Chapter 2

Before today, I would have yelled at Claire and demanded to know why she had treated me this way.

But now, I was suddenly tired.

I was exhausted from living every day afraid of losing her.

Seven years was enough to warm even a stone.

Yet after all that time, I still couldn’t get Claire to acknowledge me publicly.

After catching her cheating with my own eyes, the heart I had kept suspended for so long finally dropped.

There was even a strange relief in it.

At least the pain had come early. At least I could stop waiting.

I handed Claire the contract and spoke with unusual calm.

“This is the female lead’s understudy role in Director Hayes’s new film. I fought hard to get it for you. Consider it the last thing I’ll ever do for you.”

Claire looked at the contract and laughed disdainfully.

Then she threw it straight into the trash in front of me.

“Ethan, do you really think I’m only good enough for an understudy role now?”

She looked at me mockingly and tapped one finger against my chest again and again, as if she wanted to pierce straight through me.

“Ethan, sometimes you need to understand how the world works. You could drink until you bleed from the stomach or kneel before someone like a servant, and it still wouldn’t be worth one promise from Ryan.”

Every word she said was cruel, but none of it was untrue.

No matter how hard I worked, all I could secure for her was a supporting role.

Ryan only had to lift a finger to hand her the lead.

I curved my lips into a bitter smile and stared at her hollowly.

The eyes that had once looked at me with admiration and worship were now filled with contempt. They cut into the last scraps of my dignity like sharp knives.

I sighed and picked the contract out of the trash.

Under Claire’s disdainful gaze, I looked at her again.

“This contract was secured through my own hard work. Since you don’t want it, I’ll give it to someone who does.”

With that, I turned and walked away.

When I reached the door, I saw several employees gathered nearby, clearly there to watch the drama.

I glanced over my shoulder at Claire, who was still frozen in place.

“I’ll discuss changing your manager with the company. It should be completed in about a month. Until then, try not to cause any trouble.”

Claire might have been the company’s most pampered star, but she was also famous for creating disasters.

Her blunt personality had offended countless industry executives and popular actresses.

Without me smoothing things over behind her, her career would never have gone so smoothly.

Claire’s face flushed.

“Ethan, do you really think I can’t succeed without you? Let me tell you something—I’ll be famous with or without you.”

I ignored her provocation and glared at the crowd.

“Don’t you all have work to do?”

Everyone scattered immediately.

Although I was only Claire’s manager, I still carried tremendous influence in the company.

I was the company’s top talent agent. There were countless performers desperate to work under me.

I took the day off and went home to rest. After the business dinner, my stomach was still burning badly.

I was exhausted, but I couldn’t sleep.

On my nightstand was a photo of Claire holding up her award.

The bitterness in my chest rose again.

I had taken that photo myself the first time she won Best Actress.

I first met Claire at a charity gala.

Back then, she had a young, inexperienced face. She stood timidly in a corner, unnoticed by everyone.

Yet from the second floor, I found myself drawn to her.

I began watching everything she did, and a smile often tugged at my lips without me realizing it.

Later, I noticed someone secretly slipping something into her drink. They wanted to get her drunk without anyone noticing.

I had never liked interfering in other people’s business, so at first I planned to ignore it.

But her tearful eyes stayed in my mind.

In the end, I stepped in and saved her.

She clung to me while crying and thanked me over and over.

Not long after that, she naturally became the first performer under my management.

I gave her everything I had—even my family.

I was the sole heir to the powerful Hart family.

But the Harts had one strict rule: before the heir turned twenty-eight, they could not accept any help from the family.

They had to build their own success before they could take over the family business.

Then Claire made one careless mistake and injured the beloved protégé of a powerful executive.

She was blacklisted across the entire industry overnight.

All her endorsements and appearances were handed to someone else.

Claire lost all motivation and began drinking heavily every day.

I knelt before my grandfather for three days and three nights, begging him to help her.

Back then, I had sworn to him that Claire would one day become the future Mrs. Hart.

Reality slapped me hard across the face.

For Ryan, Claire had abandoned me without hesitation.