The man possessed a maturity that seemed out of place for his age, yet underneath it all, a fiery, competitive spirit burned. Despite the murmurs rippling through the waiting area, he seemed completely unfazed, his attention fixed on the book in his hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As Larissa drew closer, she glanced down and saw it was her own novel, \u201cHeaven\u2019s Will\u201c.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s her, Larissa Judson! The real heiress!\u201d one whispered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d another murmured, \u201cI was so used to thinking of Honora as the jewel of Regal City that I didn\u2019t expect much from some girl who grew up in the middle of nowhere. But\u2026 she\u2019s stunning in person.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, she\u2019s been living the high life for a couple of months now. It\u2019s bound to rub off.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The other actors, after their hushed exclamations, quickly straightened up and greeted her respectfully. \u201cMs. Judson!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The whispers finally broke through Rigby\u2019s concentration. He looked up, and his eyes met Larissa\u2019s from across the room. He visibly froze, clearly startled by her sudden presence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The surprise lasted only a second before he snapped out of it, pulling his gaze away as if he\u2019d been burned. His throat worked for a moment before he managed a low, formal greeting. \u201cMs. Judson.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Larissa didn\u2019t seem to notice his reaction, or if she did, she didn\u2019t care. With a quiet \u201chmm,\u201d she swept past him and into the audition room, her expression unreadable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rigby watched her go, his gaze lingering on her back before he forced himself to look away. But his focus was completely shattered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Inside the audition room, a man immediately stood up, waving her over. \u201cLarissa! You\u2019re here. Come, sit with us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was Gustave, the director.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aside from Gustave, his assistant director was also present.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Larissa walked over and took the seat Gustave had saved for her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re half an hour early,\u201d Gustave noted, glancing at his watch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I\u2019m going to watch auditions, I shouldn\u2019t just see Rigby\u2019s,\u201d Larissa said as she settled in. \u201cI need to see how he stacks up against the others. It\u2019s the only way to make a fair comparison.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gustave smiled. \u201cGood point.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
14:47\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 572\u00a0<\/p>\n
He slid a file across the table to her. \u201cThis is the portfolio Rigby sent over. You can look at\u00a0<\/p>\n
it beforehand.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks.\u201d Larissa accepted it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And with that, she and Gustave began watching the auditions. After the fifth audition, it was finally Rigby\u2019s turn.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Rigby entered the room, his gaze swept quickly over the three people at the table, pausing for a fraction of a second on Larissa before he shifted his focus to Gustave,\u00a0<\/p>\n
seated in the center.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGood afternoon. My name is Rigby Schwartz, and I\u2019m here to audition for the role of the main villain, Jermaine, in \u2018Heaven\u2019s Will\u2018.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before he could continue, the assistant director frowned and turned to Gustave. \u201cGustave, why did you let him audition? The man\u2019s got a trail of scandals behind him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At those words, Rigby\u2019s previously relaxed hands clenched into fists as he waited for Gustave\u2019s response.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But before the director could speak, Larissa\u2019s cool voice cut through the tension. \u201cI was the one who approved his audition.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rigby\u2019s head snapped up, his eyes wide with surprise, though he quickly masked it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The assistant director was clearly taken aback. He opened his mouth to argue, then seemed to think better of it and shut it. After all, Larissa wasn\u2019t just the original author; she was the project\u2019s main financial backer. Her opinion carried the most weight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gustave broke the silence. \u201cLarissa, why don\u2019t you choose the scene for Rigby to perform?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cedella is a passionate storyteller known for her bold romantic and spicy novels that keep readers hooked from the very first chapter. With a flair for crafting emotionally intense plots and unforgettable characters, she blends love, desire, and drama into every story she writes. Cedella\u2019s storytelling style is immersive and addictive\u2014perfect for fans of heated romances and heart-pounding twists.<\/p>\n
Wings of Broken Time by Alina Das 572 The man possessed a maturity that seemed out of place for his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-throne-of-thorns-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31097\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}