6
Because of the sudden negative press, a variety show I was scheduled to appear on was canceled.
Now I was stuck in my hotel room, afraid to go out. I was genuinely scared of anti–fans.
Two years ago, I played a crazy, villainous character. The role was beautiful and unhinged, and I portrayed her so well that people said it didn’t seem like I was acting.
I just never expected someone to confuse the character with the actor.
While I was recovering from a leg injury, someone threw a hornet’s nest at me, trying to disfigure me.
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Chapter 1
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Thankfully, Clark arrived quickly. He set his own suit jacket on fire to drive the hornets away. A custom–made suit worth hundreds of thousands, gone just like that.
I shook my head, trying to clear the thought of him.
I checked my phone for missed calls and messages.
Encouragement and comfort from all my friends. But nothing from Clark.
Then it hit me. I had blocked him. On everything.
I threw my phone down in a fit of pique. He was powerful enough. If he wanted to find me, he could. He just
didn’t care.
Sitting by the window, I felt so contradictory and dramatic.
I knew it was impossible, but I couldn’t help but hold on to a sliver of hope.
I always felt like he must like me, at least a little.
After all, he was the one who came to me on New Year’s Eve, braving a snowstorm just to be with me.
The first New Year I spent with him, I didn’t go home because of a tight schedule. I stayed at the penthouse.
On New Year’s Eve, I was drifting off to sleep when I heard the front door open. I shot up in bed, grabbed a lamp, and crept to the door.
Clark was standing in the foyer, snowflakes still clinging to his shoulders.
He raised an eyebrow at the lamp in my hand. “Is this how you welcome me on New Year’s?”
I dropped the lamp and jumped on him. I wanted to ask him why he was here, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t
want to hear that.
So the words that came out were, “How is it that you appear the moment I think of you?”
He carried me to the bedroom, his voice a teasing whisper in my ear. “Let me see just how much you were thinking of me.”
Outside, the wind howled. Inside, the air was thick with heat.
By the time he finished his shower, I was already half–asleep.
In a daze, I felt him tuck a red envelope under my pillow and press a kiss to my forehead.
“Happy New Year, Ivy.”
The first New Year I spent without my parents, I wasn’t alone.
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