Chapter 9 No.9

Isolde's endorsement commercial was set to begin filming, so I arrived early at the studio to oversee the setup.

The photographer and makeup artist, both long-time collaborators of mine, soon arrived. Though they were human, they knew exactly what I wanted to achieve.

As the set was almost ready, I glanced at my watch. It was already close to 9:00 AM-half an hour past the agreed time-and yet, neither Isolde nor her team had shown up.

Elowen had already called once to check.

Photographer Aurelia, fiddling with her camera, remarked, "Isolde sure has a sense of superiority, doesn't she?"

Makeup artist Ophelia sneered. "Well, what can we do? She's connected to CEO Blackwood, after all. What are we supposed to do-fire her? Not that we have the power to do that. Not even you, Seraphina, have that kind of authority."

Everyone knew Isolde had been personally chosen by Nathaniel as the spokesperson.

Normally, as the head of V&R, I'd have the authority to replace anyone-but not Isolde.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Cassandra's number.

The call went through, and I heard the phone ringing.

Then, after a moment, the call abruptly ended.

Ophelia stared, her face filled with anger. "They... they're unbelievable. With CEO Blackwood backing them, they don't even respect you."

After a few minutes of waiting, with no explanation or follow-up messages, I dialed again.

This time, the call was cut off immediately.

I tried a few more times, but there was no answer.

I put the phone away and turned to Aurelia and Ophelia. "I'm guessing they won't be here until after lunch. You two can head home for now. I'll let you know if I need you."

After years of working in this industry, I'd dealt with enough clients to know exactly what Cassandra was up to. I'd already figured out her intentions the day we first discussed the collaboration.

Ophelia scoffed. "In all my years of work, I've never met someone so full of themselves. She hasn't even won a major award, and she's done nothing noteworthy. Where does she get off acting so superior?"

"Don't let it bother you. Let's go out for dinner another day. I'll treat you both," I reassured her.

"Alright, we'll head out now," Ophelia replied, and with that, they both left the studio.

I stayed behind and had Elowen bring me a laptop so I could work in the lounge.

Outside, there was a sudden burst of noise. My thoughts were pulled away from work as I glanced at my watch. It was already 1:30 PM.

Just as I had expected.

Elowen knocked on the door. "Director Seraphina, Ms. Isolde and her team have arrived."

"Alright, I'll be right out."

I shut my laptop, stretched lazily, and took my time packing it into my bag before heading out of the lounge.

As I stepped into view, Cassandra's face lit up with a smug smile as she approached. "Director Seraphina, I'm so sorry. We had an unexpected company meeting this morning, and I got delayed. My phone was with my assistant, and when he hung up on you, he didn't bother to let me know. I'll be sure to give him a talking-to-please don't take it the wrong way."

Her words sounded apologetic, but there was no real contrition in her expression.

"Seraphina, I apologize again. There was an unexpected issue today, and I truly regret making you wait," Isolde added.

I smiled faintly, my tone neutral. "It's no problem. I was just about to head back anyway."

Cassandra grinned. "Director Seraphina, please feel free to head out. There's no need for you to stay and supervise. The other staff members are here."

I maintained my smile. "What I meant is that there won't be any filming today."

Cassandra's smile faltered, her face freezing with a hint of anger. "Seraphina, what do you mean by that?"

"I mean, today's a day off."

Her smile turned into a frown. "Are you playing games with us? Why didn't you notify us in advance if filming was canceled? Now we've come all this way for nothing."

"The situation was urgent. The makeup artist and photographer weren't here. I was about to call you this morning to inform you, but I couldn't reach you. And Cassandra, you wouldn't hang up on me. It had to be your assistant's doing. I realized he might not have passed along the information, so I waited here to make sure you didn't come and find no one around."

At my words, both Cassandra and Isolde's expressions soured, their annoyance evident.

"Now that I've informed you, I'll be leaving. I hope tomorrow's shoot won't be delayed."

With a polite smile, I grabbed my laptop and strode away.

Cassandra and Isolde stood there, watching my retreating figure, their faces dark with anger.

"I didn't expect Seraphina to have such scheming tactics."

Isolde chuckled. "I told you, such tricks won't work on her. Think about it-if a woman could seduce Nathaniel after I left, do you really think she'd be someone easy to deal with?"

