He Confessed To Her, I Married a CEO

Chapter 2

The lead in his movie?

Apparently, he had no idea I had stopped acting years ago.

Before I could answer, he continued,

"But you can't just run away for 3 years and expect me to forget it. Be Vanessa's assistant first. Bring her coffee, carry her bags, and run errands. Once you've proven that you're genuinely sorry, then we'll discuss the role."

My stomach turned.

Even now, he thought I should be begging him?

When I ignored him, he mistook it for interest and let out a mocking laugh.

"You've always been too sensitive. Was one tiny incident really worth disappearing for 3 years?"

One tiny incident?

He had abandoned me at the award ceremony in front of the whole world and left millions of people laughing at me. Was that tiny?

As for disappearing to spite him, if I had not run into him tonight, I might have forgotten Derek Vaughn ever existed.

I had no interest in revisiting the past.

I walked around him and headed for the main table.

Behind me, Derek warned, "This is your only chance. If you come begging later, I won't make it this easy."

I didn't look back.

The moment I sat down at the main table, Vanessa shrieked again.

"Natalie, that's Mrs. Cross's seat! How dare you sit there? Do you have any idea whose place you've taken?"

One of Derek's friends laughed. "If you're trying to get Derek's attention, at least don't get yourself killed doing it."

Derek's expression darkened.

He seized my wrist and tried to drag me out of the chair. "If you want to make me angry, find another way. You can't afford to offend Mr. Cross."

I shook him off and met his eyes.

"This is my seat. Why shouldn't I sit here?"

Vanessa burst out laughing. "Yours? Don't tell me you're about to claim that you're Mrs. Cross."

"I am Mrs. Cross. Unless Julian has a second wife I don't know about."

Derek's face went livid.

"You vanished for 3 years, and the only thing you learned was how to lie without shame.

"You married a nobody, and now you're pretending to be Mrs. Cross? Have you lost your mind?

"Why humiliate yourself like this? If you're Mrs. Cross, where's your husband? Call him out here."

I glanced at my phone. "He'll be here any minute."

That only made Derek angrier.

"You're still putting on this ridiculous act. Get up! My studio has a contract with Sterling. Don't drag me into your mess and make an enemy of the Cross family."

At that, Vanessa rushed forward and grabbed my arm.

She tried to yank me from the chair, digging her nails into my skin.

I tore my arm free. "Don't touch me!"

When she couldn't move me, she gave me a hard shove instead.

"You think you deserve Mrs. Cross's seat?"

My ankle twisted, and I crashed to the floor.

The skin on my palm scraped open, burning like fire.

Derek meant to reach for me, then pulled his hand back.

He looked down at me without a trace of warmth.

"Get up and apologize to the organizers. If you do it now, we can still fix this."

I stared up at him, amazed that someone could be so self-absorbed.

He truly believed I was causing a scene because of him.

Security guards and the ballroom manager hurried over.

Vanessa rushed to speak first, "This woman is impersonating Mrs. Cross. She even took her seat. Throw her out!"

The manager took my invitation and opened it.

"Ms. Reed's invitation is valid."

Derek froze. "It's valid?"

He looked at me, and his expression shifted as though he had suddenly solved the mystery.

"So that's it. Natalie, you wanted my attention so badly that you even stole Mrs. Cross's invitation!"

His absolute certainty left me too tired to argue.

The charity auction officially began.

Tonight's event had been organized to promote Homeward, with all proceeds going to the Emerging Directors Program.

The first item was brought onstage, and I raised my paddle.

"$5 million."

Derek nearly jumped out of his seat.

"Natalie, have you lost your mind? Do you even have that much money?"