Twisted Ties of Love
Chapter 382

"President Windham, Mr. Krueger, we're about to shoot a scene with the female supporting actress and the male lead. Care to watch? Or should I call Kristin over?"

Two major investors have recently attracted attention due to an investment in a female actress. Everyone's money is on Kristin, especially since she didn't deny it at the kick-off party. "Kristin?" Nathaniel's gaze shifted from somewhere else to the producer.

Without much thought, the producer explained, "Yes, Kristin. She's currently resting. Her scenes are scheduled for the afternoon. But if you'd like to meet her, I can have someone call her over." The producer was very accommodating.

"Kristin?" Nathaniel seemed interested, turning to Brett, "Brett, her name reminds me of your ex-girlfriend. Should we have them bring her out for you to see?"

His tone was flippant like he was picking out women at a nightclub.

Brett's face darkened, knowing Nathaniel deliberately tried to make him uncomfortable. But he couldn't help recalling that unpleasant past.

Nathaniel was smiling, frequently glancing at Izabella. He hadn't forgotten why he was here.

"Let me see the script for the upcoming scenes."

"Sure, sure." The producer took the scripts from the assistant director and handed them out.

The producer found it strange that the two only read the scenes with the female supporting actress, "Megan".

"Mr. Krueger, President Windham, the scenes for Malia, played by Kristin, are at the beginning."

Nathaniel looked up casually, "Why do you keep mentioning her in front of us?"

The producer was too slow to notice the tension, "Weren't you investing because of the female lead? I heard you were doing it to... to..."

The producer stuttered.

"To what?" Brett's voice was low.

"To pursue an actress from the crew."

Nathaniel laughed, "So, you think I'm spending money to chase Kristin?"

The producer dared not respond, but his silence was as good as a confirmation.

Nathaniel's smirk was laced with sarcasm.

He wondered if "Bell Salotti" would misunderstand. That woman was always too gullible, believing whatever people told her. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been tricked into being a stand-in for a year and a half.

Nathaniel flipped through the script, pointing at a scene, "All right, call Kristin. We'll shoot this scene next."

The scene was about Malia running away from home and being followed and robbed by beggars in a dark alley. After realizing she was a woman, they tried to take advantage of her, but the male lead saved her at the last minute.

It was a dramatic scene, but the way Nathaniel said it made it sound explicit.

The producer was even more confused about what was going on.

Only Brad York stood aside and sneered, cursing them as idiots in his mind.

Nathaniel leaned back in his chair, legs up, accepting a cup of hot coffee handed to him. The smell of coffee filled the air.

He looked at Brett, who was engrossed in the script, "Want a cup of coffee?"

Brett was about to answer when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest and started coughing.

Liam immediately opened his travel mug and fed Brett a sip. He then took a small bottle from his pocket, poured a white pill, and handed it to Brett.

Brett tried to steady his breathing, his cough gradually subsiding. He picked up the pill with shaking fingers, put it in his mouth, and swallowed it with a sip of water.

It took a while for his violent coughing to stop completely.

Nathaniel felt uneasy. He was sitting three people away from Brett, his view was limited, and he couldn't see what was written on the bottle in Liam's hand.

He found the bottle familiar. Nathaniel had studied medicine, not because he liked saving people but because he enjoyed tormenting them.

He had tormented Izabella, injecting her with various drugs. Some made her numb; some stimulated her brain. Izabella went from screaming to gasping for breath under his torture, a sight that fascinated him. The memory still excited him.

He looked around again but couldn't see Bell Salotti.

He never considered himself a good person. He loved to torture people, see hopeful people become desperate, and see them cry out in pain and wish for death but not be able to die. Nathaniel had studied various drugs, so he was very familiar with them. Although he couldn't understand all drugs, he definitely had seen them.

Nathaniel looked at the small pill bottle Liam had retracted and found it increasingly familiar, but he couldn't remember what it was.

He felt like he was taking a test. He knew the answer was something he had learned and read about, but he just couldn't recall it.

"Are you sick?" Nathaniel tried to coax Brett into talking, "Don't get me wrong, I'm not worried about you. I just want to know when you're going to die."

Brett held back his cough, his lips tightly closed, unable to speak for a while.

Liam interjected, "President Windham just has a cold. If you want to care about someone, you should care about yourself."

"A cold? He looks more like he's about to drop dead," Nathaniel laughed like a cunning fox.

His words undoubtedly hurt Brett.

He put down the script, which had many scenes with Izabella, hinting at many conflicts with the male actor.

Brett gritted his teeth. He still felt uneasy even though he knew this was just a script and not reality.

He had done much mental preparation, telling himself not to interfere with Izabella's work. But now, all of that had collapsed.

He closed his eyes, mulling over Nathaniel's attitude towards Izabella.

