When Love Breaks (Josephine)

Josephine smiled coolly. "If I had known earlier that you were this kind of person, Mr. Jolie, I wouldn't have come to see you in the first place."

As soon as those words rolled out of her tongue, Nick spun around and glared daggers at her. "What did you just say?"

Ethan, who had been quietly observing from the sidelines, finally stepped forward, positioning himself between them. "Mr. Jolie, don't you think you're being a bit childish? This is your first time meeting her, yet you're already picking on her."

Nick scoffed. "Me? Pick on her? I had just said a couple of words, and now she thinks she can walk all over me. I should be the one feeling bullied here! Ethan, what the hell is wrong with your judgment? You-"

"Mr. Jolie!" Ethan cut him off. "If you weren't going to take her seriously because she's young and inexperienced, you should've told me from the start. Not wait until I brought her here just to humiliate her."

"How dare you?" Nick fumed. "Are you seriously going to take her side and criticize me? What, was I wrong? Should I be treating her like a queen and buttering her up? It seems like you've lost your damn mind over a pretty face, Ethan! You have no sense of propriety left!"

Josephine hadn't expected Ethan to get caught in the crossfire. Feeling guilty, she hastily interjected, "Mr. Jolie, this has nothing to do with Ethan. If you're upset, you can take it out on me. He was just trying to do me a favor by introducing us."

"He was just doing you a favor?" Nick scoffed, crossing his arms, but he didn't say anything else. Just then, his phone chimed. He glanced at the screen, and the moment he saw the message, his expression shifted.

He turned around and shot a sharp, angry look at Ethan. The latter remained completely unfazed, meeting the former's gaze with a calm, unwavering look.

After pocketing his phone, Nick took a deep breath and turned to Josephine. "If you want to know whether I can play the role, you should see me in action first. You can't dismiss me without giving me a shot. I won't accept that."

If anyone who knew him had been there, their jaws would've dropped. Nick, who had never backed down in his life, was actually lowering himself to audition for a young director? The sun might as well rise in the west.

But to everyone's surprise, Josephine shook her head. "I don't think that's necessary. Mr. Jolie, you don't like Simon's script, and you clearly don't trust my abilities as a director. On top of that, you don't fit the role. With all things considered, it's clear that this isn't the right project for us to work together on. Maybe next time." noveldrama

"What...?" Nick was flabbergasted. He had just extended an olive branch, and this little rookie dared to turn him down? "Wait, when did I say I didn't like your script? I said it was average! Do you know how rare it is for me to call a local script 'average' these days? That's practically a compliment! Don't push your luck!"

Compared to his agitation, Josephine remained calm and composed. "I don't believe that an actor who doesn't appreciate the script can do the role justice. Sorry for taking up your time, Mr. Jolie. I'll be leaving now." With that, she gave Ethan an apologetic look before turning and walking away.

Nick was frozen to the spot. He never expected a rookie director to have such a fiery temper. He had just been a little blunt, yet she'd had the audacity to walk out on him.

He immediately glared at Ethan, hoping he would say something to smooth things over. But the latter just smiled. "Well then, Mr. Jolie, we'll be on our way now. Enjoy your game."

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Nick could only watch in disbelief as Ethan chased after Josephine. His chest heaved in frustration as he couldn't believe that brat had actually left.

If it weren't for the fact that Ethan handled all his overseas assets—and had bailed his son out of trouble abroad more times than he could count-Nick would've chased after him and given him a piece of his mind. He had lived most of his life without ever having to put up with this kind of disrespect from a youngster.