Escape the Billionaire's Grasp

Chapter 7--He Stood Her Up

Natalie scrolled through the screen, unable to suppress a smile. "The popularity is soaring both inside and outside the show. This is awesome!" James looked at the rapidly rising popularity, his eyes shining with excitement.

"Jacob is quite cooperative."

"Of course he's cooperative. Such a great win-win opportunity, how could he not want it? If this drama takes off, he can also level up."

James patted Natalie on the shoulder. "Unlucky in love, lucky in career! Natalie, fortunately, your performance in this drama is exceptional. Many fans are saying your acting is surprisingly good, almost like it's not acting at all. With the right circumstances, we can definitely turn things around!"

Natalie pulled the corners of her lips, lowering her eyes to hide the fleeting gloom.

In the afternoon, Natalie arrived backstage at the press conference venue. The cast and crew were all there, getting familiar with each other in advance. Since the drama was filmed last year and everyone had rushed into other projects after filming, there weren't many opportunities to keep in touch. Natalie only maintained some contact with the second female lead, Mia.

"Let's go over the flow first. We'll start with self-introductions, then talk about some interesting behind-the-scenes stories, perform some exciting scenes from the show, and then play some mini-games," the host explained, holding the script.

Mia nudged Natalie's arm, joking, "You better interact more with Jacob. The fans shipping you two together are dying to see it."

Natalie smiled. "I'll try my best."

Jacob clicked his tongue. "Look at you, so reluctant. Are you looking down on me?"

"How dare I? I heard I was going to have a romance storyline with the entertainment industry's male god. I was so excited I couldn't even sleep last night."

"You better really not have slept well!"

Everyone burst into laughter. Having worked together in the same crew before, the atmosphere quickly became lively, and they gradually found the vibe they had when playing together on set.

The agents of both sides even specifically pulled Natalie and Jacob aside for a small meeting.

"It's best to maintain the personas from the show. This way, fans will have a stronger sense of immersion and be more likely to become dedicated followers," James said, quite at ease. The character in this drama was quite close to Natalie's own personality, with a hint of tenacity hidden in her bones.

"You previously had the persona of an innocent girl, but that only suits you when you're young. It's not sustainable in the long run. It's a good opportunity to transform your image, which is quite nice."

"Okay." Natalie nodded.

Jacob spread his hands. "Fine, from now on, I'll be a quiet pretty boy."

"You, just talk less!" his agent warned him.

"White Birch" was a youth drama. The female lead, Emma, was a new transfer student and a problem child—stubborn, rebellious, and never listening to arrangements. The male lead, Mark, was the top student in the grade. The two, originally as different as day and night, ended up crossing paths because they were in the same class. Mark was the class monitor, responsible for managing the attendance of the entire class. Emma often skipped classes, and he reminded her a few times out of a sense of responsibility, but she continued to do as she pleased.

It wasn't until one weekend when he encountered Emma busy working at a fried chicken restaurant after his tutoring class that he learned she had been busy earning money to support her family. He learned that she only had a severely ill mother at home, and her father had long abandoned them. Her relatives shirked the responsibility of raising her, and she was ultimately left alone to shoulder everything with her thin shoulders.

He wanted to help her, but she was like a hedgehog, not allowing him to get close, forcing him away, cursing at him, saying she didn't need the fake kindness of someone who lived in an ivory tower.

Later, Emma offended some thugs because they confessed to her and asked her to be their girlfriend, but she refused. On her way home from work late at night, a group of thugs cornered her in an alley. Fortunately, Mark appeared in time. The model student, for the first time, picked up a brick and fought someone, getting badly injured but finally chasing away the thugs. It turned out that Mark had always been worried about her working late and returning home alone, so he would always wait for her when she got off work and silently escort her home.

Emma was gradually warmed by him. She retracted her thorns and allowed him to get close. They even agreed to plant white birch trees together, but Mark stood her up.