Mr. CEO's Timed Bride

9 Leyla's Deceit

Elliot was confused and he too rushed over to Leyla, "What's wrong with her?”

He turned to Cosette, “What did you do to Leyla?"

Neveah was fueled by anger. She glared at Cosette, waiting for her explanation.

Leyla raised her head. She looked to be in pain and her face was blood-drenched, "I’m fine, Cosette is a newcomer. This is her first time playing a supporting role, so it’s only natural that she became so engrossed she forgot to consider my safety."

Leyla gave a faint smile, her face turning even paler.

Neveah cradled Leyla in her arms and with her voice filled with anxiety, asked, "Leyla, are you okay? What happened? Did she hurt you? Just tell us. We will help you."

After hearing this, Leyla pretended to stare at Neveah with a look of condemnation, “Nonsense, Neveah. Don’t make a fuss, I am fine."

"But...." mumbled Neveah.

Suddenly Neveah exclaimed, "Oh my God, Leyla, what's wrong with your shoulder?"

Shocked by Neveah’s words, everyone crowded round to take a look at Leyla’s shoulder.

Seeing this, Elliot motioned his assistant, Gordon, to go and see what happened.

One of the girls turned to Elliot, "Elliot, Cosette is an animal! She has pinched Leyla's shoulder black and blue."

Cosette sneered on hearing this.

She had been wondering what other tricks Leyla had up her sleeve! Leyla had deliberately injured herself with the intention of putting the blame on Cosette and turning others against her. 

Graham walked back to Elliot. He had seen the bruising and nodded his head.

Of course, Elliot needed to get to the bottom of what had happened.

"Cosette, do you have an explanation for this?" he asked.

"Elliot, I have some questions for Leyla first. Is it okay if I ask them now?" Cosette replied calmly.

She walked over to Leyla and looked her straight in the eye.

Without a trace of emotion, she came straight to the point, "Leyla, do you believe I caused those injuries to your shoulder?"

Before Leyla could say anything, Neveah responded in a hurry, “What do you mean Cosette? Are you accusing Leyla of having wronged you? You are just a newcomer here. Leyla is too busy every day to waste time on silly little girls like you."

Cosette smiled, then answered, "Yes, you are absolutely right, Neveah. Nothing she does will ever be of concern to me."

"You seem to have a very high opinion of yourself!" Neveah snorted at Cosette.

Elliot walked over to them and asked, "Cosette, just tell me the truth. Did you hurt Leyla? It’s your first time in an important role and everyone will understand if you did so by accident."

Cosette said nothing, but took out her cell phone which confused everybody.

Just as they were all wondering what Cosette was going to do, Neveah's voice was heard from Cosette's phone.

"Leyla, what's wrong with your shoulder?"

"Nothing," came Leyla’s reply.

“Leyla, you’re going to be shooting a scene with Cosette later. Is this anything to do with her?" continued Neveah.

"Why are you even mentioning her name to me?" asked Leyla, sounding annoyed. However, after a small pause she continued, "She doesn’t even have any professional acting training! But you’re right Neveah and you need to cooperate with me later. I have to teach her a lesson!"

Their conversation ended and Cosette put the phone back inside her pocket.

Everybody gazed at each other, speechless. 

Neveah and Layla were shaken to the core. How had Cosette managed to record their conversation?

Leyla's face turned pale again.

Cosette moved closer to them, "Yes, it is my first time playing a supporting role and yes, it is natural for me to get nervous, so earlier I took a walk to calm down. It was simply by chance that I overheard your conversation. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I guessed that you were talking about me and decided to record you to figure out what you were going to discuss."

Nobody present had expected this, but Leyla was an old hand. She quickly calmed down and gathered her thoughts, "Cosette, I am afraid there is a misunderstanding here," she said, trying to save the situation.

"Leyla is right. We are all working together in this film crew and she is my senior. But I still hope she is able to explain what happened to her shoulder," Cosette responded.

Leyla looked a little flustered, but after a small pause replied, "Cosette, I must apologize. This has all been an unfortunate mistake. Neveah only spoke harshly to you because she was so worried about me. I really am sorry."

Despite her words sounding sincere, Leyla gave no explanation for the bruising to her shoulder.

Elliot noticed this straight away, but was anxious to avoid any further disruption on set and so made no comment.

"Okay, now that the matter has been cleared up, let's have a short rest and prepare for the next scene," he told everybody.

Although everyone gradually dispersed, Leyla could still feel their focus on her. 

She was clear that they would talk about her behind her back and clenched her fists. Neveah’s anxiety levels soared as she watched her.

Neveah was a perceptive woman and could see the anger in Leyla’s eyes.

Leyla looked at her, her eyes burning with rage.

"So that’s how you supposedly help me!" Leyla sneered.

"I didn't expect her to be listening," Neveah replied, her voice trembling. "You’re a useless good-for-nothing!"

At that, Leyla walked away leaving Neveah close to tears.

A fleeting smile of satisfaction crossed Cosette’s face.

"Coco, you were too merciful to her,” Ethan’s voice came from behind.

Cosette looked back at him with a smile but said nothing.

In truth, it was not Cosette who could take the credit for the recording. She had been too busy learning her lines and studying the script to have gone for a walk and eavesdropped on Layla and Neveah’s conversation.

It was Elvin who had happened to overhear and record them.

Cosette was surprised that Leyla would adopt such a shallow trick!

"I really appreciate what you and Elvin did for me," Cosette told him. If not for the recording, she would have been seriously wronged.

"Coco, you should have used this to bring shame on her," continued Ethan.

Cosette smiled to herself.

Ethan was oversimplifying things. There was no way Elliot would have allowed this to become public knowledge. It would have all been covered up.

Leyla was a famous and popular actress. Even though people would talk about what had happened today, it would soon be forgotten. Unfortunately, Leyla had the advantage here. Cosette needed to give matters much more thought it she was to expose Leyla’s true colors!

"Ethan, Cosette did the right thing. She just needed to clear her name and ensure there were no misunderstandings. This is the best result," Elvin chipped in.

"Okay, okay, let’s stop talking about it. I get it," Ethan interrupted and then looked at Cosette.

"Coco, I am not going to stop you, if you want to be an actress. However, if you really want to get ahead in this field you need to broaden your connections. I’ve been given two invitations for a charity dinner which is to be held in three days’ time. Let’s go together."