Her interpretation was hard to fault. It was deep yet concise-it was perfect, really.

Or at least, that was how it appeared to Rooney. As someone who was touted for his acting and had even bagged a Best Actor award, Rooney was willing to applaud Maria for her insight.

As soon as he realized this, he, too, felt dispirited.

Wasn't Maria the excellent choice to continue reading and explaining the script for them? It had been going so well. Why did Jessie have to intervene unnecessarily?

“Okay. Let's pick up where Maria left off." Francis sat back on his chair with the script in his hand, and couldn't help but heave a resigned sigh.

He stared at the Lines on the page, feeling uneasy about his position.

Maria had authored the novel herself. Taking over her role in reading the script and explaining the story Line was no different from teaching a fish how to swim.

Francis chanced a glance at Maria, and saw her sitting meekly in her seat, her eyes wide with anticipation as she looked up at him.

How was he supposed to do this? It was painfully awkward! No, he didn't think he could go through with it. Despite Francis’ calm facade, he was panicking deep inside.

He forced his eyes away from Maria, only to be arrested in Jerome's sympathetic gaze.

At this point, the poor director had no choice but to cheer himself up. He took a deep breath to brace himself, and then parted his lips to start reading.

It took another hour for Francis to finish explaining the whole script to the crew.

When he was done, he breathed a long sigh of relief.

He felt that compared to the actual author of Female Military

Counsellor, his understanding of the novel was far from enough.

Thinking of that, he couldn't help but glance at Maria in embarrassment, but Maria just nodded at him with a reassuring smile, as if to tell him that he had done a good job.

While he was lost in his own thoughts, there was a sudden round of applause from someone, startling him to his senses

Everyone looked towards the direction of the sound in confusion and found that the person applauding was none other than Jessie. "Mr. Jackson, your interpretation of the novel is wonderful." Then, raising the notebook in her hand, she added, "I took a note of almost everything you said. This briefing was really useful."

In fact, it was normal for the cast to take notes when a director was explaining the script. It was nothing worth mentioning.

But Jessie was speaking it out on purpose in order to flatter Francis. She knew that she might have offended Francis by going against Maria just now.

Therefore, she wanted to get back into Francis' good books by praising him in front of everyone.

But a moment later, Jessie realized that something was wrong.

Usually, as long as she applauded, other people around her would join in and applaud with her.

But now, the room remained silent, and everyone just stared at her with a strange look.