And pay.
Zoey's bright eyes fell the very next second after tapping pay.
Drawing the phone closer to her face, her brows instantly knitted into a tight frown.
What? Insufficient balance?
Though the money in one of her accounts was frozen, she hadn't put money into this one in a long time and almost forgot she had monthly remunerations coming in from it.
Logging into her bank account, she almost choked on her saliva seeing she had withdrawn it somewhere.
Since when did she…?
Her attention instantly diverted to a message which suddenly popped up on her screen.
"I see you in the countryside before next year, I break your legs."
Her eyes widened happily and she hurriedly exited her bank app.
That's right.
She blocked her from reaching her on the phone, but she never did the same to their messaging app.
Once she informed her of the living conditions here and how poor the Smith family were, surely, her mother would take pity on her seeing how badly she was suffering.
Plus, the room was so tiny she couldn't breathe properly unless she opened the windows.
She had just finished composing the lengthy message when—
'This user is no longer available' suddenly appeared in her typing space.
She was stunned.
This woman was really bent on throwing her to these meatless wolves.
Cruelty.
As she lamented inwardly, the door to the classroom was pushed open and a woman in sleek, fitted beige cashmere pants entered.
Instantly, the chattering in the classroom disappeared and everyone slithered to their seats.
The woman placed her handbag on the desk and pushed up her glasses, casting a stoic glance the way of one of the students.
"Class president, has the class chosen their roles?"
The class president, a boy wearing wearing hearing aid behind his left ear, got on his feet and nodded, "Yes, Professor Hartwell."
Eugenia hummed and raised her eyes, sweeping it across the class, "And which one of you has made up their minds to try out for the role of the female lead?"
As always, Kate confidently got to her feet.
Eugenia Hartwell swept her gaze across the class a second time, the corners of her lips twitching slightly when she saw no one else standing.
With no one else vying for the role, there was no need to audition. Thus, the role was already Kate's.
She was just about to say so when someone else stood up.
"Finally, someone who wants to step out of their comfort zone! You two, come to the front immediately."
The class was taken aback.
Someone else wanted to audition for the female lead?
The psychotic, mentally unstable female lead who's bipolar with three personality disorders?
Glancing behind them, they were stunned again.
"The Smith sisters are vying for one role?"
"Didn't she just come from the countryside? Since when do our taxes buy such expensive books for the students there?"
"I'm sure she hasn't read it. She must've gotten up because Kate got up."
"It's barely been an hour since she came and she's already competing with Kate? Pathetic."
"Why bother? Let her audition for the role and humiliate herself. This isn't Kate's first play, and we know how good of an actor she is."
"Yeah, let's just enjoy the show."
Eugenia's eyes twinkled the more they spoke.
Ah, true drama.
Three years with this class and all her leads were with Kate Smith. Though she didn't have a problem with it, she was tired of seeing the same face and wanted something new for a change.
Even if this new girl didn't do as well, it still made her happy someone else thought to try.
To get them out of their comfort zones and prepare them for life on the screen—that's what she was here for, after all.
Kate lowered her eyes to smile freely, mocking Zoey in her mind.
Competing with me, really? Oh, you fool. You escaped two of my tricks today but stupidly threw yourself right at my feet.
Watch and see how I make you a laughingstock!
The center of attention, however, was perplexed seeing how everyone suddenly turned their attention to her.
What is this? Going to beg her future husband for money—did she say that out loud?
"The Smith sisters should hurry to the front of the class for the audition. We don't have all day." Eugenia repeated, her brows knitting into a frown when neither of the sisters moved.
Kate straightened up, her chin held high as she elegantly walked to the front of the class.
"Audition? What audition? I didn't sign up for any audition," Zoey frowned, also walking to the front.
Kate smiled faintly, turning to encourage her, "Oh, don't be like that, sister. Even if you have no faith in yourself, don't make it so obvious; otherwise, this won't even be an audition."
Her words, on the surface, sounded like encouragement, but Zoey caught the underhanded insult almost immediately.
However, that was none of her business.
Audition. Drama class. These two went hand-in-hand.
Throughout her schooling years, she avoided this class like a plague. Not because it wasn't interesting, but because she found it boring and often fell asleep as soon as it began.
Something about how they always wept during the tragedy scenes was soothing to her brain. So she often snuck in to sleep at the back of the class while they rehearsed.
The class president walked to the front and pushed a script into their hands.
Zoey dropped the script almost immediately, stating flatly, "I'm not auditioning."
Kate bit down on her lower lip, "At least make an attempt. Don't run just because you'll lose to me."
Zoey ignored her and tried to leave, but the class president, who was sharing flyers for the festival, pulled her back to stuff one into her hand.
Eugenia didn't stop her from leaving and began addressing the class, "So different schools, including ours, were invited to the Annual Drama Festival at Laun."
"There'll be an award ceremony, and the documented media of the festival will be shared with the public a week after."
"The award is internationally recognized, so it'll be an intense competition. Many of you will be dropped if your acting is subpar."
Zoey reached the door, stretching out her hand to pull it open, when her eyes landed on the flyer.
Thirty million cash prize?!
Behind her, Kate was smiling smugly seeing a separate designated prize for the best-performing and visually stunning female lead.
Though she knew she'd meet a lot of other capable contestants, she was aware this would require voting and not just the judgment of the judges.
With her fans at school and on social media, one had to be blindly stunning and good to beat her.
She turned, preparing to walk back to her seat when someone waltzed past her with a change of heart.
"I'll audition for the role of Brielle Sloane."