Reborn With a Money-Making System: Ruined Actress to Nation's Treasure-Chapter 102: When Work Reminds Me of Him

She nodded with a faint smile. "Rosélle Beauty said your recent videos have been trending nonstop. The engagement rate on your Zentra account is insanely high, especially after the dinosaur one."

I almost choked on air when I realized Marissa had actually watched all of my videos.

Marissa laughed at my expression. "Apparently, people find you funny and relatable. Brands love that kind of vibe because it feels genuine, not like you’re putting on a show."

I sighed and leaned back against the sink. "That’s because... I’m not acting."

Even though the reason I created that account was to boost my popularity through social media, nothing I posted there was fake or rehearsed.

I’d already spent years pretending to be someone else on screen. If I had to do the same thing on my own page too, I’d probably lose my mind.

"You really are such a lovely person, Helcia," Marissa said warmly before adding casually, "That’s why I’m going to ask Rosélle Beauty to increase your fee to around... thirty grand."

"Thirty grand?!" My eyes widened so much they almost popped out. "Isn’t that way too much?"

Even though I’d gotten used to big rewards from Penny hearing that kind of number from a real company still shocked me. I didn’t even have a million followers yet!

"It’s not that high for someone like you," Marissa said reassuringly. "You might think your account’s still small, but trust me, it’s growing fast. You’ve got everything that pulls people in: cute cats, a bubbly personality, and..."

She lowered her voice. "A story that makes people root for you."

"You mean about my terrible family?" I asked, raising a brow.

Marissa let out a small hiss. "Well, that too, but what I really meant was... maybe you could use your husband someday. I mean, come on, he’s got perfect star material. He’s handsome, treats you like a queen, and... well, he’s rich, isn’t he?"

I blinked a few times, then turned to face the mirror again. "I honestly have no idea how much he makes working for his family’s company," I lied as naturally as possible.

Lando had never told me the truth about his background, so I had to keep acting like I knew nothing. Judging from Marissa’s tone, though, she probably knew a lot more about him than she was letting on, which wasn’t surprising, since they were close friends.

"Maybe..." Marissa leaned in a little, lowering her voice. "Maybe he owns a hidden company."

I couldn’t help but chuckle softly. The way she said it sounded like she was dropping me a secret hint, just in case I ever discovered that my sweet, quiet husband was actually a billionaire with a company that had nothing to do with Brixton Holdings Group.

"I think he just has a very rich and generous friend," I said, keeping my tone casual. "Someone who helps us out whenever we need it... and maybe slips him a bit of money sometimes."

Marissa nodded, pretending not to notice how suspicious that sounded. "He’s never introduced me to that friend of his," she said. "But I really hope I get to meet him someday."

She brought the conversation back to the main topic. "So, I’ve decided to raise your fee to thirty grand. Their product sales have gone through the roof ever since people started mentioning your name."

She actually had a good point. In just two days, Rosélle Beauty had already sold over five thousand palettes, and that was before I even promoted them on my page.

Maybe thirty grand really wasn’t that crazy after all. Besides, Marissa would also earn 5% of my total commission, so of course she’d want the rate to go higher.

Maybe I should just trust my manager’s judgment. She had sharp instincts, after all.

"Alright then," I said at last, smiling softly. "If you think I’m worth that much, then I’ll trust you."

After we finalized the deal, Marissa immediately called Rosélle Beauty back while I finished fixing my makeup.

By the time we left the Green Leaf Production building and grabbed a quick lunch, it was already noon. Luckily, we made it to the next audition right on time, just a little past one.

The line outside the audition hall was surprisingly long, but that wasn’t too shocking. ’My Boss’ Obsession’ was based on a popular online novel, and everyone knew that getting a role in the live-action version could instantly boost your fame.

The production house behind it, Red Zone Production, was also well-known. It specialized in adult movies and drama series with plenty of explicit scenes.

Good thing I wasn’t auditioning for the female lead. Still, the role I was going for—a supporting character who happened to be the male lead’s secret mistress—wasn’t exactly innocent either. There would probably be one or two sex scenes.

At least I had made sure those scenes wouldn’t be as detailed or graphic as the ones for the female lead.

The story itself was... honestly, kind of messed up. Honestly, it made those "girl-falls-in-love-with-her-bully" plots look normal.

Basically, the male lead was a spoiled, arrogant womanizer. He married the female lead through an arranged marriage, but because of constant misunderstandings, he thought she was only after his money and loved his brother instead of him.

So, to "punish" her—or maybe to prove something to himself—he fooled around with his hot secretary, while still having BDSM-style sex with his wife. The script literally said he wanted to "torture her emotionally"... and even give her "orgasm torture until she felt like her brain was melting."

Yep. That’s exactly what was written in the script. Not my words.

So, yeah... seriously messed up.

Maybe I should’ve just auditioned for the cleaning lady instead of the sexy secretary.

But honestly, the script kind of reminded me of Lando and me because we were also married through an arranged marriage.

But... unfortunately yet fortunately, we weren’t that spicy. And honestly, that was probably a good thing.

[Penny was actually a little surprised when you chose this drama, Host,] Penny suddenly spoke in my head. [Penny didn’t think you’d go for something this spicy.]

Yeah, honestly, I hadn’t planned to. I usually stayed away from scripts like this because of all the explicit scenes, but out of all the options, this one had the most potential. The others just didn’t stand out as much, except for the high-school one.

Besides, I’d played similar roles before, just not ones this intense. Back then, I used a stunt double, and the "kissing scenes" were nothing more than clever camera tricks. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

So, technically, I’d never actually kissed a man before, and after that, most of my romance films leaned more toward the slow-burn type anyway.

And since I was only playing a supporting role this time, I figured... it should be fine.

’Though, come to think of it,’ I couldn’t help but smile a little. ’Maybe I could use this drama as an excuse to practice kissing with my husband.’