Chapter 336: An Uncompromising Beating
The guesthouse was ten stories tall, with over ten rooms on each floor and a large, separate courtyard. It was spacious enough to accommodate the entire film crew.
A little after nine in the evening, as the first car pulled into the nearby parking lot, the rest of the film crew began to arrive one after another.
Melody Monroe’s car was one of the last to arrive.
The guesthouse courtyard was filled with tables and chairs, and the cast members who had already arrived were sitting around in small groups, chatting.
"Wow, this place is nice. The air is so much fresher," Melody Monroe couldn’t help but exclaim as soon as she got out of the car.
Rose Shaw looked up at the night sky. "I haven’t seen a sky this dark, or stars this bright, in a long time."
Keith Coleman and Winter Kane unloaded all the luggage.
"The two of us will take the bags to the rooms first," Keith Coleman said to Melody Monroe.
"Okay. We’ll find a table and sit down. Come down for a bite to eat when you’re done."
"Melody, Rose, let’s go sit over there. There’s an empty table," Talia Mercer said, pointing.
Next to the empty table was another one, where a few people were chatting excitedly, oblivious to their surroundings.
"I mean, if Melody Monroe really has a sugar daddy, why would she even bother with a show like this? Her sponsor could just toss a little money around, and that’d be more than enough to land her a leading role."
"So who do you guys think is keeping her?"
"I bet it’s Master Rockwell."
"Master Rockwell rarely makes public appearances; he’s a very mysterious figure. Besides, weren’t there rumors that Melody Monroe was having an affair with Christopher Sterling? Lana Sheffield even gave her a hard time over it. If Melody were really being kept by Master Rockwell, she probably wouldn’t even be at Stellaris anymore."
"That’s a good point."
"I heard Shawn Fisher is married. In that case, doesn’t that just make Melody Monroe a mistress?"
"So what if she’s a mistress? She seems perfectly happy with it!"
Their entire conversation reached Melody Monroe and Rose Shaw’s ears, loud and clear.
"Should we find another table?" Rose Shaw asked Melody Monroe.
But all the other tables were taken. If they moved, they would inevitably have to share a table with strangers. They had only planned to grab a quick bite to tide them over before heading back to their rooms to rest.
"It’s fine." Melody Monroe took Rose Shaw’s hand reassuringly. "Let’s just sit here."
The gossiping group seemed to sense something was off and looked up. When they saw Melody Monroe standing right beside them, their faces stiffened, and they quickly lowered their heads.
’When did she get here?’
’Didn’t you guys see her?’
"What’s there to be afraid of? So what if she’s a mistress, are people not allowed to talk about it? Being the other woman isn’t exactly something to be proud of. We didn’t say anything that wasn’t true."
"The world we live in these days! Mistresses can just parade around in the open, feeling no shame—in fact, they’re even proud of it."
Seeing that Melody Monroe remained silent, the woman, instead of backing down, became even more outrageous with her words.
The people at the nearby tables heard everything.
Everyone started looking in their direction, all of them clearly waiting for the drama to unfold.
The woman speaking was Eileen Scott, an artist signed with Stellaris. Rumor had it she also had a powerful backer, though no one knew who it was or what their relationship entailed.
Rose Shaw wasn’t very familiar with Eileen. Ever since Christopher Sterling got married, she had rarely involved herself in the company’s affairs, mainly to avoid clashing with Lana Sheffield.
Although President Sterling had said Lana Sheffield was not to interfere with company business, she had used her status to effectively take control of its operations.