SWNOVELS Chapter 88 I Really Like You
"You don't have to worry about the funding. Just tell me how much it costs exactly."
Since it was such a large amount of money, the crew was taken aback for a while. They all looked hesitant at first to say the cost
out loud.
Soaring Group was obviously very well-off. If it decided to start funding this, the crew of this TV show would definitely get a lot
more work done.
"Is thirty million enough?"
Seeing that people from the crew had been hesitating, Jonas directly told them the amount of money he could promise. The crew
was so excited. Thirty million was more than enough to shoot a large-scale TV series.
"You're giving us thirty million as long as Emily is the heroine?"
the producer asked. Jonas nodded promptly. Even though his eyes lit up at the amount Jonas offered, he was weighing out the
pros and cons. For one, they wouldn't be able to change the heroine if she didn't work out. If they did, Jonas would definitely ask
for compensation for breaking the contract. On top of that, it was a whole other issue if Emily ever got injured during shooting.
Although getting someone to support their show was great, it was still troublesome to accept the money since there were strings
attached. However, despite the fact that Emily was a bit out of date, her flow was still better than amateur actresses. Besides,
thirty million wasn't something anyone could walk away from exactly.
"Well, Mr. Gu, I hope you can come to the set as often as you can to check her progress!"
the producer said with a smile, his arms held wide open in welcome. With this, William took out the written contract and the
respective parties signed.
Afterwards, a few members of the crew went over to the hospital to tell Emily the news. Soon enough, word got out. It quickly
became a trending topic on the internet that the news about the protagonist being replaced was false.
Just like that, Emily was back under the limelight, and gained a lot of new fans. Of course, because of this, the company had to
pay extra attention to the matter.
Meanwhile, at the hospital, Emily lay on bed inside her ward. There was a gentle and polite smile on her lips as she looked at the
fawning faces of the crew. In her heart, however, she kept sneering at them.
'What a bunch of snobbish and superficial people!'
"Emily, please get better soon. We can do nothing without our leading actress!"
"Right. What did the doctor say? How are you doing?"
They talked all at once, their voices overlapping with one another. Emily's hands and feet were no longer in plaster, but there
was still some gauze wrapped around. As she lay in bed in her hospital gown, it was evident that she looked very weak.
It had already been a week since she was brought in here, and yet Jonas had never paid her a visit.
"Emily is all right now. Thank you for your concern. It's getting late now. Might I suggest having dinner at a restaurant nearby to
celebrate this occasion?"
Emily's agent quickly suggested. She saw the sour look on Emily's face, and decided that it might be best to bring the big crowd
outside.
"You're right. Emily hasn't fully recovered yet. We're still disturbing her rest. Sorry for coming out here on a whim,"
the assistant director said. After a quick goodbye, Emily's agent left with the crew to personally accommodate them.
Now, all that was left in the ward was Emily and her assistant. Emily closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm
herself down.
"Miss Bai, what would you like for dinner? I'll order for you."
"Whatever,"
Emily mumbled as she reached out for her phone. When she checked the news, she saw that there were a couple of trending
news articles about her involvement with the show. Previously, the show hardly had any sort of press. Now it was quickly
becoming a hot topic.
One of the articles wrote about Emily's injury—there were even photos of her with the group of people who had just visited her.
Another was a positive review, saying that replacing the main protagonist was clotted nonsense.
There was one more piece of news that caught her attention. It was about Soaring Group's investment to the TV show. These
pieces of news made the show a lot more popular that it actually was.
Even though Jonas helped her as promised, Emily couldn't help but frown.
When she tried calling Jonas, William was the one who answered the call. Like before, he came up with some reasons why
Jonas couldn't come answer the phone. 'Fine,' Emily thought bitterly when she hung up. 'It's better to sleep anyway when
someone doesn't want to talk to you.'
"Miss Bai, the doctor told you not to eat spicy food, so I bought you the porridge with pork ribs. You should eat some now,"
the assistant said as she walked back inside the ward. There was a considerate smile on her face. However, truth be told, she
was somewhat afraid of Emily. She tried to be respectful around her as much as possible, a hint of fear always lingering in her
voice and expression.
Before she started working for Emily, she ate up all the rumors saying that Emily was nice and sweet. When she finally became
her assistant, it was only then that she realized that everyone had been deceived.
Emily's mood was oftentimes unpredictable—when it wasn't, she was just straight out cruel.
Meanwhile, Nelson had just gotten the news that Jonas had invested a large sum of money under the company's name. He
immediately called for Gavin to arrange a car to send him to the company. "Make sure Melinda doesn't know about this," he
added in a low voice.
In Soaring Group, Nelson and Jonas sat face to face in the CEO office.
Even though Nelson was old and less spirited than he was during his youth, his eyes were as sharp as ever.
In fact, the similarity between grandfather and grandson was quite evident, especially when it came to their temperament.
