Chosen Mate Of The Beastmen Empire

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The air went dead still. Lancet swallowed hard, sneaking a peek at Seafarion- even braced for it, that icy glare still jolted her.

The meeting broke off-Seafarion apologized and bailed, and everyone totally got it. After all, he was finally in love after so long, only for his girl to get messed with by some jerk. No way he'd sit still.

It was over two hours from the office to the set-Lancet told the driver to take a shortcut, bumpy as hell but faster. He could feel Seafarion's rage hitting the roof-if they didn't hurry, it'd be bad.

On set, Terry had cooled off some, arms crossed, sitting in a chair. Joanna seized the moment, pouring him an iced coffee, patting his chest to calm him down.

"Take it easy."

She couldn't believe Nyx had turned Terry down flat-didn't even give him an inch, just pissed him off. She was too young, too proud-didn't get that some big shots she couldn't cross, only obey. The obedient ones sailed smooth in this biz- defiant ones, Terry could tank with a word.

Thinking of Nyx screwing herself out of the running, Joanna's gloom flipped to glee-she nearly cackled out loud. On the surface, she kept up the sweet act, suggesting to Terry, "How about I go talk some sense into her for you?"

"Talk sense?" Terry laughed coldly. "Is being with me some awful fate? She'd need convincing for that? This is a golden ticket tons of girls begged for!"

“Go tell Nyx I'm giving her one last shot,” he said, his face darkening, ordering Joanna, "Tonight, before ten, Galactic Hotel, Room 2131-be there."

All the humiliation Nyx caused him, he'd make her pay, little by little. "Tell her if she doesn't show, she's on her own."

He thought, 'Clueless little thing-once she loses her gig and the scandals hit, she'll come crawling, but I'm not that patient. Miss the deadline, and begging wouldn't help.'

Joanna had just thrown it out there to look big-hearted for her sugar daddy-now stuck with a job, she fumed. After all this, he was still giving Nyx a chance.

She grudgingly agreed, then turned and jumped, "Z-Zachary!"

Not just Zachary-the set's crew, security, actors, staff-they all stood there in a big, dark crowd, like they'd come to back Nyx up. Joanna shrank back fast.

"If it's business you want, talk to me-not my artist." Marilyn stepped forward in heels, handing over a card. "I'm Nyx's agent."

The place erupted in shock at Marilyn's announcement. They'd filmed this long and had no clue Nyx's agent was the famous Marilyn Bond.

Whispers of disbelief buzzed around-Marilyn sighed softly to herself. It was all because Nyx kept such a low profile, hating the spotlight and gossip, so she hadn't stuck around set during filming.

Even Zachary, who'd wanted to look out for her, backed off when he saw she didn't like special treatment.

Nyx was gentle, kind, got along great with the crew and extras-blended in so well, like a total newbie with no backing, that someone actually dared to mess with her.

"Marilyn?" Terry's face shifted, "You're back in the game?"

Marilyn quit years ago. He hadn't heard a peep about her return. Terry frowned, glaring at Joanna. She panicked. She'd only just found out, too.

But it was too late. She realized she barely knew Nyx-assumed she was some nobody with no clout, so she'd gone after her

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without a care.

45

Terry studied Marilyn a bit, testing the waters. "If I recall, years back, tons of folks tried to pull you back in, and you said no. What made you take on a rookie actress now?"

From top stars to newbies-the gap in her clients was huge. Still, it made sense. The industry shifted fast-even the best faded after a long break, and climbing back up was brutal.

Marilyn was just an agent, after all-years abroad for her kid, no room left for her here. Ending up in this sorry state tracked, too-those big offers were probably just hype, PR stunts.noveldrama

Catching Terry's shifty eyes, Marilyn could guess his thoughts. She chuckled. "People always aim higher. Someone offered me a better deal to manage Nyx. The pay was so good, even I couldn't say no."

Seafarion hadn't just dangled cash-global top-tier medical care for her daughter, something she'd chased forever.

“Ha! For real?” Terry grinned, fake as hell. "The biggest names in the biz tried to snag you. Nyx outbid them?"

He wasn't buying it. With that kind of juice, she shouldn't have settled for a small role. She'd be parachuting in as the lead.

"Tell me, how much can Nyx pay you?" he said, all his doubts melting away, chin up, "Whatever it is, I'll top it. Why not bring her over to work for me?"

Zachary couldn't take it anymore, hacking loudly. He gave Terry a pained look, "This is a film set, not some shady business-s don't get it twisted, Terry."

Playing the game was fine-tons did it; no one could stop it. If both sides were willing, he wouldn't meddle. But pulling power moves on his turf was not acceptable. Especially since Terry's target was a bad pick.

"Don't talk too big," Zachary warned, heavy with meaning, "You're young, successful, a real standout-but remember: there's always someone bigger out there."

"What's that mean?* Terry blinked, then scoffed, "You saying someone tougher's got Nyx's back? Go on, tell me who's this guy?"

'Old Zachary pulling a bluff now, huh? Even if Nyx has a backer, either they don't care much, or they don't have the power- sticking her in a small role she had to audition for herself, he thought.

