Chapter 125 You Reap What You Sow
When Alistair walked in and spotted Brady and Caleb at their table, his jaw nearly dropped.
Seriously? Is the world really this small??
Brady looked Alistair up and down several times, his face lighting up with unmistakable excitement. “Are you really Dancing Willow, the author of ‘If There’s a Next Second‘?”
Alistair casually shifted his gaze from Caleb’s shocked face and nodded. “That’s right, I am.”
These days, hardly anyone used their real name online if they wanted to keep their personal life separate from their work.
Alistair had chosen his pen names pretty randomly.
On Wattpad, he went by Finding Something_To_Do, but when he submitted his screenplay for the contest, he noticed there was no requirement to use his real information.
Since willow fluff had been floating around town those days, he
casually gave himself a new username–Dancing Willow.
He deliberately avoided using Finding Something_To_Do because
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he didn’t want anyone connecting the screenwriter with the Wattpad novelist who used the same name.
In his mind, having an extra online identity was just another layer
of protection.
“I’m Brady Newman, the project manager for this screenplay competition,” Brady said, introducing himself. “And this is my assistant Caleb…”
He trailed off when he noticed Caleb staring at Alistair with a dumbfounded expression. Brady immediately caught on. “You
two know each other?”
Alistair smiled faintly, “Yes, we know each other. But let’s talk about why you invited me here.”
The email he’d received mentioned his screenplay had made it to the top three, and they wanted to discuss its content in more
detail.
Brady settled back in his seat and launched into lavish praise for Alistair, claiming he was impressed by someone so young having such talent. Then, he smoothly changed direction, mentioning there were still “issues” with the script that needed fixing. He’d invited Alistair to help him succeed.
By this point, Alistair knew something was definitely off. He just
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SOW
wasn’t sure what Brady’s angle was yet.
Playing the part of the nervous newcomer, Alistair nodded along anxiously, acting like he’d do whatever Brady suggested.
Brady, clearly pleased with Alistair’s apparent compliance, relaxed
and started throwing around industry advice like he owned the
place.
Eventually, he got to his real point. He could guarantee “If
There’s a Next Second” would be a hit. He knew this “amazing”
screenwriter who could fix everything, but Alistair would need to give up his writing credit. To “make up for the loss,” Brady generously offered him 20 thousand dollars for his trouble.
Alistair had to mentally replay the last six years of his life just to keep from laughing out loud.
First, he had to give Brady credit. If Brady didn’t believe in his talent, he wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble to buy the script. All they needed was for that so–called writer to tweak a few lines, and boom, they could legally claim ownership of the whole
thing.
Second, Alistair really wanted to ask Brady if he thought he was
an idiot.
Brady noticed his silent smile, shot Caleb a look, then made up
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Chapter 125 You Reap What You Sow
some excuse and left.
Finally shouldering the burden alone, Caleb snapped out of his
shock. He tugged at his tie and broke the silence. “Dad’s not doing well.”
The treatment at the mental health facility had been expensive. According to the doctors, full recovery was possible, but would require significant time and money.
Celeste wouldn’t hear of it. She immediately signed the discharge papers, but had no interest in looking after him herself. Instead, she dumped him in some random nursing home.
Caleb resented Liam for deceiving him into giving money to Alistair, but he didn’t interfere with Celeste’s decisions, just letting
things happen.
Poor Liam had devoted most of his life to Celeste and Caleb, even to the point of exploiting his own child. Now, he’d ended up abandoned and alone in his old age. Was he pitiful? At this point, it certainly seemed that way.
It was hard to feel bad for someone who brought it all on themselves. He was the architect of his own misery.
Alistair didn’t respond, sitting calmly in place without a hint of
concern.
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) 10 min lot
Caleb’s chest heaved with anger. “Alistair, Dad was in perfect
health and could have lived to be a hundred! He’s like this now
because of you!”
Alistair lazily glanced up with a mocking smile. “You took the money from selling me out to live it up abroad. You don’t get to judge me. If you think you’re innocent, I’m happy to post our little family drama online and let the internet decide who’s right.”
Caleb’s face fell.
Rebecca had completely screwed him over.
He’d been so eager to team up with her against Alistair that he blindly trusted her. That, combined with his pent–up anger, led him to that street fight, and now his life was a complete mess!
At first, Anne had stood firmly by his side, even rushing over to the Whitfield family to confront Rebecca. She’d promised him everything would be okay, that he wouldn’t have to face this
alone.
But everything changed when internet trolls dug up photos of him getting too cozy with middle–aged women overseas, suggesting something inappropriate was going on. Anne’s attitude
completely flipped, and she kept interrogating him about whether the rumors were true.
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Even though he swore up and down he was innocent, he could feel Anne’s trust and affection slipping away.
Worse yet, his fledgling career was now in jeopardy. Celeste nearly had a breakdown after seeing the brutal mockery spreading online.
Despite coming from an ordinary family, Caleb had always relied
on his charm and people skills to sail through life without any major problems. He’d never faced such a nightmare situation
before!
Thankfully, Brady offered him a lifeline.
But Caleb couldn’t believe the one who’d written the script Brady had chosen to launch his wife’s brother’s career was none other
than Alistair!
The thought made Caleb sick to his stomach. His greatest pleasure had always been keeping Alistair firmly beneath him.
In Caleb’s mind, Alistair belonged at the bottom of society, doing some backbreaking minimum–wage jobs just to survive.
How satisfying it would be to stand before Alistair in his tailored suit, looking successful and polished, while Alistair stood defeated and worn down by life’s hardships.
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(21:46 min 1
But Alistair refused to settle for entry–level work. Instead, he
carved out his own path!
Yves couldn’t stop praising the screenplay for “If There’s a Next Second.” He thought the story was not only tight and compelling with one climax after another, but also carried deeper social commentary that made people reflect.
While the final results weren’t in yet, it was pretty clear that “If There’s a Next Second” would come out on top.
The thought of Alistair becoming successful was more painful to them than death itself.
Fortunately for them, Alistair had used a pen name, giving Brady and his shady friends a chance to manipulate things behind the
scenes.
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