C16 This Woman's Eyes Are Very Beautiful.

After checking in with everyone on the team, Diantha headed back to the makeup room where Sabino and Hollis were waiting.

She updated Glean on the crew's status, highlighting Anthea's foot injury and her limited mobility. Brushing aside her thick bangs, Diantha's eyes seemed to glisten with admiration as she spoke, "Miss Perry is truly resilient and kind-hearted. Despite being injured by Diantha, she harbors no ill will and has gone out of her way to clarify that it was an accident. Her injury must be severe; she turns pale at the slightest touch to the ground, yet she persists with the filming, not wanting to hold up our schedule. I'm genuinely moved by her spirit."

Hollis, well aware of Diantha's disdain for Anthea, was at a loss for words.

"If you're such a good actor, why not join showbiz?" he wondered silently.

Sabino merely squinted, offering no response.

Both he and Hollis had concealed their family backgrounds when they entered the entertainment industry. Aside from their manager Glean, few knew their true identities. Consequently, when others discussed Diantha, they didn't connect him to the young heir of the Foster family, allied with the Edwards family, nor as Diantha's own brother. Their words were unfiltered, not considering Sabino's presence.

Glean cast a sympathetic glance at Sabino, pained by the thought of his artist enduring the constant negative rumors about his sister. Had he known that Anthea, the recent subject of a high-profile scandal, would join the cast, he would have never let Sabino take this film role.

Observing Diantha, whose emotions were mostly hidden behind her bangs but appeared to be looking up to someone, Glean wanted to advise her to be more discerning, to watch more court dramas and not be so naively straightforward. However, with others around, he held back, giving Diantha's shoulder a reassuring pat, "You're right. You could indeed learn a thing or two from Anthea."

Diantha nodded enthusiastically, eager to improve.

'Teenagers' wasn't just any youth film; the female lead was a martial artist's daughter, adept in an array of weapons taught at her family's dojo. Early in the story, she saves the male lead with her double sticks, only to be mistaken for an enemy and pushed into a lake. In a twist, she pulls him in with her, and their tumultuous relationship begins.

The scene they were about to shoot was the female lead's martial arts display gone awry, ending with both characters in the lake. However, the production hit a snag. Unlike Zhuo Tong, who had taken martial arts classes to prepare for her role, Anthea, a last-minute addition, was clueless about the fight choreography.

Given Anthea's status as a financial backer, the director had arranged a stunt double for the action scenes, leaving Anthea to handle only the close-ups. Things had been progressing smoothly until the stunt double collapsed from exhaustion before the final water scene, necessitating a hospital visit and a break from filming.

Anthea, ever the team player, volunteered to step in, despite her lack of double stick proficiency and a foot injury—courtesy of a tumble caused by Diantha—that was common knowledge among the crew. Her determination had seen her through previous close-ups, but now, even standing caused her to pale and break into a cold sweat. How could she possibly film, especially with the risk of aggravating her injury in the water and potentially provoking her father to pull his financial support?

The director was inclined to refuse, but Anthea was adamant, willing to endure the pain for the sake of the production. She had even practiced with the double sticks after reading the script, though she admitted to not being skilled.

Impressed by her resolve, the director consented to a trial. Anthea's performance with the double sticks was modest, yet sufficient for the camera's needs.

The director was taken aback. He had pegged Anthea as a privileged newcomer with little to offer, but she proved to be earnest and hardworking. Despite her brief prep time, she had studied the script and learned the basics of the double sticks. Her foot injury was clearly severe, yet she bore it stoically, committed to the role—a promising talent worth nurturing.

The director adjusted the camera angle, opting for close-up shots to capture the scene without showing the lower body movements. Anthea, freshly made up, took her place beside Hollis, ready to film the moment the heroine is pushed into the lake by the hero. In her surprise, she was supposed to use nunchucks to bind the hero's wrists. Naturally, Anthea, with only a few days of emergency nunchuck training, couldn't pull off such a complex maneuver. The director planned to splice in a close-up of the action later, so Anthea's task was simply to swing the nunchucks forward.

As Anthea wielded the nunchucks, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her leg, as if a stone had struck her wounded area. She let out a soft cry and crouched down, releasing the nunchucks that she had been swinging forward, and clutched at the injured spot on her ankle.

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The nunchucks, released from Anthea's grip, propelled by the force of her pain, flew straight at Hollis. He could only watch as they hurtled toward his face.

Aware that the prop lacked the heft and lethality of a real weapon, Hollis knew it would still be quite painful to take a hit to the face—possibly even breaking his nose. But with the short distance and the suddenness of the incident, he couldn't dodge in time. His only reflex was to shut his eyes.

Yet, the anticipated pain never arrived. Amidst the collective gasps of the onlookers, Hollis cautiously opened his eyes. There, standing before him, was a woman in a dull gray tracksuit, her hair pulled back into a simple bun, hardly standing out in the crowd. She had caught one end of the nunchucks just inches from his face, sparing his prominent nose from harm. With a deft flick, she guided the other end back into her grasp.

The woman, not particularly tall, with her hair in a bun barely reaching his neck, held the nunchucks with hands that were slender and pale, almost shimmering in the sunlight.

She turned around, the breeze lifting the edges of her thick bangs, revealing eyes as stunning as Sabino's, yet even larger. Her pupils were deep and dark, shining in the sunlight like a profound abyss, seemingly concealing much while appearing empty.

In that moment, Hollis was reminded of the first time he had seen Diantha by Cassius's side, and how he had thought her eyes were truly captivating.