They Used Me, I Exposed Their Act

Chapter 3

It was the day of the 'Run' taping.

Camilla was in the middle of an interview with the host.

As she spoke, she kept fidgeting with the necklace around her neck.

Just last month, Ethan had ordered a high-end custom necklace from Lily House. I'd waited forever for him to give it to me, but it never showed up.

Turns out it was right there, hanging around Camilla's neck.

And the cheap trinket I'd gotten from him the week before? Nothing but a tiny piece made from the leftover scraps of this very necklace.

I put on an innocent tone and piped up, "Ethan, Camilla's necklace is so pretty! I heard her boyfriend got it for her. Did you ever run into him when you two were filming together?"

"N-no, I didn't." Ethan was squirming so bad you'd think he was sitting on a bed of nails.

I faked a dreamy, envious sigh. "That necklace must've cost a fortune, right? It's a limited edition. Her boyfriend must be totally head over heels for her. Don't you think?"

Sweat beaded all over Ethan's forehead.

Panicked, he fumbled a ring out of his pocket, desperate to shift the focus away from the necklace.

"Sophia, I know this is out of the blue, but I can't wait another second. Marry me. Be mine."

Every single person on set turned to stare at us.

Jealousy flashed in Camilla's eyes for a split second, but she quickly schooled her face into an excited grin.

"Wow, Ethan, you're so romantic! Sophia, if I were you, I'd say yes in a heartbeat. A catch this good? If you turn him down, there's a whole line of women waiting to snap him up."

Ethan lifted the ring, about to slide it onto my finger.

I quickly curled my fingers into my palm, then fixed my gaze straight on Camilla. "Is that so? So you're one of those people who wants him, huh?"

Camilla's eyes immediately welled up, but she held her chin high, all put-on, indignant defiance. "Sophia, don't be so paranoid! Not everyone's out to steal the things that are yours."

Ethan's face burned with embarrassment at being turned down in front of everyone.

He grabbed for my hand, trying to force the ring on, but I clenched my fist so tight my knuckles went white.

He snapped, "Sophia, haven't you been wanting to get married this whole time?"

Yeah. I did want to get married.

But he'd told me he was in the middle of his career rise, that things weren't stable enough yet, and that I had to be patient with him.

Turns out while I was being all understanding and patient, he was busy screwing another woman behind my back.

"You know, married actresses don't get as many good roles as they used to, right?" I said coolly. "I still want to focus on my career for a few more years. You'll support that, won't you?"

Before he could get a word in, I turned to the director and told him to cut this entire segment from the final episode.

He'd snuck a bunch of paparazzi onto set that night to stir up hype, after all. In less than an hour, news of his failed proposal would be blowing up every trending list.

'Perfect,' I thought. 'He cared more about his reputation than anything else in the world.'

So, I was going to make sure he lost every last shred of that reputation in front of the entire country.