He Called Me Crazy, Then Regretted

I faked my death, bailed on my in-game partner, then marched straight into the entertainment industry. When we met five years later, he was an A-list and award-winning actor, while I was a scandal-ridden C-list actress drowning in bad press. I forced a sheepish grin. "Scored a resurrection item, I guess." The movie star stared at me, ice-cold. "Unforgettable loves are better off staying dead." Little did I know that off-hand line would become a self-fulfilling prophecy. ***** Inside the TV station, it was the recording set of the gaming variety show Unmatched Heroes. Down in the studio audience area, my manager, Amelia, leaned in, talking a mile a minute in my ear. "Selene, this is a live broadcast today. Keep your comments to a minimum as much as possible on the show, got it?" No one could blame Amelia for stressing so hard. Ever since I debuted two years ago, every single word out of my mouth has got twisted and blown out of proportion, perfect ammo for my army of haters to tear me apart. I nodded. "I got it, Amelia. You've said it, like, seven or eight times already. I could recite it backwards at this point." Amelia sighed. "I know getting famous off bad press still counts as clout these days, but your haters are next-level vicious. Our company's PR team is this close to developing a permanent stress twitch." I went quiet for a second, then mumbled, "I'm sorry, Amelia. If it wasn't for my family…" Amelia waved a hand, cutting me off. "Drop it, drop it. We're not talking about that right now." She tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear, switching gears smoothly. "Go on up to the stage. Wonder who the mystery guest is today, huh?" I forced a wobbly smile. "Whoever it is, it's not like they'll have anything to do with me anyway." Everyone and their mother knew I had basically zero friends in the industry. I'd just stepped onto the stage and gotten into position when the host grinned, all mischievous. "I know y'all are dying to find out who our mystery guest is today! Let's give it up for award-winning actor, Grey Clifford!" My heart dropped and twisted so hard I almost gasped when I heard that name. The studio doors swung open with a whoosh, and a tall, broad-shouldered figure stepped out at a steady, unhurried pace. The second that godlike, devastatingly handsome face hit the spotlight, the crowd roared so loud the ceiling felt like it was about to cave in. The other guests on stage erupted in shocked whispers. "What's Grey doing on our little show?" one blurted out. Another nodded, amazed. "He's easily the biggest star we've ever had on this show, right?" Amidst the thunderous cheers of the crowd, I was the only one rooted to the spot, too stunned to move for a second. Why on earth was it Grey? I had zero friends in the industry, but of course, I just had to have an ex-boyfriend here. And even worse, that ex was A-list, wildly famous. Five years ago, I was just a sophomore in college. I came from a well-off family, was cute enough, and spent every single day glued to video games. Back then, Grey was nothing more than a no-name C-lister, then by total random chance, we ended up as gaming partners. We hopped on voice chat every single day to team up and take down bosses. At the time, his career was in the gutter, so on top of gaming with him, I basically doubled as his unpaid personal hype man and therapist on the side. Slowly but surely, we went from gaming buddies to an item, no big awkward fanfare needed. He kept asking, "Leila, when are we gonna make this official, for real?" I just laughed and teased, "When you make it big." Then crash—my whole life fell apart. My dad passed away, my mom had a complete mental breakdown, and I didn't have time to wait around for him to become famous. I bailed on everything, no heads-up, no explanation. The only thing I left was a message in our chat box: I have a terminal illness. Quitting the game, don't worry about me. ***** Running into him like this, out of the blue, my mind went completely blank. I dug my nails so hard into my palm they almost broke my skin, but I didn't even feel it. Grey's sharp, chiseled features were as cold as stone, not a single flicker of emotion in those striking and hooded eyes of his. He walked slowly, step by step, right toward me. "Mr. Clifford, please, have a seat!" The host's voice jolted me out of my spiraling thoughts. She led Grey over to a couch off to the side and gestured for him to sit. "Thanks." That deep, smooth voice, rich as a cello, drifted through the air. It was so familiar, yet felt so completely foreign at the same time. I automatically ducked my head a little lower. The host turned to make the introduction: "Mr. Clifford, this is your partner for today, rising star, Selene. Selene, say hello." I still felt like I was in a daze, like I was stuck in a half-asleep dream. I worked my dry throat, held out my hand, and said on autopilot, "Grey, long time no see." The second the words left my mouth, my temple throbbed hard. s**t, I was so screwed. Grey lifted his eyelids and flicked me a cold, dismissive glance. The corner of his mouth was curled up, but there wasn't a single trace of warmth in his eyes. His voice was icy as he spoke. "Long time no see? Do I know you?" My outstretched hand froze mid-air. Right then, the live stream feed was projected onto the huge screen behind the stage, and the comment section was blowing up with nothing but snarky jabs. A: [Did I hear that right? Selene just called Grey like they were already close? Has she lost her mind?] B: [Yeah, Grey, being the best actor, has got a good temper, but that doesn't mean he puts up with every random person's nonsense] C: [Who hasn't heard the tea on Selene? She had a sugar daddy before she even debuted. That skank needs to stay far away from our Grey] Beside me, a few other guests muffled their mics and snickered under their breath. "She really doesn't care who she leeches clout from, huh?" I pressed my lips tight, mortified. "I'm so sorry." The host caught the awkward vibe right away and jumped in to smooth things over. "Today's game is gonna take a while, so let's get started as soon as possible, shall we?" This show's whole shtick was inviting celebrities to stream themselves playing games for the audience. And the game they picked for today… it was the exact same one where Grey and I first met—Sunset at the Underworld. I took the phone the host handed me. The game login screen was already pulled up, and they were casting every guest's phone screen live to the big overhead display. A bright, chipper notification chimed from my screen. Welcome back, Unrivaled King! This is Princess Leila! My heart dropped into my stomach. I'd given the production team my brand new, barely used alt account. Why the hell was my old main account logged in? Ping! Right at that moment, a notification popped up on Grey's phone: Your favorite, Princess Leila, is now live.