You Had Me, You Lost Me, You'll Never Find Me novel Chapter 66

She scrolled through the ten aired episodes, her heart sinking lower and lower.

Reina had only filmed the static, stationary shots. Every single wire-fu stunt had been performed by Sylvia as her double. Those hundreds of grueling action sequences had been chopped up and edited into Reina's highlight reel, making her look absolutely flawless and badass.

What a brilliant scheme.

A complete bait-and-switch.

They had cannibalized Sylvia's action scenes to crown Reina.

A heavy, nauseating knot twisted in Sylvia's stomach.

How could people be this utterly shameless?

-

Sylvia immediately called Penelope. "Can you get me Reina's contact info?"

Reina was signed with Reign Media, but Penelope, as a highly connected agent, could easily acquire an artist's number from another agency.

Penelope asked bluntly, "Is this because you're still pissed about what happened at the boutique?"

Sylvia told her no, and explained how her stunt work had been stolen.

Penelope fell silent for a moment. "I just got word. She's been nominated for The Golden Horizon Awards. Just like you, she's up for Best Supporting Actress."

Sylvia didn't know what to say.

This was Reina's very first role in the industry, and she was already nominated.

Was her acting really that stellar?

Because of those action scenes, Sylvia's body was covered in black and blue bruises. When she first started the wire-work, she had nearly thrown out her back. To capture the perfect shot, she had done take after take, pulling exhausting all-nighters until she was pale and her lips were cracked. Through all the agony, she had never uttered a single complaint.

And all of that was just to serve as Reina's stepping stone?

On what grounds?

Reina took the phone. Once she grasped why Sylvia was calling, she found it mildly amusing. "If you're asking about the editing, you need to take that up with Ashton. Ashton gave the order."

Sylvia's breath caught in her throat. "Ashton told them to edit it that way?"

Reina spoke with complete entitlement. "Ashton is the biggest investor in this show. Do you honestly think the director would hack up the footage without his absolute approval?"

She let out a light laugh. "I know you're bitter. Tell you what, I'll have Ryan throw a variety show slot your way as compensation, and we'll just drop this."

She tossed the offer out casually, as if tossing a bone to a stray dog would make Sylvia roll over.

It was the exact same arrogance Ashton possessed.

Before Sylvia could respond, Reina hung up.

Sylvia stood frozen for a long time, staring at the blackened screen that reflected her pale face, utterly speechless.

She never imagined Ashton was the architect behind this. Just how pathetic and helpless did he think she was, to effortlessly destroy her hard work, strip away her role without a second thought, and then feed her grueling scenes to elevate Reina?