Revenge Begins: Reincarnated as a Hated Idol!

"It’s a good script."

"...but I don’t think this should be your next drama, Aren."

Shane’s heart fell as he heard that, cold water pouring over all his expectations.

He had thought that maybe today was the day his dream of seeing his story get adapted into a drama would be realized; however, Ember’s words were like a slap that jolted him awake to reality.

If Aren didn’t play the lead, he didn’t have the confidence of his story receiving the justice it deserved.

Many good novels had suffered due to bad adaptations already, and he didn’t want to see his suffer the same fate.

If that happened, his original novel might be criticized as well, as usually, all the blame for a drama’s failure gets dumped on the unknown writer.

Only popular writers with a positive record and great influence could be spared from the scapegoat treatment.

He was confident that if Aren didn’t play the lead, his script would either get shelved or be made into a low-budget drama used to fill the platform’s library.

Shane could only pin his hopes on Aren, praying that he wouldn’t get influenced by Ember’s words and change his mind about selecting his script as his next drama.

He glanced to his right with a nervous look in his eyes, trying to gauge Aren’s reaction, and after noticing his furrowed brows, he heard him ask:

"Why? What’s wrong with it being my next drama?"

Ember, leaning back with a relaxed expression on her comfy chair, answered with a smile:

"Isn’t it obvious? There is no crew, no director, no cast. How are you going to start shooting? You can’t just waste your time waiting for a crew and cast to be assembled, right? Currently, your popularity is sky high. Every viewer is waiting for your next drama."

"Moreover, people are dying to see you in a romance drama with Lisa. It would be better for you to choose a romance drama and shoot it first. Until then, I can arrange a crew and production team for this mafia regression drama."

She paused, her smile turning sly as she added, "Also, don’t forget. You already promised that your next drama will air on my platform. This was the condition for our deal. I’m not going to accept this as your next drama. You need to choose a romance drama with Lisa. I will not pass on this money-grabbing opportunity just because you want to play a mafia boss."

Ember’s plan was simple.

Instead of airing one drama featuring Aren on her platform, she was going to hog two of his consecutive dramas while his popularity was high due to the scandal.

His fanbase had risen tremendously after the scandal, as his image as a protector and righteous hero had been established in people’s minds.

Fans were captivated by his courageous and fearless personality after seeing him confront a giant like Titan Crest Entertainment, which even movie stars would fear going against.

Moreover, if his drama were to come out with Lisa as the female lead, many viewers would watch it just to support the victims of the scandal.

After all, in their minds, Aren and Lisa were the good guys and Titan Crest Entertainment were the evil bastards.

After hearing Ember’s reasoning, Aren had a thoughtful look on his face.

He understood Ember’s scheme; however, he didn’t find her words without logic.

Of course, he knew that if she wanted, she could easily gather a crew within three days.

After all, she had the Sun Talent Agency with numerous actors and directors ready to take on a project at her single command.

It was just that she wanted two of his dramas on her platform instead of one.

However, he wasn’t against it himself.

He didn’t want to upset Lisa by not playing the lead in ’My Heiress,’ and to be honest, after reading the script again, he found that it was a great story, and if executed well, it could become a romcom hit.

Moreover, it would also solve the issue of him playing similar kinds of roles again and again.

Although different in intensity, Shin and the role in the mafia drama were both fighting roles. If he played a romantic role in the middle, his image won’t be established as someone who only does serious fighting roles.

Thus, he decided to go along with Ember’s schemes and nodded: "Hmm... you’re right. But..."

A smile adorned his lips as he asked, "Does that mean you will produce this drama?"

Ember gave the script and Shane a brief glance before giving her answer.

"The script is nice but needs some polishing here and there. Also, the name will need to be changed."

With a slight disgust, she added, "No way I’m producing a drama called ’Mafia Boss returns to his highschool days’"

Aren agreed with her wholeheartedly on this, but still, he turned to Shane and asked with a polite smile, "You don’t have a problem with changing the name, right?"

"Of course not." He answered immediately, clarifying further, "I only named it like that to attract readers. Please feel free to name it anything."

With a satisfied nod, Ember said, "It’s good that you’re self-aware. Let’s discuss the price. I’m going to buy the script and rights from you."

After a short negotiation, they settled on a price.

Actually, Shane was ready to accept the first price Ember offered him, and only after Aren felt that it was too low that he intervened, telling Shane to ask for a higher price.

This invited a dissatisfied glare from Ember toward him, but he didn’t want Shane to be taken advantaged of.

"You can leave. Share your contact details with my secretary outside." Ember instructed with a disgruntled expression.

She had already spent terrifying amounts on acquiring celebrities from Titan Crest Entertainment, and now, when she was about to scam this naive novelist, Aren decided to intervene and ruin everything. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

She was going to ask for an explanation.

After Shane left, she eyed Aren with a dissatisfied look: "Why did you intervene? Do you dislike seeing me making profit that much?"

"Hey, you were more or less scamming the poor guy. Don’t you feel ashamed trying to scam innocent writers?" Aren retorted with a wronged expression.

"What do you know? I’m practically throwing my money away buying celebrities from Titan Crest Entertainment. Can’t I be stingy once in a while?" Ember grumbled like a child.

"Stop kidding me. You are basically swimming in money. Moreover, no one is profiting more than you right now. How can you even complain after making so much profit?"

Ember couldn’t retort any further.

It was true that she was making more profit than anyone in the entire entertainment industry.

Her platform’s dramas were topping the ranking charts.

Their image had been established as righteous in people’s minds, causing them to favor her platform over the others.

And above all else, she had acquired top celebrities under her agency, exponentially increasing her influence in the industry.

She, of all people, didn’t have any right to complain.

"Alright. Stop it." Ember sighed in defeat. "Let’s move on to the more important topic."

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(A/N - Thanks for reading. ^..^)