Chapter 3
One of the fans immediately fired back, "Who the heck are you to speak to Julian like that?"
That was when I realized I'd lost my cool and crossed the line.
Julian pursed his lips. He rarely bothered to explain himself, but this time he spoke up. "Sorry, I totally spaced. Yeah, I did set up an interview with Ms. Lawson for today," he said.
The fans, still reluctant to leave but reassured, filtered out. I was then escorted to the company's break room.
After a while, Julian walked in, now rocking some laid-back clothes.
He looked right at me and said, "There are tons of people who break promises every day, so why am I the exception? Isn't it expected for someone as famous as me to act all high and mighty?"
I mumbled, "Yeah, that's pretty normal. Sorry, I messed up. Guess it's messing with our project."
Julian gripped a clear glass so tightly that his knuckles turned slightly white.
He set the glass down on the table with a sharp sound, water sloshing out and splashing across the back of his hand.
He shot me a look and said, "Natalie, would it kill you to apologize and admit you were wrong for once?"
I lowered my head and apologized, "I'm sorry, Mr. Carter. This was my oversight. I should have arranged the timing with you beforehand."
Julian turned his head to look at me. I could see the mess of feelings swirling in his eyes. His Adam's apple moved as he tried to hold something back.
He propped himself up against the wall beside me, looking like he was running on empty.
"Don't play dumb, Natalie. You know that's not what I mean," he said.
I dodged his eyes and replied stubbornly, "Other than that, I can't figure out what else is between us."
Julian smirked, grabbed my interview notes, and tossed them onto the table.
"If you're gonna keep pretending, then at least do it all the way. Don't let your mask slip," he said.
Just then, a woman in a bold red dress pushed the door open and, without hesitation, slipped her arm through Julian's as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Mr. Carter, the party is about to kick off. We should get going," she said.
Julian hooked a finger under her chin, his gaze swirling with something unreadable in the shadows.
"Annie Brooks, you look absolutely gorgeous tonight," Julian said.
Then he slid a big hand around Annie's slim waist, making her laugh softly, her face blooming bright red.
I quickly averted my gaze and awkwardly turned away.
Julian said coldly, "So, Ms. Lawson, what did you see? You're not planning to spill the beans, are you?"
He didn't even wait for my reply before adding, "Go ahead and talk if you want. Nobody's got clean hands in this business, anyway.
"For someone like me, whatever I do is nothing out of the ordinary, wouldn't you say?"
Honestly, I didn't even need to say a word. The gossip was already flying everywhere.
Annie, the red-hot starlet, signed with Julian's agency two years ago.
In just one year, despite her terrible acting, she became the leading lady among the Four Young Starlets.
Before Annie, there was Susan Kelly, and before Susan, there was Hazel Grant.
In the last four or five years, new faces in the entertainment world come and go in the blink of an eye.
But at the end of the day, it was all thanks to Julian pulling the strings behind the scenes.
If Julian took a liking to someone, he'd put the spotlight on her.
But no one ever got to be called his.
Annie wasn't the prettiest one in the bunch.
But she'd managed to stay by Julian's side for two whole years. It was the longest run anyone ever had.
People said Julian was a heartthrob who never got serious, but that didn't stop a flood of starlets from doing whatever they could to get close to him.
Everyone believed they could be the one to make the bad boy settle down, and Annie was the closest anyone ever got.
Annie could appear right by Julian's side, openly accompanying him to business events without having to hide at all.
She got to share magazine covers with Julian, the two of them always featured together, showing up as the perfect pair on billboards across the globe.
No matter how many millions it cost, if Annie wanted luxury, Julian just made it happen without any hesitation.
It was plain as day for anyone watching. Julian treated Annie differently from everyone else.
With Annie, Julian was always generous.
Thinking about it now, I couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
Back in the day, Julian, who came from ridiculous money, went out of his way to play the part of a penniless college kid.
He busted his ass for two whole weeks, grinding from morning till night, to scrape together 300 bucks.
All that effort, he could buy me a platinum necklace straight from the high-end boutique as a present.
But on his way to buy that necklace, I stopped him. I was used to being broke, and I couldn't see the point of spending so much on something as trivial as jewelry.
I thought Julian would lose it, but he didn't.
Instead, he used the money to buy me a whole set of winter gear.
Julian slipped the snow boots onto my feet himself, bundling me up snugly in an outrageously pink scarf, making sure not a bit of cold could reach me.
As the snow fell around us, he leaned in and kissed my cold, damp cheek.
"Natalie, promise me you'll stay warm all winter," he whispered.
After we broke up, and once I'd decided to go abroad, I deleted every single way I could reach Julian, like he'd never existed in my contacts at all.
But late at night, when everything was quiet, I'd sneak a peek at Julian's social media.
That's when I realized that fancy boutique counter where he wanted to buy the necklace, and even the entire mall, had all belonged to the Carter family from the very start.
He'd posted a caption that read: [The things you once didn't want are the ones you'll never have.]