Chapter 4
She kept her head down, voice barely more than a whisper. “Mr. Norton, today’s my birthday…”
I toyed with the silk scarf at my neck, slipped it off, and pushed open the door.-
Every head in the room turned my way.
Even in the dim bar lighting, the marks on my neck were way too obvious. Michael spotted them instantly.
He shot to his feet, eyes narrowing.
“What’s on your neck?”
My mind flashed back to last night–Damon leaving his marks on me, wild and possessive.”
I just smiled. “A hickey.”
Michael slammed his foot into the table, his face dark.
“Who did this? June, you really went behind my back for another guy?!”
I shrugged, totally unfazed. “What’s it got to do with you, Michael? A decent ex should act like he’s dead.”
He snorted. “June, if I ever contact you again, I’m a damn dog!”
Sandy was sipping her coffee, watching me.
“What took you so long? I almost went looking for you.”
From the next room came the sound of something crashing.
“Had to handle something. Otherwise, I’d have a bunch of annoying flies buzzing around me all night. Let’s go.“>
We’d both had a few drinks, so we called a driver.
078
Not long after, the college girl Michael married graduated and jumped straight into the entertainment industry.”
After she got a little fame, she actually paid for bots to spam the Ross Enterprises account with comments:
;
[Mr. Norton treats Madison so differently–he’s even throwing her the wedding of the year!]
[Forget the wedding, Mr. Norton buys her pink diamonds without even blinking!]
[Some people really need to move on and stop clinging to that “fiancée” title.]
[If you’re not the one being loved, you’re the third wheel. Why can’t you let Mr. Norton and Madison be happy together?]}
My assistant handed me the tablet.
“Ms. Ross, should we delete all the comments that are stirring things up?”
“Dig up some dirt on Madison and leak it to the tabloids. Then tell every media company that works with the Jenkins Group: she gets zero resources from now on.”
“Yes, Ms. Ross. What if Mr. Norton tries to get involved?“}
“Doesn’t matter. Just do what I said.”
An hour later, Madison’s comment section was a war zone:>
[So you’re the third wheel. Hiding in the shadows wasn’t enough, now you’re coming for the original girlfriend?]}
[I was Madison’s classmate. She acted all sweet, but bullied me in school, showed off her family’s money, and even stole my award. My arms are still scarred from what she did.]
[I was her stand–in on set. Unless it was a close–up, she made me do almost every scene. Out of dozens of scenes, she filmed barely a third. The rest? All stand–ins or post–production magic.J
[I used to be Madison’s assistant. There was a scene where she had to go into the water, but she complained it was dirty and made the crew pour in bottled water before she’d even touch it. I’ve worked for A–listers, but never anyone as exhausting as her J
[Honestly, Michael is the worst. Changes girlfriends every few days. Guys like him should just disappear]
08
“Michael, aren’t you going to answer your little girlfriend’s calls? She’s getting dragged online June hasn’t changed—she always gets her revenge, unless it’s you.”
Michael ignored the comment and asked, “Has June called any of you lately?“%
Everyone exchanged looks.
“No.”
“So you’re just hyping up Madison to provoke June?“%
“You’re playing this all wrong. News about you and Madison is everywhere. Has June even called you once?“%
“Michael, if you really want to get back with June, just swallow your pride and call her What’s the big deal? If someone else gets to her first, then what?”
He scoffed, “Whatever if she wants to break up, let her I’m not desperate for a girlfriend.”
That night, I got a message from Sandy
By the way, I forgot to mention people are saying Damon’s into guys. Is he even you know, capable of that stuff?
The message made me laugh. I was about to reply when a shadow fell over me.
into guys?
07.31
Chapter 4
I looked up
and saw Damon standing there, a half–smile on his lips, eyes glinting with amusement.