"So what now?"

Cassandra knew that they'd already used up the excuse for being late today. If they were late again tomorrow, there'd be no explanation.

Isolde shook her phone. "I'll call Nathaniel."

Nathaniel's POV

The meeting at the office had just wrapped up.

I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my temples. Lately, I've been struggling to focus on work. The tension between Seraphina, Isolde, and me is driving me crazy. I have no real reason to tell the pack I want to end the mate bond.

Just then, the ringtone of my phone interrupted my thoughts.

I picked it up, glanced at the number on the screen, and answered, "Hello?"

"Nathaniel, are you at the office? I'm coming to see you."

I looked at the calendar on my desk. "So soon? I thought the shoot was still going on today."

Isolde hesitated before speaking, as if unsure of what to say. "There... there's no shoot today."

"No shoot? Why?" I asked, confused.

When I went to the bathroom earlier, I noticed Seraphina's office was locked, which clearly meant she was out.

At every previous ad shoot, Seraphina would always be there to handle any emergencies.

So why wasn't there a shoot today, especially if she was already at the studio?

"When we got to the studio, Seraphina suddenly told us there was an emergency and canceled the shoot. She left right after, and we're not sure what happened."

"It must have been something urgent. If there's no shoot, then come to the office and find me."

In these three years, I've always admired Seraphina's work ethic-she's smart and capable.

She wouldn't have canceled the shoot unless it was something important.

Listening to Nathaniel's tone, I could hear no blame toward Seraphina. On the other end of the line, Isolde let out a cold laugh, but her voice remained sweet.

"Alright, I'll be there soon."

Seraphina's POV

The next day, Isolde and her team arrived right on time, just as expected.

The set we had prepared the day before was still in place.

Isolde finished her makeup, got her hair done, and changed into her outfit, ready to start the shoot.

But, of course, something went wrong again.

"Director Seraphina, you should go check on the makeup artist," Elowen ran over to tell me.

"What happened?" I looked up.

"Ms. Isolde brought her own makeup artist. There seems to have been some disagreement over the makeup and styling with Miss Ophelia."

I put down the magazine I had been reading and walked straight to the makeup room.

When Ophelia saw me, she stepped out, looking frustrated.

"Seraphina, you're just in time. Ms. Isolde brought her own makeup artist and came up with some bizarre look. You should see it for yourself!"

I walked inside, and Cassandra smiled at me.

"Director Seraphina, let me introduce you to Ms. Isolde's makeup artist, Miss Elara. You've probably heard of her-she's the head makeup artist for the International Beauty Pageant."

Ophelia rolled her eyes from the side.

"Hello," Elara greeted me.

"Hello, Miss Elara." I nodded to her, then turned to Cassandra. "Cassandra, I understand that Ms. Isolde prefers to work with her regular makeup artist, but why isn't the makeup and styling following the guidelines we gave?"

"Don't be upset, Miss Seraphina. Elara says the makeup and styling you provided simply aren't suited to Ms. Isolde. Are you saying Elara's design isn't good enough for your product?"

Before I could respond, Ophelia couldn't hold back anymore and stepped forward angrily.

"Cassandra, what you're saying is nonsense. Elara's design doesn't fit the theme of today's shoot at all. How is it supposed to work for the advertisement?"

Cassandra chuckled lightly.

"Ophelia, don't be so harsh. Isn't the success of an ad campaign about the size of the fanbase? Isolde's influence speaks for itself. As long as she looks good, her fans will buy the product. What does the styling matter?"

Ophelia opened her mouth to argue further, but I stopped her, turning to Cassandra.

"Cassandra, I want you to understand that the most important thing here is the collaboration between both sides. According to the contract, Ms. Isolde should follow our company's arrangements during the shoot. You can't just change the makeup and styling without discussing it with us first."

Just then, Isolde suddenly spoke up.

"Seraphina, I'm so sorry, I forgot to inform you, but I already talked to Nathaniel about this yesterday. He's given his approval."

I froze.

I opened my mouth, but my throat was dry, as if I had swallowed sand. I couldn't find the words.

Suddenly, I felt speechless.

The argument that had just taken place must have seemed absurd to anyone else-like something out of a circus.