Defying Fate: The Unstoppable Eileen novel Chapter 308

Ophelia’s gaze bored into Eileen, who seemed frozen in place. Finally, with deliberate slowness, she asked, "What did you say?"

Sweat beaded on Eileen's forehead as she fumbled for a distraction. "I mean, look, a UFO!" she blurted out, pointing past the window before bolting towards the door.

Behind her, Ophelia was on the verge of a meltdown, her voice thunderous. "Your neighbor is Egbert?!"

Eileen froze, her hand on the doorknob. She turned to face the wrath of Ophelia, only to realize she had barely moved from where she stood. Breathing a sigh of relief, Eileen played it cool. "Yeah, just a simple, cordial neighborly relationship."

Ophelia's face contorted with incredulity. "I thought you said you weren't together!"

"We are just neighbors," Eileen insisted weakly.

With a scornful snort, Ophelia pressed harder. "No wonder you wouldn't leave your aunt's house. Tell me, Eileen, do you have feelings for Egbert?"

Eileen scratched her ear, her cheeks tinged with red, but she hid it well. "Mr. Reed is a respected senior, a true artist. I have a lot of admiration for him."

Ophelia watched her with a dangerous calm. After a long moment, she exhaled and massaged her temples. "I'm too tired to deal with this. But let me tell you, nobody can know you and Egbert are from the same neighborhood. Got it?"

Eileen nodded frantically. "I got it, totally."

"Go get your makeup done," Ophelia dismissed her with a wave of her hand.

Grateful for the escape, Eileen dashed out the door. After the fitting for the awards ceremony dress, she headed to the marketing department for a meeting.

Ophelia was there, and the meeting was mainly about Eileen's upcoming work schedule.

"A movie?" Eileen's eyes lit up as she flipped through the script laid before her. "A fantasy film?"

"Eyes on the Rendezvous hasn't been released yet, so your job offering won't improve much," Ophelia explained. "But you can't just sit around waiting. Reality shows are fun now and then, but too much and the audience gets bored. We need to focus on film and TV. With your rising popularity, we've got more big productions knocking. Several TV series scripts were meh, but this movie looks promising. You're the second female lead, with a fair amount of screen time and your own story line. It's a Carrol piece. Awards are a long shot, but it should do well at the box office."

"Director Carrol?" Eileen's interest piqued as she examined the script more closely.

The cover read 'Feathers of Fate,' but the story within hinted it would be released as 'Sudden Changes.' Eileen remembered this movie from her past life; she'd played an extra in it.

During a set scene, they needed a beggar woman with a pretty face. The stand-in couldn't make it, and as the set was already built, the director was having a meltdown. Eileen, clad in costume from a nearby web series set, had wandered over out of curiosity.

Carrol spotted her, not recognizing her as the widely mocked Eileen but seeing potential in her look. He asked if she could stand in, offering her a special appearance fee, a step above the standard extra and a notch of prestige.

Back then, Eileen could've declined. She wasn't a star, but she was above extra work. Yet, she had never been in a quality film, always in flops, and she wanted to know what it was like to be part of a grand production. So she agreed.

She filmed for an hour, but in the final cut, she appeared for barely a second.