Chapter 3

3.

I went home, drew a nice bath, put on a face mask, and sipped coffee while scrolling through entertainment news. The production team was hyping up tomorrow's ceremony. They’d never tagged any actors on their posts, which I’d previously attributed to preventing fan wars―but now I realized it was just to make it easier to replace me.

For this project, I’d spent two months strictly dieting, paid for my own horse-riding and martial arts training, and even hired a specialist to learn the zither. I hadn’t had a day off in ages.

Well, that was all behind me now. I decided to treat myself to a spa day instead.

I called my best friend, Faye, a chart-topping pop star. We decided to head into the mountains for a getaway.

Early the next morning, Faye and I were relaxing in the hot springs when my phone rang. It was Chloe.

“Elara, where are you? The ceremony is about to start. Why aren't you here yet?”

“Oh? I thought you were the lead, Chloe. Since when does the eighteenth lead need to be at the kick-off?” I asked, lounging in the water.

“I wouldn’t be calling if I didn't have to! The team at Vance Corp heard you weren't involved and immediately downgraded the project from S-tier to B-tier. They pulled fifty million in funding!”

Chloe sounded frantic. Faye leaned in, listening, and started giggling.

“Fifty million gone? Well, two million is still enough to work with. Just make do. It’s not my problem anymore.”

“Just show up for one appearance! I’ll tell the screenwriter to give you more screen time. You won’t be my mom; you can be my sister, okay?”

I let out a scoff of disdain. “Wow, you have a say in the script, too? Impressive. Too bad you’re too late. I’ve already flown out of town.”

“Elara! Do you think the company can’t function without you? Don’t get cocky just because I was being nice!” Chloe shrieked.

My expression hardened. “Let me give you the same advice, Chloe. Don’t think that just because you crawled into Arthur’s bed you’re actually a star. You’re still a nobody.”

“I can carry this project without you! Just wait and see. I’m going to be a household name once this airs!”

She hung up before I could answer.

Faye stared at my phone in disbelief. “Is she actually that delusional? Where does she get the audacity?”

I shrugged. I really didn’t know.

The agency wasn't small, but I was the only one who could actually carry a show. Every time I landed a big project, Arthur would beg me to bring along a group of newcomers. Every year, I was forced to film one internal company project to keep their stock price up.

I never complained before, believing in a rising tide lifts all boats. But clearly, the rest of them didn't see it that way. They felt threatened by my success and thought that once I was gone, they could just climb to the top.

Fine. Let them try. Let’s see if they can survive without me.