Chapter 3

"If we just turn a blind eye to those fans getting too close, it'll really let down the fans who actually keep their distance," I said.

But Damian didn't care at all. He told the driver to pull over and brought me out of the car.

He didn't care about boundaries at all, just accepted gifts from those obsessive fans and joked around with them as if it was totally normal.

I just stood there, so mad at Damian I was literally speechless.

Once we got back in the car, Damian tossed a plushie at me.

"Elaine, you're way too stiff," he said. "Those girls went through all that trouble just to see us, and even the gifts they brought are limited edition. What's wrong with just saying hi to them?"

I grabbed the plushie, but something felt weird beneath my fingers.

I parted the fuzzy fur and spotted a tiny camera embedded inside.

Damian totally freaked when he saw the camera and chucked the plushie out the window.

"These aren't fans, they're straight-up creeps!" he shouted. "Elaine, why the hell didn't you stop me?"

The live chat froze for a second; everyone was just stunned.

[Is this guy nuts? Elaine literally told him not to get out. Did he even listen?]

[He knows they're creeps and still lets it slide. Is he really that desperate for fans?]

[My guy just wanted to show his fans some love and got played, okay? And wasn't it those shippers behind this anyway?]

[Newsflash: those creeps aren't real fans. I've never seen a celeb so eager to suck up to them before.]

[Please, they're both a mess. Elaine's no better than him, so why does she get a free pass?]

The video cut to the next segment, with Damian and me filming a show together.

A staff member handed us a card with instructions: we had to personally make something for the fans as a way of giving back.

Damian wanted to make thousands of burgers, but I immediately vetoed that idea, "The rules say we have to make them ourselves. There's no way we could pull off thousands of burgers with just the two of us."

Damian just shrugged, totally unfazed. "Who cares, just buy them. The fans won't have a clue anyway," he said.

I couldn't help but remind him, exasperated, "Don't forget we've only got a limited budget from the show."

Damian shot me a sly look and tried to hit me up for half the budget.

In the end, I used what was left of the budget to get the ingredients and whipped up a hundred cups of coffee for the fans.

Meanwhile, Damian took the rest of the cash and got some sketchy back-alley joint to crank out burgers.

I remembered this part all too well. Damian totally broke the rules back then.

The production team was furious, but his manager had to step in and force them to let it slide.

To chase views, the director cut out all the earlier footage and only left the part comparing my coffee to Damian's burgers.

Back then, I even got roasted on trending.

[Is the truth really this explosive?]

[Wait, so Damian actually gave fans unlicensed burgers and tried to boost his own fan-loving image by using Elaine as a prop?]

[Putting myself in the fans' shoes, it honestly hurts. Elaine worked her tail off making coffee, and still got thrown under the bus.]

[Seriously, are they actually a couple? Damian's whole move here makes zero sense.]

[He was thinking about his fans. Isn't this a bit much for something so minor?]

Damian's rep crashed and burned in the live chat, and even the audience present started whispering and shooting him dirty looks.

He felt like he'd been stripped bare in front of everyone—so embarrassed he just wanted to bolt.

But before he could make his escape, the second round of the trial kicked off.

A good-looking, gentle-faced guy walked up to the stage.

The audience was stunned, and I was just as surprised.

I never thought a guy would be into shipping us.

The guy blushed when I looked his way, then cleared his throat and said, "I'm Judge Number Two, Harry Bennett.

"My question is: Damian, Elaine, have you ever betrayed each other or done something behind the other's back?"

As soon as he finished, the audience went wild.

"Damn, he's got guts to ask that," someone said.

"Now this is the kind of question VIPs came here for!" another person chimed in.

"After this round, we'll finally know who really betrayed whom," someone else added.

Across from me, Damian hesitated for a beat. This time, I beat him to it. "No," I said, my voice steady.