Chapter 3
Delilah thought about where she was now. She thought about his offer. She thought about every step, every stumble that had brought her to this exact moment over the last decade.
Then she picked up her phone and typed out a message.
[I'm in.]
The next morning at ten o'clock, Kennedy updated his Twitter account.
The post was simple. A single photo showed two hands intertwined, the background a blurry coffee shop. [Yes.]
Seconds later, Delilah reposted it with her own note: [Taken.]
Three seconds after that, Twitter crashed.
By the time Delilah managed to refresh the page, her follower count had jumped from eighty thousand to one point two million. The number was still climbing like crazy.
The comments section was a wake of devastation.
[I don't believe this. I don't believe this. I don't believe this.]
[Kennedy, blink twice if you're being held hostage.]
[Did this woman save the entire galaxy in a past life or something?]
[Delilah, come out and face your death.]
[What makes her so special?]
Delilah stared at the flood of comments. Her heart was racing faster than she cared to admit.
Her phone buzzed. It was Kennedy calling.
"You okay?" he asked.
"I'm okay," Delilah said. "My legs feel a little weak, that's all."
He let out a low laugh. It was a nice sound, warm and easy.
"You'll get used to it," Kennedy said.
Delilah stayed quiet.
'Pretty sure I'll never get used to this,' she thought.
"What are you doing today?" Kennedy asked.
"Nothing," Delilah said.
"Then come out," he said. "It's our first official day as a couple. We need to get photographed at least once."
Delilah blinked.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"A date," Kennedy said. "A fake one."
An hour later, Delilah stood outside a coffee shop and peered through the window.
He sat at a table by the glass. He was dressed casually in a white hoodie and a black baseball cap, a mask covering most of his face. But his presence was impossible to hide. Even tucked into a corner, he drew every eye in the room.
Delilah pushed through the door and sat down across from him.
He looked up and met her gaze.
Then he pulled off the mask.
Delilah froze.
This was the first time she had ever really looked at him.
Back in high school, his features hadn't fully matured. He was handsome, sure, but not like this. Not with this kind of impact. His brow line had deepened, his jaw had sharpened into a clean, cutting edge.
The title of "Best Face in the Industry" was clearly not an exaggeration.
"What are you looking at?" Kennedy asked.
Delilah snapped out of it and reached for the cup in front of her. She took a sip. It was a latte, the temperature perfect, the sweetness exactly right.
"How did you know my order?" Delilah asked.
"You got this every single day in high school," he said. "That coffee shop outside the main gate. You ordered it for three straight years."
Delilah blinked, caught off guard.
She hadn't expected him to remember something like that.
"You have a really good memory," Delilah said.
"It's alright," Kennedy said, his tone flat.
The shop was quiet except for the soft instrumental music floating through the air.
A few people passed by the window outside, glanced in briefly, and kept walking. No one had recognized them yet.
Delilah wrapped her hands around her cup and struggled for words. She was never much of a talker, especially around someone like him.
A megastar, an A-lister, an idol with eighty million fans. She was just a nobody.
"You seem nervous," Kennedy said.
"A little," Delilah admitted.
"Relax," he said and smiled slightly. "I'm just a regular guy."
Delilah shot him a look.
'Regular guy?' she thought. 'With eighty million fans? Sure.'
She said nothing and stared down into her latte.
After a moment, she heard him speak again. "Delilah," Kennedy said.
"Yeah?" she replied.
"Your new drama starts shooting soon, right?" he asked.
Delilah looked up, surprised. "How do you know that?"
"I looked it up," he said. "Your role. The investors wanted to recast it."
Delilah felt a weight settle in her chest.
She knew about that.
It was a supporting part, not a ton of screen time, but the character was solid gold. She had fought hard to land it during auditions.
Later, word got around that the money people thought she lacked the star power and wanted to replace her with an influencer who had more buzz.
"What happened with that?" Delilah asked.
"They stopped wanting to replace you," Kennedy said. His voice remained completely even. "You're my girlfriend now."
Delilah stared at him.
His face gave nothing away.
"You made that happen?" Delilah asked.
"Not really," he said. "I just made one call."
Delilah had no idea what to say to that.
She thought back to why she had agreed to this whole charade in the first place. The connections, the chances, a way to survive in this cutthroat business.
And now he had actually handed her one of those chances. But instead of feeling thrilled, she just felt tangled up inside.
"Thank you," Delilah said.
"Don't thank me," he said. "We're just using each other."
'Using each other,' Delilah thought.
The words rolled off his tongue so lightly, like a breeze that barely stirred the air. But hearing them landed like a tiny, sharp needle somewhere deep in her chest.
Right. Using each other.