Chapter 23

If you don’t look closely, it’s hard to tell whether these jewels are genuine or fake.

The director simply had Simone Milton lie on top of those jewels and filmed the final shot.

“Ok, it’s perfect!” As the last shot was taken, the director shouted “OK”. Then, he immediately rushed over to Simone Milton’s side.

“You’ve worked hard!” the director said to Simone Milton with a smile.

“It’s not hard work at all. It’s the director and everyone else who really work hard,” Simone Milton said to the director with a smile.

Hearing these words, the director’s impression of Simone Milton became even better.

He deeply regretted the negative impression he had of Simone Milton before this advertisement was filmed.

Through this collaboration, he finally understood what it meant when everyone in the entertainment industry agrees on something.

Everyone says that Simone Milton is a pretentious and disgusting woman. But in his opinion, Simone Milton is actually a talented and humble actress.

With those thoughts in mind, he patted Simone Milton on the shoulder, smiled, and said, “I think we’ll have the chance to work together again in the future! This collaboration was truly wonderful. Your future is bound to be bright!”

“Then thank you very much for your praise and blessings, Director! I hope I can live up to your expectations of me!” Simone Milton continued to smile.

The two of them had a pleasant conversation for a while. After that, Simone Milton left the filming site. Of course, before leaving, the director didn’t forget to give Simone Milton his business card, saying that there might be opportunities for collaboration in the future.

As soon as they left the studio and got back in the van, Georgia immediately began praising Simone Milton:

“I told you, you’re really talented, little girl! That’s great. If this ad gets aired, you’ll definitely become famous! Ah, you didn’t see how infatuated those men looked during the filming!”

Georgia, which has completely excluded itself from the category of “ugly men,” is happily figuring out what kind of valuable opportunities this advertisement will bring to Simone Milton.

He kept praising Simone Milton non-stop. By the end, Simone Milton couldn’t bear it anymore and told Georgia to stop praising her, saying she felt embarrassed.

After hearing this, Georgia stopped praising him further. Instead, she turned her attention to something else.

“By the way, do you know? Tonight, the drama you’re in, ‘Empress De Xian’, will be officially released on various websites and on Fengliu TV!” Georgia said.

Caught off guard, Simone Milton was momentarily stunned upon hearing the news.

Logically speaking, she only participated in the promotional activities for this TV drama yesterday. The actual drama won’t be released that quickly. After all, television stations have fixed schedules for their broadcasts.

Their drama just finished filming. Given that the shooting period wasn’t very long, it’s already quite remarkable that they were able to produce a finished product so quickly. It’s truly surprising that the show has already been scheduled for broadcast so soon.

Seeing Simone Milton’s surprised expression, Georgia shrugged and said, “Don’t be so surprised. Otherwise, why do you think this material is considered a valuable resource in the first place? To be honest, if it weren’t for your relationship with Juliet Milton, do you think you’d have been able to get your hands on such a great opportunity?”

Upon hearing this, Simone Milton realized that, probably, the producer of this drama must be someone with extraordinary influence!

But for her, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. She’s extremely confident. Even if the final version of the film gets completely ruined during editing, her acting skills will definitely not go unnoticed.

And by then, public opinion online will also go wild over her.

After all, although it’s sad to say, compared to people like Katie Adams, most people will naturally pay attention to those who have acting skills.

“I understand. I’ll pay attention to this once I get back, and I’ll help with the promotion on Weibo as well!” said Simone Milton.

Georgia shook her head. “No need for that. We’ve already posted the official announcement on your Weibo account. The reason I’m reminding you is so that you can be prepared.”

“Huh?” Simone Milton looked at Georgia, somewhat confused.

Georgia saw Simone Milton, but didn’t immediately understand what she meant. So, she reluctantly continued to explain, “After all, after our analysis, it’s very likely that Katie Adams will use this opportunity to bring you down.”

Hearing this, Simone Milton couldn’t help but complain, “That’s what she says, but every time, she still steps on me like that! I’ve pretty much gotten used to it by now…”

“Habit? Let me tell you, it’s absolutely impossible to get used to something like this! Developing a habit would only lead to big problems!” Georgia spoke in a very serious tone, trying to make Simone Milton see things clearly.

