the director’s cue of “Action,” the male


    lead’s kiss fell.


    Eileen received it passively. She remembered the rehearsal fromst night. She controlled her


    breathing, reliving everything from yesterday, including the tears that welled up in her eyes due tock


    of oxygen.


    “Cut!” Galen called for a halt.


    Eileen turned her head and looked at Galen.


    Galen shook his head, paused, and then said, “It’s eptable, but it’s still early, and I see you guys are


    in good form today. Let’s go again.”


    To go again meant that the shot was eptable, but they could try again, and maybe the next take


    would be better.


    The makeup artist came over to touch up their makeup.


    Eileen quietly said to Egbert, “Galen is too strict.”


    Egbert looked at her rosy lips and whispered, “That’s just how he is.”


    After the touch-up, the second take began. Then the third, fourth, fifth. That morning, Eileen and Egbert


    shot five takes in total. In the end, Galen chose the fifth video.


    “This shot is the best. Everything is on point.” Galen was delighted.


    Eileen was almost exhausted. She slumped in her chair, struggling to ask, “Can we eat now?”


    Galen announced, “Everyone, let’s eat.”


    Finally, it was time to eat.


    Eileen, like a starving ghost, lined up for food. When it was her turn, she immediately told the staff who


    was serving the meal, “You look really pretty today.”


    The staff shyly brushed her hair and gave Eileen a lunchbox with two chicken legs. Eileen almost


    hugged and kissed the staff; she quickly went to a corner to eat.


    Janice took a while to find Eileen. She finally found her eating at the back stairs.


    Janice hurriedly said, “Eileen, there’s trouble.”


    Eileen was gnawing on a chicken leg, “What’s up?”


    Janice handed her the phone, “You and Egbert were caught on camera holding hands yesterday.”


    Eileen took a nce at the phone, it was on the trending topics page. The hashtag


    #EgbertEileenHolding Hands was trending tenth and steadily rising.


    Eileen blinked, paused, and then said, “The director asked us to build some chemistry.”


    Janice was getting anxious, “But theizens won’t see it that way. Look at thements. So many


    people are livid…”


    Janice’s words trailed off abruptly. Seeing the look of horror on Janice’s face, Eileen couldn’t help but


    scoff, “That scared you, huh? Let me tell you, my cklist is chock-full of people who’ve cussed me


    out. More than you’ve ever seen.”


    Janice opened her mouth, paused for a moment, then stuttered, “No, it’s not that… Eileen, this


    comment… it might not be one we engineered, right?”


    “Whatment?” Eileen asked, leaning in curiously.


    “E&E?” Teresa, sitting in a shabby lounge, was utterly baffled as she looked at the trendingments


    from the whistleblower ount. “What’s this? A fan club?”


    Teresa’s assistant answered awkwardly, “It seems so. Egbert and Eileen have been on two reality


    shows together, and they even filmed a movie together. Rumor has it, some fans really dig their love-


    hate rtionship…”


    Teresa snapped, “Is that what I asked to see? Where are the haters? Didn’t we buy any? They should


    be tearing Eileen apart.”


    The assistant hurriedly replied, “We did, but…”


    “But what?” Teresa red.


    The assistant was sweating bullets, “But… our bought haters can’tpete with Eileen’s organic


    haters. They’re saying we might just have to get a refund.”