Chapter 28: Tina and Her Agent

Mark took a sec to wrap his head around this "fact."

After a beat, Sawyer, looking all kinds of confused, asked, "So, all this time, you and Charles were just fronting for each other?"

Tina, thinking about Charles's surprise wedding, took a sip of her wine and gave a kinda vague answer, "Sorta."

Back in the day, she had the bright idea to start rumors about her and Charles to cover things up. But what Charles was really up to? She had no clue.

Then Mark chimed in, "Why'd you pick Charles, though?"

Tina was puzzled.

Mark pointed at himself, Sawyer, and Ethan, and said, "Weren't we good options too?"

Especially him, being Tina's "boss". Wouldn't it make more sense to spread rumors with the boss?

Tina looked at the three of them and said, "You guys? Seriously? You can't keep secrets."

Ethan leaned back on the couch, a half-burned cigarette in hand.

Ethan muttered, "Dr. Howard too. With all the rich heirs in Crystal City, why'd you go for that player Charles?"

Tina shot him a look, "Like you guys aren't players?"

Still, Tina couldn't wrap her head around why Charles suddenly got hitched. She asked Ethan and the others, "Did Charles say why he married Dr. Howard?"

Ethan, looking bummed, took a deep drag on his cigarette and said through gritted teeth, "Why else? He's smitten by her looks!"

Tina stifled a laugh, "So, our Ethan's got a thing for Dr. Howard too?"

Ethan almost nodded but caught the trap in Tina's words. He quickly denied it, "What? No way! I'm not that shallow!"

Right then, Ethan was thinking, Charles was nuts. Unless he'd lost it, he wouldn't mess with Charles.

Tina was about to roast him when her phone rang. Seeing her agent's number, she raised an eyebrow and answered.

"Julia, what's up?"

The voice on the other end was sharp and no-nonsense. "Tina, got you an endorsement. Driver will be at Neon Nights Bar in ten minutes."

Tina softened her voice, trying to negotiate with her workaholic agent, "Julia, I've only had two days off. Can I get one more day?"

Julia Hughes, stepping out of the Starlight Entertainment building, listened to Tina's plea. Her stern face didn't change as she glanced at her watch and said, "Tina, you have nine minutes."

Hearing that, Tina knew there was no wiggle room. Sighing, she hung up, grabbed her bag, and stood up.

Before leaving, she shot a glare at Mark, who was lounging around. Mark asked innocently, "Why the stink eye?"

He shook his phone, "I've been right here the whole time. I didn't dump extra work on you. How's this my fault?"

When Tina first started out, the Green family was dead set against her joining the entertainment biz. Agents were scared stiff of crossing the Green family and losing their gigs, so no one dared to take Tina on.

In that mess, only Julia stepped up without a second thought, dropping other actresses to back Tina all the way. Julia always said she saw Tina's talent and grit back then. After all, agents wanted their actors to hit it big.

Over the years, Tina and Julia had each other's backs, climbing to the top even though not everyone was rooting for them. One became the top agent in the game. The other became a three-time, household-name Best Actress.

Tina never turned down Julia's plans. Like today's endorsement gig, even though she wanted a couple more days off, for Julia's sake, she only pushed back a little before heading to work.

After Tina left, Ethan was scrolling through his phone and soon got up to bounce.

Mark called out just in time, "Ethan, where are you heading?"

Without looking back, he replied while walking, "Trying to snag a spot at Radiant Life Hospital so I can work with Anna."

Mark and Sawyer were baffled by Ethan's move.

Ethan was the director of a private hospital, now aiming to be a small-time doc at Radiant Life Hospital?

Meanwhile.

Apex Holdings Group.

President's Office.

Henry walked in with a document, approached the desk, and reported to Charles, "Mr. Percy, it's confirmed that all shares of Radiant Life Hospital are currently under Mr. Tudor's name."

Charles took the document, glanced at the detailed share changes of Radiant Life Hospital over the years, and frowned slightly.

Henry continued, "Even though Radiant Life Hospital seems to be run by several major shareholders, Michael took over all the shares three years ago, pushing everyone else out."

Charles briefly flipped through the document and then tossed it on the desk. He leaned back in his chair, fingers interlaced, "Have you found out how much the breach of contract fee is in Anya's employment contract?"

Henry paused for a second and replied, "Looks like it's 140 million dollars."

One hundred forty million dollars was chump change for Charles. But the tricky part was that Anna wouldn't take his money.

From their interactions over the past few days, Charles had already figured out she didn't want any financial ties with him. Apart from the title of Mrs. Percy, she didn't want anything from him.

Seeing Charles deep in thought, Henry hesitated and said, "Mr. Percy, all the shares of Radiant Life Hospital are in Mr. Tudor's hands. Given the current situation, he won't sell the shares to us."