5
The next morning, I woke up to hundreds of missed calls, mostly from my agent, Claire.
I had no idea what was going on. I quickly called her back, and her booming voice chased away all my drow
siness.
“My dear God, you finally answered your phone! Do you have any idea what’s happening?”
“What did you do last night? What is going on?”
I was completely bewildered. While still on the phone, I checked the trending topics.
#IvyShawAttacksCaraMiller
#IvyShawGetOutOfShowbiz
#IvyShawRetires
A video of my fight with Cara had been leaked, but it was cleverly edited. It cut out everything before and after, showing only the few seconds where I lunged at her.
I closed my eyes and explained everything to Claire, including the fact that I had broken up with Clark.
After all, I didn’t have a sugar daddy to protect me anymore.
Claire was silent for a long moment, then sighed. “Take a few days off. Stay off the internet. I’ll figure somet- hing out.”
5/7
20-45
20.46
Chapter 1
After hanging up, I watched the video again. It was shot from a hidden angle, clearly premeditated. Ever Evelyn, who had been standing right there, was cropped out. The frame only showed me and Cara.
The comments were a landslide.
[Ivy Shaw looks like such a bitch. And she actually hits people. Someone finally exposed her.]
[I heard she has a powerful sugar daddy. How else could she get so many good roles with her terrible acti ng?)
[Insider info: she was just a stand–in for his real love. Now that the real one is back, she’s been kicked to the curb.)
I knew from the “stand–in” comments that Cara was behind this, manipulating public opinion.
But I felt strangely calm.
Let them curse me. It was part of the job. As long as they left my family out of it, I could take it.
As for being a stand–in, that was pure nonsense.
When Clark and I first got together, he was so good to me it was almost unsettling. One time, he picked me up from a dinner party, and fueled by a bit of liquid courage, I asked him if I looked like someone he knew.
He had wrapped his arms around me and flicked my forehead. “Getting a little too into your roles, are we? A
stand–in? I don’t do that.”
pushed my luck and asked if there was anyone else. He scoffed. “Do I look like I have the time?”
Getting that confirmation made me happy for a long time.
Maybe Clark wasn’t deeply in love with me. Maybe it was the novelty, or maybe he was just too lazy to finc
someone new. It didn’t matter.
At least while we were together, there was no one else.
I could live without being loved. I could live without being his one and only. But I couldn’t live without that last shred of dignity.