"Pull out the money you invested on that TV show, Jonas."
"Please stay out of this, Grandpa."
Jonas had his reasons for doing what he did. Right now, he did not want to explain himself. He had predicted that Nelson would
try to stop him. Because of this, he gave the money as soon as the contract was signed to seal the deal.
"You bastard! You still stood up for that woman! Look at what you have done! You left Melinda alone in Japan and came back to
help Emily?! What did you expect from her? You promised to protect Melinda, but you betrayed her at such an early time. Do you
really want to make everyone suffer?"
Nelson's words were full of righteous indignation. He pointed at Jonas with his trembling finger as he glared down at him with
anger.
Upon mentioning Melinda's name, the unyielding expression on Jonas's face finally softened. 'No. I'm sure that Melinda would
understand,' he thought.
"Grandpa, this is the last time I will help her."
"Don't say that! You've said that last time. Now look where you are now! You've spent thirty million on that woman! Jonas, if you
are a responsible man, don't get involved with Emily. Just take care of your wife.
What kind of man leaves his woman behind like that? If anything happens to Melinda, you will regret it!"
Nelson had totally lost all of his trust towards Jonas. This time, Melinda was robbed by someone when she was traveling alone in
Japan. It was fortunate that she just lost a little money.
"I have arranged a guide to accompany her. Besides, I plan to explain everything to her when the time comes."
"Well, at least you're planning to talk to her. Now I just want you to withdraw your offer from the show,"
Nelson said. He was shrewd. For a second, he even considered whether he should send Emily to another country, but decided
against it.
"Grandpa, I have already given money to them."
Hearing this, Nelson beamed widely. "Good for you!" he said, his voice full of sarcasm. "Now pack your stuff and go home. You
are suspended!"
The look in Jonas's eyes changed slightly, but he said nothing. He went back to his seat quietly to pack up his things, which
made Nelson even angrier.
What the hell had Emily done to his grandson? It should be known that Jonas compromised a lot for the position of heir.
But now he gave up everything for Emily.
Did it mean that Emily was more important than the inheritance?
The news that Jonas was suspended was not widely known by many. It was as if he had some other matters to deal with and
was just out on a business trip.
Nelson's assistant had been standing by his side the entire time. He was in shock at what had just happened.
"Mr. Nelson, you have suspended the CEO. What about all the work that needs—"
"Designate them to other people. Is Soaring Group unable to operate without Jonas around?"
Given his age, Nelson was not capable of handling the business of such a big group, and he could only deal with a few hours of
work every day at most.
After taking a glance at Nelson, the assistant wanted to speak out his thoughts, but ended up deciding against it. What he
wanted to tell Nelson was that suspending Jonas may not cause any problems any time soon, but it would cause great
repercussions in the long run.
Meanwhile, the crew working on the TV show was not completely blinded by the large amount of money they just incurred. As
early as now, they started to shoot scenes that did not include Emily so that they would not waste any time.
A week later, Emily was discharged from the hospital, and went to work on set. Everyone in the casting group treated her well.
She was like a moon surrounded by a myriad of stars. The director had specially told the others to serve Emily with great care.
Although the director agreed Emily to be the heroine, he personally asked the scriptwriter to cut down the number of Emily's
shots.
On the third day, there was a promotion meeting held by the crew. After much thought, Emily took the opportunity to contact
Jonas.
"Jonas, thank you for helping me. I was actually wondering if I could invite you to the promotion meeting we're having later."
Several other investors would be there, and since Jonas was the largest donor, he would definitely get a lot of attention.
"No, thanks."
"Jonas, I just want to thank you,"
she crooned, not expecting to be refused so crudely.
"Emily, I don't need your thanks. And this is the last time I give you any sort of help. I owed you my life for saving me when I was
a child, and now that debt is paid. We are done."
The phone in her hand trembled as panic washed over her. All the excitement she had earlier had completely gone. If Jonas was
no longer a part of her life, she would have nothing.
'No,' she thought determinedly, 'I'm not going to let this happen!'
"That's a part of your life now, Jonas. You can't just expect it to go away like that!"
"Yes, I can. I don't want to contact with you anymore. My wife doesn't like it."
The past was a part of one's life experience. But so what? Nothing good would come out of living in the past for the rest of your
life.
Just as before, he had never thought that he would actually fall in love with Melinda.
"Jonas, don't be like this, okay? How can I forget about you now? You're the only one I've really loved ever since I was young!
How do you think I can keep my distance with you now that we've become so close?
I'll do anything you want me to do. Just... please. Don't tell me to leave you."
Emily leaned against the wall, feeling exhausted and drained all of a sudden. A vague feeling of uneasiness came through her as
she felt that Jonas might be truly slipping away from her.
"My decision is final,"
said Jonas. He would have cut off from Emily long ago, but wasn't able to because of the love and gratitude he had for her when
he was a child.
"I really like you..."