He's Better Than Me, Okay?

Others might not be able to see the problem, but Sikandar was already doubting his life.

Director Jagan called 'cut' and said, "This shot isn't bad. You're all getting into your characters very quickly. But Sikandar, you and Ish Pratap should be evenly matched in this scene. Don't give in just because Ish Pratap is thin. Let's do it again."

Only then did the onlookers realize that the person who had displeased the director was actually Sikandar.

The two of them fought quite well, but Sikandar failed.

"Again." Sikandar had high expectations of himself to begin with. He was not satisfied with his performance just now. Even if the director did not say it, he could not possibly think that his performance earlier could pass.

After composing himself, he started over.

After gaining a certain understanding of Ish Pratap's skills, Sikandar raised his guard. He knew that he could not underestimate him anymore and was already fully focused on dealing with him.

Isha could see in his eyes that he was wary of her and taking it seriously this time.

This time, Isha still did not give in to him. If she could not let him know her strength in the beginning, their cooperation later would not go smoothly.

He had to be willing to cooperate with her. That way, the movie would have greater tension and the whole story would be more convincing.

Making a movie didn't rely on the efforts of just one man. It relied on the hard work of all the staff and actors present. One person won't be able to turn the tide and pull up the entire movie, and a good movie shouldn't have obvious shortcomings.

Although Sikandar and Ish Pratap started fighting, there was still a gap between them and a difference in the fighting style that Director Jagan wanted.

"Rest for a while. Sikandar, think carefully about how you should carry out this scene. Don't always give in to Ish Pratap. He can't be broken. He's not porcelain. Are you afraid that you'll have to pay compensation if you hurt him?" Although Director Jagan was a very high-ranking director, he was very humorous.

Just a few words from him removed the awkward atmosphere.

During the break, Sister Yashi asked, "Sikandar, what's wrong with you? Isn't fighting your forte? Why can't you even compare to Ish Pratap?"

"He's better than me, okay?" Sikandar said in a muffled voice.

Sister Yashi was stunned. "Are you serious?"

Isha looked so weak that no one would think that he had that kind of ability.

However, the truth was that Director Jagan had already lectured Sikandar about the scene several times, but the shot still did not pass.

Ish Pratap was clearly performing normally, but Sikandar just couldn't keep up... He had to admit that he had underestimated Ish Pratap and didn't dare to underestimate Ish Pratap's ability anymore. It made sense for Director Jagan to choose Ish Pratap as the male lead.

The blood on Ish Pratap's face had already dried and shifted. He went to fix his makeup.

Sikandar put down the towel to wipe his sweat and walked to Ish Pratap's side. He said, "Ish Pratap, let's go through it before filming starts."

"Alright." Isha nodded.

For the time being, she did not know if Sikandar's suggestion was sincere or if he wanted to play tricks, so she raised her guard.

After she got her makeup done, Isha came out. Sikandar leaned against the wall and gestured for her to come over.

Isha stepped forward. As soon as she took action, she knew that Sikandar's opposing emotions had eased a lot. He probably knew in his heart that it was more important to cooperate and not be hostile.

Isha followed him and went through the movements.

After Director Jagan shouted for them to start again, Isha put away her emotions that were specially targeted at Sikandar and no longer deliberately suppressed him. All her moves were reciprocated. Sikandar also clearly felt that the pressure on him had lessened. Finally, he and Isha got through the scene.

"Not bad, not bad. See, you guys are getting into your characters now?" Director Jagan shouted. "This scene is over. Let's pack up for lunch."

Sikandar looked down at the time and realized that they had used four hours to film the scene just now and it was all because of him.

A chill ran down his spine. He finally understood why Director Jagan had chosen Ish Pratap. He was young and inexperienced, and his reputation was not well-known. He had no experience before, but the moment he acted, people would completely forget that he was a newbie.

This time, he was convinced.

The production team distributed lunch boxes one by one. Someone opened the lunch box and said in surprise, "Wow, there are so many dishes. There's actually fish, meat, prawns, and all kinds of delicious mushrooms. The soup is even borscht. Isn't our production team too generous?"