He didn't buy the idea that Nathaniel had genuinely fallen for Izabella just because he'd groomed her lookalike.

Nathaniel was the kind of guy who only loved himself.

Cultivating Izabella's doppelganger was merely to control him better, continually poking at the deep-seated pain in his heart.

So, did Nathaniel love "Bell Salotti"? If he did, he wouldn't have pushed her toward an enemy.

But then, why was he here?

Brett had always thought he had Nathaniel figured out, but it turned out he knew zilch about Nathaniel's feelings.

If Nathaniel indeed cared about "Bell Salotti", he'd insist the director change the script after seeing it.

As Brett was mulling this over, he heard Nathaniel slap the script in his hand, complaining, "What on earth is all this garbage? I can't even get through this script."

As soon as Nathaniel opened his mouth, the room filled with awkwardness.

The producer was nervous, Brad York frowned, and the assistant director was utterly lost.

What was Nathaniel up to? Was he here to mess things up?

The producer swallowed nervously, nudging Brad York to say something.

After all, Brad York had the most clout here.

Nathaniel said, "As an investor, it's not unreasonable for me to request changes to this script, right?"

"Mr. Krueger, you review scripts? Which parts are you unsatisfied with?" Brad York asked, secretly worrying that if Nathaniel wanted to cut Izabella's parts, he could not agree, even if it meant losing a fortune. "Scrap all the ambiguous scenes with the female lead. She's a female general and shouldn't be tangled up in romantic affairs. It would affect the morale of the military camp. It looks horrible," Nathaniel argued, making some sense.

Brad York said, "We can't cut the romantic scenes; it's a romance period drama, after all, not a war drama." Before he could finish, the producer rushed forward to cover his mouth, signaling him to stop talking. At moments like this, it's best to appease the situation. Offending Nathaniel could lead to worse consequences than him just pulling funding. He could stop the entire production or prevent the film from being released.

The producer placated, "I'll discuss this with the scriptwriter. Whatever changes you want, we'll do. Anything else you'd like to change?"

"Just cut the intimate scenes with the female lead."

It was impossible to cut all of them, the producer thought and proposed, "Mr. Krueger, it's impossible to cut all of them. How about using a stand-in or shooting from different angles?"

"A stand-in is fine, but not different angles. It's too close up."

Brett listened quietly from the side. He had initially doubted Nathaniel's attitude towards the stand-in, but now he was sure Nathaniel had feelings for "Bell Salotti", hence his request to cut the intimate scenes.

But what if he knew Bell Salotti was dead and this was Izabella?

Would he back off? Or would he try to manipulate him through Izabella, like in the past?

Brett didn't dare to take that risk.

About the stand-in, it was indeed a thing. Brad York had high expectations for his actors, only using stand-ins for dangerous stunts. But he never expected the investor to demand Izabella's intimate scenes to be performed by a stand-in.

Now he understood. Some people mistakenly thought Nathaniel was interested in Kristin, but his actual target was Izabella. Otherwise, why would they want to change the female lead's part?

"President Windham, what do you think?" Brad York turned to Brett, who had been observing from the side.

Brett said, "Let's change it according to his suggestion."

It seemed Izabella was in a tight spot.

"Brett, I'm a bit confused about your stance. Are you interested in this stand-in?"

"It's not about being interested. I just don't want things to get dirty. I believe you feel the same, right?"

Indeed, he just wanted to keep things clean.

Brett had never kissed "Bell Salotti", so naturally, he didn't want her to be touched by someone else. Izabella was indifferent to all this.

She stood in a corner, with Garen beside her, eavesdropping on the situation. After a while, he whispered to Izabella, "It seems they will change the script. Will our scenes also be cut?"

Garen saw Izabella ignoring him and continued eavesdropping.

"I heard it clearly. They're going to change your part, no intimate scenes, not even shooting from different angles," Garen frowned in frustration.

Izabella asked, "Why are you frowning if they change my scenes?"

Garen sighed, "Because your intimate scenes are with me. If they change your scenes, mine will also be changed. They might even use a stand-in. The stand-ins nowadays are not good-looking, and many of them are men. How could I accept that?" He suddenly realized what he had said and quickly shut up, afraid Izabella would misunderstand him as taking advantage of her.

Izabella didn't take it to heart. She just wanted to finish work and go home. Chatting with Casey or spending time with Niki was much better than dealing with two bad guys here.

Garen muttered, "I've really seen it all now. Rich people can do whatever they please."

Now you know? She knew long ago that, disregarding the law, these two could do anything they wanted.

"You don't mind if they change your scenes?" Garen asked.

"These scenes are not important to me anyway. If they want to change them, let them," she shrugged.

"I've just realized something; why are these two investors so bent on changing your script, especially the intimate scenes, Izabella? Could they be crushing on you?"