During a live broadcast for our new reality show, the strap of my top suddenly snapped. The live chat instantly exploded with hate. "Who is this nobody? She definitely did that on purpose to seduce my Caleb." "Thirst trap." "Pick-me girl behavior." "Shameless! Stripping on camera to get attention." I turned my head to look at the A-list superstar standing next to me. I decided to show his fans what actual seduction looks like. Chapter 1 As a D-list actress hovering on the edge of obscurity, I somehow landed a spot on a high-profile outdoor reality show. Rumor had it that Caleb Sterling, the top-tier, Oscar-winning heartthrob, was going to be on it. My agent, Maxine, pulled every string she had to shove me into the cast. The official lineup had four people: Tiffany, the current "It Girl" traffic magnet. Leo, a handsome idol-turned-actor. Greg, a veteran comedian and variety show staple. And me, the "who is she?" of the group. Maxine gave me a serious pep talk: "Harper, this is a once-in-a-lifetime shot. You could go viral overnight and become a star." I looked at the show’s itinerary, nodding along, but privately, I doubted Caleb would actually show up. He never did reality TV. It was probably just the producers using his name for clout. But Maxine really must have sold her soul, because when the official livestream announcement happened, Caleb Sterling actually walked in. As soon as he appeared, the viewer count skyrocketed. After the introductions, the host started cueing the segments. Right at the start, they shuffled the standing order, placing me right next to Caleb. I felt stiff. Caleb’s fanbase was massive and terrifying. One wrong move, and I’d be canceled before I even started. To Caleb’s right stood Tiffany, the darling of the industry. The production obviously wanted to push a "shipping" narrative between them. Suddenly, I felt a slackening sensation on my chest. Then, I watched in horror as the strap of my camisole snapped and slid down my arm. Are you kidding me? Is the wardrobe budget non-existent? I, who had zero screen time until now, suddenly became the focus of the camera. My shirt was half-undone, looking precariously revealing. Caleb, who had been looking at the lens, must have heard the snap. He turned his head and looked right at me. I seriously suspected the production crew sabotaged me. Since I was the nobody, generating some scandalous heat off me wouldn't hurt their precious stars. My top was barely hanging on. It looked bad. It looked like a "wardrobe malfunction" meant to grab headlines. As expected, the live comments went feral. They were calling me shameless. Accusing me of throwing myself at Caleb. The insults were getting creative. If you didn’t know better, you’d think I had assaulted him. I didn’t do anything! The strap broke on its own! The producers saw what was happening and didn’t cut away. They loved the drama. Screw this. I couldn't take the disrespect. I curled my lips into a smile, turned fully toward Caleb, and pitched my voice into a sickly sweet, flirtatious register. "Caleb, honey, could I borrow that for a second?" I pointed a manicured finger at his chest. Caleb stood there in a perfectly tailored black suit, looking dapper as hell. On his lapel was a gold feather brooch. He looked at me, then calmly unpinned the brooch. His fingers were long, pale, and elegant. I took it from him with both hands, batting my eyelashes, and whispered in that same breathy voice: "Thank you." I gave myself goosebumps. Caleb paused. "...You're welcome." The stream was lagging, but I glanced at the monitor. The chat was unified: Kill that pick-me girl! Chapter 2 I used the gold brooch to pin my strap back in place. Then, I lightly tugged on Caleb’s sleeve, bringing back my fake, syrupy voice. "Caleb, your pin is just so beautiful." I just wanted to annoy the haters. I didn't expect Caleb to turn his entire body toward me, glance at the pin on my chest, and smirk. "Keep it. It’s yours." I have a weakness for handsome men. Especially men as unreasonably handsome as Caleb Sterling. The tone. The line. The eye contact. Crap. I think I just played myself. The stream was glitching from the traffic overload, but once it smoothed out, one comment spamming the screen caught my eye: [Mrs. Caleb Sterling]: Give my husband's pin back, you witch! You vixen! Surprisingly high praise. "Vixen" implies I’m hot enough to ruin a life. I’ll take it. Everyone around us was throwing subtle side-eyes, but I didn’t care. I was being annoying on purpose. Caleb, however, cleared his throat and spoke into his mic, his tone calm but firm. "Let's keep the comments civil, please." His voice was like velvet. His rational fans immediately stepped in to control the chat. It made me feel a little guilty for trolling, so I behaved myself for the rest of the stream. I faded into the background while the stars talked. Leo, the idol guy, and Greg, the comedian, were super nice. Zero ego. Tiffany, on