Chapter 881 - Heartache

Series like "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Harry Potter", and Michael Bay's "Transformers", among others, are all golden geese that have generated enormous profits for Laila and her company.

The "Lord of the Rings" trilogy alone grossed $4.4 billion globally, becoming the highest-grossing film series in history. Laila, however, lost interest in continuing the franchise, so she handed off the "Hobbit" series to another director to produce.

Seeing that her company was thriving even without her direct involvement, Laila felt a mix of emotions. On one hand, she wanted the company to need her, but on the other, she didn't want it to be too dependent on her. It was like raising a child: you hope they will always stay by your side, but you also wish them to soar to greater heights.

This complex emotion led to her idea of opening a series of merchandise stores, ensuring that even if she weren't there, no one in the company would forget about her presence! Laila's job at the New York group headquarters was already overwhelming, and squeezing out time to plan for her company was a significant challenge. And that wasn't all, she also needed to carve out a bit of time to work on the script for ''Blood Diamond".

She could have left the script for later when she had more time, but she couldn't help herself. She always ended up opening it, flipping through a few pages. Once she started reading, it wasn't just a few pages anymore; she would get deeply immersed, imagining how to shoot each scene and which angles to use.

As a result, her work time was consumed. To finish everything, she had to work overtime, and the extra hours inevitably cut into her sleep. It wasn't long before Laila visibly lost weight.

Roy noticed and felt anxious, watching her collapse into bed every night, exhausted. His heart ached, and he couldn't help but advise her. Laila always agreed, but the same thing happened the next day. 

After repeated failed attempts to get through to her, Roy became frustrated. This couldn't go on! If her father wasn't back soon, Laila would collapse first!

So, he brought in some reinforcements—someone Laila couldn't say no to: Janet.

"Look at you! In just a few days, you've become so thin! Are you trying to break my heart? I'm going to call your father! How can he allow this to happen?"

Janet arrived after just one phone call and burst into tears the moment she saw Laila. She hadn't expected that, after such a short time apart, her daughter would look so worn out. This wasn't work—it was more like running for president!

Laila was truly afraid of her mother. Once Janet started her tearful assault, it was like a dam had broken, making people wonder if all the water in her body was turning into tears.

"I'm not that much thinner," Laila quickly stopped her mother from making the call. "It's just that you haven't seen me in a while, so it looks more dramatic to you."

Janet, a top fashion designer, was used to working with models and clothing all day, so her eye for detail was as sharp as a laser. Just one glance, and she could determine anyone's body measurements, down to the decimal point.

Besides, she designed all of Laila's clothes, so she knew her daughter's size perfectly. There was no way she couldn't notice the difference.

"Look at your clothes! I made them exactly to your measurements, and now…" Janet tugged at Laila's waist, her heart aching. "It's so loose I could fit a hand in here!"

"…" Couldn't she have found a less awkward way to put that?

"It's not that bad. I've just lost a bit of weight because of the heat, but once it cools down, I'll gain it back," Laila explained.

This reasoning seemed convincing, and Janet was momentarily persuaded because she, too, suffered in the summer, losing her appetite and dropping weight compared to the winter.

"Alright, maybe your weight is because of the heat, but how do you explain those dark circles under your eyes?"

Janet pointed under Laila's eyes, her expression challenging her to come up with another excuse.

Laila's eye twitched slightly. "Smokey eye makeup?"

"…" Janet facepalmed. Who could tell her that this wasn't her sweet, sensible daughter? Her daughter wasn't this cheeky.

Dark circles as smokey eye makeup? Why not just claim you're flying to the moon?

"Laila, I don't care what you say. You need rest!"

Laila smiled. "Mom, you know I have to work right now. I promise I'll rest as much as I can, okay?"

"No, that's not okay!" Janet shot her down immediately and, without another word, grabbed the phone. "Quentin, come here!"

Laila wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Mom, he's busy. Why are you calling him?" Why did she suddenly feel like poor Mr. Quentin was in for it? No, that couldn't be right. Her mother was so elegant, gentle, and sweet—there was no way that bossy woman from a second ago was her. It must've been an illusion.

"What else? Of course, I'm calling him to help you with your work!"

"Huh?"

"Don't worry. He doesn't have much to do most days. Just give him your tasks!"

Janet's words sounded so natural that Laila didn't need to guess. Her mother had bossed Quentin around plenty of times before. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so comfortable with the idea.

"He has his own company to manage, and besides, he doesn't know much about Grandpa's affairs. What could he possibly help with?" It wasn't that Laila doubted his abilities. On the contrary, she admired him quite a bit. From their previous collaboration in the East, she knew that Quentin was an experienced and talented individual with a nearly supernatural understanding of economics and numbers.

If Mr. Quentin weren't Janet's husband, and if Laila hadn't already run a successful investment company, she would have gladly hired someone like him. The problem was that his status meant she couldn't poach him, and if he couldn't work for her, it was better to keep some distance.

Grandfather Oswald had once taught Laila how to recognize and manage people. While she didn't think she had mastered all his lessons, one thing stuck with her: don't keep people you can't control.

Mr. Quentin was precisely that type of person. Laila doubted she could ever control him, and her grandfather's cautionary tales about such individuals left a deep impression on her. Many of those stories involved companies being hollowed out or overtaken from within. The lessons were enough to cast a dark shadow over the naive heart of a young girl.