“Anyway, you’d better think things through carefully and get prepared. Just don’t hold us back at the last minute.” Georgia is also taking precautions in advance.

Although Simone Milton’s performance had been very satisfactory in the previous two instances, he couldn’t guarantee that her reactions would always meet his expectations.

So, there are some things that need to be prevented before they happen.

Only after Simonne Milton was informed of this did Georgia finally show some mercy and allow them to leave.

Back in the villa, Simone Milton sighed in relief. After all, she hadn’t taken this matter seriously after all.

After all, in her opinion, it wasn’t really that big of a deal. She was confident that no matter how Katie Adams reacted, she would be able to handle the situation skillfully.

A little later, Martha was picked up by her driver and taken home. As soon as she got home, she rushed over to Simone Milton.

“Mommy… I’m going to tell you a little secret. Please don’t tell anyone else…” Martha said in a mysterious tone.

Curious, Simone Milton gently placed the child on her lap and asked, “Oh? What secret does Martha want to tell Mommy? Mommy promises not to tell anyone else!”

Martha laughed even more heartily at what she said today. She leaned closely to Simone Milton’s ear and replied, “The secret is that the TV series Mom made is about to be broadcasted. Let’s watch it together tonight.”

Upon hearing this, Simone Milton was stunned. She stared at Martha and asked, “Martha, where did you get this information from?”

Winking her cute little eyes, Martha, who didn’t understand why Simone Milton had become so serious, scratched her head and said, “Grandpa, you told me not to tell Mom about you!”

Hearing that it was Juliet Milton who said those words, Simone Milton felt relieved. Still, she said to Martha, “So it was Grandpa who said that. Mom really wanted to surprise Martha!”

Hearing this, Martha laughed even more happily.

Then Simone Milton put on a serious expression and said to Martha in a solemn tone:

“But, Martha must promise Mommy that she won’t tell anyone else about the TV dramas that Mommy shoots and airs, except for Grandpa and Mommy themselves!”

Hearing what Simone Milton said, Martha nodded understandingly. She always took Simone Milton’s words as commands to be followed without question.

“I know, Mommy. Because Martha doesn’t want anyone to know that Mommy is Martha’s mommy, right?” Martha said these words cheerfully.

Obviously, she was already used to it. So when Simone Milton said those words, she already had the answer in mind.

Simone Milton never said such things. Without a doubt, these words were told to Martha by the original owner.

Looking at Martha, who was far too sensible for her age, Simone Milton couldn’t help but sigh. She gently hugged her.

“Our Martha is so well-behaved. Let’s not talk about that anymore. Would you like to watch the TV series that Mom recorded?” Simone Milton smiled and changed the subject, then turned on the tablet.

Hearing this, Martha seemed very excited. She leaned against Simone Milton’s chest, looking forwardly at the tablet.

At this point, the promotional poster for “Empress De Xian” has been replaced on the website’s homepage. This ensures that all users will see this content as soon as they open the app.

Without hesitation, I clicked on it. Soon, the TV series started playing.

The drama “Empress De Xian” was broadcast simultaneously with television. However, one episode was aired later on television each day.

Of course, the most important thing is that, with the exception of the first six episodes, all subsequent episodes can only be watched by premium members.

Most video websites are like this these days, so there’s no need to make a big deal out of it.

The topic has gone off track.

The first episode of this drama tells the story of the heroine’s birth and her growth into an adult, in a very simple and unassuming manner.

But the exquisite costuming, the veteran actors’ performances, and even the filters that differ from today’s mainstream “A Bao” style all contributed to a refreshing experience. By chance, this approach appealed to many younger audiences.

And on the comment sections, everyone was full of praise, complimenting the crew for their dedication and the actors for their outstanding performances.

By the second episode, when the female lead’s rival appeared on screen, the originally positive comments on the chat boards began to take a negative turn. It seemed inevitable that viewers started comparing the acting skills of the female lead and her rival.

To be honest, at first, the secondary female character wasn’t very likable. In fact, compared to the main female character, the few positive qualities the secondary character had weren’t really brought out at all.