the other hand, was icy. She only seemed interested in talking to Caleb. Whatever. After the stream, I trended. I didn't look, but I assumed it was bad. When I got home to pack for the actual filming, Maxine called me, sounding ecstatic. "Harper! You made it! Bad press is still press! Do you know how many followers you gained?" I had about 100k followers on Instagram before this. Mostly bots. "How many?" I asked, throwing toiletries into my bag. "Fifty thousand!" Maxine screamed. Damn. The power of Caleb. I checked my phone. Fifty thousand new followers, and my DMs were filled with red notifications. All hate mail, no doubt. I tossed the phone aside. Internet people are so dramatic. ... The next morning, Maxine drove me to the meeting point. I was early; the others were still wrapping up other gigs. That afternoon, the Director, Lee, knocked on my hotel room door holding a file. I invited him in. I’m a nobody; no paparazzi care about who enters my room. "Director Lee, what’s up?" He handed me the file. It was a script. A villain script. It was a tailored "Black Road to Fame" route. He wanted me to be the designated antagonist to generate buzz. "Harper, it’s a win-win." I looked at the script. Sure, it was a win for the show. But I didn't want to do it. Every bullet point on the page was designed to make the internet hate me. I’ve stayed invisible in this industry specifically because I hate doing things against my conscience. "Director, let me think about it." He nodded and left. ... Right after Lee left, the Assistant Director, Miller, showed up. He had a slimy smile on his face. "Harper, aren't you going to invite me in?" I stepped back to let him in, leaving the door wide open. "Harper, you're so pretty. Why haven't you blown up yet?" I thought about it seriously. "Maybe the casting directors are blind?" Miller paused, clearly not expecting that answer. He walked past me and shut the door. "I have something to show you. Better to keep the door closed." He handed me his phone. It was a video of Director Lee entering my room and leaving twenty minutes later. The angle made it look... suggestive. I handed the phone back. "What’s your point, Miller?" "Nothing," he smirked. "But if I leaked this, what do you think would happen?" "I’d get cyberbullied to hell," I said flatly. Miller grinned, a predatory look in his eyes. He started unzipping his jacket. "Exactly. You don't want people to get the wrong idea, right? Maybe we can work something out..." I watched him cold-eyed. This script was too cliché. As he tried to shrug his jacket off, I grabbed the fabric and yanked it back up, choking him slightly. Then, I gathered a mouthful of saliva and spit right in his face. "You sick pervert. Get the hell out." I might be a D-lister, but I’m not scared of this garbage. The show hasn't even aired. If he leaks that, he destroys the show's reputation. The investors would eat him alive. I grabbed a heavy tripod from the corner of the room and started jabbing him toward the door. "Did a pig eat your brain?" I yelled, poking him hard in the spine. Miller yelped and scrambled into the hallway. Just as I jabbed him out the door, Caleb and his personal assistant were walking by. awkward silence. "What's... happening?" Caleb’s assistant asked. I retracted the tripod and gave a stiff smile. "Director Miller had a stiff back. I was helping him with some... percussive therapy." The assistant looked skeptical. "Is that so?" "Would you two like to try?" I brandished the tripod. The assistant waved his hands frantically and hustled Caleb away. Caleb didn't say a word. He just looked at me with those unreadable eyes. That night, Maxine called me in a panic. Miller was known for holding grudges. She said he’d make my life on set a living hell. I told her to relax. I’ve been bullied for two years in this business. What’s a few more days? Chapter 3 After the drama, the show finally started filming. The title was The Journey. The gimmick was that the itinerary was decided by live viewer votes. The director said "anything goes." The first stop was the Great Smoky Mountains. I expected scenic views. Instead, the van drove us deeper and deeper into the sticks until I thought I was back in my grandma’s village. I sat with Leo. He was bouncing off the walls, excited about the "countryside." "Aren't you curious, Harper? Have you ever seen mountains like this?" I looked at the winding dirt road. "Curious? It feels like I’m visiting my relatives." The live chat scrolled on the monitor in the van. "Leo is so cute!" "Harper is actually kinda funny lol." We arrived at a farmhouse. Cameras were everywhere. We split into teams based on shirt color. Pink team: Me, Leo, Greg. Blue team: Caleb, Tiffany, and a new guest singer. The Director shouted through a megaphone. "Welcome to Gold River Village! The theme voted by the netizens is 'Agriculture'!" "Since it’s not harvest season, your task is... catching crawfish in the mud." The