Chapter 3

"I've got stuff to do. Go amuse yourself. Don't bother contacting me until you come to your senses!" Andrew snapped.

After throwing out that harsh line, he snatched up his clothes and stormed out, slamming the door behind him without so much as a glance back.

Once again, the whole villa felt cold and empty.

But for the first time, I found being alone like this surprisingly peaceful and comforting.

Looking at Andrew's stuff scattered everywhere, I couldn't stand the sight of any of it anymore.

"Hey, is this the housekeeping service? I've got a bunch of stuff I need gone. Can you come over today?" I said into the phone.

There was a show I'd already signed up for, and filming was about to kick off. I threw my stuff together overnight and rushed off to the studio lot to join the crew.

Every industry was in a slump these days, and for an unknown actor like me, it meant working nonstop, barely catching a break.

I used to feel burned out and scared by this kind of intense schedule, but after all the nightmares I went through in my previous life...

Now, just being able to work like a normal person again made me feel like I was in heaven.

Before I knew it, a whole month had slipped by.

During that time, I blocked Naomi and Andrew on everything. I really didn't want to hear from either of them anytime soon.

"Gillian, your boyfriend's here."

I'd just wrapped up filming and hadn't even had a chance to catch my breath when one of the crew members came over to me.

My heart sank, and my brows knitted. I'd been in a great mood, but that vanished in a flash.

"Don't tell him I'm here. I really don't want to—" I started, but didn't get to finish.

"It's been a month already. Are you still holding a grudge? Seriously, what's your problem? Are you really that petty? And I still haven't called you out for tossing my stuff."

Before I could get the words out, I was interrupted by a voice I knew all too well—a voice that made me sick to my stomach.

Andrew showed up, dressed to impress but still as fake as ever, strutting over like he was the star of the show.

Naomi was tagging along too. I hadn't seen her in a month.

"Didn't we break up? Are you seriously still going to stick to me like glue?" I shot back, my voice laced with sarcasm.

Seeing the flash of anger in Andrew's eyes, Naomi quickly jumped in, playing the mediator and giving me a soothing smile.

"Come on, Andrew's here to apologize, so let's not argue anymore. I'll treat. Let's sit down somewhere and talk.

"Oh, and by the way, after a lot of convincing, I got Mr. Burton to hold onto your chance. Since they've had some delays anyway, you can come with me to Thainiland in the next couple of days. The audition spot is still yours," she said, her tone upbeat.

Seeing Naomi working overtime to persuade me, I felt my heart just grow colder.

Unbelievable. It'd been a month, and she was still trying to throw me under the bus.

"Yeah, just like you said, I'm nothing special. I'd probably get cut anyway. So I'm giving up on this chance," I replied, my voice flat.

"But you're taller, prettier, and you've got way more talent than I ever will. Why don't you give it a shot? Who knows, maybe you'll shoot straight to stardom," I added, my smile cold and mocking.

"You—" Just as expected, Naomi's eyes narrowed with frustration and worry.

"You two can play your little games without me. My next scene's about to start, so don't let the door hit you on the way out," I said.

Without another glance at them, I turned and walked away.

By the time I finished shooting that scene, night had already fallen.

As soon as I got off set, I overheard a bunch of extras whispering among themselves.

I caught bits and pieces, stuff like "Thainiland" and "audition" kept coming up.

My alarm bells started ringing, so I grabbed one of the younger extras and asked her what was going on.

So, since Naomi couldn't talk me into it, she started working on the other actors in the cast instead.

From the semi-famous supporting actors all the way down to the extras hustling for a paycheck, she and Andrew were out to rope in every last one of them. Nobody was safe from their schemes.

But thanks to all the anti-scam campaigns the government'd been running, most people weren't buying it. Only a few were still tempted.

"The criminal syndicate is all in Myanbar, not Thainiland. Thainiland's fine. Who knows, maybe I'll even land the role and hit it big," one of them said, sounding way too sure of themselves.

"Yeah, my folks just came back from Thainiland. No problems at all, totally chill," another added.

I tried to talk some sense into them, but they just rolled their eyes at me, like I was overreacting.

Since that was the case, I was about to just mind my own business and let them do whatever.