too late for a second chance novel (Lila and Dorian)

The rest of the night was a blur. Kieran frowned and checked his phone.

There was a message from Landon. "Kieran, did you and Lila get home safely?" So, it was Lila who brought him back. A quick glance at his call log confirmed she had called from the night before.

He replied to Landon, whose reply came almost instantly. "Seriously, you waited till morning to let me know you're home? Why didn't you wait until I died of worry before telling me?"

Kieran ignored his friend's dramatics and quietly slipped out of bed. After a quick wash up, he headed downstairs.

In the living room, a bouquet lay on the coffee table—purple tulips, their petals already withered, mixed with lisianthus blooms. Lila's favorites.

His gaze darkened. Had someone else given them to her? Without a word, he swept the flowers into the trash, then tossed something on top to cover them from view.

Skipping breakfast, he left for the office. But he made sure to have Cindy prepare breakfast for Lila before he went.

When Lila finally stirred awake, it was already 9:00 am, and her body was still sore. "How does Kieran have so much stamina? Does he ever get tired? If it weren't for me tapping out, he'd probably keep going till sunrise," she groaned inwardly.

After lazing in bed for a little while, she got up to freshen up. When she saw the bouquet sticking out of the trash, she froze. It hit her that she had forgotten to give those flowers to Kieran last night.

Curious, she asked Cindy, "Did you throw these away?"

"No, I didn't."

Llla nodded. So, it must've been Kieran.

The bouquet had wilted a bit overnight because she had forgotten to put it in a vase, but still-he had thrown them straight into the trash. Did that mean he didn't like them?noveldrama

Resting her chin on her hand, she made a mental note. "Next time, I should ask him what kind of flowers he actually likes."

After a leisurely morning at home, Lila headed to the office in the afternoon.

Cedric was glad that she was fine. "This movie is our own project. If you come across two actors with almost the same skill levels and one happens to be from our company, you should pick them."

Lila nodded. "Of course." She understood the business well—keeping resources within the company.

"By the way, what's Jamie been up to lately?" she asked.

It had been a hectic few weeks, and with everything on her plate, she hadn't had the chance to check in on Jamie or her situation with Teddy. Oddly enough, she'd run into Matthew more often than them.

"I haven't seen much of her. I haven't assigned her anything lately. Ethan's been busy taking Teddy to events. Matthew's work has been on hold because of his injury, but he just got out of the hospital, right? I was thinking of having him try out for a role in your project. If there's a fitting role, he can go with you.

"Honestly, it seems like variety shows aren't his thing. He's gone on two and ended up in trouble both times. So, he should just focus on acting But he could use more coaching-talent only goes so far without skill.

Lila nodded in agreement. "Let Teddy try for a role too. If he and Matthew both get in, I'll let Ethan take a break."

Cedric didn't mind-since they were

her artists, she could handle the

arrangements. After pausing for a moment, he added, "Since you mentioned Jamie... I actually ran into her twice recently, and she didn't seem too happy. You might want to check in on her when you get a chance."

After he left, Lila thought about it. Could it still be about the pressure to get married? Hadn't she already decided on Soren? In this case, she figured it would be best to have Teddy join another project for now.

With that in mind, she started combing through potential scripts.

It wasn't long before Teddy showed up at her office. He looked through a few scripts and settled on one. "How about I try out for this young warrior role in a historical drama?"

Just then, Jamie walked in and caught the tail end of the conversation. "Why don't you audition for the script Lila's holding?"