“I can go by a pseudonym for now,” I smiled as I felt the blood in my veins pump.
Ella nodded and leaned in closer to me. “I’ll tell you another secret. Back then, Orion was involved in manipulating the votes to prevent you from winning the award for best leading actress at the Golden Petals Gala.”
Thrum!
My mind went blank as I stared at her in total disbelief.
“I only found out about this much later, but he was apparently concerned that you would end your relationship with him at the height of your success. Just think, he was willing to use devious tactics to undermine you, but now he’s willing to bring the award right to his beloved mistress’ bed… Will you stand for this, Grace?”
No, absolutely not!
That award was supposed to be mine, but he stole it from me in the name of love.
My grip tightened around the script in my hand, and warmth seeped from my eyes. “I know what to do.”
Sophie called me once more that night.
“When are you coming back?” No one is washing my clothes, and the new maid is so bad at cooking that eating her food hurts my stomach! She even flips through my belongings without my permission…”
Sophie has called me every other day for the past two weeks, complaining about not having enough food or not knowing where the medicine was when she slipped and fell.
Of course, I hung up on all of her calls, and this time was no exception.
My refusal to maintain contact with her seemed to flip a switch in her brain, and she began bombarding me with messages in anger. She boasted about the places Olivia brought her to, the foods they ate, the clothes she bought her, and how she signed her fan merch. I could even imagine her smug face just reading her messages.
As I stepped off the treadmill, I said, “Congratulate the mistress for me, then, and good luck becoming the lady of the house.”
Then I deleted the contact and blocked it in one fluid motion.
Another week later, I had lost eight pounds.
Because I was 5’7 feet tall, I was already showing signs of returning to my original figure; however, I continued rigorous training because of the high standards I set for myself.
The next time I heard about Olivia was through a post Ella shared with me, with the caption:
“Good things appear to be on the horizon as Olivia Monroe moves into the Blaise Estate!”
The post included a photo of Olivia and Sophie holding hands as they entered the Blaise Estate.
“Gosh, how could someone be such a bitch? I know the paparazzi who posted this, and they said Olivia paid them to do it! Is she attempting to force your hand or something? Have you divorced, or not?”
Even the mere mention of divorce was enough to give me a headache.
I wanted nothing more than a divorce, and I was even willing to leave without taking anything with me, but Orion refused to sign the papers. Every few days, he’d call me and try every trick he could, from appealing to my emotions to threatening my future. I couldn’t even block his number for the sake of getting divorced.
I didn’t understand what he was doing; if I stepped away, he would be able to be with Olivia in public, so why wasn’t he willing to get a divorce?
As if we jinxed it by talking about him, I received another call from Orion right at that moment, and I could feel my headache returning. The other end of the call was noisy, and he was most likely at work. “D-Did you see the news? That was just a misunderstanding, okay? Sophie was simply uncomfortable that day, and Olivia sent her home because she felt sorry for her.”
I didn’t care about any of that, and I made it clear in my tone: “You don’t need to explain any of that to me.” If you have time for gossip, why not sign the divorce papers?”
