Chapter 133: Chapter 133

"Whose information?" Conrad Sterling asked her.

"You won’t tell me, so why should I tell you?" Anna Thornton pouted, deliberately teasing him. "I’ll give you a little hint though, someone wants to take me on a date this afternoon and bring me some good news."

"Finn Grant? Is he still pestering you?"

Seeing that Anna Thornton didn’t speak, Conrad Sterling paused for a moment and then put down his chopsticks, "It’s Marilyn."

The message Conrad Sterling received earlier was indeed from Marilyn Ford.

Since the birthday party, Marilyn Ford finally couldn’t hold back and took the initiative to reach out to him.

But Conrad Sterling still hadn’t decided whether he wanted to meet her or not.

President Sterling was now only interested in exchanging information with Anna Thornton, "And you? Whose information?"

"A man’s!" Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on N0v3l.Fiɾe.net

"Haha, just kidding, it’s Mary!" Anna Thornton saw that Conrad Sterling didn’t believe her and waved her phone in front of him, "The good news is that she helped me find my next job."

Conrad Sterling casually asked, and after hearing Anna Thornton explain that she was going to be the lead actress in Florian Hollis’s music video, he asked with some confusion, "Who’s Florian Hollis?"

"You still don’t know Florian Hollis? He’s an artist from your company, Dynasty Entertainment, the most popular young star under their wing."

It was clear that Conrad Sterling had absolutely no interest in the entertainment industry, as he didn’t even know who the most popular artist in his own company was. Hearing Anna Thornton’s words, he just instinctively frowned, "A man?"

"Of course, a ’little fresh meat’ is male. Us girls can’t even be that if we wanted. I won’t talk to you about this anymore; I need to go discuss things with Mary in person."

Talking about work seemed to energize Anna Thornton. In a few quick bites, she finished the rice left in her bowl and hurried to get up and leave.

Conrad Sterling stood up closely behind her, "Let me give you a ride."

"No need, I’ll get a cab myself..."

"I need to head out too."

Anna Thornton asked Granny Chandler to help put Pop down for a nap, then got into Conrad Sterling’s car.

In the car, Anna Thornton was already eager to discuss the specifics of shooting the MV with Mary. This was her first time playing the lead role, even though it was just for a short MV, getting a role during this time was not easy.

Conrad Sterling drove her to the café. After seeing her join Mary, he finally turned the car around, reassured.

"Anna, let me first tell you a truly satisfying piece of news. Hasn’t Holly Sutton been keen on spreading fake info to the reporters recently to ruin your reputation? Well, today she was giving an interview at the company, and guess what happened?"

Mary took a deep breath to control her laughter before continuing, "The screen that was supposed to show the company’s promo video instead played a clip of her visiting a gigolo club for wealthy women. She didn’t know, and she kept badmouthing you, while the reporters just snapped away at the big screen behind her. Now the entire uncensored video has leaked, hahaha... who would’ve thought she was this wild!"

Mary laughed so hard she almost cried, but Anna on the other hand seemed unfazed. "Don’t you feel vindicated? Your stepmother, I can’t believe her! Last time she came to Aethelgard for Marilyn Ford’s birthday party, she just left without dealing with anything, leaving us with a mess!"

Regarding Anna Thornton’s background and past, she rarely mentioned it herself.

Mary just had a feeling that with Anna having struggled abroad at such a young age, something must have happened at home.

She never asked before, but since Holly Sutton visited Aethelgard, Anna’s private matters had been making sensational news.

Many media outlets even chased the story to Veridia to dig deeper into Anna Thornton’s past. Holly Sutton often dropped explosive information in interviews, mostly false, but who would bother to verify?

As Anna’s stepmother, whatever she said, the media wrote, and the public believed.

Mary was anxious because the information Holly Sutton was leaking was mostly detrimental to Anna, slandering her for allegedly having mental health issues, and fabricating stories about Anna being pregnant due to promiscuity at a young age with numerous complex relationships...

Mary was livid. She had never seen anyone hurt their stepchild this way; she was truly a stepmother!

"The leaked video of her at the club was just a warning for her to stop talking nonsense. If you’re asking me if I feel vindicated, this is far from it."

Compared to the harm Holly Sutton had caused to Anna Thornton and her father, this was nothing.

Mary picked up on something in Anna’s tone, "Anna, was it you who leaked her scandal... but how did you even get such private footage of her?"

"Money talks. Holly Sutton wouldn’t dare come back unless she thought I had no leverage, would she?"

"So you already had dirt on her?"

"Of course, I let Marilyn Ford off at the birthday party once, but next time I won’t even spare her dignity!"

Seeing Anna Thornton so confident, Mary finally felt a bit relieved.

There had been so much negative news about Anna lately that even she was a bit worried.

But seeing Anna’s composure, completely unaffected by personal matters, Mary felt reassured to discuss career strategies with her, "Now, this is the situation with work. Jane Jennings is still withholding film and TV resources from us. But she might be worried about explaining to President Sterling, so she threw us some variety show resources."

"Your last appearance on ’Food and Love’ had a good response, and after that, many culinary shows sent us invites. But considering it, constantly doing such shows might bore the audience. After all, you aim to be a quality actress. Around this time, Florian Hollis’s manager approached me and said they wanted you to be the main lead in his new music video. Without any drama roles for now, taking the MV might be a good idea. Considering Florian Hollis’s popularity is high, as long as you perform well, the response shouldn’t be small."

"But it’s also because Florian Hollis’s popularity is so high that his fan base is sensitive and assertive. Actress who worked with him generally faced backlash, unable to escape slander. Just recently, the young actress Kimberly Kent was criticized because, in a BTS clip, she was seen linking arms with Florian; fans called her a two-faced bit** who deliberately seduced "the gods," leaving her no reputation intact. Kimberly Kent had a decent reputation and popularity among the new generation of actresses, but now she’s closed the comments section on her Weibo, and rumor has it her manager took her for psychological therapy."

"So, I’m just hesitant on whether we should take this or not."

Anna Thornton listened intently to Mary’s lengthy analysis and quickly nodded, decisively saying, "Let’s take it. The MV allows me to showcase some acting, and there’s at least a script."

"As for your concerns... given my current situation, why should I fear slander or criticism?"

"Conrad, on my birthday, you gave me a necklace and even put it on for me. But I was wearing the emerald necklace President Sutton sent at the time, and after I took it off, I couldn’t find it anywhere. Could it be with you?"

Marilyn Ford asked Conrad Sterling about the necklace as soon as they met.

Conrad Sterling could tell she wasn’t really into it, mentioning it as if ’her mind was elsewhere.’

"What do you want to ask me? Just say it." The man seemed more and more accustomed to straightforward communication with Anna Thornton, "I have an engagement this afternoon."

He urged her to be straightforward, but that wasn’t Marilyn Ford’s style.

She hesitated for a moment, even biting her lip before finally mustering the courage to ask, "Conrad, you’re aware I’m a fan of Mr. Milo. I collect his jewelry designs whenever I can. Recently, I’ve managed to arrange a meeting with him through connections, and my favorite designer told me that the CEO of Sterling Group asked him to design a unique ring for a proposal..."

Marilyn Ford brought up irrelevant details; what she truly wanted to ask was, since she hadn’t received such a ring, who was Conrad Sterling planning to propose to?

Comparatively, Conrad Sterling’s reply was direct and concise, "Will you marry me? If you want to, I can give you the ring right now!"