Rob quickly noticed that something was wrong. Although it was normal to shiver after getting caught in the rain a physiological response Demi, wrapped in a blanket, was still trembling, but Hugo's condition was far more severe, making Rob feel somewhat concerned.
Joseph had originally been watching Hugo with worry, getting ready to help him change out of his wet clothes. But just as he got halfway up, he unintentionally caught a glimpse of Allerge's expression. The schadenfreude in that look wasn't just the typical "enemies meet, eyes blaze with hatred" kind of stare it was more like a "you deserved this" expression.
As an agent, Joseph was not only skilled at networking, but also had a sharp eye for detail. His mind immediately flashed back to the moment Hugo was getting drenched. He frowned and gently shook Hugo, asking, "When you were getting rained on earlier, was it cold water or warm water?"
Hugo's brain was a bit muddled at the moment. His head was burning up badly, but he still maintained a sliver of clarity. Frowning, he replied, "Cold water. Why? Is there a problem?" Clearly, he didn't understand the trick hidden in all this.
Joseph suddenly sprang to his feet. "Rob, why was the water cold when Hugo was being rained on?" Although on set, the director and producer were the ones in charge, and Hugo wasn't yet a top-tier star with enough influence to oppose the director, Joseph, as his agent, would never back down on matters of principle.
While questioning Rob, Joseph headed toward the bathtub where Hugo had just been soaked. His eyes remained locked on Allerge, and that chilling gaze made Allerge shiver slightly.
It was only then that Allerge remembered he had been too busy watching the show to drain the bathtub afterward. That was bad. But he quickly consoled himself, reminding himself that he'd already prepared a backup plan. He'd shift the blame onto another crew member, claiming there was a mishap during preparation.
Rob's expression was extremely grim. Before shooting that scene, Joseph had already explained that Hugo's health wasn't great recently and even implied it was due to drug use. This wasn't exactly a secret in the industry, so Rob wasn't surprised. That's why Joseph had specifically requested warm water to prevent Hugo's health from deteriorating and affecting the production schedule. Rob had agreed readily.
Rob himself didn't want anything to go wrong. In fact, he was quite satisfied with Hugo. A talented actor who's also willing to work hard was welcomed by any director. Setting aside the production schedule, even from a personal health standpoint, Rob didn't want anything bad to happen to Hugo. Besides, the original plan had always been to use warm water.
But now he was being told that cold water was used instead despite his repeated instructions. This was an unforgivable mistake.
Rob closely followed Joseph to the bathtub. He watched as Joseph reached his hand into the tub, touched the water, and then looked back at Rob with a tense expression. "You owe me an explanation." At moments like this, if an agent can't fight for their artist's interests, then there's no point in being an agent at all.
What's more, Joseph had witnessed Hugo's tireless efforts since joining the A Few Good Men. Despite the crew's indifference, Hugo never complained or tried to explain himself. Instead, he consistently proved his worth with concrete actions. Just look at how the crew's attitude toward Hugo had shifted—it was clear how hard-earned that was.
Now something like this had happened. Just thinking about all the effort Hugo had put in behind the scenes made Joseph feel it was absolutely inexcusable.
Rob's face darkened. He stepped forward and touched the bathwater. The moment his fingers felt that icy liquid, a chill ran up his spine. It was as if the water had been mixed with ice cubes. Even in summer, it would've felt freezing, let alone now, when it was only early March, with spring not yet fully arrived. Just imagining Hugo being doused in this temperature of water for five straight minutes made Rob feel like his blood was freezing.
Then Rob suddenly thought of something and turned to shout behind him, "Was the water from the fire truck warm?" Because the fire truck and bathtub used the same water system, Rob had specifically ordered warm water before filming began.
But the crew member replied that the fire truck had indeed used warm water. That was expected, since Demi, who had also been in the rain scene created by the fire truck, hadn't complained at all.
Rob's face turned pitch-black. The situation was now crystal clear someone had intentionally targeted Hugo, deliberately switching the showerhead water to cold. This was absolutely intolerable. Someone had actually played such a dirty trick to covertly sabotage the male lead?
Rob, as the director, was fully aware of the crew's attitude toward Hugo. He hadn't intervened before because every crew operated with its own culture. Plus, Rob was curious to see how Hugo would respond. Since then, he'd been observing closely, and he saw how Hugo had gradually earned the respect of the crew through his own strength. The once cold and hostile atmosphere was starting to thaw. While the crew still wasn't warm, at least they weren't hostile anymore that was a clear shift.
