Soon, Tucker and Derrick returned with the drinks and the party started. The karaoke was banging. Daniel and Na Yun were on the duty of grilling the meat and would occasionally slip in to join in the fun.
Viviana did not participate in the fun and just sat quite in the corner. Chun Hua, who was sitting beside her took up the job as her temporary personal nanny as she passed everything and anything that Vivi's eyes stopped for more than three seconds.
As the barbeque party went on, the rest of the guest noticed something. Viviana had not picked up any alcohol. She had been drinking juice.
"Viviana. You don't drink?" Derrick asked.
The rest of the guests also turned to her, curious about the matter.
"I'm not a good drunk." Viviana gave a short response.
"Meaning that you've drunk before." Tucker also joined in.
"How bad?" Bryson was curious.
"Bad. Very bad."
Just then Daniel came with the new batch of grilled pork belly.
"I was not curious before when you refused drinks during the after shooting parties. But now I wanna see how bad of a drunk you become." He mused.
"Have you seen her drunk?"
Tucker Lee was a straight man and did not see the nature of Lyra and Viviana's relationship. All he thought was that the two came from the same company, shared the same agent and had worked in many drama's together, so they must've known each well.
Oh!... He couldn't be more wrong.
"No… I've never seen her drunk…" Lyra replied honestly. "In fact… I have never seen her drink."
"Never?" Na Yun asked.
Lyra had been waiting for a perfect time to throw dirt on Viviana. Now that the stage had been given to her, how could she just let it go.
"Never. Sister Vivi hates parties. She didn't even turn up for her farewell party."
Everyone: "???"
Viviana: "…"
"Even in the close-up parties. After the shooting of sister Vivi's party was done, Director Sam arranged a farewell party for her. But, she did not go."
"…"
"…"
Lyra pretended to not see the shocked face of the people and even ignored the warning gaze that Daniel was sending.
"Don't be curious about how bad she is when she gets drunk. The last time someone insisted that she drink ended up in an emergency room to get stitched…"
"!!!"
"!!!"
Everyone's eyes were fixed at the silent girl who was just sipping her drink as though her companion had not revealed a scandalous incident like she was just talking about taking a dog for a walk.
Lyra then looked around at the scandalized face of everyone. Then she gasped.
"I shouldn't be saying that, should I?"
She pretended as though she had just slipped and was now regretting it.
"I'm sorry Sister Vivi." With a little panic in her voice, she added. "This is a recording so it can be deleted, right?"
She turned to the direction where the production team was sitting. Then she looked back at Vivian. Her eyes, as pitiful as a wronged puppy as she apologized.
"I'm sorry Sister Vivi. I didn't mean to slip up."
Nobody made a sound. Even Agent Yan who wanted to run to Lyra and gag her didn't know how Viviana would react to it. He had just told Vivi to not act up and draw in too much attention. The girl said that as long as Lyra did not mess with her, she would do as he had instructed.
But Lyra had to keep on poking at the person's sore area.
'I had spoiled her too much… She's becoming more uncontrollable now.'
And as he had feared. Viviana acted.
"You have been slipping a lot these days."
The notorious Scandal Queen placed the glass of juice on the table. Her eyes which were aloof most of the time, now glinting with coldness and a bit of slyness.
"You've been slipping your tongue for almost four months now."
Lyra thought that with agent Yan's warning, Viviana would just have to suck whatever she gave her in silence. But she had not expected that the older woman would retaliate. She clearly felt the pressure from her gaze.
"But I hope you remember that I'm also a human and is capable of making mistakes. Maybe…"
Viviana sighed as she picked up her glass of juice, and twirled it as though she was twirling a wine glass.
"I could slip up too… Like how I slipped up on the set!"
"Pff!!!"
Daniel, who knew what Viviana was talking about, almost choked in his drink. But in the process he gained the questioning looks from the rest who did not get the inside joke.
"Excuse me."
He excused himself from them before he could lose himself and laughed out loud remembering what Viviana had done to Lyra on her last day on the set of 'Royal Physician.'
"If you can't control your tongue, eat what's on your plate and don't say a word."
Viviana advised as she picked up a grilled piece of pork belly and placed it on Lyra's plate.
If looks could kill, Viviana would be cut to a thousand pieces from the glare Lyra was giving her. But the woman seemed to be immune to the glare as it was ignored.
The amount of disrespect Viviana carried as she ridiculed Lyra was different from how she teased Derrick in the afternoon while they were playing. There was no tone of humor now.
Now, those who didn't understand her before could guess why the actress carried the label of villainess in her name. Anyone at the receiving end of her disrespect would surely hate her. If she had such an attitude, it would not be a surprise if she had offended someone in the higher up or a big shot in the industry.
And from what Lyra had slipped up just now, the actress must have done both.
But for Chun Hua and Bryson, and even Na Yun and Le Yang who were in the industry, it became more of a reason to admire her. The two idols knew the dirty side of the industry and even if they were one of the fortunate ones who had the protection of the company, they still had to please the big shots. And as long as it didn't cross their lines, they were ready to do so.
So, to them... Viviana, whom they knew now was someone who stuck to her principle was a figure to admire. Now they were sure that all the rumors and scandals about the girl must've been the plan arranged by the company. After all, it was not the first time for an entertainment agency to use an artist to promote another and bury him or her away after sucking off all the value of the person.
But they were not the ones with the power to help the woman. All they could do was pray for her… that Viviana could escape from the clasp of the company and maybe she could gain the recognition she deserved.