Chapter 143
Billy’s eyelid twitched even more intensely.
He awkwardly glanced at Dorian, sitting silently beside him.
Lila let out a quick laugh. “Mr. Johnson, think carefully. If I don’t leave, even if I do nothing, the company still has to pay me a large sum every year.
“Now I think about it, getting paid to do nothing isn’t so bad.”
Dorian’s eyes were cold, and his face had a sarcastic look. “You might live the high life, but have you considered how the company will deal with your two underlings?”
She nodded, leaned on the desk with her arms crossed, and stayed quiet, deep in thought.
Dorian watched her, and the mockery in his eyes grew more evident.
Lila’s loyalty was one of her strengths, but also her weakness.
Dorian couldn’t think of a way to force Lila out if it weren’t for those two troublesome newcomers.
Lila thought briefly, her eyes down. Not long after, she looked up with a gentle smile as if everything had become clear to her.
“Jamie and Teddy are the company’s artists. Dealing with them later is just a matter of arranging some unpleasant tasks.
“They can simply refuse to do them, and the end result would be to have them frozen out and blacklisted.”
Dorian looked at her without speaking.
Lila nodded, showing no sign of defeat or discouragement.
Her voice was still as calm as usual. “The company pays me two million a year. To
be honest, many ordinary people might never have the chance to earn that much in their entire lives.
“If I don’t leave and support the three of us with the money, it doesn’t seem like such a big problem.
“And the company doesn’t restrict us from taking on projects from other companies. If I’m lucky, maybe I can land a TV series or a movie role for Jamie and Teddy. That seems pretty good, right?
“Even if the company decides to blacklist them, the money I make would be enough for us. We’re already in the best situation if I think about it.
“Since that’s the case, we do not need to leave the company. Don’t you think so, Mr. Blake?”
She looked at Dorian, and he immediately realized that she had figured out that it was his decision to force her out.
Lila’s words almost made him lose his composure.
This was a bit different from what he had expected. Lila did care about those two newcomers, but how could the ambitious Lila say something like she just wanted to take the money and enjoy life?
Dorian’s expression darkened, his eyes fixed on Lila as if trying to catch some hint of inconsistency.
Billy was also a bit confused and unsure how to handle the situation.
Honestly, just listening to what Lila said made him a little tempted.
The idea of getting money without doing anything was exciting to anyone.
Seeing Dorian’s darkened expression, Billy didn’t say a word either. He chose to stay silent so that if things went south, he wouldn’t be blamed for it in the end.
When neither of them spoke, Lila straightened her back, adjusted her clothes as if everything was perfectly in place.
“Since there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving now.”
She turned to walk out, looking as though she had accepted the outcome of her earlier analysis.
Just as her hand reached for the door handle, Dorian spoke up as she had anticipated. “Lila, the company has agreed to your request to release the two newcomers with you.”
She glanced back, her smile neither fully warm nor cold. “No scenes can be deliberately cut for the TV series they’re filming. They must be allowed to air as
is.”
Dorian stared at her deeply for a moment, and he said after a long silence, “Alright, three days from now, you can come to sign the termination contract.”
“No need to wait that long. We can do it tomorrow.”
Her smile was calm and unhurried.
Dorian froze for a moment as if this outcome was too good to be true for her.
He even doubted for a second. Had Lila gone mad?
Did she truly not realize what this meant for her and the two newcomers?
Dorian’s gaze showed a hint of doubt. Had he miscalculated somewhere?
Or was Lila hiding some trump card?
He quickly dismissed that thought.
No, that wasn’t possible!
He had known Lila for years. What could a helpless orphan like her possibly have up her sleeve?
She was simply holding on to her pride, waiting for him to give her an out.