Who would've thought that even under such circumstances, someone would still go out of their way to mess with Hugo resorting to such a vile trick to make him suffer in silence? This made Rob furious.
It only took a simple inquiry for Rob to learn that Allerge had been in charge of the warm water today. He immediately summoned Allerge for questioning. Meanwhile, Joseph brought Hugo back to the nearby lounge, helped him change into dry clothes, towel off, then wrapped him in a blanket and gave him warm water to help him recover his body temperature.
In reality, Hugo had just caught a chill. His current body wasn't in great shape to begin with. First, he was hit with cold water for five minutes; then he filmed in soaked clothes for nearly forty minutes; and finally, he got rained on for another twenty minutes. Hugo was drenched inside and out, and constantly exposed to the cold. Once the shoot ended, his body temperature began to spike, and he became dizzy and light-headed.
It might not be a major issue, but even a cold could be significant for an actor especially given Hugo's frail condition, which made him even weaker. He soon fell into a hazy sleep, his body running a low fever, cheeks flushed red like a furnace.
Watching the cold sweat bead up on Hugo's forehead, Joseph frowned tightly. Though he'd come to see Hugo in a new light over the past three months, witnessing Hugo's current level of dedication made Joseph admire him all over again.
Taking a deep breath, Joseph left the lounge and headed back toward the crew. The surrounding staff had all paused their work, forming small clusters as they whispered among themselves. But when they saw Joseph approaching, they immediately fell silent. No one dared say a word, fearing they might provoke Joseph's anger and get caught in the fallout.
Rob was currently interrogating Allerge. But clearly, Allerge couldn't offer a satisfactory explanation. He tried to shirk responsibility, claiming there had been an accident during the warm water setup, which left them with no choice but to use cold water. Then he asserted that he'd done everything he could to fix the issue in time, allowing the fire truck to spray warm water. But Rob wasn't buying it. Still, for the moment, Rob had no concrete evidence to directly prove that Allerge was responsible.
Just as Rob was thinking about how to handle the situation, Joseph walked out and headed straight toward Allegre. Before Allegre could even react, Joseph had already closed in, looming over Allegre like Mount Tai pressing down.
Joseph was a big guy,both in height and in build clearly two levels above Allegre, so he completely towered over him, suppressing Allegre with sheer physical dominance and making it difficult for him to react effectively. Then Joseph spoke in a deep, steady voice, "Can you look me in the eye and tell me this has nothing to do with you?"
Although Joseph didn't raise his voice, his words were as heavy as a thousand pounds, weighing on everyone's hearts. Faced with Joseph's thunderous fury, Allegre was nearly suffocating, feeling like a nightmare might devour him at any moment.
"N-No," Allegre barely managed to squeeze out a denial, barely more than a groan. But Joseph picked up on his intention to deny it and furrowed his brows even tighter. His sharp glare instantly made Allegre feel weak in the knees.
Allegre's mental state began to collapse, black shadows clawing at his consciousness. Gritting his teeth in desperation, his resentment toward Hugo erupted like a volcano. "So what if it was me! I just wanted to teach that guy a lesson, show him not to get cocky, show him not to act like a diva and play games. He's just a Golden Raspberry winner, he has no qualifications to flaunt anything in front of us. He's a pathetic loser who used filthy tricks to get an opportunity that should've never belonged to him. Look at the way he acts on set he's a disgusting clown! I just wanted to let him know not to overestimate himself. I didn't mean any harm. If I really meant harm, the water coming out of that showerhead would've been boiling, not cold! Maybe then it'd ruin that useless pretty face of his."
Allegre's breakdown laid his true face bare for everyone to see. Quite a few crew members were startled by the vicious hatred he spewed, but thinking back to how Allegre had given Hugo a hard time on the very first day and ended up backfiring on himself this outburst now didn't seem all that surprising.
Hearing Allegre's words, Joseph was so furious he actually laughed. Clenching his teeth, he spat out each word, "The real clown here is you. You should stand in front of a mirror and take a good look at that pathetic, hideous face of yours." After saying that, Joseph paused, taking a moment to admire the way Allegre's face twisted in rage, and then added, "Take a good look around you, because today is your last day on this set!"
.....
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