From Deadbeat To Doting; Something Is Wrong With My Husband!-Chapter 29: Bam! Bam! Bam!

Upon the sight, Brianna was stunned!

Melody was sprawled on the floor with her lace sleeves fanned out like broken wings. She looked small, trembling, and entirely fragile.

"She pushed me!" Melody shrieked with a cracking voice for the perfect amount of feigned terror. She leveled an accusatory, shaking finger at Brianna. "She actually pushed me!"

The silence of the prep room went away. Several crew members, easily swayed by the sight of a "crying" girl, rushed to Melody’s aid, hovering over her as they helped her to her feet.

"Why would she push you?" Rochelle snapped defensively, holding her iPad like a weapon.

"Dr. Colburn doesn’t have the time or the interest to touch you, let alone push you."

Melody didn’t look at Rochelle. She let a single, pathetic tear track through her heavy mascara and a faked, hitched whimper. "All because I tried to ask her if the rumors about her marriage were true... I was just concerned! She just proved the point by attacking me!"

The atmosphere in the room curdled instantly. The crew members—the same ones who had just been in awe of the "Goddess"—started murmuring. They threw side-long, judgmental stares at Brianna.

"I always knew she was as rude as the other hosts gossiped about."

"The ’icy expert’ finally snaps under the pressure of her marriage and is taking it out on a "helpless" junior."

"I mean, pushing your junior? It’s giving mean girl energy. It’s not Siren—I mean, Melody’s fault her marriage is truly failing."

Brianna stood perfectly still, and honestly unbothered. She looked at Melody—who was currently leaning heavily into the arms of a sympathetic cameraman—and then at the whispering crew.

The sound of the commotion had drawn Mr. Matthew Koch back into the room. He took one look at the scene—Melody trembling on the floor and Brianna standing cold and silent—and his expression darkened.

Melody scrambled toward him, her fake tears flowing with practiced ease. "Matthew! I’m not doing an ad with someone who’s going to attack me! She just tried to hurt me... everyone saw it!"

She gestured vaguely at the crew. A few members nodded tentatively. They hadn’t actually seen a hand touch a shoulder, but Brianna’s icy silence and indifferent posture were enough to convict her in the court of public opinion.

Brianna cocked a perfect brow, mumbling audibly through Melody’s sobs. "The ad wasn’t even about you in the first place."

Matthew’s head snapped toward Brianna with a gaze filled with a heavy disappointment. "Dr. Colburn... I expected much more from you."

He turned back to Melody with a soft voice as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Rest assured, Melody. Everything is being taken care of."

"But what if she hurts me again?" Melody whimpered, clutching his sleeve. "I can’t believe someone I looked up to as a senior would do such a thing just because I asked a simple question."

Matthew looked at Melody with genuine pity, then shot a cold glance at Brianna. "Tell you what. It seems Dr. Colburn is truly uninterested in this brand deal. I’ll put in a word with the campaign manager. We’ll see if we can pivot the lead role to you."

The transformation was instantaneous. Melody’s eyes brightened as she wiped her cheeks. "Oh, that would be lovely, Mr. Koch—I mean, Matthew!"

Matthew nodded as his focus shifted to the door. "Perfect timing. There he is—Mr. Thomas Lynde. I’d like to have a word with you."

Thomas on the other hand, didn’t look like a typical campaign manager, because he wasn’t. His gaze scanned the room until it landed on Brianna’s. Checkmate.

"Mr. Lynde, given the... physical altercation, it’s best we make the switch. Melody is more than prepared to lead this campaign."

Melody tilted her head to look as innocent as possible. "I just want what’s best for Better Health, Mr. Lynde. I won’t let a little ’push’ stop me from giving my best performance."

Thomas didn’t respond.

These people before him were only going to ruin his plan. He didn’t even look at the script Matthew was holding out. Instead, his cold gaze drifted slowly to Melody.

Why would he want to switch Brianna with Charity?

He had only even given her the brand deal as a means of interrogating her. Since the company wouldn’t let him see their precious ’doctor’ without an appointment, and with Mr. Colburn, unaware of his interrogation, couldn’t risk cornering her in the villa.

Under the weight of Thomas’s stare, Melody’s fake-angelic smile began to falter. She felt as though she were being dissected by a scalpel!

"The lead role stays where it was assigned." Thomas stated firmly, leaving no room for argument.

Melody opened her mouth to mention her uncle or her "injuries", but the sheer coldness in Thomas’s eyes kept her jaw shut.

She stood there, speechless and trembling. Siren had finally been silenced by a predator.

Matthew, realizing the tension, quickly cleared his throat. "Of course. My apologies. Melody, let’s... let’s get you ready. We’ll start with the dual-shot."

He practically dragged a stunned Melody away.

...

The cameras were rolling.

Melody was still fuming from Thomas’s dismissal. She was determined to show Thomas, Matthew, and especially the "Granny" beside her, that she was the real star.

"Remember," the director shouted from behind the monitor. "Melody, you’re the one suffering from the bloating. You’re uncomfortable, you’re frustrated. Brianna, you’re the expert. You provide relief. And... Action!"

Melody clutched her stomach. Her face contorted into a pout that looked more like a tantrum than digestive discomfort.

"I just don’t feel like myself today," she whined, her voice hitting that high, "Siren" pitch.

"Every time I eat, I feel so... heavy."

Brianna stepped into the frame, holding the bottle of Bloom-Ease to the camera. "Discomfort shouldn’t dictate your day, Melody. Science has a solution!"

She poured a single large soft gel into Melody’s hand.

This was the moment. Melody looked at Thomas.

Determined to make this the "perfect" shot, Melody didn’t wait for the water, she popped the gel into her mouth and began her concluding line. "With Bloom-Ease, I can finally—"

Gulp.

The gel was designed to be swallowed with plenty of water. Without it, the smooth, oversized capsule acted like a localized adhesive.

Melody’s eyes widened to the size of saucers.

The crew stayed still for a second, thinking she was just "committing" to the discomfort of the script.

But her hands flew to her throat while her face turned to a terrifying shade of dusky purple in seconds!

She tried to cough, but only a small, pathetic ’ghk’ sound escaped. Panicking, Melody began to claw at her neck and her heels scuffed desperately against the floor.

"Cut! Cut!" the director yelled, finally realizing this wasn’t acting.

Rochelle gasped, dropping her iPad. "Melody? Is she... is she actually choking?"

While everyone else was paralyzed by the sudden shift from a commercial to a medical emergency, Brianna didn’t hesitate.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

"PHUT."

The gold-colored soft gel flew out of Melody’s mouth like a bullet, bouncing off the expensive camera lens and landing somewhere near the director’s feet.

Melody collapsed on the floor gasping for air, while Brianna stood over her, smoothing her blazers and checking her watch.

A round of applause broke the stunned silence of the studio.

"It was nothing," Brianna said, waving it off with a casual flick of her wrist as if she had just swatted a fly rather than saved a life.

"You’re a hero, Dr. Colburn!" the director shouted, his previous "side-stares" replaced by pure adoration.

The crew members who were calling her a "mean girl" seconds ago were now looking at her with sparkling eyes.

Brianna offered a small, polite smile for the cameras, but internally, she felt a rare sense of satisfaction. She hadn’t just saved Siren, she had enjoyed the forceful necessity of those three hits.