His Jealousy Was a Mask, He Gave Her the Ring

Chapter 3

I stared at the man before me in disbelief. It felt like he was a stranger to me now.

"Steven, do you even remember how you got all this fame and success?"

He clicked his tongue, pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, and lit it.

"What annoys me most is you throwing that in my face. So what if you wrote the songs?"

He flicked the ash off his cigarette, his tone light and dismissive.

"You still need someone to sing them, don't you? Without my face, without my voice, all those melodies of yours are just useless junk files sitting on your computer. I made your songs famous. We made each other. I don't owe you anything."

My eyes still held lingering tears, blurring his outline into a watery smudge. I blinked hard, refusing to let them fall.

"Fine. If that's what you think, then we're breaking up."

I would never keep an unfaithful partner, not even after eight years I gave to him.

I could afford to give, and I could afford to lose.

Steven furrowed his brows into a tight knot.

"Think carefully. In one minute, I can earn what you make in a month now."

I forced out a bitter, strained smile.

"You have nothing to do with me anymore. What's the point of talking about money?"

Steven softened his voice a little. "Amber, I'm just playing around with her. You're still my official girlfriend."

Hearing those words, I finally couldn't hold back anymore. I turned around and slapped him hard across the face.

"Steven Moore, for god's sake, at least act like a decent human being. If you've set your sights on Hailey, treat her right. She's only eighteen. There's no reason for her to waste her youth playing love games with you."

His head snapped to the side from my slap. He pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek.

"You even have it in you to stick up for her? Too bad she doesn't care what happens to you at all."

I caught the implication in his words, and my heart tightened sharply. "What do you mean by that?"

He curled his mouth into a smirk.

"Our kiss got photographed yesterday. She's about to debut—can't have any scandal. So..." He deliberately drew out the words. "She used my phone to leak that private video of us to the public. Amber, be careful when you go out these days. Don't blame me for not warning you if my fans recognize you."

I bit my lower lip hard.

Trembling, I opened the trending search page, and my name was at the very top. The comments below were utterly vile.

A: [Same company? The casting couch?]

B: [Steven released this on purpose, what's he trying to hint at?]

C: [Gross, stay away from Steven.]

The woman in the very first photo that reporters leaked was also misidentified as me.

Shielded by his awards and massive popularity, no one would attack Steven.

But he knew perfectly well that I also wanted to step out from behind the scenes into the spotlight.

He knew full well that I was preparing my very first album.

I couldn't afford bad press either, especially not a s*x scandal like this.

Steven had lived with me for seven years. One look at my expression was all he needed to know exactly what I was afraid of.

He walked over to me and cupped my face.

"You're already twenty-six, stop dreaming about debuting. Just keep writing songs for me. When I have my fun, I'll marry you."

A wave of nausea rose in my chest, and I slapped his hand away.

"Steven, there's no future for us anymore."

My words made Steven laugh in sheer anger. In his mind, I was simply too stupid to know what was good for me.

"Amber, don't come crying and begging me later."