This is only natural, as the initial episodes were filmed by the original character. Therefore, this part might seem awkward to watch.

After all, the original character wasn’t very good at acting. Moreover, she focused all her attention on how to win over Alberta Arthur, while suppressing and framing Katie Adams. It would be strange if she managed to deliver any impressive performances under those circumstances.

So actually, Simone Milton didn’t really care about the negative comments about her in the online discussions, nor the criticism of her acting skills.

Because she knew that, in the end, these netizens would surely be impressed by her.

But Simone Milton didn’t show any signs of displeasure. Meanwhile, Martha, who was watching the scene from the side, couldn’t help but pout.

Although she’s still young, she knows a few words. Even though she doesn’t fully understand the content, she can roughly guess that these people are insulting Simone Milton.

Stealthily wiping away her tears, Martha glanced at Simone Milton carefully. She said, “Mom, let’s stop watching this. These people are only saying bad things about you…”

Most importantly, she also thought that the mothers on TV looked so nice!

She felt like she had betrayed her mother, and she was filled with guilt and remorse.

She was completely absorbed in watching Simone Milton, who had gathered there. Upon hearing what Martha said, she immediately kissed Martha cheerfully and said:

“Be good now, it’s no big deal. Besides, Mom really did behave badly. It’s only fair that they scolded me!”

Simona Milton reacted quite calmly. But what she didn’t expect was that some people would go to great lengths to use this incident to get back at her. How could that be possible? It was probably just some silly antics in the comments section.

Soon after, several trending searches related to Simone Milton appeared on Weibo.

#Simone Milton’s acting is terrible#

#818, some actor who tries to attract attention among veteran actors#

#A side-by-side comparison of Katie Adams and Simone Milton’s acting skills#

Three consecutive entries about her topped the trending list, all ranking within the top ten.

There’s no need to click in to see that it’s definitely criticism of Simone Milton’s poor acting skills, along with praise for Katie Adams’s acting.

In fact, there are many doubts as well. Why was a relatively unknown actress like Simone Milton given the role of the female lead?

This group of netizens believes there’s something fishy going on. They think Simone Milton must have used her connections or even had someone with financial power back her up to get access to such resources.

Soon, trending searches about Simone Milton’s greed and reliance on backdoor connections made it back to the top of the list.

Georgia quickly learned about public opinion online. Worried, she called Simone Milton and asked her not to read any online messages under any circumstances.

By now, Simone Milton, who had already watched the first two episodes, had figured out most of what people were saying online after receiving the call from Georgia.

“I understand. I won’t pay too much attention to online opinions. Georgia, please also help me keep my fans in check, so they won’t keep mocking me. After all, my acting skills were really poor back then.” Simone Milton said helplessly.

Thanks to Simone Milton’s reminder, Georgia realized that at this moment, they couldn’t allow their fans to act recklessly around. It would be too dangerous.

“Well, take care of yourself. After I’ve calmed the fans down, I’ll get in touch with the production team. If they can help you clear up the rumors about you having a backer or something like that…” Before Georgia could finish speaking, Simone Milton spoke up from the other side.

She said, “No way, Georgia. You know very well that I only got this role because of someone else’s help.”

“If you really try to argue back, it’s easy to give people an excuse to mock you. Just ignore them! Trust me, public opinion online will soon change.”

Simona Milton’s confident attitude truly influenced Georgia. After thinking for a moment, he nodded and said, “Alright. If public opinion doesn’t change in a few days, then we’ll take action.”

“Don’t worry, public opinion will surely change by then!” Simone Milton said with a smile. In a few days, the scenes she had filmed would be released online.

The original character didn’t shoot many episodes in total. As long as they get through the lowest points, everything will get better later on. There’s nothing to fear after that.

In fact, if the director’s team moved the scenes filmed by the original actress to the end of the film, Simone Milton would have even more trouble.

After all, the room for maneuver back then wasn’t as easy to exploit as it is now.

After hanging up the phone with Georgia, Simone Milton turned off her tablet and took Martha to the study to help her with her homework.