team with the most crawfish gets a feast. The losers get nothing and have to do the dishes. Leo was thrilled. He jumped straight into the mud pit. Tiffany looked horrified. "Harper, you're so brave. I’m scared of the mud." I reached down, grabbed a squirming crawfish, and shoved it toward her face. "Don't be scared, Tiff. Here, a gift." She screamed. I decided to stay away from her. I wandered over to Caleb's section. He was surprisingly good at this. His bucket was half full. Mine was empty. I followed him around, trying to learn his technique. Suddenly, I saw a hand reach into my bucket. "Hey! What are you doing?" Caleb dumped my meager catch into his bucket, grabbed the handle, and sprinted away. "Stealing your crawfish!" he yelled back. I stood there, frozen. I thought Caleb Sterling was the cool, mysterious type. Who is this bandit? "Caleb! You brat!" I roared and took off after him. The cameras swiveled. Caleb was surprisingly fast in the mud. The chat went wild. "Wait, is this the real Caleb?" "I've been a fan for 10 years and I've never seen him run like a thief." "I take back what I said about Harper, this is hilarious." I was wheezing. Leo, covered head to toe in mud, watched us run laps. "What's happening?" "He robbed me!" I shouted. The game ended. Caleb won. I lost. Winners ate inside. Losers stood outside watching. I was starving. My stomach growled audibly. Caleb walked out with a bowl of savory stew. The smell was heavenly. I closed my eyes. Out of sight, out of mind. "Want some?" I opened my eyes. Caleb was holding the bowl right under my nose. I hesitated, then nodded shamefully. He immediately pulled the bowl back. "But you lost. We have to respect the rules." I mentally cursed him in five languages. Caleb Sterling. What a jerk. Chapter 4 The livestream ended for the night. We were staying in local farmhouses. It was past midnight. I was tossing and turning. I was angry and hungry. Why didn't I pack snacks? I couldn't take it. I got up to scavenge. The cameras were off. I crept out to the courtyard and bumped into a dark figure. "Caleb? Are you haunting the place?" After the mud incident, I dropped all formalities. He was half a head taller than me. He turned, his beautiful eyes catching the moonlight. "What are you doing?" "Admiring the moon," I lied. "It's beautiful tonight." "I thought maybe someone was hungry." "Mind your business." He walked a few steps, then turned back. "Come on." "Where?" "To find food. I'm hungry." My jaw dropped. I watched him eat that whole bowl of stew! But hunger won. I followed him. "Where are we going in the pitch dark?" "Follow me." He used his phone light. We hopped a fence and ended up in a cornfield. "Go ahead," he said, snapping a cob off a stalk and handing it to me. "Stealing? Again?" Caleb gently bonked me on the head with the corn. "You want to run without paying?" "I mean..." "If you run, I'll bring a roast chicken to visit you in prison." I rolled my eyes. Who started the rumor that he was high-maintenance? We grabbed a few ears of corn. He left some cash under a rock near the farmer's porch on the way back. "My assistant will come explain tomorrow," he muttered. Next up: Top Celebrity Roasts Corn for Me. We sat by a small fire in a clearing. I ate two whole ears. Caleb ate half of one. "I thought you were starving?" He just smiled. ... We snuck back just before dawn. The next morning, the director announced a change of plans. "Wilderness Survival." We had to hike up a mountain to visit a famous temple, then head into the woods. Halfway up the mountain, I was dying. We took a break. Miller immediately ran over to Tiffany with a folding chair and a parasol. "Tiff, careful of the sun. Can't have our star getting a tan." I sat in the dirt under a tree and rolled my eyes. Caleb walked over, sat next to me, and opened his umbrella. I shamelessly scooted into the shade. He handed me a portable fan. "I owe you one," I said, fanning myself. "Just be my servant for life," he deadpanned. His assistant, Ben, handed him another fan. Tiffany's assistant piped up loudly: "Director Miller is so sweet. Harper, didn't he bring you an umbrella?" I hadn't even responded when Caleb muttered, "Dramatic." I gave him a thumbs up. Then I pitched my voice up to match the assistant's tone. "Maybe the Director just prefers the other girls. Besides, my skin isn't as delicate as theirs. I can handle the light." The cameraman looked like he didn't know whether to film or run. Later, Ben sat next to me. "Harper, are you married?" "Nope. I'm 24." "Boyfriend?" "Nope. Why are you so nosy?" "What a coincidence," Ben grinned. "Caleb isn't married and has no girlfriend." I blinked. "Wow. What a coincidence." ... I looked at Caleb. Pale skin, refined features, great body. Rich. Not totally terrible personality... Why am I listing his pros? Scary. "Why are you staring?" Caleb asked. "Don't get any funny ideas."
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