Qiao An'an cowered in the room, trembling with fear as she heard the persistent knocking outside.
While she was at the film set shooting a scene, a rather plump woman had appeared from nowhere. She had stormed into the makeup room with a group of people, and without a word, had thrown Qiao An'an to the ground and proceeded to beat her.
"Qiao An'an, you shameless woman, how dare you seduce my fiancé!"
Qiao An'an was dazed by the assault. Her freshly done hair was now a mess, and her scalp throbbed. To make matters worse, they were trying to strip her clothes off to take indecent photos and expose them.
Clutching her costume tightly, Qiao An'an curled into a ball.
As she resisted their tugging, she yelled for her assistant, "Are you dead? Come and pull them away!"
Her assistant was already frozen with fear and couldn't react.
"Let's see who dares to help!" the plump woman glared fiercely at everyone around, her expression menacing.
Seeing her, the assistant didn't dare step forward. In fact, she even took a step back, afraid of getting caught in the crossfire.
She was the assistant assigned to Qiao An'an by the company. The company was paying her, and she had no intention of offending these people for Qiao An'an.
Seeing that no one would help Qiao An'an, the plump woman became even more brutal.
She only stopped kicking when she got tired and found a chair to sit on. Her followers all looked on as if watching a show.
"I thought she was supposed to be beautiful, but she's nothing special!" the plump woman said condescendingly, looking down at the bruised and battered Qiao An'an with disdain in her eyes.
"I have no grudge against you, why are you doing this to me!" Qiao An'an struggled for a long time before finally sitting up. She stared at the plump woman, wishing she could pounce on her and kill her.
"Why? It seems I haven't taught you enough! This vixen doesn't even know what she did wrong!" The plump woman reached out her fleshy hand, grabbed Qiao An'an's chin, and squeezed it hard.
Qiao An'an cried out in pain. "Who knows who you are!"
The plump woman arrogantly raised her head, and her follower immediately announced loudly, "Before you stands Miss Fang Zhi'en, the daughter of Hongji Group!"
"Miss Fang is the fiancée of Third Young Master Qi, his future wife!"
Hearing this, Qiao An'an finally understood why she had been beaten.
Damn it!
She cursed under her breath.
That pervert Qi Zhao actually sent his fiancée to find her!
"Do you know now why you were beaten?" Fang Zhi'en said disdainfully.
"Miss Fang, you've misunderstood, I didn't..."
*Slap!* Before Qiao An'an could finish her sentence, she was slapped again.
Qiao An'an covered her face and glared at her attacker resentfully.
"You dare to argue! I know everything about your sordid deeds!" Seeing that Qiao An'an was still unrepentant, Fang Zhi'en sneered and took out a stack of photos from her bag.
As the photos scattered on the floor, Qiao An'an's face grew paler.
They were photos of her being abused by Qi Zhao, many of them revealing her body, some even showing explicit scenes. How did Miss Fang get these photos?
"Aren't you curious how I got these photos?" Fang Zhi'en curved her lips coldly. "I've seen plenty of women like you. You'll do anything for money and throw yourself at any man!"
"You didn't know, did you? I found that room for him, and it was full of surveillance cameras. I could see everything you did!"
Qiao An'an's face turned even paler upon hearing this.
It was bad enough that Qi Zhao, that pervert, tormented her, but to have it all broadcast live to someone else! Qi Zhao was a pervert, and this woman named Fang was no better!
This was simply her nightmare.
"Tell me, what would people think of you if I released these photos?"
"Wouldn't your mask of purity crumble to dust?"
Qiao An'an trembled uncontrollably, whether from fear or anger, she didn't know.
Seeing her fear, Fang Zhi'en's face immediately showed a smug expression. She leaned down and whispered in Qiao An'an's ear, "In Third Young Master's eyes, you're just a plaything! Don't expect anything more!"
Despite Qiao An'an being bullied like this, no one around dared to make a sound.
It was because Miss Fang had recently donated a sum of money to the film crew, essentially a hush-money.
Qiao An'an, who was usually somewhat manipulative, wasn't well-liked to begin with. Many people were gloating on the sidelines, and some were even taking videos of her current plight to share with friends.
Qiao An'an was now as miserable as she had been arrogant before.
After Fang Zhi'en had her lesson, she left haughtily.
Qiao An'an slumped onto the ground, silently weeping.
One moment, she was a pampered young lady, the next, she had become a laughingstock. Such a drastic change was unbearable for her, someone with such strong self-esteem.
"Qiao An'an, are you okay?" The director, seemingly having watched enough of the drama, stepped forward and asked. "If you're not up to it, I'll have to replace you."
Qiao An'an had a scene coming up where she had to chase and fall. Normally, the crew would have laid out padding for her to fake the fall. But given the situation today, she was likely in for a rough time.
Qiao An'an lowered her gaze, suppressing the anger in her eyes. "Director, I can do it!"
She pushed herself up from the ground and limped to the makeup mirror. "I might need some time to touch up my makeup."
"No need. I think it looks good," the director interrupted her. "The character you're playing is supposed to look like this. It's quite fitting."
The director's words were met with a burst of soft laughter from those around.
Qiao An'an clenched her fists tightly, unwilling to be kicked out of the crew just like this.
After enduring the hardships of the recent period, she had finally come to terms with reality. The moment Qi Zhao refused to answer her calls, she knew her special privileges were gone.
If she refused to act, she would never have a chance to turn her life around again.
She couldn't lose this role.
So, she endured the pain and came to the set, gritting her teeth, and desperately ran forward.
"Cut! You're supposed to be being chased, running this slowly looks so fake!"
"Cut! Watch your expression, do it again!"
"Cut! You fell too early!"
"Cut! No, the camera is blocked, again!"
And so, the director repeatedly called cut, and Qiao An'an fell again and again. After more than ten takes, she barely managed to pass.
When the day's shooting finally ended, Qiao An'an had several new bruises on her body.
Her assistant came forward with iodine to treat her wounds, but Qiao An'an didn't even utter a sound.
This level of endurance was rarely seen.
Unfortunately, Qiao An'an still hadn't seen the situation clearly. Since Third Young Master Qi's fiancée had come looking for her, how could she possibly be allowed to continue staying in the film crew?
This Miss Fang was indeed ruthless.
She insisted that Qiao An'an finish her scenes. Only when filming was completed was she abruptly notified that she had been removed from the crew. Her role would be taken by someone else. In essence, all the suffering and hardship Qiao An'an had endured was in vain!
When Qiao An'an received the notification, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.