During a previous meeting, Audrey Osborne had considered revising the contract's termination fee clause, intending to raise it to five million. But Stella Lockwood had refused, arguing that "the resources don't match the termination fee." As things stood, she was still an obscure artist.
Her reasoning was simple. The contract for *Brocade Emperor Phoenix* was already signed, and her role as the female lead was a done deal. Veridian Media couldn't possibly pull her from the production. As long as the fault wasn't hers, the company would be liable for the project's entire termination fee. 'If I sign that supplementary clause,' she thought, 'I'll be digging my own grave.'
Her plan was to use her cut from this show to pay off her own termination fee, plus the fee for her previous agency that Veridian had fronted—three million in total. To her, that amount was astronomical right now, but in the future, it would be a drop in the bucket.
