Chapter 1

At the dating show, the staff asked me, "Have you ever been in a relationship?"

I just shrugged, "He was way too clingy, so I dumped him."

Then they turned to Finlay Brown, the famous actor.

Finlay gave a pitiful look and said, "She was so cold to me, and she broke up with me."

The internet went wild, everyone trying to dig up who had the nerve to dump the superstar Finlay.

I tried to sneak away, wishing I could just turn invisible and blend into the crowd.

I got an invite to a dating show. At first, I was ready to say no, but the paycheck was insane—who could turn that down?

When I arrived, I found out my ex, Finlay Brown, was part of the cast too. And his current rumored girlfriend was there with him.

They'd just starred together in a drama that went viral, and their on-screen romance drove fans absolutely wild—people were forming shipping groups left and right.

As for me, I was just a nobody in the industry—pretty face, but no matter what I did, people would roast me online.

It was all thanks to Camilla Harmon. She'd set me up more times than I could count, and in the eyes of netizens, I was just the classic villainess.

The moment I saw Camilla, she flashed me a smile that made my skin crawl.

"Isabela! I can't believe you're here too. Why didn't you tell me?" she said, her voice dripping with fake sweetness.

I dodged her hand and walked off without a second thought. "There's a lot you don't know. I'm not your dad, so why should I keep you in the loop?"

Camilla blinked in shock, then immediately put on that pitiful face, eyes rimmed with tears like she was on the verge of sobbing.

I couldn't care less about her drama. If she dared to come for me again, I was gonna tear her to shreds—no more playing nice.

Once everyone showed up, Finlay claimed the spotlight right in the center, while Camilla strutted up next to him like she was the queen of this whole show.

As soon as the live stream started, the comments section exploded with praise.

[Finlay and Camilla are so perfect together.]

[They have to end up together! Ship them forever! No one's allowed to break them up!]

But why did Finlay keep throwing glances at me? I could feel my heartbeat racing—damn, this was way too much pressure.

Right at the beginning, the director had this wild idea and made us pop open our suitcases in front of everyone.

I blanked for a moment, then couldn't help asking, "But what about the girls' privacy?"

Of course, the viewers couldn't care less about anyone's privacy—the comment section was going wild.

[I can't wait to see what adorable stuff Camilla brought.]

[Let me see what Finlay packed.]

But when I looked around, everyone else seemed totally chill—like I was the only idiot there who didn't get the memo.

And then it dawned on me: this whole thing was rigged from the start. Camilla and I both worked for the same company, but somehow nobody bothered to clue me in.

Camilla wasted no time and flipped open her suitcase before anyone else could react.

"Of course, I'd love to show everyone what's in my suitcase! On 'Honeyed Hearts', it's all about being open with the viewers, right? Isn't that true, Isabela?" she finished with that perfectly innocent smile.

She looked all wide-eyed and pure. Please, I knew better than to buy that act.

Then she started showing off her stuff.

"These are my pajamas! I just love anything fluffy; they're so cute!" she said, holding up a pair of fuzzy, pastel pajamas.

[Wow, those pajamas are so adorable! Camilla is seriously the queen of cuteness!]

[Look at Camilla, totally fearless. I bet someone else is hiding things they don't want us to see in their suitcase!]

"And here's my makeup stash! You know, every girl needs her skincare routine—gotta stay flawless!" Camilla said, with her trademark sweet smile.

[Camilla's honestly the sweetest. Obsessed!]

[Who wouldn't be totally charmed by Camilla? She's just too cute!]

Then, Camilla's cheeks turned bright red as she hurriedly hid something behind her back, stammering,

"Uh, I-I don't think you guys should see this…"

Of course, the audience wouldn't let it go. The director's eyes lit up, and everyone started egging Camilla on in the comments. After stalling for ages, she finally bit her lip, pulled the mystery item out, and put on her cutest shy-girl act as she mumbled.

"It's just something I got for myself, really—not for anyone special or anything…"

She was holding a packet of stomach-soothing drink mix—the kind everyone knew Finlay relied on, since he kept getting stomachaches from skipping meals during shoots.

[OMG, that's obviously for Finlay!]

[Camilla, you little goof! Why even bother hiding it? This is pure love, girl!]

[My ship is real, confirmed! Camilla and Finlay, announce the wedding already!]

[Am I really the only one who thinks she's putting on an act? If it's for herself, why make it such a production?]

Any shade got immediately drowned out—fans were way too hyped to care.

Camilla practically put on a show with her suitcase, pulling out every last thing for everyone to see. The comment section was overflowing with non-stop praise for her.

She shot me a smug look, but I just rolled my eyes and shrugged it off.

Then she turned to Finlay, her eyes all puppy-dog, practically begging for his approval.

But Finlay didn't even spare her a glance—he was looking right at me, like she wasn't even there.

I quickly ducked my head, pretending I didn't notice. Seriously, we had broken up—why was he still giving me that look? It was killing me.

Fans online didn't care who Finlay was actually looking at—they grabbed screenshots and went wild, swearing up and down it was true love between Camilla and Finlay. They started forcing the Camilla x Finlay ship, declaring it was a romantic, star-crossed moment no one could deny.

Next up, the director swung the camera my way, so I just went along and popped my suitcase open.

A couple of shirts, some basic skincare, my phone charger, and enough snacks to survive a zombie apocalypse—yep, that was pretty much all I packed.