"Ahhh—" Julia screamed as she heard the door slam shut behind her with a loud "bang"!
She was pushed to the ground, landing face-first in a rather undignified manner.
When she managed to get up and return to the door, she found it wouldn't budge no matter how hard she pulled.
She banged on the door several times and shouted "Help!" but all she heard was her own echo.
When she had followed that so-called staff member here, she already felt the place was too secluded. At first, she could still see people around, but eventually, there was no one in sight.
It was clear now—she had been set up.
The person who had planned this had chosen this spot precisely because no one would come here, making it the perfect trap.
Julia turned around to inspect the place. It was pitch dark, with only a faint light coming from what seemed like a ventilation shaft.
She turned on the flashlight function on her phone and realized she was in a conference room. Since there were no meetings scheduled, the room was naturally unused and deserted.
She walked around and discovered there were two doors: the main door she had entered through and a back door, but the back door was also sealed shut.
What should she do now?
Julia then noticed that her phone had no signal!
Of course, being in the basement, there was no signal unless a signal booster was installed.
"Darn it!" Julia couldn't help but curse.
She had always known that this industry was incredibly complicated, but she never expected to be schemed against before even stepping a foot into it.
With no way out, she could only call for help. However, her phone had no signal.
Holding her phone cautiously, she turned in a circle and suddenly stopped. In this spot, there was a faint single bar of signal.
Julia looked up and saw that it was near the ventilation duct.
Just as she was about to make a call, that faint bar disappeared.
The signal came and went sporadically.
Julia glanced up at the ventilation duct again. It seemed like she would have to climb up there to get a stronger signal.
She dragged a chair over and climbed up to the small ventilation area. The space was so cramped that she had to keep her head low. If it weren't for her flexibility, she wouldn't have been able to manage it.
But once she got up there, she realized, who should she call?
911?
What would she say?
That she was trapped in an underground conference room because someone set her up? They'd probably think she was crazy.
Her contact list offered no one who could rescue her. She had a husband, but she had never even seen his face, let alone had his phone number.
Julia Avery opened her call history. The most recent calls were from Grady and—
That man from the other day!
Thinking about that man, Julia Avery couldn't help but feel her heart race.
Should she call him?
Would he come?
Her finger hovered over the unsaved phone number, and suddenly, with a slip, she accidentally pressed it. The call went through!
Julia didn't bother with the phone and shifted her position; staying in one posture for too long was exhausting.
Just then, the call connected.
"Hello—" Even though they had only met twice, Julia was very familiar with his voice.
"Hi, I... I'm trapped. Can you come and help me?"
"What? Where are you now? Your signal is bad. Move to a different spot; there's too much noise!"
"This is the best signal I can get here." Julia quickly told him her location, but just as she finished, the call dropped.
She didn't know if he had hung up or if the call had dropped due to the poor signal.
She also didn't know if he had heard her address clearly, or if he would come.
Julia couldn't hold on any longer. She got down from her spot and decided she had to rely on herself. She needed to find a possible way out.
After almost an hour of trying everything, even attempting to crawl through the ventilation shaft, it was clear it was impossible.
The place was stuffy and hot, and all the effort had drained her energy. Julia sat down, drenched in sweat, gasping for air.
If no one found her trapped here, would she suffocate to death? She was already starting to feel short of breath.
"Julia Avery—" a voice called from the doorway.
Julia immediately propped herself up and moved toward the door. "I'm here..."
"Over here, open the door," the man's voice instructed.
The door was quickly opened, and a beam of flashlight light shone in, causing Julia to close her eyes and turn her head away. After being in the pitch-black space for so long, she wasn't used to such bright light.
"It's okay now," Royce said, waving off the staff who had opened the door. The staff member left immediately.
He turned to look at Julia."Hey, you can come out now! Didn't get enough of being in there?"
Julia moved her feet and walked out. As soon as she stepped out, her legs gave way, and she almost fell. Luckily, Royce was quick to catch her.
"What are you doing? Trying to scam me?"
"Dizzy," Julia replied weakly, her eyes still closed.
Royce pulled Julia into his arms. "It's too stuffy in here. Let's go find somewhere to sit for a while."
Julia took a few deep breaths and then wriggled out of Royce's embrace. She looked up at him. "Okay."
Royce led Julia through a series of twists and turns until they reached the ground floor. He found a place with chairs where they could rest for a bit.
Suddenly, Julia slapped her thigh hard. "Oh no!"
"Why are you freaking out?" Royce frowned.
"I'm supposed to be at an audition today! I need to get there now!" Julia immediately stood up and hurriedly ran towards the audition room she had been to earlier.
When she arrived, the waiting room was already empty, with staff cleaning up.
"Excuse me, has the audition for the third female lead ended?"
"It's all over. Why are you just getting here?" one of the staff asked nonchalantly. These days, everyone was desperate to become a star, and yet someone was late!
Julia quickly dashed to the next room, which was the actual audition room.
Inside, two assistant directors were sorting through stacks of papers while chatting.
"Directors, I haven't had my audition yet!"
Both assistant directors looked up at her, one of them clearly annoyed. "Young lady, the most important thing in this industry is to follow the rules. If you can't even manage your time, how do you expect to make it? Come back next time."
"Yeah, it's been over half an hour since it ended," the other director chimed in.