Chapter 1
At the award ceremony, Derek Vaughn, the newly crowned Best Actor, ran straight to his first love in front of the entire world—who was also my fiancé.
"I'd like to thank my muse for coming home. I'm sharing this award with her, and I hope she'll be by my side for the rest of my life!"
The room erupted. Every spotlight swung toward me, his actual fiancée, as everyone waited for me to make a fool of myself.
I took off my ring, grabbed a random man from the audience, and pulled him onto the stage.
"Since we're all making announcements tonight, let me introduce my fiancé."
The man I had dragged up there was Julian Cross. Everyone thought he was just a nobody in the film crew, but no one knew he was the true power behind Sterling Capital—and half the entertainment industry.
3 years passed.
My directorial debut, Homeward, finally premiered.
To promote the film, Julian booked the most luxurious ballroom in Ashford and threw a charity auction gala.
The moment I stepped into the ballroom, I spotted several familiar faces.
Derek stood at the center of the crowd. Beside him was the woman he had abandoned me for in front of the whole world—Vanessa Hart.
His friends were deep in conversation.
"Mr. Cross is actually coming to tonight's gala."
"Seriously? In just 3 years, he has taken control of half the entertainment industry. The media can't even get a clear photo of his face."
"He's been married for ages, but he keeps his wife completely out of the public eye. Mrs. Cross is coming tonight too. I bought a pair of antique bracelets in Port Victoria just for her. If she likes them, I might finally get an introduction to the Cross family."
As they spoke, Derek pulled a wooden box from the inside pocket of his suit.
He lifted the lid, revealing an antique diamond necklace. Under the lights, the flawless beads almost glowed.
Someone beside him gasped.
"Isn't that the diamond necklace Harper's sold last month? It went for nine figures, Derek. You really went all out."
I walked in just in time to see it.
The irony almost made me laugh.
In the 5 years Derek and I had been together, I had rarely received so much as a bouquet.
Now that I was married to someone else, he was willing to spend a fortune on a gift for a stranger.
Vanessa noticed me first, and her voice immediately rose.
"Well, look who it is. Natalie Reed, the woman who announced at the award ceremony 3 years ago that she was marrying a grunt."
Derek's glass paused halfway to his lips.
He looked up at me. Panic flickered in his eyes, but it vanished beneath his familiar air of superiority.
He clearly assumed I had come for him.
"I thought you had more pride than this. You disappeared for 3 years, and now you've finally decided to come back?"
I frowned.
"You've got the wrong idea."
His friends immediately joined in.
"The wrong idea? Drop the act, Natalie."
"Everyone knows you grabbed some random crew member and married him just to spite Derek."
"And now you show up at the gala because you knew he'd be here, dressed like that? Obviously, you're trying to catch his eye."
My husband had funded this gala to promote my movie. Of course I had dressed for the occasion.
Yet somehow, in their eyes, I had done it all for my ex.
Maybe I would have 3 years ago. But Julian and I loved each other now. I had no reason to play games like that.
Vanessa folded her arms and looked me up and down.
"A Chanel jacket, a Dior dress, a Bulgari necklace, and Givenchy heels... Natalie, you really committed to those knockoffs."
Everything I was wearing had been custom-ordered for me by Julian.
"And how exactly do you know they're fake?" I asked with a cold smile.
Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Because they obviously can't be real. That dress alone costs seven figures. Can you afford it? Or your little errand-boy husband?"
Derek also thought I was bluffing.
He set down his glass and walked over, lifting his chin in the same condescending way he always had.
"You're still mad me. Back then, I owed Vanessa, so I wanted to make it up to her. But I told you, didn't I? You'll always be the leading lady in my movies."
He said it as if he were granting me some priceless favor.
As if I had spent the past 3 years waiting for him to change his mind.
Looking at his face, I only felt sorry for the woman I used to be.
We had been together for 5 years, breaking up and getting back together more times than I could count. Every time, I was the one to give in first.
That was why he still believed I could never live without him.
When I said nothing, Derek took my silence as agreement.
His posture grew even more self-satisfied.
"Apologize to me. Beg me, and the lead in my next movie is still yours."
