Thousands of Brilliant Stars: You Deserve the Best!-Chapter 107: Iris Crawford Makes a Move—Her Skill Revealed
Noelle didn’t know what Iris Crawford was talking about yet. She was inherently sensitive and thought Iris meant that both she and Gia were people who had no control over their own lives.
So she gently replied, "Well... my name isn’t very pleasant either. I originally had a disadvantaged position, and since the company arranged this path for me to make money, that’s good enough. Gia was supposed to be hugely successful, but unfortunately, fate dealt her such a blow..."
Iris Crawford picked up on it - Noelle was belittling herself excessively.
"Who says your name isn’t nice?"
"Everyone says my name is vulgar, my persona is kitsch, and the things I do are lowbrow - just a third-rate kind of deal." Noelle laughed at herself, "I know well enough what kind of person I am. I’m touched that you’d want to talk to me, Iris."
"What are you thinking!!"
Iris gave Noelle a brotherly pat on the shoulder, "Noelle Rivers! ’A thousand mountains see no birds in flight, on ten thousand paths there’s no human trace. A lone boat, an old man in a straw cloak, fishing the cold river snow alone.’ Your name is one of remote elegance and solitude, how could it be vulgar!"
Noelle’s eyes reddened as she looked at Iris, her lips trembling for a long time.
"By the way, next time you can’t dodge being hit, just..." Iris shared her secret trick with Noelle, "Just lay down on the ground, you know? I’ll call 911 for you, and with your face, if anything bad happens, the other party has to compensate!"
"..." The staff eavesdropping nearby almost burst out laughing, thinking that this rich and beautiful girl was so different from others, she never played by the rules!
Iris Crawford, you’re way too good at stirring things up!
"Won’t people say it’s too disgraceful?"
Noelle rarely smiled, having mostly played the role of a cool and alluring live-streamer, but deep inside, she was extremely insecure and sensitive. Now, as she smiled, there was a touch of demureness, "I need to hone my acting skills, so when I do lie down, it’ll look more real."
Iris, acting like a guy, slightly taller than Noelle, put an arm around her, "Anyway, I’ve done it before. So what if you’re shameless? It’s real once the money’s in your hands. Oh yeah, the crew is calling you, you should go."
"Okay." Noelle nodded, handing back the ice water to Iris, "My face feels a bit better, I won’t need to apply it for now."
"Good luck."
Iris waved her hand, then followed Pierce’s assistant inside to change clothes. Her scenes with Patrick Pierce had finished; the remaining ones were between Vera and Noelle. When she walked in, Patrick had already been waiting idly in the backstage lounge, removing his makeup as he looked to Iris, "Why the sudden burst of kindness?"
"What do you mean a burst of kindness?"
"I thought you wouldn’t be bothered to associate with someone like Noelle." Patrick Pierce wiped the lipstick from his lips, saying to Iris, "Why are you playing the role of a life coach now?"
"For someone already standing on the brink of an abyss, if there’s no one to talk to her, her heart will break." Iris glanced coldly at Patrick, showing none of the chemistry they shared during filming, "I just don’t want to see another tragedy like Gia’s."
Noelle was too ruthless, ruthless enough to ignore her own feelings. She’s like someone standing on a cliff’s edge - without someone by her side, she’d fall off completely.
At that point, Noelle’s moral boundaries would collapse even more intensely than now.
Perhaps she truly wouldn’t care about anything anymore.
"Besides, I don’t have any animosity towards them."
While taking off her deep crimson floor-length gown and standing before the mirror with a villain’s gaze, Iris wondered if, at some point, she saw her own smallness and insignificance in Noelle’s endurance?
Taking a deep breath, Iris said, "Noelle hasn’t harmed me, so why would I look down on her? She’s filming, earning money, paying taxes, doing her part to build the country - there’s no high or low in that."
"Ha." Patrick spoke with a tone of mockery, "What I hate about the entertainment circle is its pretentiousness - doing such dirty deeds while maintaining a polished facade. Look at those people, all grand and dignified beneath the spotlight, does anyone dare to speak the truth?"
As he said this, he realized his emotions were too intense, and finally lowered his voice, "Don’t even mention them; I’ve never spoken a single truth either."
Lies, lies, lies. Lying to fans, lying to the audience, lying to passersby, lying to directors, lying to producers - lying to oneself.
"You have a strong aversion to the entertainment industry, including towards your own fans." Iris took a deep breath, "Yet, you’re clearly a big star..."
Patrick gave her a deep look, filled with too many emotions - hatred, powerlessness, complexity that startled Iris.
Suddenly reminded of James Chesterton’s words, he had said everyone at the agency had been hurt before.
What kind of hurt had Patrick Pierce suffered? And with what thoughts had he, step by step, become the film emperor he is today?
