He Called Me Crazy, Then Regretted

Chapter 8

A heavy silence stretched on for ages before Grey let out a quiet laugh.

He pinned me in place with an unblinking stare, each word cutting like shards of ice. "Then I wish the two of you a love that lasts forever."

Those words ripped my heart clean in two.

He tugged his cap lower the second he finished speaking, and walked away without a single backward glance, no hesitation at all.

I watched him go, my hands trembling slightly under my sleeves. I had no right, no standing whatsoever, to call out and stop him. Only when his figure vanished entirely did I shove down the searing pain in my chest and turn to look at Raymond.

My voice was flat, deadened, completely hollow. "Having fun, Raymond?"

Raymond lifted an eyebrow, clearly taken aback by how calm I was.

My throat felt raw as I spoke, every word scraping its way out. "You've had your little laugh, now run home. I'm just a nobody. I can't afford to play your stupid games."

Raymond froze for half a beat, tilting his head slightly. The look on his face was that naive, clueless look only rich kids who'd never had to struggle a day in their lives have. "Ugh, you're so stubborn. Hooking up with me is way better than wasting time on Grey, isn't it? I can get you way more resources."

I forced a thin, bitter smile. "People like you will never understand how much a real heart matters." We lived in entirely different worlds. Nothing I said would ever make sense to him.

Raymond's face darkened instantly. "Ungrateful little thing."

He stormed to his car and peeled out, speeding off down the road.

*****

The next day.

My car pulled up to the film set, and I'd barely stepped foot on the pavement before a swarm of reporters descended on me, cameras and mics thrust right in my face like weapons. Cameras clicked nonstop, shouts overlapping.

"Selene, photos of you kissing Raymond leaked yesterday. Did you move on to Raymond because you couldn't leech clout off Grey?"

"Sources say you were a sugar baby for a middle-aged man back in high school! You wore designer clothes and showed up to school in sports cars! Do you have anything to say about that?"

Every question was sharper than a knife, and they started shoving at me to get closer. I stumbled backward, barely able to keep my footing.

Right then, a deafening engine roar cut through the noise. Raymond's sports car pulled up to the set.

The reporters swiveled toward him immediately, shouting over each other. "Raymond! What's your relationship with Selene?"

"Relationship?" Raymond tugged off his sunglasses, glanced over at me, and grinned like a total playboy. "One-minute fling." Then he sauntered off like he hadn't just dropped a bomb.

The reporters burst with excitement, yelling over one another. "So does that mean you already dumped Selene?"

I stood there in the middle of the crowd, feeling like the biggest joke in the whole world.

There was nothing I could say to defend myself.

Security guards came rushing over to break up the crowd. I lifted my gaze over the throng of reporters, and my gaze landed on Grey, who was sitting right next to the director, watching the whole thing unfold with an icy, detached stare.

It felt like there was an entire galaxy stretching between us. He was a shining star at the peak of his fame. And me? I was a public joke, my name dragged through the mud.

By the time the reporters were herded away, I was completely disheveled.

I walked over to the director, voice small. "Director, I..."

I didn't even get the apology out before he cut me off. "Selene, I've thought it over, and you just aren't the right fit for this role. Our crew is focused on honing the quality of the film itself, and we don't need actors with this much toxic controversy attached to them."

My hand at my side clenched so hard my nails dug into my palm. I snapped my eyes to Grey.

Was this the director's call… or was it his?

Grey's gaze stayed lowered to the script in his hand, poring over its pages like I wasn't even standing right there.

I tried to force words out, but my throat was as dry as sandpaper. Every sound I tried to make felt like it was being crushed by some invisible weight. It was like a ghostly hand had curled tight around my windpipe, squeezing until I couldn't make a single sound.

After a long, heavy beat, I bowed deeply. "I understand. I'm sorry for causing the crew so much trouble."

The director's face smoothed into a satisfied smirk when he saw I wasn't going to put up a fight.

I stepped past him, stopping just a few feet away from Grey. "I wish you nothing but the brightest future in your career."

Grey lifted his head and looked at me. For a long stretch of silence, he just stared, before he asked a completely out-of-the-blue question. "Have you ever regretted it?"

I froze on the spot, my brain going blank.

Regretted what? Regretted walking away from him all those years ago? Or regretted being so stubborn, coming back to this country and forcing my way into the entertainment industry just to get close to him again?

After what felt like an eternity, I heard my own voice come out, steady and clear. "Never."

I watched clearly as ice slowly crystallized in Grey's eyes, so cold it felt like it could freeze me solid. He spoke, cold and final: "I never want to see you again."

Right then, my assistant ran over in a hurry, still holding her phone to her ear. "Selene, the company's been trying to reach you but can't get through. They told me to ask you to come back immediately."

My phone had fallen into the river the day before, and I hadn't had time to get a new SIM card yet.

I glanced back at him over my shoulder. Grey, I didn't regret a single thing.

At the very least, I never became a weight dragging you down.

*****

Later, at the company.

When I walked in, I was fully braced to get chewed out, but Mr. Peterson only narrowed his eyes and looked me over, seemingly turning something over in his head.

Unease was already coiling tight in my gut when he slammed a script down and sent it skidding across the desk right at me. "This is a new project the company landed for you. It's Director Desmond Brooklyn's latest film."

My heart seized up tight, and icy dread snaked through every last vein in my body.

Everyone in the industry knew Desmond Brooklyn was a total creep. He made nothing but softcore smut, peddling the same tired lie every time that he was gunning for international awards. No one knew exactly how many actresses he'd ruined under his direction, but it was confirmed that one actress was even admitted to a psychiatric hospital because of what he did.

My voice shook so bad I could barely get the words out. "Mr. Peterson, I'm not taking this."

"Selene, do you think you have a choice right now? You're filming this movie whether you want to or not. There's no way out of it!" He bared his teeth in a mocking sneer. "Who the hell do you think you are, anyway? If you'd actually managed to lock down a rich sugar daddy, fine, but you didn't. Go check the internet if you don't believe me. To everyone out there, you're nothing but a used-up, washed-out has-been actress."

Just as he finished speaking, Amelia pushed the door open, her eyes sharp with a flicker of pity when they landed on me. "Selene, the nursing home couldn't reach you. Your mom saw all the news about you and had a heart attack. Get to the hospital now... to see her one last time."