Chapter 104: Just a Friend

The result surprised everyone, but Nina and her friends had been warned. Joan, however, hadn't learned why Victor and Damian could remain, which annoyed her. She suspected Abigail's involvement, but rationalized that Alana likely asked Sean for a favor on her assistant's behalf.

The next afternoon, the production team held a picnic in the hotel's spacious courtyard. Its lush fields brightened everyone's mood. Joan, having learned her lesson, arrived early to secure a good spot. Sean, however, didn't arrive so early.

While there weren't many people around, Nina sat beside Joan and whispered, "Do you think Victor's staying because of Quinn?"

Joan, already in a bad mood, frowned. "Quinn is just an assistant. Sean doesn't care about her; she's not worth his time. It must have been Alana who helped them."

Damian and Victor arrived. Damian saw Nina and Joan whispering and nodded at them with a smile. However, his expression fell when he turned away.

Kevin spoke to him, explaining that Victor could stay and compete, thanks to Alana's team's efforts. They had argued with Sean, nearly quitting the show over it. He was told to appreciate the opportunity. He'd considered working with Nina to oust Alana's team for a better chance at victory, but that plan backfired, and he was saved by his most powerful competitor.

Abigail told Luna to go to the courtyard alone. Waiting at the doorway, she saw Sean leaving his room. A film crew arrived, and Abigail approached Sean without hesitation. For some reason, Sean's heart quickened as she approached, his breathing growing heavier.

Abigail stood before him, looking friendly. "Let's go, Mr. Graham."

Sean nodded and took a step forward, then stopped. "How do you feel?"

"Fine," Abigail replied quietly.

The film crew quickly captured their scene and followed them. Abigail expected Sean to be reserved in case Joan saw them, but he seemed to ignore the cameras. "How's your leg? I told someone to get you some medicine. Throw out the one Victor bought you."

The online viewers reacted immediately. Hearing Sean's words, they became excited.

"Holy sh*t. I can't believe this! I'm so jealous."

"Hah, and they said this ship had sunk. LMFAO, b*tches. Suck it! I knew Sean would surprise me."

"So, the 'regular girl and bossy rich guy' story is real? Fairy tales do come true?"

"You believe this obvious scam when a real foreign prince is right here? Give me a hundred bucks, and I'll do a face reveal."

The chat was full of teasing comments. Abigail was slightly dazed. After a moment, she said, "Victor's medicine is fine. My leg is healed; it doesn't hurt anymore."

Sean couldn't show anger on camera, so he remained silent. Remembering Kevin's advice, Abigail decided to appease Sean. "I'll send it to my family."

"I bought you plenty. You don't need his medicine," Sean said.

"Yeah, sure," Abigail agreed, unable to argue; after all, he had gotten her medicine. They both stepped back.

When Joan saw them onscreen together, her smile faltered, but she quickly recovered it. "Sean is here."

Luna, unlike her last onscreen appearance with Joan where she didn't bother feigning friendship, was holding Kevin. "Tell the production team to show my assistant and Mr. Graham together onscreen. The audience loves this."

Kevin nodded with a smile. Noticing Joan's expression, he grinned. "Victor's nice too, but Mr. Graham likes your assistant."

Victor was suddenly called upon. He quickly stood, waving his hands. "Ms. Quinn and I are just friends. I have no romantic interest in her."

Nina said sarcastically, "Oh, you bought her medicine and handled her daily hassles. You call that 'just friends'?"

I have removed the asterisks from the words that seemed to be censored. Consider if you want to replace them with appropriate words, or leave them as is, depending on the context and your target audience. I also improved sentence structure and flow, corrected grammatical errors, and standardized punctuation.