Right after Simone Milton hung up the phone, Georgia called the production team.

“Hello, is this Director Pond? Yes… it’s me, Simone Milton’s agent… Here’s the situation…” Georgia briefly briefed the director on public opinion online. “What about your end of things…”

“Oh, it’s you guys. I’ve already seen what people are saying online. What’s the matter? Do you want us to issue a statement to clarify the situation?” The director asked, clearly knowing the answer.

Georgia smiled and said, “Actually, whether this matter is clarified or not doesn’t really matter. The most important thing is to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation… Besides, with all the publicity around this matter, it’s actually beneficial for increasing the popularity of our drama.”

The director has already prepared everything. Georgia is ready to clarify matters in this regard. But they never expected the other party to say such things.

Indeed, what Georgia said was exactly what he had originally planned. He wanted to use Simone Milton to further promote this TV series, now that it’s become a trending topic.

As a result, Georgia blurted out his little schemes without any hesitation. This really made the director feel quite complicated.

“This… does that mean your Simone won’t mind if our crew uses her to boost the show’s popularity?” The director hesitated for a moment.

“Of course not. In fact, it’s a win-win situation for both of our companies. You’ve seen firsthand, Director, how well Simone performed on the set…” Georgia paused for a moment.

Actually, Georgia wasn’t sure exactly how Simone Milton performed on the set. But she had heard that the director spoke highly of Simone Milton.

Whether there’s any truth to it or not, one thing’s for sure: the director won’t just sit by and do nothing.

“Of course! It’s not just me who thinks so. Your Simone is truly a talented person. Don’t worry, I won’t exaggerate the facts, nor will I allow anyone to spread slander about our crew!” Upon hearing this, the director immediately placed his hand on his chest and assured them.

Such commitments are meant to reassure Georgia. After all, despite Simone Milton’s less-than-impressive performance at the beginning of the project, her later contributions were indeed noteworthy.

It’s just a matter of clarifying the situation at the moment when online opinions start to get out of control. For the director, this is a very simple task.

“That’s perfect then!” Upon hearing the director’s reply, Georgia couldn’t help but smile.

Meanwhile, Nick Arthur, who had already received the promotional footage shot by Simone Milton from his subordinate, was sitting in his office, ready to watch it. But then he received the news that Simone Milton had been kidnapped.

After seeing those messages criticizing Simone Milton, Nick Arthur, who considered himself principled, went to the website and watched the videos shot by Simone Milton himself.

Sure enough, it was just as mentioned in the trending news. His performance wasn’t that great after all. Nick Arthur initially wanted to resolve the matter on his own, but after thinking for a while, he decided to call Simone Milton instead.

He certainly didn’t want to admit that he was afraid that Simone Milton would be hurt by the online opinions. So, he wanted to take this opportunity to comfort her.

After dialing the number, he kept thinking in his mind about how to comfort Simone Milton. But the outcome was completely beyond his expectations.

“…Mr. Arthur called me specifically just to tell me not to worry so much, is that it?” asked Simone Milton.

Hearing Nick Arthur on the other end of the phone, hesitating and stammering for a long time before finally revealing his true purpose, she couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hmm… I can help you with this matter. So, do you need my assistance?” Nick Arthur said, with a hint of concern on his face.

Simone Milton spoke openly about her thoughts: “No need, Mr. Arthur. I appreciate your kindness, but it’s really not necessary. Anyway, this kind of public opinion will be resolved soon enough.”

“The current situation is fine for me. As long as there are no further problems with public opinion, things should be secure from now on.”

Hearing this, Nick Arthur said nothing more. He knew that Simone Milton was a woman who planned everything carefully, so he stopped worrying about it.

That said, he still attracts close attention from the public. It’s necessary to take action immediately once online public opinion becomes uncontrollable.

“Oh, by the way, how was work today?” Chen Zi asked casually, though his real intention was to use this question as a way to bring the two of them closer.

“That’s great. I think today’s itinerary was quite interesting…” Simone Milton replied instinctively when she heard Nick Arthur ask that.

So, with one person being intentional and the other not, the two of them had a pleasant conversation. Simone Milton quickly put aside her concerns and fully engaged in the conversation.

