King of Hollywood-Chapter 167 - Sarah

Chapter 167: Chapter 167 Sarah

“Stop here, please; let me out.” As the streets became more familiar, Sarah, who had been silent since getting into the car, finally spoke up. She had originally wanted to refuse Adrian’s offer to take her home, but he had insisted on doing so for safety reasons and agreed only to drop her off two blocks from her house, so in the end, Sarah acquiesced to his method.

Adrian pulled over to the curb as requested, and Sarah immediately unfastened her seatbelt on the passenger side to get out. However, Adrian called out to her at that moment, “There are some things I’d still like to discuss with you, Sarah.”

Sarah’s body tensed, her hand retreating from the door handle. She sat up straight, her eyes fixed forward.

“Your current agent is Chelsea Perkins, right?” Adrian asked, seeming not to notice her reaction. “I’ll have her set up a team for you, specifically responsible for designing your image and handling various PR activities. Though young idols gain fame quickly, it also takes time, and right now, you’re at an awkward age. Younger girl roles don’t fit your image, and mature roles may not be within your grasp yet, so for now, you can only take on supporting roles.

But don’t worry; by the second half of next year, I will prepare a suitable youth idol film for you. Before that, I’ll also try to arrange for you to play some standard supporting roles in those big productions, such as ‘True Lies’. You can use this opportunity to learn under your team’s guidance. I want to cultivate you into the highest quality idol star so that even if you have difficulties in transitioning later on, you will still leave your mark in the entertainment industry, understand?”

Sarah stared blankly at Adrian, only coming back to her senses when he asked her again if she understood.

...

“I get it,” she nodded hastily in acknowledgement. Seeing that Adrian had no more to say, she finally opened the car door to say goodbye and leave. With one foot already stepping out, Sarah turned back to whisper a “Thank you.”

After walking briskly down the street and ensuring there was no one familiar around, she turned to look for Adrian’s car. The vehicle that had been parked at the curb had already started and was driving back the way it came.

Sarah let out a sigh of relief as her pounding heart finally began to calm down, but an indescribable feeling also welled up inside her. With a wry smile to herself, she walked in the direction of her home.

It was only two blocks away, and she soon reached the front of the house. As she took out her keys to unlock the door, she was cautious to look around. Even though they had moved to the safest neighborhood, West Forest District, after receiving the paycheck from ‘Casper’, some habits were hard to shake off.

“Mom, you’re back?” she noticed her mother’s purse on the coffee table upon entering the living room.

“Yes, darling,” Roselan emerged from the kitchen upon hearing her daughter’s voice.

“Why so early today?” Sarah initially seemed surprised, but then grew curious.

“Because… there wasn’t much work to handle today, so I took leave and came back early,” Roselan answered, a touch hesitantly, with a fleeting look of embarrassment on her face, then quickly changed the subject. “Where have you been? I saw your backpack at home; you must have come back after school before going out again, right?”

“Yes, just hung out with some friends,” Sarah smiled in response, not pressing further.

“That’s wonderful. You should spend more time with friends instead of worrying about this and that,” Roselan continued along the same line as her daughter. “I want you to be happier, Sassy. Ed often says you seem too brooding sometimes.”

Hearing Adrian’s name, Sarah spaced out for a few seconds but then quickly regained her composure and smiled at her mother: “Okay, Mom, I’ll take good care of myself.”

Roselan gazed steadily at her daughter for a few seconds, then suddenly reached out to embrace her but stopped midway realizing she was still wearing her cooking apron, awkwardly retracting her hand. However, Sarah stepped forward and hugged her mother tightly without hesitation, resting her head on her shoulder.

“Sassy, oh, Sassy,” Roselan called softly, somewhat saddened, wanting to stroke her daughter’s hair but refrained because her hands were a bit greasy, so she simply let her daughter embrace her.

“Mom, I love you,” Sarah let go and said to her mother, a hint of determination in her eyes.

“I love you too, Sassy,” Roselan affectionately responded, then, as if something had crossed her mind, turned to walk back to the kitchen. “By the way, I’m making your favorite sushi. I practiced making it last time at the restaurant, and I promise it’s going to taste great.”

“Great, I’ll help too,” Sarah said as she rolled up her sleeves.

“No, no, no, sweetie, just go back to your room and rest. I’ll call you when it’s time to come down, okay?” Roselan shook her head, declining her daughter’s offer of help.

