“You’re the new investor in the film, right? It seems that the legal team has been slow on the paperwork. I took a liking to the cast and the director and since my cousin is starring in it, Platinum Entertainment actually owns the rights to the film and I'm now the majority investor. And I don't plan on making any changes.”
“Kaiser right? Why-” Marco Piero started.
“It’s Mr. Grayson to you. We’re not close enough for you to call me by my first name.” Kaiser interrupted in a mocking tone, before turning to the director.
“Would you mind starting the dinner service? We can converse while we eat.”
“Of course!” Director Loewe clapped his hands, and the waiting waiters began bringing out the first course which was a creamy pumpkin bisque.
As Valentina carefully spooned the soup into her mouth, she did her best to ignore Kaiser who was sitting to her left as well as Roman who had somehow wormed his way to her right.
“Mr. Grayson,” Marco Piero spoke out through gritted teeth at the man who was young enough to be his son staring at him with a condescending smile. “Why is Platinum Entertainment doing this at the last minute? And who the hell is your cousin.”
“There's no need to be crude Marco. I can call you Marco, right? Anyway, I can answer that.” Roman elegantly scooped the last bit of his soup into his mouth before continuing, “Jonathan Starling is our cousin so please take care of him throughout the filming.”
Jonathan waved with a smile as Roman continued.
“As for the rest of your questions. First. One of our major male actors is the lead so we have to pay more attention to it and make sure everything is executed perfectly. Secondly, it’s a good script and a good cast so to protect the integrity of the story and the director's vision, it was best for us to take complete ownership which is what we did. Third and finally, consider it a bribe and a test. As you all know Miss Valentina here recently finished filming a video with the top band The Fallen Angels. The short film video has broken video stream records for first and second fastest videos to reach 100 million views and has been entered into multiple award categories. Seeing such star power, Platinum Entertainment is keeping a close eye on Miss Valentina, and we want to convince her to jump ship from Black Rock Entertainment and come over to us. Naturally, we're willing to match any benefits Black Rock Entertainment provides and add extra on top. after all, we are the best Entertainment company.” Roman smirked in a manner similar to Kaiser and everyone looked speechless at his announcement.
"Are you openly saying you're trying to poach an artist from Black Rock Entertainment Roman Grayson?"
"Yep."
"And the artist is Valentina?"
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
"That's correct. miss Valentina right here."
Everyone: "......"
What kind of siblings were these? First, it was the elder brother announcing he purchased a film for his cousin. now the youngest brother was openly poaching an artist at the film dinner while one of the major investors and co-owners of Black Rock Entertainment sat in front of him. They had thought they had come to a simple opening ceremony, but instead, they were witnessing a proxy war between two business moguls. and the culprit of it all was sitting as if it had nothing to do with her.
Hearing her name called, Valentina looked up and happened to catch the eyes of both Aaliyah and Elena Piero. Aaliyah had a vicious look on her face and seemed as if she would rip Valentina’s face off if she could while Elena looked stunned before frowning unhappily.
“So you mean to tell me that Platinum Entertainment is actively scouting Valentina?” Aaliyah asked through gritted teeth.
“That's what I just said Miss Salazar, pay attention. We're not just actively scouting her, the contract is prepped and ready to go. We’re just waiting for her to sign.” Roman laughed as they placed the next course in front of him.
“Is that right? Valentina, you should have told me. As your senior in the industry and agency, I can give you advice and recommend lawyers to help look through the contract. You wouldn’t want to get duped or end up signing unfavorable terms and conditions. I suggest you think carefully. You don't want to burn bridges, after all the industry is a very small place.” Aaliyah told Valentina with a strained smile.
“Thank you for your advice Senior Aaliyah, but there’s no need. I’m perfectly capable of looking through a contract myself and I don't believe I'll be burning any bridges. As Mr. Roman Grayson said, it's all just conversation for now and I'm thinking very carefully. it's not a decision I'm making lightly.” Valentina smiled mischievously as she watched Aaliyah begin to sweat at the thought of not being able to suppress her at Black Rock.
“Listen to your sis-senior Valentina, don’t be difficult. You don’t want to rush into these things and you should definitely consult your sister in the industry as well as your parents before making such a drastic decision” Antonio Salazar emphasized as he stared her down.
“Thank you for your care and concern Mr. Antonio Salazar but you’re not my parent, please save that advice for your daughter,” Valentina responded coolly.
Turning to Director Loewe, she changed the subject, “Director, any hints you can give us about the filming locations? Are we going somewhere fun? Abroad?”
“Yes actually, I want to-”
As the director continued babbling on, Valentina focused on moving food around on her plate and chiming in at the appropriate time. She totally ignored the looks shot at her by Aaliyah and Antonio and even when they began a father-daughter display of love, she made sure her face stayed expressionless.
It was fine. She didn’t know these people. These feelings of longing and wanting acceptance weren’t hers.
At some point, when everyone was laughing at something Aaliyah said and Antonio proudly proclaimed that his daughter was just like him, she felt her heart go cold.
Although she felt sorry for the original Valentina, she didn’t want to keep trying to get these people to love and accept her. Call her weak but she just wasn’t strong enough to deal with it.
As dinner was rounding up and she prepared to excuse herself from the table, a large warm hand gripped hers tightly and held it under the table. As she glanced over at Kaiser, he quickly winked at her and mouthed I'm here, before squeezing her hands once more, intertwining their fingers until she couldn’t move even if she wanted to.
As she began feeling touched and even felt a tear coming, she felt him spelling something out on her thigh.
C.U.T.I.E ❤️
As she decoded the words, she shot him a quick glare. Here she was feeling emotionally touched, and he was playing around and flirting with her.
Looking at his shameless smile, she looked away and pulled her hand away from his, focusing back on her plate.
Due to his distraction, she was able to finish dinner quickly and as soon as they were able to get up for final refreshments, she immediately left and went to the bathroom. This day had just been overwhelming from start to finish and she needed a break.
She wandered around for a bit, climbing up a grand flight of stairs before finding the bathroom and just sat on the toilet for a bit, catching her breath and calming herself down. After quickly using the bathroom, she decided to stroll around instead of going back to the room. The thought of fending off Antonio Salazar, and Aaliyah Salazar and sitting through their loving display of affection gave her stress. As she found a little doorway that opened to a small balcony, she quickly went outside, letting the cold air blow over her as she looked out. As she began considering heading inside because of the cold wind, she heard a voice.
“So this is where you are.”
She glanced up as the door opened and spotted a familiar figure dressed in white.
“Mr. Salazar. Fancy meeting you here.” She gave the man a mocking smile.