Even towards the end, Nick Arthur didn’t say much. Basically, it was Simone Milton who spoke, while Nick Arthur listened.

It wasn’t until just after ten o’clock that Simone Milton reluctantly hung up the phone with Nick Arthur.

Nick Arthur didn’t realize until Simone Milton hung up the phone that he had spent so much time on the phone.

For him in the past, this would have been completely impossible. But now, it doesn’t seem like such a big deal at all. At least Nick Arthur himself seems to enjoy these conversations quite a bit.

With such thoughts in mind, Nick Arthur clicked on the advertisement preview on his computer. This advertisement truly was flawless and perfectly aligned with Xiangmi’s brand identity.

Although Xiangmi Jia Cosmetics is merely a tiny, minor luxury brand under the Arthur Group, to be honest, Arthur’s senior management attaches quite a lot of importance to Xiangmi Jia.

But after watching the entire Nick Arthur video, one thought kept coming to mind: It’s too tempting! No, I can’t let such an alluring Simone Milton be shown to everyone like this!

Indeed, such an excellent and flawless advertisement, once released, is sure to boost the popularity of this brand and even trigger a wave of purchases.

For businessmen, this is the ideal situation. Nick Arthur certainly understands the value behind this very well.

But he was also torn. He didn’t know where this possessive desire of his came from. On one hand, he wondered whether he should keep this ad. On the other hand, a voice inside him told him otherwise.

No, I can’t reject this ad!

It’s not because of any financial benefits involved. Rather, a talented person like Simone Milton shouldn’t be held back just because of her personal life.

Simone Milton deserves the best, not to be deliberately hidden from view, preventing her from shining brightly.

Nick Arthur let out a deep sigh. He stared at the computer desktop, fixing his gaze on the last image of Simone Milton—the woman sitting atop a pile of jewels, radiant with beauty. Finally, he gently closed the laptop.

After a long silence, Nick Arthur finally decided to send the preview of the ad back for further editing and improvement.

While this prototype is beautiful, it’s still too rough and needs further refinement.

After receiving this request from the editor, they felt relieved. Initially, when they heard that Nick Arthur would personally oversee the progress of this ad campaign, they had been a bit worried.

But it seems like he doesn’t need to worry. If this ad gets rejected, isn’t it simply an opportunity to improve it and make it more impressive and meaningful?

That’s not difficult at all.

With these thoughts in mind, the confident editor decided to carefully polish the sample footage tomorrow, ensuring he wouldn’t let the company down.

While the editor worked meticulously on this commercial over several days, public opinion online also began to undergo subtle changes.

At first, after watching “Empress De Xian,” everyone felt annoyed by the female lead’s character. Some even felt hostile toward her. Others took screenshots of certain scenes and turned them into memes.

For a while, the entire internet was caught up in a frenzy. It seemed that if you didn’t criticize Simone Milton, you weren’t considered a “normal” person.

Georgia was initially quite worried. With such public opinion online, what kind of negative consequences might arise? She even asked Simone Milton anxiously whether ignoring it would really be effective.

And Simone Milton’s reply was always to tell him to wait quietly and not to be so impatient.

After all this back-and-forth, Georgia was ultimately persuaded to slow down a bit.

Simone Milton’s calm and composed attitude, of course, was irritating.

There were many haters and critics, but among all those fans and haters of Katie Adams, while they were busy finding ways to insult Simone Milton, the most bizarre thing happened.

Passersby who originally had little sympathy for him now felt a bit more compassionate.

Three days later, when the episode reached the point where the female lead was framed, and the female lead believed in her friend and did everything possible to find her, she finally managed to locate her and gather evidence to prove her friend’s innocence.

The audience realized later: Hey, it seems like Simone Milton wasn’t that awkward in her performance after all.

In the latter half of the series, while the female lead’s sidekick gratefully thanked her with kindness and warmth, in a corner out of sight of others, she revealed a sly smile. It was like having a bottle of cold water poured over one on a hot day—a truly refreshing moment.