"That's right. I thought it would be the same food given to other crews out there. It's usually the same boring three dishes and one soup every day. There won't even be a big piece of meat. I didn't expect to be so happy here."

"What do you know? This is all thanks to Ish Pratap. Pratap Corporation has taken care of all our food for the next four months. All of us can enjoy better food."

"Mr. Pratap is really generous and handsome. He really loves Ish Pratap. I'm so envious."

The assistant brought Isha's food over. Because the food in the production team was the same, it was inconvenient to specially cook for her alone. Therefore, Shivam took advantage of the fact that everyone knew about his relationship with Ish Pratap and directly paid for the entire production team's food and beverage.

As for what the dishes were every day, of course, it was whatever Isha wanted to eat.

While eating, Isha received a message from Shivam.

[You wouldn't let me go in with you this morning. How are things?]

[Very good. After the morning shoot, Sikandar seems to have stopped acting out.]

[I didn't expect him to be less skilled than you.]

[Of course. Don't you know who taught me?] After saying that, Isha remembered that not only had Shivam taught her, but Gaurav had also taught her before.

She changed the topic. [The lunch is delicious. Can I get a second serving?]

[Of course.] Shivam smiled. He naturally knew why she suddenly changed the topic.

She could sense even his faintest emotions. This satisfied him.

Needless to say, the scenes in the afternoon went very smoothly. Several scenes between Isha and Sikandar were completed in one take.

Such success also motivated Sikandar. He was even more engrossed in his role and was very immersed in it.

In the afternoon, he kept getting good reviews from Director Jagan. At the end of his scenes in the afternoon, he smiled and high-fived Isha. "See you tomorrow, then."

"See you tomorrow," she said with a smile.

Sikandar turned around and realized that he did not hate people who looked too exquisite and beautiful, after all. Calling someone a sissy and looking down on them was really the greatest prejudice in the world.

Isha packed her things and walked out slowly. As soon as she stepped out of the studio, a soft voice stopped her. "Mr. Pratap!"

Isha turned around and saw a woman standing not far from her. She looked familiar. She thought for a moment, then remembered her name and identity.

Vani was Shivam's fiancee.

No, ex-fiancee.

Vani quickly walked toward Isha and said, "Mr. Pratap, I'm Vani. Can I have a chat with you?"

"What is it about?" Isha was also curious why this ex-fiancee, who had almost nothing to do with Shivam, was looking for her.

"Let's find a place to sit. I wish to talk to you about something," Vani immediately said when she saw that Ish Pratap seemed to agree.

Before she met Ish Pratap, she had only seen photos of Ish Pratap and Shivam appearing together on the internet. She did not think much of such a man.

However, when she saw Ish Pratap in real life, she realized that his noble temperament was indeed charming. The youthfulness in his every move was really attractive.

Good looks sure went beyond gender. It wouldn't even be surprising if other men fell for a man like Ish Pratap.

After sitting down in a cafe, Isha ordered a drink. Vani said cautiously, "Mr. Pratap, actually, I had no choice but to look for you this time. I'm sure you know very well that I'm Mr. Pratap's fiancée, right?"

"Lady, shouldn't it be ex-fiancee?" Isha corrected her. "I heard that you didn't even show up when you were supposed to get married. It must have been almost six or seven years ago. It's a little inappropriate for you to say that now."

Vani was a little embarrassed and uncomfortable for a few seconds. "I made a mistake. I really didn't expect Mr. Pratap to be with you after a few years."

"Since you're an ex and you don't even have much interaction with him, it doesn't seem like you have anything to do with how he lives his life and what his feelings are."

"Yes, it has nothing to do with me. However, I'm not completely unrelated to him. I still have the betrothal letter that Old Madam Pratap gave me back then. This engagement was never explicitly annulled."

When Isha heard this, she couldn't help but raise her eyebrows. Her eyebrows had been trimmed to a sharp point today. This action made her look a little imposing.

