Way Back Into Love (Essie)

Zac scanned the area and saw that the set was already preparing for the shoot. "I'm leaving. Don't forget to check the phone I gave you." Essie felt relieved to know that Zac, Eva, and Mandy were on her team.

"You're great. Don't worry." Zac's voice was low and sweet. The corners of his mouth lifted. His smile looked so bright. All of a sudden, he leaned towards her and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Essie was stunned, but she didn't protest. She took it as comfort and encouragement.

At the same moment, a Lamborghini was driving over a few meters away. The man inside the luxurious car happened to witness every detail of the scene. There was an indescribable pain written on his face. It seemed like his heart was being shackled in chains and gradually crushed to pieces.

He had been depressed ever since the fashion week ended. He had no enthusiasm or whatever and just dejectedly waited for every single day to be over.

Florey went to the USA with the excuse of undergoing an operation. She needed to go through it in fear that Hanson might find out the lies that she schemed.

In Hanson's mind, he thought that when her mother had already recovered, he would be able to explain to Essie in full detail what had really happened, so that he could beg for her forgiveness. But now, his plan seemed to be crumbling down in front of him.

He knew deep inside him that Zac actually had genuine feelings for Essie. And he couldn't help but blame himself for letting Zac have a chance to get involved in Essie's life again.

As soon as he got out of the car, Essie saw him and greeted him out of politeness, "Hello, Hanson." A flat and seemingly emotionless voice came out that further made Hanson's heart sink. He wanted the earth to swallow him up from where he was standing. Then, she hurriedly walked into the room with an indifferent look on her face. She didn't want to be with him right now even for a second longer. Hanson wanted to follow her, but it felt like his feet were chained to the ground, and his heart was being pierced again and again just at the thought of Essie's distant attitude towards him.

He always thought that she must have hated him so much after the incident. He humiliated the girl whom he referred to as the "love of his life" in front of everyone. 'There's no way she could forgive me, is there?'

All he could do was silently look at her back as she disappeared in his sight.

When Essie went inside the designer's lounge, the staff was star-struck and quickly thought that she must have entered the wrong area. "Ma'am the star's lounge is on the other side. This is the designer's area," one of the staff finally said after they all gazed at her for a while.

"Uhm no, I'm one of the designers for the contest," Essie smiled politely. She actually didn't put on any makeup, but only a layer of transparent lipstick. Despite her natural look, they perceived her as extraordinarily beautiful and bright, like a fairy who was lost in the human realm.

The crew's mouths opened wide in astonishment. They couldn't believe where the director was able to scout such a young, pretty, and fairy-like designer.

A few moments after she went in, Sunny also arrived. "I hate how small the world is for us to always bump into each other. Don't you think so too?" she said in such a sarcastic voice as she glanced at Essie. But Essie didn't give in to her goading. Before she even came to the competition, she had already made the resolve to ignore her because she knew that nothing good would ever come out if she stooped down to her level.

The designer sitting beside her curiously asked, "Do you know each other?"

Essie didn't want to admit but she had no choice so she just nodded slightly.

"Well, by the looks of it, it won't be wrong to assume that you're not on good terms. Am I right?" he continued. Everyone wasn't dense not to feel the rather unfriendly atmosphere screaming out between the

two.

Essie just shrugged it off, hopeful that they would take the hint that she didn't want to talk about it. In Essie's mind, Sunny was the epitome of being the scum of the design world. She didn't deserve to be called an "opponent" or even a "rival" at all. She had no talent whatsoever to be categorized as a designer. Back then, she would just plagiarize her way up or hire others to do her projects just to achieve her goal. Essie was beginning to worry because she didn't know what kind of tricks she would dare to employ this time.

Soon after, the stars also arrived one after another and were accompanied into their lounge for the draw lots.

Eventually, it turned out that the one who picked Essie was Nicole Zhao, a very popular actress these days. She was called the "screen goddess" because of the recent fame she was enjoying. She was also actually Eva's senior. On the other hand, the one who would be paired with Sunny was Zoe, the industry's superstar.

When Nicole saw Essie for the first time, she was obviously disappointed and frustrated. She didn't even know about her existence before this competition. In her mind, she was already having several doubts i they would even stand a chance to win the first round.

Of course, for a star like her, she joined this competition with the intention of winning it all. "Hey, are they shooting now?" Nicole asked her assistant.

"No. Not yet," the assistant replied while carefully looking around. She was making sure that there was no camera at sight.

As her assistant signaled Nicole that the area was clear, she began to light a cigarette and held it in her hands in a very graceful manner. "So, who have you designed for before?"

"Uhm, actually, I'm not that kind of designer yet. I have an online store," Essie answered in a soft voice.

"What?" Nicole was so shocked that she almost dropped the cigarette that she was holding. 'What was that crazy agent thinking? How could she put me in this kind of situation?!'

The truth of the matter was, drawing lots to choose the designer-star pair was just a formality to create an illusion of fair competition. That way, the viewers would also be more thrilled if they knew that the pairing was done through random selection.

It meant that the agents of the stars had already communicated with the crew of the show and put in a word of which designer they wanted to pair with their respective celebrity. With that, Nicole's agent Riley scouted and got the news that there was an intriguing contestant in the competition.

The said designer wasn't initially on the list and was only added a bit later. According to the original plan, the number of pairings was only seven, but because of the unforeseen addition of the designer, they now had to make eight pairs. At first, the crew of the program had objections with the sudden change. However, after they looked and ran through her design portfolio, they agreed to include her in a heartbeat. They also perceived that this kind of drama would be helpful in increasing audience rating, and would make the competition more interesting.

However, it still remained a mystery as to who was behind the scenes and was pulling the strings of this controversial event. The crew of the show didn't really mind whoever it was, as long as it could increase the success rate of their program.

As Essie noticed the hesitation and doubts on Nicole's face, she slowly took out her phone and showed her latest designs. "I know I'm not famous enough, but since you have chosen me, you have to trust me. I will do everything in my abilities to amaze everyone, including you," she said in a confident yet gentle tone.

Seeing the burning passion in her eyes, Nicole took a puff and eventually calmed down. "Okay, I heard you. Now, you only have to do one thing for me. We must take down Zoe and whoever designer she was paired with, no matter what!" Nicole and Zoe had always been engaged in heated controversies, whether openly or in secret. To make matters worse, they were now competing for the position of No. 1 actress of their company. It was not an understatement to say that they were as incompatible as fire and water.

Essie gave her word. She didn't have the slightest intention of losing to Zoe's partner designer who turned out to be her own rival-Sunny.

In the next room, Zoe was sitting comfortably, thinking about what she was going to do as soon as she won the competition. According to her sources, Sunny should be the unanimous winner of the competition as she had the support from Bella itself, and of course, one of the main judges of the contest-her fiancé.

A complacent smile was also very visible on Sunny's face. She already knew who she would be facing off at the first round. She vowed that for Essie, this would be her first and last time being a contestant of the competition.