After Quitting the Industry, My Ex

The day Ethan Kane won Best Actor, a hashtag blew up online: #IsEthanKaneActuallyCelibate? Top comment: “Don’t make Ethan laugh.” The attached photo was of the way he looked at his co-star Nina Cole—predatory, intense, like he wanted to devour her whole. Even I got dragged into it by reporters. “As the female lead from Ethan Kane’s very first drama, what do you think? Is he actually celibate?” I froze for a second, then gave a vague answer. “I guess so… He’s a good person, and he’s always respectful to his co-workers.” That earned me tens of thousands of hate comments from their fans, all saying I was a washed-up actress clout-chasing and jealous of their relationship. Later, on a variety show, someone deliberately brought the question up again. This time, my answer was flawless and professionally bland. “I really wouldn’t know.” Ethan, though, slowly lifted his eyes and said, “Whether I’m celibate or not—you wouldn’t know?” And just like that— #IsEthanKaneActuallyCelibate? shot straight back onto the trending list. The comments underneath were almost identical: “Don’t make Ethan laugh.” “Can people stop making up this fake saint image for Ethan?” “Ethan: what kind of position is ‘celibate’ supposed to be?” “Feels like our boy’s the type who knows exactly how to coax a woman—and never stop.” “You wish. More like he wouldn’t even bother coaxing you, and still wouldn’t stop.” My manager opened the second trending hashtag with a blank expression and held the phone out to me. I paused, then slowly scrolled down. “Oh, please. The way Ethan looks at Nina, he practically wants to eat her alive. And people are still asking whether he’s celibate???” “Someone irrelevant is feeling jealous, obviously…” “She’s really embarrassing. Honestly, since she was the female lead in Ethan’s first show when he was nineteen, I actually used to ship them. Now I feel sick.” “That was then. Has she looked at Ethan’s status now?” “This woman is going to be on the same variety show as Ethan and Nina’s ship—I’m begging her not to bother them…” “No chance. She’s definitely going to stick herself to Ethan and try to stir up the old romance for publicity.” “You’ve got two options now.” My manager’s face was grim. “Either you do exactly what they’re accusing you of and lean into the hate-for-fame angle. Or you keep your head down around Ethan and Nina and make yourself as invisible as possible.” I gave a quiet hum of acknowledgment. She ground out, “Didn’t you think before you answered that first time?” I sighed. “Then what was I supposed to say? That Ethan Kane definitely isn’t celibate?” She stared at me, speechless. “You could’ve just said you didn’t know.” I stopped. Right. It was because I knew too well that the neutral answer never even occurred to me. So instead, I’d lied on instinct.