Vani knew that she had been too blunt and said, "Mr. Pratap, don't misunderstand. I didn't come back to snatch Mr. Pratap from you."

"Well, you can't snatch him from me either. Don't make it sound like you gave him to me. The words you said today are very likely to cause a misunderstanding, but you even told me not to misunderstand. Just get straight to the point. There's no need to beat about the bush." Since she was using Ish Pratap's identity, Isha couldn't be bothered to beat about the bush with her.

Vani's face was a little red. Ish Pratap's words clearly did not give her any face at all.

She held her coffee cup and crossed her fingers over it. "I came back this time because my family's business is in a crisis and we need investments to get through it. My father is the one who's been managing our family's business since he founded the company. Now that the company is in trouble and is about to go bankrupt, I don't want to watch my father's business collapse. Therefore, I had no choice but to come and ask Mr. Pratap to help me on account of our past relationship. Mr. Pratap, don't worry. My return has nothing to do with my feelings. It's just because of my career."

She said it pitifully. Her words were indeed filled with deep emotions, and her speech was very touching.

However, Isha understood what she meant. She said calmly, "You said that your family is in trouble and you came to Mr. Pratap for help, but you keep mentioning that you used to be his ex-fiancee. Are you planning to use this to ask him to help you?"

"Mr. Pratap, that's really not what I meant. I only mentioned the past because I wanted Mr. Pratap to help me on account of our past relationship. You also know that Mr. Pratap isn't such an easy person to meet. If he doesn't have any connections to that person, he won't help them. I didn't mean anything else by what I said." Vani was anxious to defend herself.

"Since you're looking for Mr. Pratap to invest in your business, why did you come looking for me? Just look for Mr. Pratap. Your past relationship was with him, not me. Why are you looking for me?" Isha found a loophole in her words and looked at her sideways.

Isha's words pierced Vani's heart and exposed her true purpose.

Vani clasped her hands together uncomfortably. "I was thinking that since you're Mr. Pratap's new lover now, he'll definitely listen to you. If you put in a good word for me, Mr. Pratap will definitely listen to you. Besides, I believe that neither you nor Mr. Pratap is willing to see me appear. After all, you and Mr. Pratap are considered public figures now. If word gets out, it won't be good either..."

Isha listened to her calmly. This woman was really good at beating about the bush. Her words were clearly pitiful, but every word carried a deeper meaning.

Isha leaned back in her chair and said, "Miss Vani, first of all, I'm not Mr. Pratap's new lover because you're not his old lover. Hence, you shouldn't call me his new lover. Also, I'm sure you know very well why he wanted to get married back then, why you sent your photo over, and why you were chosen, right? It's all just because you happened to be in the stack of photos and his assistant chose someone his grandmother thought was suitable. You must've had an opinion on this too. Otherwise, you wouldn't have missed out on your wedding day.

"Secondly, since you need him to invest in your business, please go through the proper channels to meet Mr. Pratap. If you're capable of making money, your company can bring tangible benefits to Pratap Group. I believe that Pratap Group won't give up such a good opportunity.

"I'm a public figure now, so you think I'm afraid of gossip, which is why you're threatening me with the possibility of a scandal just to get me to help you, right?

"Miss Vani, you keep saying that you want me to speak up for you in front of Mr. Pratap, but there are traps buried everywhere in your words. Is this the right attitude to have when begging someone for help?"

A trace of panic flashed across Vani's eyes.

Isha was right. Others might not know, but how could Vani not know? It was precisely because she knew that Ish Pratap was just a small celebrity in the entertainment industry who was given a role in a movie simply because he had followed Shivam for a long time. She treated Ish Pratap as a fool and thought that with just a few simple words, she could make Ish Pratap convince Shivam to help her.

She didn't expect that the speech she had thought about for so long would be analyzed to this extent. Isha saw through it at a glance and exposed her in just a few words.

Vani felt that something was wrong and panicked.

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