Chapter 2

2.

A kind stranger got me to the hospital, and I stayed unconscious for an entire day.

The first thing I did when I woke up was check my phone.

There was nothing.

I ignored the doctor’s orders and went straight home.

When I pushed open the bedroom door, the scent of the previous night’s indulgence hadn’t even faded.

Valerie was sitting at her vanity, doing her makeup.

She didn’t even spare me a glance.

“Don’t you have anything to say to me?” I asked, my voice hoarse.

“What’s there to say? It’s exactly what you think it is.”

“Then what about this! What does this mean!”

I grabbed her hand. She was still wearing the engagement ring I had saved up months to buy.

Slap!

Valerie struck me across the face.

She ripped the ring off, threw it at me, and sneered, “It means jack shit!”

“Who is he?”

“Why? You want to settle the score? An orphan like you doesn’t even have the right to shine his shoes.”

“Actually, I’ll tell you. It’s Pierce Sterling.”

“Valerie! Are you insane? Of all the people, why him! Everyone in the industry knows he’s a predator! He’s ruined women before! Do you want to die?”

I was screaming, but inside, I was laughing at my own stupidity.

Even now, my first thought was her safety.

But what could I do?

Fifteen years of habit wasn’t something I could flip like a switch.

“So what! He has the resources to make me a star! River, I’m twenty-eight. I can’t wait anymore!”

“You said the industry was too scary, that you were afraid. That’s why I gave up my scholarship to Oxford to be your manager. Have you forgotten our promise?”

“Yes! I fucking forgot a long time ago!”

Valerie snapped, sweeping the bottles off her vanity. They shattered across the floor.

“Who’s to blame? You’re just too incompetent! I’m sick of being a B-list nobody! I’m tired of being in the second row where the spotlight never hits me!”

The truth was, Valerie hadn’t made it big because she was picky and entitled.

She looked down on good roles and only wanted to do reality TV with influencers.

She refused to work on her acting and only wanted to chase clout.

“I just got you the second lead in Miller’s new film. Why couldn’t you just wait? Why did you have to sell your soul?”

I threw the contract on the floor.

Confusion flashed across her face. “How... how did you do that?”

How? By begging like a dog for two weeks.

The medical report stated clearly that I had destroyed my stomach lining this month.

I could never touch alcohol again.

I watched her flip through the contract with joy.

My heart sank to the bottom of the ocean.

“If this is the life you want, then I hope you’re happy. From now on...”

I paused, feeling a dull ache in my chest.

“From now on, we are strangers.”