The Mocked Miss’s Hidden Crowns novel Chapter 1404

“StoryVenture is putting three hundred million into the show, but there’s a catch. Adela has to play the second female lead.”

In this business, it was nothing new for investors to shove their own people into the cast.

If J hadn’t already announced Emily as the lead at the signing ceremony, StoryVenture probably would’ve pushed Adela for the main role. They were that bold.

“StoryVenture has the Broadcast Commission behind them. If we suddenly drop the actor they picked, we could land ourselves in real trouble.”

Losing StoryVenture’s investment over Adela was the least of their worries. What everyone actually feared was her father. If they upset him… they wouldn’t just struggle with distribution. Filming itself could become impossible.

No shooting permit from the Commission meant this major project would be dead in the water. So even knowing Adela was wrong for the part, everyone had to keep quiet.

“What if I insist on taking her out?” Charlotte tossed her pen onto the table and leaned back, sounding almost too easygoing.

“Then you’d have to find another investor willing to put up three hundred million, and figure out the Commission mess,” someone said.

Finding that kind of money, and fast? It was basically a fantasy.

And then there was Adela’s father. Everyone knew—he’d warned them, openly and behind the scenes—that he wouldn’t let anyone treat his daughter badly. Dropping Adela would be a slap in his face.

Casting Adela as the second lead, at this point, was non-negotiable.

“J, for the sake of Storm, can you just compromise this once?” one staff member tried, voice low and earnest. “The people at the Broadcast Commission… you don’t want to make enemies over there.”

You don’t want to make enemies? The words were barely out before Charlotte let out a soft laugh.

“You’re right, I really don’t want to make enemies.”

Everybody in the room started to relax, expecting J to back down. But then Charlotte’s voice cut through the moment, cool and certain. “But she should be much more worried about me.”

Heads snapped up. Eyes went wide.

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