Up to this point, Aurora could think of only one person who’d go that far, and no one else made sense.

Moments later, her phone rang. Seeing the caller ID flash with the director’s name, she wasn’t the least bit surprised.

Given the situation online, he was probably the most anxious person of all.

The show hadn’t even aired yet, and chaos was already brewing. If someone with an agenda decided to exploit it, what then?

Thankfully, this had happened before the premiere. If it had blown up mid-broadcast, Aurora didn’t even want to imagine how bad it could’ve gotten for the production team.

Taking a deep breath, she finally answered the call.

“Mr. Smith.”

The moment she spoke, his voice came through, laced with worry. “Aurora, don’t be afraid. I’ll handle whatever’s happening online.”

“Huh?”

She blinked in surprise, caught off guard.

She had been ready for a scolding, or worse, for him to say the show was being delayed or canceled altogether.

After all, this controversy started because of her. If it ended up hurting the entire production, she wouldn’t have blamed him for being angry.

“You’re not upset with me?” she asked, confused.

The director sounded genuinely puzzled. “Why would I be? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Well… I guess not.”

“Exactly, this is just online nonsense started by people with bad intentions. If I turned on you now or shut down the show, wouldn’t that make me no better than those vultures waiting for a fall?”

His words hit her straight in the chest.

Before the call, she’d braced herself for the worst–for anger, blame, even withdrawal from the project. Instead, what she felt was relief and a quiet, unexpected gratitude.

Aurora hadn’t expected such kind words from the director.

By all logic, she should have been the one comforting him, not the other way around.

After all the time they’d spent working together, a genuine sense of camaraderie had formed between them.

“Mr. Smith, you really don’t have to think from my perspective. No matter what happens, the show still needs to go on,” she said sincerely.

Her tone made him pause, immediately sensing something off. “What do you mean by that, Aurora? Are you saying you don’t want to continue working with us?”

“Of course not!” she quickly clarified. “I just meant I don’t want to hold up production because of me."

“There are other guests involved, and their schedules are already set. If my situation causes delays or problems for the show, I’d feel terrible about it.”

She spoke honestly, voicing what was truly on her mind.

The director, however, didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.

“Oh, so that’s what you were thinking,” he said with mock seriousness.

“I thought it was something worse. The only reason I called was to reassure you, to tell you not to worry about any of this.”

Aurora blinked, confused. “What do you mean?”

If this were any other situation, she’d expect to be cut from the project by now.

After all, what kind of director would keep a guest who was already surrounded by online scandal? In her experience, most would’ve dropped her the moment things turned ugly.