Without speaking, Iris lowered her head, taking off her clothes on her own. An assistant came over to help remove her makeup, and once finished, Iris took Patrick’s arm and walked out of the lounge. Upon exiting, Vera was there with a sarcastic tone, "Oh, done with your scenes and now you’re thinking of leaving? Leaving everyone else here?"
"Are you crazy?" Iris didn’t give Vera any face, "Do you actually expect me to wait for you to finish filming?"
"The director hasn’t left, what gives you the right to leave!"
Vera was holding the lead actress’s fan at the moment, exquisitely crafted, with Suzhou embroidery which is a splendid treasure of traditional culture. But unfortunately, in Vera’s hands, it instantly became a tool for stirring up jealousy and quarrels—
"The whole crew was busy until dawn, and you just leave when you want?" Vera had a princess complex, unable to stand seeing others have it easier than her. When she saw Iris Crawford about to leave, she wanted to provoke everyone to lash out at her, "You’re definitely the kind of person who leaves the office right at clock-out time!"
"What else would I do?"
Iris pointed at herself, "You’re going to pay me overtime? Missy, then pay me now. I’ve finished shooting my scenes for today, why shouldn’t I leave? The contract clearly states it, you just can’t stand seeing others doing well, can you?"
Vera, in a fit of anger, desperately wanted to rush up and fight Iris, but just as she took a step forward, someone stood in her way.
Looking closely, it was actually Noelle Rivers.
"Well, Noelle, just because Iris said a few words for you, now you’re running to her side! Have you forgotten that it was only after you and your agent begged me to death that you got this role!"
Vera pointed at Noelle, seething with rage, "Do you believe I can replace you right now!"
Noelle stood blocking Vera, shivering all over.
Even though she was scared, she still didn’t give way.
Her physique was not as tall and slender as Vera’s, so naturally, she was at a disadvantage. Vera pushed her and she fell to the side. She said, "Iris has finished her scenes. Now it’s us two having the opposing scene, I don’t want to waste everyone’s time..."
"You dare talk to me like that?!" Vera yanked Noelle’s hair, looking at Iris who was planning to leave, she said, "Iris, have you decided to oppose me, or what?"
"No one is going against you." Iris’s expression was indifferent. She showed no reaction to Vera’s rage, "It’s you who loves to cause trouble for others. Besides, I’m leaving, stop talking, it’s annoying."
"She’s standing up for you, why aren’t you speaking for her?"
Vera found it amusing, pulling Noelle to the side, "Look at you, just because you have the Missy’s back, you think you’ll be fine, they still disregard you, leaving just like that!"
Hearing this, Noelle’s eyelashes fluttered.
She looked at Iris, finding her standing at the doorway, the dawn light shining from behind her. The woman stood against the light, as if she had descended to save humanity.
They all say saving humanity should be compassionate and gentle, but why... is Iris’s face always cold and determined?
With a glance at Noelle, Iris smiled. With that smile, Noelle seemed to understand.
The next moment, Iris turned around without looking back and left. She had finished filming, it’s time to clock out. Vera couldn’t stop her, neither could Noelle.
Until she walked quite far, Pierce asked Iris with furrowed brows, "You helped Noelle before, why not help this time?"
"I have no obligation to save her." Iris lowered her voice, "I’ve done everything I should have, and what’s left is to turn away. Let go of the savior complex, respect others’ destinies. Besides, I believe, from now on, Noelle won’t need my help anymore."
From that last look they shared, both of them understood long ago.
Noelle would no longer submit meekly, from the moment she blocked Vera, she didn’t need Iris to stand up for her anymore.
Pierce was deeply shocked.
Looking at Iris’s profile, she seemed somewhat meddlesome, yet also overly calm and indifferent. But thinking carefully about her actions, she always seemed to awaken the souls of those people.
She never blindly helps. People say good deeds should follow through, but Iris does not turn others into mere dependents hiding behind her.
Seraphina Colbert, Gia, Noelle.
Each person she helped ended up owning their soul, possessing the ability to fight back.
"Helping isn’t the point, awakening self-realization is." Iris smiled boldly and wildly, not sure if she was talking to someone else or herself, "Me too. What I need is not help from others, but for myself to abandon those feelings of inferiority and fear, to have the courage to battle demons. Only I can save myself."
She is not someone else’s savior.
Pierce stopped in his tracks, mumbling as he watched Iris’s silhouette, "Why didn’t I meet you sooner..."
Iris paused, turning back to find the ever so high-spirited young film star’s face, filled with indescribable sadness.
He seemed to be bearing immense pain, to the point where he couldn’t even feel himself.
Pierce was always the one who didn’t like to bother with people, Iris always thought this was a common trait of big stars, being aloof. Now it seems she realized she had been stereotyping, something significant must have happened in the entertainment industry to turn Pierce into what he is now.
"I’ve been a bit tired lately, will you keep me company?" Pierce looked at Iris’s face as he said this.