"You know Cosmic Entertainment's top dogs are tight with me," he said, clapping Zachary's shoulder, "This show's all their money-you know what's what."

Zachary got so mad his head spun-he rubbed his forehead, laughing bitterly. Total speechlessness could really make you crack up. He usually didn't ruffle feathers, gave everyone a bit of respect-but right then, he wanted to boot Terry off his set.

"Since you're asking what's what-Seafarion and Cosmic Entertainment, which one's more powerful?" he asked.

Sure, Seafarion had denied Nyx was his kept girl, but Zachary still smelled something fishy. It was just a hunch-he wouldn't have pulled that card if Terry wasn't such a pain.

"Seafarion? What's he got to do with it?" Hearing that thunderclap name threw Terry hard-once it sank in, he doubled over laughing.

Anyone with a shred of gossip sense knew Seafarion's love life was a blank slate- no woman ever spotted near him. There was no way that he would keep a starlet.

"Seafarion and Nyx-two people who'd never cross paths in a million years." Terry shook his head, clicking his tongue. "Or what, you pimped her out to him? He didn't flip on you, so you figured it worked?"

Seeing Zachary turn green with rage, he felt even smugger, pressing on. "Why not call Seafarion right now-see if he'd

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bother with this?"

Before he finished, a voice cut in from the door. "Terry, watch your words," Everyone turned-eyes popping wide. The speaker stood sharp in a suit, looking every bit the part. But no one spared him a second glance-all eyes locked on the man in the wheelchair he pushed. White hair, pale eyes-like he was carved from

snow.

Those odd colors were trendy now, kids copying them left and right, but that flawless face couldn't be imitated. He didn't show up often, but everyone knew that face.

"Seafarion?" Terry's legs went weak. His cocky vibe vanished-his brain replayed every word he'd just spat out. Good thing, good thing he hadn't trashed Seafarion. He could still fix this.

He forced a smile, scrambling for something flattering, but before he could speak, Seafarion's ice-cold voice hit him. “Which hand did you touch her with?"

"Touch who?" Terry froze, then it clicked-he paled, horrified. Seafarion was really here for Nyx. He'd thought Zachary called in a favor.

"Sorry, I didn't know she was yours," he stammered, raising both hands with a weak laugh, "I didn't touch her, really!"

If he'd known, he wouldn't have dared mess with Seafarion's woman-not with a hundred guts.

Some guys in the biz played loose, swapped girls around-others were strict. Seafarion screamed the strict type. They didn't even run in the same circles.

Lucky Nyx dodged fast-lucky he hadn't actually touched her. Terry was secretly relieved when a murmur rippled through the crowd, "What, chickening out already? Weren't you all big and bad, ready to hit Nyx a second ago?"

That sparked a chorus of agreement. Plenty of them had held him back, taking his wild swings-too scared of his pull to fight back, just swallowing it.

Now, with a shot at payback, they weren't about to let it slide. The chatter piled on, and Seafarion's face grew darker.

Terry shrank under that stare, sweat pouring down his face. "N-No, I didn't-I was just bluffing."

A sudden idea hit him-he pointed at Joanna. "I was here for her today! She said

Nyx stole her role-made me teach her a lesson!"

"All a misunderstanding!" he sighed, loud and dramatic.

Joanna had been trying to vanish into the floor-now slammed with blame, she stood there, dazed.

Every eye turned to her-she couldn't argue, shaking with fury, then ripped off a heel and hurled it at Terry. "I told you to cut her scene! Not make a move on her!"

"Did I make you touch her face? Did I tell you to hit her? Or book a hotel room with her?" She roared with every swing-the heel bent, barely hanging on. A long scratch bled across Terry's face-after a blank moment, rage took over, and he fought back.

Seafarion had no interest in watching this dogfight-he turned to find Nyx. He left the PR team to clean up, kick out the troublemakers, restore order, and gag anyone who needed gagging-today wouldn't leak.

Nyx stayed in the makeup room, already washed off her face and changed, waiting for her partner to take her home. Through the cracked door, she heard the chaos outside-knew who she was waiting for had arrived—and sure enough, soon Seafarion appeared at the door.

"Here to pick me up?" she said, hopping off the chair, brushing her skirt, and walking toward him with a light step, “Le

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Seeing her safe and in good spirits, Seafarion felt his mood settle a bit.

They cut through the crowd together-countless eyes followed Nyx, full of awed confusion. No one could've guessed someone on set had that kind of backup. If it were them, they'd have bragged it up and down-but Nyx never said a word. Zachary trailed behind, seeing them off, muttering to Nyx, "You tricked me, saying there was nothing between you!"

He'd been naive and bought it. Now it looked less like a sugar deal and more like real love. Nyx got teased and threatened a bit, didn't even take a real hit, and Seafarion still raced over himself.

"How long have you been together?" Zachary pried, curious.

Lancet, Marilyn, and the rest perked up, eavesdropping for any missed details. Before Nyx could answer, Seafarion cut in, voice low, "Nyx isn't with me."