Chapter 22

Over at Odyssey Entertainment, the production plan had already been finalized. Then the call came in, leaving the producers stunned.

"Why the hell is Clifford Lambert sticking his nose in this? Does he really need the money?" Mr. Taylor asked, completely bewildered.

A female producer scoffed. "That woman, Yesenia, is the top-ranked VIP on our server. She's also Mr. Lambert's little sweetheart. He's obviously just trying to make his girlfriend happy."

A portly man chimed in, "Actually, using Yesenia might not be a bad idea. We could leverage her status as the server's number one player. It might generate more buzz than using an unknown like Latisha."

"Look, it doesn't seem like we have a choice here," another said with a sigh. "The woman has spent over ten million dollars on our game. Are any of you willing to cross her?"

"Why can't we just use both of them? There's more than one character."

"Because Yesenia specifically requested to play Selene, which is the same role we booked Latisha for. It's a direct conflict."

"Then let's bring them both in and see if we can work something out. Maybe we can convince her highness to compromise."

...

The next day, Latisha received a text from Nikita telling her to come to Odyssey Entertainment to discuss the contract.

She hesitated. Clifford's warning from the day before echoed in her mind. If she went, she feared he would make things difficult for Nikita.

After a long pause, Latisha replied: *[Nikita, I can't go.]*

Less than two minutes later, a full sixty-second voice message from Nikita came through.

"Why not? Did that bastard Clifford say something to you? Who the hell does he think he is? You're not taking his money; you're earning it yourself. What right does he have to interfere? Think about the baby, Latisha. Do you want to leave him or not?"

Nikita's about it.

Te was sharp. "You think

if you decide

you want

to stay with him, then I'm calling. Mr. right now to tum

wwwn."

Hearing the anger in her friend's voice, Latisha felt a pang of guilt. Now Nikita was mad at her, too.

She bit her lip, completely torn. She couldn't bear to lose Nikita as a friend, but she was terrified of what Clifford might do to her.

Clutching her phone, she typed another message: [Nikita, he told me not to see you.]

Latisha wanted to explain, but Nikita's reply came back even more furious.

"Who the hell is he? He won't let you see me? You think I'm afraid of him? Let me make one thing clear, Latisha. I am not afraid of Clifford Lambert. If you're going to cut me off because of him, then fine. This is it. swñovels

Panic seized Latisha. She quickly tried to reply, but a glaring red exclamation mark appeared on the screen.

Her heart sank. Nikita had blocked her.

She shot up from her seat and ran out of the villa, hailing a cab online as she went.

When she arrived at the coffee shop, it was empty. She ran straight up to the second-floor art studio and pushed open the door.

Just as she'd expected, Nikita was inside.

Hearing the door, Nikita turned. She froze for a second when she saw Latisha standing there in her pajamas, breathless and flustered.

Then, a slow smile spread across her face. She put down her paintbrush and walked over. "What are you doing here dressed like that?"

Latisha was still catching her breath, her chest heaving. Her face was flushed and she looked like she was about to cry or maybe she already had on the way over.

She raised her hands and signed: *Don't cut me off.*