Tess clutched at her chest, her complexion turning ghostly as she dropped to the ground, a faint smirk of triumph crossing her lips.

She had achieved her aim.

At that moment, the director rose to his feet and applauded. "Amazing! Everybody should take notes. This is their first scene together and they have this incredible chemistry. If you all could perform Like that, I'd throw a massive party!"

When the director mentioned a massive party, all the actors lit up with excitement. "Director, if you're serious about this, I'm down to give my best performance!"

The director, seeing their energy, nodded and said, “I always keep my word."

He then glanced at Effie and Tess. "You two did great. Take a break, you've earned it."

Effie beamed with the praise, tucked the prop knife into its box, and headed to a chair. Tess, on the other hand, just lay there on the ground, not moving an inch.

The room went quiet; everyone was confused by the scene. The director didn't hesitate and asked a crew member to go see what was up with Tess.

The crew member got close to Tess and noticed blood pooling on the ground. She gasped, and then let out a scream.

The whole set went still at the sound.

The director frowned and asked, “What's happening?"

The crew member pointed at Tess, trembling, and stammered, “There's blood... it's everywhere."

“What ?"

The director was taken aback. He rushed over, saw Tess soaked in blood, and shouted, "Someone call an ambulance, now!"

Everyone suddenly understood how serious this was. People grabbed phones and some ran to help Tess. The director yelled, “Get the props manager here, right away!"

A crew member darted off and returned with the props manager, who arrived in a flash.

The director didn't waste time. “Is this how you take care of the props?"

The props manager looked baffled. "It wasn't me, I swear. I double-checked everything."

"That's enough," the director snapped, cutting him off. He turned to Effie. “Effie, get over here!"

Effie rushed over but, when she saw the blood, she stopped in her tracks. Her hands were also stained red. Her mind went blank.

How could there be real blood?

Wasn't it supposed to be a prop knife?

Dazed and unable to react, she heard the other actors whispering to each other. "Why is there real blood? Wasn't that a fake knife?"

"Who knows, maybe someone's trying to hurt Tess. She's been getting a lot of attention lately."