Up to this point, the stiff expressions and awkward performances from the previous episodes now seem like they were done with a hidden purpose, as if they were intended to set up various plot twists.

It can be said that starting from this episode, Simone Milton’s reputation took a dramatic turn for the better. While everyone was thrilled by this turn of events, it was inevitable that people would express their emotions online as well.

#Simone Milton’s acting skills#

Such topics quickly made it to the trending list.

Eagerly, these people rushed into this trending topic, thinking that everyone would join in criticizing Simone Milton. But before anyone could start criticizing her, they saw nothing but praise-filled comments.

[Hua Hua: The “water army” here is definitely overdoing it! Who doesn’t know that Simone Milton’s acting skills are notoriously poor? And yet, some people still praise her without even thinking?]

[Xue Mei, My Wife: Yeah, let the “water army” help me out. Let’s make money together!]

But such remarks were quickly countered forcefully by passersby.

[Live Stream Comment: If you look at those upstairs, it’s clear they haven’t watched the latest episode. If they had, they definitely wouldn’t say such things!]

[Translation: Exactly! That’s right!]

Such comments enraged the haters, but in order to get even more satisfaction, they ultimately decided to watch Simone Milton’s performance in the drama.

The Black Kids originally thought that Simone Milton’s performance in the play would be as terrible as usual. But to their surprise, her performance in this episode was actually quite good.

Even though many critics were impressed by Simone Milton’s acting, they refused to give in. Instead, they said sarcastically, “So what if she performed well in this episode? It’s still the director’s credit. She just happened to perform exceptionally well in this one episode.”

Yes, it’s generally believed that after this episode, Simone Milton will once again revert to her usual poor performance level.

And just like that, the two groups clashed with each other once again.

In the video from the next day, Simone Milton’s acting didn’t get any worse. In fact, it improved compared to yesterday, becoming even more impressive and moving.

Three days, four days… Until the entire series was released, it became clear that Simone Milton’s acting skills had become quite stable—and remarkably skilled at that.

With Simone Milton in the show, it’s bound to be thrilling and sure to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.

In contrast to Simone Milton, Katie Adams was the other side of the story. At first, Katie Adams managed to win against Simone Milton on several occasions. But later on, Simone Milton completely stopped appearing in any scenes with Katie Adams at all.

Katie Adams certainly knew this and informed Sister Hu in advance. That’s why her company was able to respond so quickly, with little noise from them later on.

Let Simone Milton remain beautiful on her own.

Although Katie Adams wasn’t actually happy, in order to avoid creating a comparison between the two and preventing people’s perception of her from changing from “a talented actress” to “a stiff actress,” she had no choice but to endure it.

There’s a good saying: You can’t just endure things whenever you want to. Similarly, you can’t avoid making comparisons just because you decide to do so.

Some enthusiastic netizens, unable to hold back later on, eagerly created a video comparing the acting skills of Katie Adams and Simone Milton.

Such actions quickly made it to the trending list thanks to curious onlookers. The comparison videos were extremely stark. While Simone Milton could see some improvement in her acting skills, Katie Adams showed no improvement at all.

Most importantly, due to Simone Milton’s overwhelmingly superior acting skills later on, many people believe that Katie Adams might not have been as hardworking as she claimed.

If she’s really that hardworking, then why has Simone Milton’s acting skills improved significantly, while Katie Adams’ acting remains completely unchanged?

Katie Adams’ agency, upon seeing such a trending search result, naturally wanted to remove it right away. But removing a trending search result isn’t that easy.

Katie Adams’ agency spent a lot of money to try to suppress these trending searches. But Georgia, which had been waiting patiently for its chance to strike, managed to push these topics back onto the front page once again.

After doing all this, Georgia even went out of her way to call Simone Milton and say, “Hahaha, did you see the trending topics online? Those people from her family used to constantly criticize us. Now it’s their turn to experience the consequences of their own actions!”

Georgia is in a great mood right now; he’s absolutely overjoyed.

Previously, Katie Adams’s family kept pressing them relentlessly. He wanted to argue back, but since Simone Milton said to stay put, he had no choice but to hold his tongue.

Now it’s better! I can finally let out this pent-up frustration.