"The lead roles for The Emperor's Secret, Timothy Bright will play the role of the Emperor. He's from The House of Flame Entertainment. The Empress will be portrayed by Elizabeth Brown from Demon's Fang Entertainment. Supporting roles will be given to the rookies who went through all the auditions and workshops. From DFE, Tyler Johanssen will play as the general who falls in love with the Empress. The Empress' rival the High Rank Concubine will be played by Ara Khalil from HFE. The rest of the list  be posted on the film's website. We hope for your support in giving us good reviews. Thank you for coming." Secretary Li then steps down from the podium and shakes hand with President h.e.l.lgazer's Secretary. Both President shakes hand and smile for the camera. Both played the pretending game pretty well. No one would even know that both have conflicts with each other.

The first shooting day marks the start of Ara and Tyler's own pretending game. Talents from HFE arrived at the shooting place together, sent by the company's private vehicle. Manager Daniels escorted their company's talents to the venue and will manage the actions and public matters of every talent contracted to them. Their vehicle stops and the crew rushed to greet them all. Stacy and two more actors gets out first. They all came from the same audition as Ara. Since then, Stacy stays beside Ara all the time. Waiting for the right moment to embarra.s.s her in the public and s.n.a.t.c.h up her role if she can. They're followed by Timothy who helds out his hand to a.s.sist Ara on her steps. She held his hand and carefully steps out of the car. Stacy raises an eyebrow at that very scene, making her hate Ara even more. The director doesn't work either if the company, he's bery neutral and would just look on the talent not the bribe.

"Ara watch your steps." Timothy then closes the car door.

"Thanks, but aren't you being a little bit nice to me today? For the pleasure of the public eye I guess?" She smirks and lets go of his hand.

"Can't you just be grateful and stop uttering nonsense."

"Oh really? I don't think your kindness is free of charge." She chuckled.

"Tch. Rude girl." Timothy walks ahead of Ara and greeted the director. Manager Daniels then introduces the talents under HFE one by one to the director. Talents from the DFE are already at the area. Tyler and Elizabeth's closeness catches Ara's attention. She felt sad but she needs to hide it. Ara always steals a glance every now and then but Tyler doesn't even look at her. His attention is totally at Elizabeth. DFE's talent manager McCain walks towards them and greeted the director as well. Both talent managers introduces their talents to each other. This time, Tyler won't be able to ignore her presence.

"Manager Daniels you have quite of good looking talents these days."

"Manager McCain, they're all products of the latest audition we had. Your talents as well have the auras of a star."

"You're exaggerating it Manager Daniels. Anyways, it's time to introduce them to each other." McCain called his talents and introduces then one by one. "This is our famous actress Elizabeth Brown, her last film was a blockbuster hit. She even claimed the best actress for it. She'll play the empress for this film."

"h.e.l.lo everyone." She waved at them then clings into Tyler's arm. Ara struggles to stay calm but she have to endure it. She knows why Tyler's letting her do whatever she likes.

"Congratulations on the award Miss Brown. Well we also have the best actor in our company. Timothy Bright's the most in demand actor in this generation. Both of them will match perfectly." Timothy just ignored them. He's known for being so cold and arrogant but his acting is undeniably the best.

"The rest of the casts are also rookies, here is the biggest catch of the company. Tyler Johanssen, not only good looking but he's also smart. He just signed a contract with us but he's already piled up with work." Tyler also just ignored everyone else. The managers felt tension in the air and just decided to prepare them for the scenes.

"Tyler that girl, I always catch her looking this way. Do you know her?" Elizabeth leans closer to him. He really wants to push her away if only he can. How his heart aches seeing Ara talking with another guy.

"What girl?" He responded calmly.

"You don't even notice her, I must be overthinking. You really are a handsome guy, every girl would fall for you." She whimpers on his shoulder like a cat. Ara's heart feels like it's being crushed. Elizabeth clings like a snake and Tyler doesn't even mind at all. Timothy noticed her sudden change of mood. She was all talk a while ago then she becomes silent in a blink of an eye.

"Is something wrong Ara?"

"N-nothing. Heh, just that there's a scene that breaks my heart." She stares at the script to justify her alibi.

"Is it the part where your character was forced to be the emperor's concubine leaving your true love behind." Ara smiled, good thing Timothy buys her alibi.

"The most heartbreaking part of it was when she needed to pretend to be happy being a concubine of the Emperor in front of the one she loves. Don't you think?"

"That's really hard. Well I know you can play that role very well and grasp the emotions needed for it."

"I already know how it really feels. Executing it at the scene will be a piece of cake."

The director asks for Tyler and Ara to prepare for their scene. It's when the general has to let go of her character. For her to have a prosperous life that he can't even give her. Tyler and Ara both are already into that state. Their hearts wanna burst out and just be in each other's arms but isn't possible.

"Okay, everyone get ready. In 3,2,1 ACTION!"

"I've been waiting for you, good thinf you arrived just in time. What you said the other day, that we should run away. I--I'm going with you no matter where it takes us." She embraces him with all her love but he only grip her arms and shrug her off. His eyes looks so cold and fierce. He's not the same guy that he loved.

"Run away? Tch. I would never run away with you. What I said the other day was just an excuse for you to come here."

"What's going on with you?"

"I just realized that I'm so disgusted with you. I come here to tell you that I don't really love you."

"You don't mean that!" Her tears falls down as her heart breaks upon hearing her lovers words.

"I mean it. I would never love someone like you. I'm so done with pretending to be good to you. Finally I'm free!" He chuckled looking down at her as she burst into tears.

"This can't be! I hate you!" She runs away from his side crying her broken heart out.

"Yes, hate me. This will be the best for both of us. You'll live prosperously under the emperor's care. Being my woman will only cause you harm." He clenched his fist as his body trembles. He leans on the tree and cried. He must let go of the most important person in his life. How much he wants to hold her close to him. How much he wants to tell her that he loves her so much. How much he wanted to wipe those tears away. How much he wanted to stop her from running away. But now, he's alone. His heart's crying for his lost. The only woman he loves now hates him. He reached out his hand hoping that she'll come back and take it. But a few minutes pa.s.s, never did she came back.

"CUT! Excellent job Ara and Tyler. Both of you executed the right emotions really well." The director praises them both. Timothy walks towards Ara and wiped off her tears.

"I told you, you're gonna nail it."

"Thanks, but I can wipe my tears myself." She hurried to her seat and wipes off her tears. She wants to run to Tyler's side and hug him as tight as she could. Tyler feels the same way and just endured how much he misses her. The other scenes were done and they all packed up. So far the director's quite impressed with their acting skills and praised everyone for working hard. The talents from HFE heads to their private vehicle and drops them off at their homes. Ara thanked everyone for the efforts and bid her goodbye. She hurried to her apartment door and hoping when she opens it up, Tyler would be there waiting for her. With a bit of hesitation, she opened the door and a familiar warmth embraces her. Tyler welcomed her home with a smile and a loving kiss from him. There's no denying that their feelings for each other is so strong for them to endure for so long.