Next One Is a Babe

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Work was all about coordination and as soon as things were wrapped up, everyone would return to being strangers. However, Ian had not expected Yulia to take particular care of him after that photoshoot for the magazine had ended.

He couldn’t deny that there was something odd about this and it wasn’t as if Aurora would compromise on her dignity just to rebuild her reputation. She had seen enough in life to know that there were some things she had to let go of to move forward.

At present, Aurora hesitated for a moment before saying, “Look, as much as I want to be part of whatever project she has on hand, I know I don’t have much bargaining power to take her up on her offer.”

Cindy was truly shocked to hear Aurora make such a declaration. After all, the woman was dead set on rebuilding her reputation and making a strong comeback and it was something Cindy was aware of. Now that Yulia had resources to share, it might just be the chance Aurora needed to climb the success ladder.

Cindy certainly did not think that Aurora would turn this offer down, and with such principles, too.

Ian, on the other hand, calmly nodded when he heard his mother’s answer. “I was thinking about that as well. Yulia’s offer is tempting enough, but like you said, we don’t have any bargaining power in this. We’d only end up owing her a huge favor, and heaven knows when or how we’ll be able to repay her.”

Aurora mumbled something in agreement. She knew as well as he did how vicious the entertainment industry could be.

More to the point, those in the industry switched sides faster than a record changer. Yulia might be on friendly terms with Ian now, enough to offer some of her resources, but if she didn’t get what she wanted out of him, she could turn her back on him just like that. If that ever came to pass, then Aurora and Ian would be left with a much bigger mess to deal with.

As such, they would be better off rejecting her from the get-go.

When Cindy heard their discussion, she suddenly felt as if she had been enlightened. She had to admit that the entertainment industry was rife with schemes and competition, but as far as connections went, everyone seemed to be treading on tightropes around one another, ready to fall at the slightest misjudgment of character.

However, as she looked at Ian and Aurora, she realized with mild surprise that not everyone was without principles; as it turned out, some of them had set their own boundaries and stuck to them.

When Ian and Aurora arrived at a consensus, he took his phone and gave Yulia a call. He didn’t do so in front of Cindy, and instead headed over to the balcony.

Cindy had no interest in his phone conversation either and she felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, now that Ian saved himself from what would have been a tight spot.

The phone call lasted for close to ten minutes, which honestly seemed too long to be a normal call. When he hung up and returned to the living room, she asked urgently, “That took you a while. What did she say?”

He took the seat next to hers and replied, “She wanted to hear my reasons for rejecting her offer, but nothing much was said after that.”

Yulia probably hadn’t expected a rejection on his part, which explained her disbelief as she questioned him over the phone. If she had made the same offer to anyone else, she might be treated with supreme gratitude instead.

Alas, Ian was not anyone else and he abided by his own set of principles. He would never sell himself short just so he could gain something out of Yulia.

Meanwhile, Aurora returned from the kitchen after grabbing water from the fridge. She placed the drinks on the coffee table and asked, “Was she surprised that we turned her down?”