Chapter 336 A Spotlight She Didn’t Ask For
“Man, girls are such a hassle,” Aiden groaned.
Freya glanced over. “Oh yeah? Does that include me?”
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“No, no–you’re different! I mean kids like Chloe,” Aiden said, rubbing his forehead like she gave him a headache. “She can’t do anything on her own, but she’s always hanging all over me. Good thing I’ve got patience. I let it slide. But next year? No way I’m ending up in the same class again.”
Freya chuckled. “Well, if you switch classes, you might find someone even clingier. The problem is, you’re smart, you’re good at everything, and you’re kind of adorable. That’s a tough combo to ignore.”
Aiden paused like he was really thinking it through. “You’re probably right. I guess I’ll just stay in the same class then. She’ll grow up eventually and figure out that being smart and awesome is something you’re born with. Sticking to me won’t change that.”
Freya sat in silence, wondering, is this how all gifted kids think?
After the chaos of sports day, things quieted down. Aiden went back to school, Louis got caught up with work, and the three of them had settled comfortably into their routine. Freya, meanwhile, was full of fresh ideas–her writing was flowing, and her subscriber count kept climbing.
But one morning, after Louis had left for the office and she’d just started writing, Freya got a message from someone in the production group chat. The production team was kicking off promotion for the show way ahead of schedule. Apparently, someone had pulled strings behind the scenes, and things were moving faster than most projects ever did. If things kept
the show could be airing in no time. way, going this
Freya frowned. That seemed… unusually fast.
She remembered how long things dragged the last time she’d been remotely involved in a production. Adapting a novel into a TV series wasn’t easy. First, the script had to be rewritten. Then the production had to actually get off the ground. After filming, it still needed to be edited, approved by the network or review boards, and finally picked up by a distributor. It was a long, complicated, and often exhausting process.
But this one? This was suspiciously fast.
Freya didn’t say anything–just sat back and watched the group chat blow up with
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Chapter 336 A Spotlight She Didn’t Ask For
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excitement. The more she read, the more the picture came together: someone with serious money and influence was backing the project and pulling strings to fast–track everything, That’s why everything was moving so fast.
Still, Freya didn’t have that much confidence in her own novel. Whoever was behind this had. more confidence in her book than she did.
That night, when Louis got home, she brought it up. But it wasn’t him. He hadn’t been involved at all.
“If you’re really curious, I’ll have Kendrick look into it,” Louis said casually, smoothing the wrinkle between her brows. “It’s not exactly classified.”
“It’s fine, honestly,” Freya shrugged. “At the end of the day, I just wrote the novel. Whether it airs or not isn’t really in my hands. I already got paid. It’d be cool if it works out, but if it doesn’t? Oh well.”
She wasn’t all that curious–at least, not until the next day.
Suddenly, her phone blew up. Dozens of messages from friends. “You’re going viral.”
Freya blinked in confusion. Viral? What did that even mean?
She opened Twitter–and nearly dropped her phone. Her name was in the top 3 trending topics, sitting right beneath a bold, all–caps hashtag that practically screamed for attention.
AuthorStealsTheLead
The headline was massive, practically screaming. “Author Uses Connections to Take Lead Role in TV Drama”
-complete Freya clicked in and stared at the mess unfolding. Someone had posted a s with screenshots and photos–accusing her of pulling strings to join the writing team, pushing out an actress, and giving herself the most attractive role in the show.
It was absurd. And the level of detail was so specific that if Freya didn’t already know the truth, even she might’ve believed it.
As she scrolled through the comments, it was all people feeling bad for Sophia and tearing Freya apart. The accusations were brutal–calling her fame–hungry, saying she’d lost her mind, and claiming rich people could do whatever they wanted without consequences.
“I feel awful for Sophia. She didn’t even ask for a paycheck and still got cut. Seriously? If they had other plans, why even ask her in the first place? Just to humiliate her?”
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Chapter 336 A Spotlight She Didn’t Ask For
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“I don’t even know anyone involved, but this just feels wrong. Sophia took the role as a favor, and now she’s being pushed aside? That’s seriously messed up. She didn’t deserve that.”
“So what if you wrote a book and it got adapted into a show? Doesn’t mean you get to push out a professional actress just to give yourself a role. You’re not even trained–there’s no way an amateur outperforms someone who does this for a living. But I guess when you’ve got money, the rules don’t apply. Wild. I’m definitely skipping this show. It’s just gross.”
“I loved the original novel, but I’m honestly disappointed. No wonder the author barely interacts with fans–guess she thinks she’s above us.”
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