Never Too Far Novel

Chapter 1381-1390

“Anastasia designed them herself. Just accept her gift,” Elliot said with a smile.

At that instant, Queenie felt that the gift was profoundly meaningful, so she unwittingly clenched them tightly. “Thanks, Anastasia. I’ll be sure to treasure your gift.”

“I’m glad that you like it. Visit us frequently and have a chat with us. We can also go out for a cup of coffee or an afternoon tea,” Anastasia said gently. This is property © of NôvelDrama.Org.

Moved by the woman’s hospitality, Queenie nodded. “Alright, Anastasia. I still have a lot to learn from you.”

“Sure. If there’s anything you don’t understand, just reach out to me,” Anastasia replied with a smile.

After dinner ended, Elliot and his family members went to a nearby shopping mall while Nigel and Queenie went home to get some rest.

In the shopping mall, Elliot was walking around with his daughter in his arms, and they attracted a lot of attention. The little one loved being in a shopping mall. While in her father’s arms, she couldn’t stop looking around.

Meanwhile, Anastasia followed behind them while holding her son’s hand, and several bodyguards accompanied the family until they went home at about 9.00PM.

Willow fell asleep an hour later after being exhausted from playing all day. Right after Anastasia was done showering, she received a message on her phone.

When she saw the picture of a hooked finger on the screen, she realized what that man wanted to do.

She wrote in an attempt to annoy him, ‘Good night. I’m tired.’

‘Don’t be naughty. Come over here.’ The man started coaxing her.

Just then, Jessie received a message on her phone. The moment she picked up her phone, her lips twisted into a smile as her eyes tinged with joy. It was Julian.

‘Are you done with the photoshoot? Are you heading home?’ he asked caringly.

‘Yes, I’m done with it. I’m going home right now,’ Jessie replied.

‘Get some rest when you reach home. The opening ceremony will be held soon.’

“I will. You should get some rest as well,’ Jessie replied considerately.

The opening ceremony would take place in three days, and she would be busy starring in the movie. Apart from acting, she looked forward to spending most of her time with Julian on set.

By then, they would be living in the same place. During their spare time, they could read their scripts together. They might also have to work together until the middle of the night. All in all, she could do many things with him.

The next morning, Jessie’s photos were posted on various social media pages. Her fans started praising her as they looked forward to watching the movie in cinemas, especially when the movie had been adapted from their favorite story.

While Jessie was swamped with work, Queenie was busy preparing for her wedding. Indeed, their lives were fulfilling.

On the third morning, they had to head to the filming location to take part in the opening ceremony. There was no doubt that the company was wealthy as all the important actors and actresses boarded a chartered plane reserved for the occasion. In the morning, Jessie headed to the airport with Lexie and the three bodyguards her father had hired for her.

The fact that Julian and Jessie, the female lead of the new film, had checked into the same hotel soon became trending news.

Jessie’s room was just beside Julian’s. In fact, she was staying in a luxurious suite. She had brought three suitcases with her that were full of clothes, toiletries, and her favorite snacks of the finest quality that her mother had bought for her.

Her luggage was filled with her parents’ love.

In the afternoon, they were going to have a meal together. The moment Jessie stepped out of her room, she came across Julian, who had two assistants and four bodyguards with him. His assistants, who were a man and a woman, had been responsible for taking care of his daily needs.

“Let’s go downstairs together,” Julian offered.

Jessie nodded and stepped into the elevator with him. A while later, the elevator stopped moving, and two actresses entered the next moment. They were familiar faces in showbiz. Both of them were equally excited when they saw Julian, but when they set their eyes on Jessie, they appeared scornful and derisive.

Needless to say, a new actress probably slept with some powerful figure to land the role of the female lead.

Therefore, in their eyes, Jessie snatched the role using such a deplorable way.

Jessie sensitively detected their disdain, but there was nothing she could do about it. No one in showbiz was aware that she was a young lady from the Silverstein Family yet. Hence, she couldn’t blame them for seeing her through colored lenses.

The reporters were still not done with the photo session when a breeze whisked through them and brought up some sand. Before Jessie could react, some sand had come into contact with her eyes. Although Julian’s face was covered with sweat, he still pulled Jessie into his arms and brought her somewhere else before checking her eyes.

Jessie couldn’t open her eyes, but it was nothing serious.

Julian gently blew some air at her eyes, not once concealing his concern for the woman even though they were surrounded by fans and reporters.

