Chapter 14

There was a sudden silence inside the room. The three of them were staring at Francheska with a complicated look in their eyes. Francheska does not feel bothered with her friends' scorching looks towards her. Instead, she has a small smile on her face.

"What is so good at being a star, anyway? If you want, I can raise you alone in my house and you can live your life without any hassle." whispered Wendy but the tone of her voice was loud enough for the other three persons inside the room to hear her.

Perhaps Wendy did not realize that her words stirred their conversation away, but it removed the awkward atmosphere inside the room.

"You want Cheska to be a pig?" Leon laughingly asked.

"No, no. She cannot be a pig. Perhaps a hamster?" Wendy said.

"Stupid! Can't you see that Francheska is too beautiful to be a pig or a hamster?" Cindy refuted. "If she will become an animal, she should be a rabbit! A cute and fluffy rabbit!"

"Why do I have to be an animal anyway? Can I just be a normal person?"

As the group keeps on joking with each other, they proceeded on eating their dinner. But this time, Francheska ate a complete set of course meal under the strong pressure from her friends. They mentioned that if Rissa tried to complain about it later, Francheska can either change her manager in an instant or she can hide in Cindy's house in the meantime to avoid her manager's wrath and scoldings. Of course, Francheska knew that they were only jesting, but she can truly appreciate their concerns about her.

After a straight three hours of bonding with her friends, it is time for Francheska to go back to her hotel room and rest. She still has a photo shoot scheduled tomorrow and she gave them an excuse of sleeping early to have plenty of rest. But in truth, Francheska is thinking of running on a treadmill later for one hour before going to sleep. With the amount of food she ate tonight plus the pastries she enjoyed last night, Francheska will surely regret it later if she will not start losing the weight she gained.

They were actually reluctant to let Francheska go. It was rare for them to gather like this unlike before when Francheska was still a newbie in the entertainment industry. Seeing them like this, Francheska promised to invite them again next week before she starts filming her new movie. After a few more words, Francheska left her friends to go back to the hotel where she is staying.

When Francheska finally left, the merry and hyper atmosphere in the room vanished as if it was all an illusion. Instead, the faces of Leon, Cindy, and Wendy became serious.

"Have you guys heard? Rachel got the second female lead role in the same movie where Cheska will play as the protagonist?" Cindy started.

"Second female lead? Ha! Much better if she got the role of the villain in the movie." Wendy scoffed.

"I guess that Iñigo guy helped that woman to get the role." concluded Leon. "Heh. Once a fool, always a fool."

"So what are we going to do now?"

"Nothing."

"Huh?"

"Wendy, you should know by now that Cheska does not like it when we secretly help her. She wanted to do her best without relying on us or our connection." Cindy explained.

"But she is not relying on us! We are helping her because that is what we want."

"It is still the same, Wendy. You know that Cheska wants to stand on her own feet. And we should respect that."

Even if she still wants to refute Leon's words, Wendy shuts her mouth and say nothing more. Leon is right. Francheska hates it when she achieved something just because she relied on someone's power. Francheska's pride will never let her accept it.

"But Rachel..."

"Don't worry too much about her, Wendy. She can't do anything for now."

"Cindy is right. Rachel's self-made image will never let her do things that can hurt Francheska in from of others."

"But if she really dares to hurt Cheska again, who knows what kind of punishment she will get in return. Right?"

Letting out a sigh, Wendy finally nods her head.