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CH 63
Bryce went upstairs to his study to take care of some business matters. The truth of why he’d come back was that he was concerned about Natalie. He’d hired a private plane to bring him back in a hurry as soon as he heard about what was happening to her. He told himself that he didn’t really know what he’d been thinking when he decided to come home. It was just an impulse he couldn’t ignore.
Bryce, in his study, slowly turned over the words
“Davidson family”
in his mind. It seemed as if Natalie had let the Davidsons play upon her vulnerabilities again. She was an enigma, that was for sure—so bold and yet so easily embarrassed. Thinking about this, Bryce smiled in puzzlement. A gentle look appeared in his eyes. He had never felt this way about a woman before.
The next morning, before Natalie went to the office, she looked at social media and saw the official announcement of the sequel to The Crossing. The Crossing 2 was about to begin filming when this news came out. Quite a few people went to check Tony Bavel’s social media account, linking to the post that Natalie had put up previously.
Tony’s page was quickly bombarded with comments from many fans, as was Natalie’s social media. People began to leave messages praising Tony and reminiscing about his past glories playing the character Zeb Ballard in the previous Crossing movie.
“Tony B is as handsome as ever.”
“He’s the man.”
“He’s Zeb.”
“Only Tony Bovell can play Zeb Ballard.”
“There’ll never be another Zeb.”
The Zeb Ballard character had generated some fans and fame for Tony back in the day, but after Mark Ellington deliberately buried Tony’s career, Zeb Ballard’s profile had also faded into nothing. Now, due to the news about The Crossing 2 and Tony Bavel’s potential performance, Tony’s social media following increased by tens of thousands in a single morning.
Natalie browsed through social media on her phone and smiled happily. She called Tony, but it took a long time for him to pick up as he was training.
“Hey, Natalie,”
Tony was still slightly out of breath from his extensive exercises.
“Natalie asked, ‘Have you seen the news?'”
“No, what happened?”
“Go and take a look at the entertainment pages on the internet. There’s a surprise for you.”
Natalie couldn’t hide the happiness in her tone.
Tony picked up on Natalie’s happiness, and it lifted his mood.
“Okay, sure,”
he said. When he opened up his browser, he saw that he had hit the search charts. He hadn’t been in the news for many years, so he was a bit amazed. Only after looking carefully did he realize that this was all because of the video Natalie had shot and posted the other day. The Tony in the video was full of resentment, anger, despair, and foolishness, clearly showing all his emotions.
Tony hadn’t watched the video in detail the day it was shot. When he saw it today, he was shocked by his own performance. Tony wondered, was this really him? He thought that he would never have a moment of fame again. Mark Ellington’s oppressive bullying had made Tony give up on himself, recalling all those years of insults; his eyes became moist as he read more about himself online.
He realized that a lot of his old fans had left messages for him because The Crossing 2 was going to be filmed.
“Tony Bavel, the best in the world. We’ve been waiting for you for many years, Tony. No matter what you’re going through right now, I will always support you. Tony B: never give up. We love you.”
The number of hits and comments had increased by tens of thousands. Tony was getting even more emotional. After so many years of silence, it was moving that there were still so many fans who supported him. His hopes, which he thought had withered away long ago, came back to life in these moments. Looking at the appreciative comments on social media, Tony Bavel’s heart was filled with warmth.
That growing warmth took root in his heart, and he began to feel more and more determined. He decided to give Natalie a call. Natalie picked up the phone, surprised to hear from Tony again so soon. She said,
“What’s up, Tony?”
He said,
“Natalie, I’ve seen all the love for me on social media. Thank you so much. It means so much to me. It’s like I’m starting to see the value of my existence again.”
He was choked with emotion.
Natalie, although touched, said briskly,
“There’s no need to thank me, Tony. Remember that I’m counting on you to make money for me in the future. Training and rehearsing hard is the most important thing you can do for me.”
Despite her business-like tone, Tony still felt a touch of warmth in his heart as he nodded in agreement. He said,
“There’s something else I wanted to ask you. I was really touched when I saw the messages on social media. All those people reaching out to me, and I wanna ask you whether I can reply to those people’s messages.”
Tony’s cautiousness irritated Natalie a little. She said earnestly,
“Replying to messages is fine. You’re an independent individual, and you have your freedom. You really don’t have to ask my permission for everything you do.”
Tony said,
“Okay,”
but felt a little like a kid who had been scolded.