“Why?” Sarah asked, puzzled. “I can do it well, I’ve helped you cook before.”

“Yes, I know, but not today,” Roselan smiled. “Listen to me, okay?”

Sarah, still intent on insisting, caught the pleading look in her mother’s eyes, felt a slight twinge in her heart, but maintained her smile and obediently nodded. “Then I’ll go back to my room.”

After watching her mother enter the kitchen, Sarah headed upstairs. As soon as she entered her room, she threw herself back onto her bed, gazing blankly at the ceiling, unable to remember how many times she had done this before. When her father was still around, her mother had been a full-time homemaker, so after his unexplained departure, her mother, clueless about what to do, faced rejection after rejection while job hunting.

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She had held all sorts of jobs: cleaner, waitress, salesperson, and so on, and often had to advisably step into the role of agent for Sarah on top of these (note), if it weren’t for Sarah gaining a bit of a reputation at the time and earning some money monthly, who knows what their lives would have turned into.

Even so, life continued to deal them hardships; her mother never managed to keep a job for more than half a year, always being dismissed for one reason or another. Every time her mother was fired, she would hide it from her until she could find a new job before she found out. It worked the first few times, but over time, how could Sarah not notice? She never confronted her mother about it, just like she had just now.

Although Sarah continually earned money through acting to cover her sadness and grief, she had never reached the popular heights of several girls of her time, until she met Adrian. Even though her performance in “Memento” never made it to air, “Casper” made her a truly noticed figure. Forget about the interviews and the journalists, just at school alone, the number of fans multiplied.

Of course, fame was secondary. That movie had netted her a paycheck of nearly 800,000 dollars, and with the film’s success, Adrian had also given her a bonus of 300,000 dollars. It was the first time she had ever received so much money. She and her mother moved to the West Forest District right away and she bought her mother many things. It was the happiest and most joyful time of her life so far.

However, the audition for “True Lies” dealt Sarah a heavy blow; even though she had diligently followed the director’s instructions and had even been granted another opportunity through Adrian, she was still rejected.

Once you have tasted sweetness, it is difficult to go back to the past, and Sarah would not allow that to happen; she did not want her mother to have to go back to that kind of life again. But she had no idea what to do, even though her agent comforted her saying there would be many more opportunities, how could he understand the extreme insecurity hidden deep in her heart?

No matter how independent or determined Sarah was, she was still just a teenager. Thinking it over, she involuntarily thought of certain things she had heard about before. As someone who had entered this circle at the age of 4, she was of course aware of many such stories. At first, she felt disgusted, but hearing them over and over, she became numb and indifferent, though she never expected that one day this course of action would become one of her choices.

That’s how people are. Once it involves something most important to them, they get flustered. Once they find a feasible path, it’s hard to turn their attention elsewhere, no matter how smart they are. After all, only the most exceptional people or those like Adrian with foreknowledge can step out of the game and think about problems from the perspective of an observer or, shall we say, God’s viewpoint.

But Sarah didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t tell her mother or seek advice from anyone else, so after pondering for a long time, one person came to mind.

The girl lying in bed staring blankly suddenly jumped up, took a few steps to the vanity, and sat down. She looked at herself in the mirror for a good while before letting out a bitter laugh with a sigh, and then she lowered her head to cover her face. Whether it was the robbery incident, the filming of “Memento,” or the visit to the “Casper” set, Adrian had always given her a different feeling, a sense of security. Yes, a sense of security, especially that night at the Golden Globe awards party when he carried her upstairs, hugged tight in his arms, the feeling could not have been more obvious.

Besides, she had indeed been unreasonable at the restaurant, but Adrian made it up to her by specially rewriting a role for her. And “Casper” was also recommended by him for her to star in, “True Lies” was also where he suggested she audition. Even though Sarah had some vague knowledge of his private life, she still thought of him as a good person. So, after much thought, only he seemed to be the one to turn to, at least… she didn’t dislike him.

I have no choice… I really have no choice… Sarah muttered to herself, looking at her reflection in the mirror between her fingers.

She mustered up a lot of courage to go to Adrian’s office. When she heard he had agreed, she felt a wave of relief, but also a sense of loss, and an indescribable shame.

How exactly did he see her? With contempt? Disdain? Sarah bit her lip, even though in the car, he had told her he wanted to make her the best possible idol star, it didn’t do anything to ease her mind.

Forget it, it doesn’t matter anymore, just let it be… as long as… as long as Mom…