Lisa Powers gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. Why is Julian so concerned about this new actress?

Just then, a female supporter recognized her and exclaimed, “Oh, my gosh! Are you Lisa?”

“You’ve gotten the wrong person.” At that, Lisa covered her face with her hand and turned around to leave.

She had to head to another film set. Since she wasn’t selected as the female lead for this movie, she could only settle for another historical movie she didn’t have high hopes for. Furthermore, she was paired with an actor who hadn’t made a name for himself yet. Therefore, she loathed Julian for treating Jessie so well.

Vincent had agreed to let her take part in the audition, but Julian crushed her hope. On the other hand, Jessie must have used a dirty trick to snatch that chance from her.

Hence, she hated them both.

After getting into the car, she still couldn’t help but set her eyes on the opening ceremony. That place was bustling with noises, and everyone was congratulating the director, the actors, and the actresses.

Both the kisser and the one being kissed were stumped.

Jessie hurriedly removed the towel from her eyes, only to blush when she finally realized who it was. Julian, on the other hand, continued to fish out Jessie’s phone for her.

His face was merely inches away from her. He was so close that she could even feel his breath brushing against her face.

Finally, he successfully retrieved her phone. However, a red line formed on the back of his hand due to the force he exerted.

While taking the phone from him, Jessie looked at the slightly bruised hand with pain. “I’m sorry. Does it hurt?”

As the seats came with a massage function, there was a small gap between the seats. So, fishing out a fallen phone wasn’t so hard.

“Don’t worry about it. How are your eyes?” asked Julian as he scrutinized her eyes.

Jessie blinked tentatively and couldn’t help gushing when whatever was in her eyes was gone. “They’re fine now.”

“That’s good.” Julian was relieved. “You stay here while I take a look outside.”

“No, wait! Let’s go together.” Jessie didn’t want to miss out on the rest of the event, especially when there were refreshments and a gift-giving session. Besides, she had also prepared some goodie bags to hand out!

When the two came out of the car, the media concurrently pointed their cameras in their direction. It was Jessie’s first time facing so many media outlets. Thus, she felt intimidated by their cameras.

“How is this trifle?! I’m doing you a favor here!” Lisa deliberately faked an event just so she could stay a little longer in his room.

Meanwhile, Jessie had left her room. Though they had agreed to meet at 2.30PM, she still wanted to show up a little earlier. In her hands were two cups of freshly ground coffee she eagerly wanted to share with him.

Just as Jessie wanted to knock on the door, it opened from inside, startling her. The next second, she found Julian answering the door with another woman.

Being an old trouper, Lisa acted practically seamlessly the second she saw Jessie at the door, pretending to have blacked out as she held her forehead and fell limply into Julian’s arms.

As Julian failed to react in time, Lisa successfully hugged him after turning around.

Jessie, on the other hand, quickly realized she had interrupted them. Awkwardly, she said to Julian, “I- I’ll come back later.”

“Jessie!” Julian called out to the young woman, but she still shrewdly returned to her room while her mind was filled with images of Lisa hugging Julian. Lisa was the female lead in Julian’s last production and also an A-lister. Her looks and performance were considered the best.

Meanwhile, Lexie was sorting Jessie’s clothes out when the latter returned. “Hmm? I thought you left to see Young Master Julian for a read-through. How come you’re back?” she asked with surprise.

“He… He’s in the middle of something else.” Jessie sat somewhat absent-mindedly on the couch. “Lexie, you’re a sucker for celebrity gossip. Do you know of any past dating rumors between Young Master Julian and Lisa Powers?” Jessie asked with curiosity, to which Lexie pondered for a moment before answering. “If my memory didn’t fail me—there was. But it was debunked very quickly.”

Can Julian and Lisa also be in this kind of relationship? That’s why they’d make out as soon as they meet up, which ended up in the earring being dropped on the couch in the process, right?

While Jessie was deep in her thoughts, an alluring male voice traveled to her ears. “Is the coffee for me?”

“Ah, yes. I got it for you,” she answered at once after being pulled back to reality. “Oh, I found this. You should return it to Miss Powers later.” With that, she showed him the earring in her hand.

Julian furrowed his brows in response. “Where did you find it?”

“On the couch. It’s Miss Powers’, I assume,” she answered with a smile.

“Just throw it into the trash can,” he ordered.

