Reborn Rich: Prices Dropped, My Savings Didn't novel Chapter 85

Chapter 85: Chapter 83: How Dare You Demand an Explanation?

However, Jessica Reynolds completely missed the subtext in James Lockwood’s words. She sat down on the sofa and put on a pitiful expression as she looked at him.

"President Lockwood..."

The moment she spoke, Jessica Reynolds’s voice was full of grievance. "You know, I’ve been in the business for less than three years. All my achievements during this time have been thanks to the company and Beau’s team."

At this, Jessica Reynolds pouted her cherry-red lips and blinked pitifully. "But I’m just naturally reckless. Beau has told me off about it several times. I really am trying to fix this bad habit, but sometimes I still do or say inappropriate things without even realizing it."

James Lockwood frowned deeply as he watched her, seeming to sense what she was getting at.

’She can’t be planning to bring up the promotional campaign right now, can she?’

’In front of Miss Sterling?’

’She really knows how to pick her moments!’

Sure enough, Jessica Reynolds lowered her gaze and continued with a dejected expression, "You know, if I did something wrong, you could have just told me directly. I really want to learn from you. I would love for you, President Lockwood, to give me more guidance."

"But now you’ve had the promotions team halt my media exposure. It doesn’t just affect me; it affects the company, too."

She looked up at James Lockwood. "President Lockwood, you don’t have to deny it. Keaton wouldn’t dare do this unless you ordered it."

James Lockwood’s expression was grim. He couldn’t lose his temper here, not in front of Miss Sterling. Since Jessica Reynolds didn’t know who Miss Sterling was, he had no justifiable reason to call her an idiot.

He glanced furtively at Miss Sterling, who was leaning back casually on the sofa, an amused, half-smiling expression on her face as she watched Jessica Reynolds’s little performance of confessing her "faults" and pouring out her "grievances."

Composing himself, James Lockwood sat up straight and looked at Jessica Reynolds seriously. "You don’t need to tell me all this. We all know perfectly well whether what you did was intentional or not."

"Halting your promotion was my decision, and it was the company’s decision. And you don’t need to feel wronged, because you haven’t been wronged in the slightest."

Jessica Reynolds froze, apparently not expecting her tactful approach to be met with such a firm rebuttal from James Lockwood.

Her face stiffened, and she blurted out, "President Lockwood, I don’t understand. What could I have possibly done for the company to treat me like this? To go so far as to halt all my promotions? Do you know what a huge blow this is to my rising career!"

"No matter how big the blow, you’ll have to take it. Otherwise, you’ll never learn your lesson!" James Lockwood said righteously. "The artists of my Locke Media can be lacking in professional skill, but their character and conduct must be upstanding and honest."

"You want to know why? Fine, I’ll tell you!"

It seemed James Lockwood couldn’t be bothered to dance around the issue with her any longer. He was also afraid that if this dragged on, Jessica Reynolds would say something even more shocking and thoughtless. So he decided to just lay his cards on the table in front of Cecilia Sterling.

"The day of the press conference, don’t you remember what you did?" James Lockwood asked, his gaze cold as he stared at Jessica Reynolds.

Jessica Reynolds faltered as scenes from the press conference flashed through her mind.

’She had...’

The next second, her dazed expression turned to one of slight shock. She remembered!

Seeing her reaction, James Lockwood continued, "Did you think that just because I wasn’t there that day, I wouldn’t notice someone was missing from the press conference? The main cast was supposed to appear together. Every actor had to be there. Why didn’t Lily Sterling go on stage?"

"Don’t worry, Mr. Lockwood. I’m the type of person who clearly distinguishes between gratitude and grudges. Since she’s already been punished, I won’t take out any further anger on her."

Hearing Cecilia Sterling say this, James Lockwood couldn’t help but nod in relief.

Iris Underwood’s flight was delayed, so she didn’t arrive at the film set until late that afternoon.

She first went to Andrew Sutton’s dressing room to bring him some good news. "We’ve secured the Asia-Pacific brand ambassador role for Danton men’s watches. It’s for two years. As long as you can rise to top-tier stardom within those two years, the main spokesperson role will be yours!"

"Thank you for your hard work, Iris. I’ll do my best." Andrew Sutton nodded with a smile, then pulled Iris Underwood aside and said in a low voice, "Iris, I saw Connie today. She was coming out of Lily Sterling’s dressing room. Goldman Golding might be trying to sign Lily Sterling, too."

Iris Underwood was stunned for a moment, then frowned.

She knew this had been dragging on for too long. ’Delays breed trouble,’ she thought.

It was perfectly normal for Goldman Golding to be interested in a promising talent like Lily Sterling. But for Connie to be handling it personally was somewhat unexpected.

"We’ll do our best and leave the rest to fate," Iris Underwood said, composing herself. "It’s not the first time we’ve competed with Goldman Golding for talent!"

Andrew Sutton hesitated for a moment before asking tentatively, "I had two scenes with Lily Sterling today, and we also did a reshoot for some stills. Why don’t I go talk to her?"

Iris Underwood looked at Andrew Sutton and laughed. "No need. You’re not exactly the smooth-talking type. You’d probably end up doing more harm than good."

Hearing this, Andrew Sutton pouted, feeling wronged.