Chapter 1
878 Words
Some new starlet stole Rosie Wilson's identity just to flex her relationship with Rosie's boyfriend online.
Rosie just watched in silence as the girl played the rich heiress card, her bragging getting more ridiculous by the day.
Finally, during a massive nationwide live stream, Rosie walked out looking effortless, stood right in front of her, and asked with a smirk,
"You're saying you're the heiress to the Wilson family? Then who the hell am I?"
*****
It was the venue for the Academy Awards, which would only happen once every four years.
"Alright, up next is Best Actor."
Standing backstage, Rosie listened to the host, her heart completely in her throat.
"And the winner is—Dylan Ratliff!"
Rosie started cheering right along with the crowd.
Amidst the insane applause, this tall, lean guy stood up from the front row and casually walked up to the stage.
Dylan took the mic, looking all classy and polite. "Thank you, everyone..."
Staring at his ridiculously handsome face on the giant screen, Rosie couldn't help but smile.
Today marked exactly five years since Dylan's debut, and four years of them dating on the down-low.
A month ago, Dylan had literally promised her that if he bagged Best Actor, he'd announce their relationship right then and there during his speech.
He'd told her, "Rosie, I want to give you the most epic public confession."
Now that the moment was actually here, Rosie was literally shaking with excitement.
Dylan's deep voice echoed through the grand hall. "And lastly, I just want to thank my fans for always having my back. Thank you all so much."
By the time he hit that last line, even the usually chill Dylan sounded a bit choked up.
With that, he took a deep bow and walked off the stage while everyone else went wild.
But... he didn't say a single thing about Rosie, let alone go public.
All that excitement instantly evaporated, like a total bucket of ice water to the face. Rosie just stared blankly as Dylan went back to his seat, her stomach dropping.
Once the awards wrapped up, Rosie waited for him backstage.
She forced herself to smile. "Dylan, congrats! You finally did it."
Dylan didn't even answer. He just nodded and brushed past her toward the lounge.
Not a single word to explain why he completely bailed on going public.
Rosie bit her lip, but knowing it wasn't the place to make a scene, she swallowed her frustration and said, "Let's just get home. I made your favorite soup..."
A flirty voice cut her off. "Hey, Dylan."
Rosie turned around and saw someone in a gown gliding right toward them.
It was Charlotte Wilson, some new rising star in showbiz and the lead actress in Dylan's award-winning movie.
A staff member nearby whispered in awe, "Wow, Charlotte really is a rich heiress. That dress has got to be next-season haute couture. Even A-listers can't pull strings for that. Did Charlotte just straight-up buy it?"
Rosie frowned, watching Charlotte walk right up and casually link arms with Dylan.
"Let's go. The after-party is starting. Keep me waiting any longer, and I'm leaving without you."
As she said it, she acted like she just noticed Rosie, giving her a casual look-over. "Oh, your assistant is here too. Want to tag along to the party?"
Before Rosie could even open her mouth, Dylan shot it down. "She's not coming."
And just like that, the two of them walked off together, hand-in-hand.
Rosie just stood there in silence for a while before heading back home by herself.
The moment she walked in, she smelled the rich aroma. The electric pot in the kitchen was still steaming away.
She'd been running around all day for the awards show without having even a sip of water, but looking at the delicious soup now, she had zero appetite.
She curled up on the couch, just staring blankly at a photo of the two of them on the coffee table.
It was taken years ago when they first met, when Dylan was just an extra playing background roles, and Rosie was his assistant.
They actually understood each other and stuck together through all those years in the shadows before finally dating.
Without them even realizing it, the spark they had when they first got together had totally fizzled out, turning into a routine.
Rosie couldn't even remember the last time they hugged.
A loud ringtone snapped her out of it—it was Dylan's manager, Brenna.
Rosie picked up, only to get slammed with a massive lecture. "What the hell did you just post on f*******:? Are you trying to ruin Dylan's career?!"
Totally lost, she opened the app, and the flood of private messages and comments nearly crashed her phone.
Rosie's heart sank as she tapped over to her profile.
Five minutes ago, her account had dropped a post with a cozy, intimate photo of her and Dylan.
The caption read:
Walking in the sunshine with you.
Rosie completely froze.
The post was actually a draft she'd scheduled ahead of time, meant to drop right when Dylan announced their relationship in front of everyone.
But Dylan hadn't gone public with it, and she completely forgot to cancel the scheduled post!
- Writer