Is he not going to return it?!

“It looks pretty expensive. Are you not going to return it to her?” Jessie asked with surprise.

Julian, for one, saw through Lisa’s act right away. So, even if the earring was hers, she had dropped it here on purpose. Obviously, she wanted to use the excuse of finding her earring to get close to him again.

“Leave it on the table then. I’ll have my assistant return it to her.” Returning it to Lisa will save her from having to come up with another excuse to find me again.

“Miss Powers looked a little unwell earlier. Is she alright?” Jessie asked.

“She’s alive and kicking,” he answered.

She had run away so quickly that she didn’t see Lisa leaving in discomfiture under his sub-zero gaze.

She was so used to Julian’s gentleness that his sternness made her feel inexplicably aggrieved all of a sudden. In fact, her eyes began to turn misty. However, she obstinately pursed her lips tight and forced her tears back.

At that, she nodded. “I want to act. I’ll definitely get it right.”

“You feel stressed when you act alongside me. Go and do it with your assistant instead,” urged Julian, asking her to leave.

Jessie left right away, as she would really cry out of grievance if she stayed a second longer. It was honestly absolutely grieving to be told off suddenly when she had been enjoying his gentleness for quite some time.

Lexie happened to be out when she returned to her room, so she headed to the balcony for some fresh air. After taking a few deep breaths and wiping the tears from the corner of her eyes away, she gave herself a pep talk. You’re going to act, Jessie Silverstein, and you’re going to do it right. Do not disappoint him.

It was as though disappointing him was a sin.

Meanwhile, in a different hotel room, Lisa was watching the clock run on the couch while musing, Surely, Julian would have seen my earring by now. When is he going to call and have me go and get it? Right, I’m going to give him another ten minutes. If he still doesn’t call, I’ll go get it myself. I’ll tell him it’s an expensive piece, and he can’t lose it.

While she pondered, she had her makeup artist touch up her makeup.

Lexie’s heart skipped a beat in response. As she felt that Julian Gilmore despised her, her face flushed. Damn, it doesn’t feel good!

At that, Julian entered the room. Although the table was spotless, the air in the room still made him frown—an obvious aroma that came uniquely from grilling food over charcoal still filled the space.

“W-What brings you here?” Jessie couldn’t help being conscience-stricken.

Julian stared judgingly grim at a certain someone for some time before finally asking, “Why the silence?”

“I’ve just eaten grilled skewers,” Jessie answered honestly in the end.

“And who gave you permission to eat that kind of thing?!” Julian condemned, startling Jessie. She immediately stood straight and drooped her head like a misbehaved child. She didn’t even know what to do with her hands.

“You’re not allowed to eat this sort of unhygienic food with zero nutrition again, and don’t even think about eating covertly!” Julian fumed, then suddenly turned to Lexie. “And you, don’t get them for her!”

Also frightened, Lexie tucked her neck and vowed at once, “I will never do that again!”

At that, he turned his head toward Jessie and commanded, “Go and brush your teeth.”

Jessie blinked in response. The man didn’t express any disdain or the sort, but she felt that she had been scorned beyond redemption.

Julian, on the other hand, stormed off after that, probably unable to stand the stench of grilled skewers in the space any longer.

Of course, since it was for her, Jessie would certainly help herself to the food, for she was genuinely famished.

That said, she couldn’t possibly finish it all. So, she asked Lexie to help her out. The poor girl then made more room in her stuffed belly and helped herself to seconds.

“Hey, Jess. I know this restaurant. I heard that their minimum charge is one that we commoners won’t dare to spend.”

Jessie, too, knew which restaurant Lexie was talking about after checking the logo on the bag, and she felt warm and fuzzy on the inside. Who knew if it had to do with the soup or just herself?

Later, she spent nearly all night studying the script, memorizing as she went. As she had a pretty good memory, she managed to memorize every single word despite the large chunk of text. More than that, even her emotions had become richer.

As she had overeaten earlier, she couldn’t fall asleep. So, she couldn’t help checking out the crime movie Julian and Lisa starred in, which was a summer hit last year. It was a movie with only one leading male character—Julian’s character. He played an undercover cop, and his acting was commendable. He embodied a ruthless bad guy as perfectly as he portrayed a just cop.

Lisa, on the other hand, played a tragic character in search of her fiancée. As the character was layer- filled in addition to working with Julian, she managed to bag the best-supporting actress last year.