During a reality show, my phone's lock screen was exposed. It was a picture of Manhattan's most elusive, old-money billionaire heir. The internet immediately tore me apart, accusing me of clout-chasing. My rival starlet sneered, "Delusional fangirls are honestly terrifying." That very night, the billionaire heir created an official X (Twitter) account just to post: [She uses a picture of her own man as her wallpaper. Delusional? Are you out of your fing minds?]* 1 I am a trending actress in Hollywood. To build up some hype, I joined a highly popular, live-streamed reality TV show. The very first game required us to call our top pinned contact and invite them to dinner. If they refused, we failed the challenge. I pinched my phone, looking troubled as I racked my brain. Chloe Sterling strolled over to my side, a sweet smile plastered on her face. "What are you thinking about, Serena? Are you afraid of failing?" She was a big deal in the industry. We shared the exact same career trajectory when we blew up, making us undeniable rivals. Right now, though she was smiling, her eyes held a hidden, mocking glint. I glanced at her and stayed quiet. Given the time difference in Europe, my top pinned contact was definitely dead asleep right now. Even if I got lucky and woke him up, expecting him to cross the Atlantic just to eat dinner with me seemed pretty unrealistic. Seeing me ignore her, Chloe looked a bit annoyed. "Serena, why aren't you saying anything?" The live chat was already coming for me: [This Serena Blake is so rude. Chloe is trying to interact with her and give her screen time, and she's just giving her a resting bitch face?] [She's probably pinning some guy who strung her along. She's terrified of the embarrassment when he rejects her, lol.] [So annoying! Chloe is beautiful and sweet, don't pay attention to this trashy girl.] I snapped back to reality and met her fixed stare. "Sorry, I zoned out." She smirked at me provocatively, urging, "Then hurry up and start." I had no choice but to slowly unlock my phone, revealing my top pinned contact. I never had the habit of setting long nicknames. My pinned contact was simply the letter "F". Live chat: [Who is that? F? Doesn't even have a full name? Probably some random nobody.] [Agreed. This girl doesn't even have any friends in the industry. She's struggling so hard.] I hit the audio call button. The dial tone echoed from the speaker. Once, twice... The ringing filled the room, but no one picked up. Chloe covered her mouth, giggling. "Are you not close with this person? Why aren't they answering?" He was definitely fast asleep. I didn't bother explaining. I just lowered my eyes, fully prepared for the call to automatically disconnect. Chloe looked like she was enjoying a show. "If you can't even reach your top contact, we should just announce that you..." Before she could finish her sentence, the ringing abruptly stopped. The call connected. A lazy, incredibly magnetic, deep voice came through the speaker. It was thick with the raspy tone of someone who had just woken up. "Hello? "What's wrong, baby?" 2 Chloe froze. The live chat instantly went ballistic. [Holy sh*t! This voice is lethal! I'm pregnant!] [Hold off on the pregnancy, didn't you hear him call her baby?!] [Omg omg omg, if I dated a guy online with this voice, I'd let him scam me out of my life savings!] [Just asking quietly... is this Serena's boyfriend?] I hadn't expected to actually wake him up. I always thought he kept his phone off when he slept. But right now, I couldn't care less about that. I just wanted this segment to be over. "Do you want to get dinner together tonight?" He clearly paused. "Tonight? "Your tonight?" Chloe looked confused. "Who is this guy? Why does he have to specify 'your tonight'?" Her fans echoed: [Lmao, looks like she found herself a long-distance loser boyfriend.] I ignored her and continued, "Yeah." The person on the other end didn't hesitate for a second, his voice gradually clearing up. "Alright. I'll have the jet prepped now." I was stunned. "You're really coming?" There was a rustling sound through the speaker, like he was getting out of bed. Then came his teasing voice. "It's rare for you to take the initiative. Even if I have to cross the ocean, I'm going." Live chat: [Wait, what?! Cross the ocean? He's flying internationally just for dinner??] [No wonder he asked about 'tonight', he's definitely in a different time zone right now!] [Who is Mr. F?! The bar is on the floor and he just raised it to the sky!!] Chloe's face looked a bit ugly. She seemed displeased that I had stolen the spotlight. She gritted her teeth and raised her hand. "I'll go next." The host immediately passed the mic to her. She aggressively tapped into her pinned contacts. The name was boldly displayed: "Felix T." Just as she hoped, the chat started spamming. [Felix T.? Is that the Felix I'm thinking of?] [Is there even a second one? It has to be Felix Thorne! The heir to the Thorne Empire, a true Wall Street heavyweight!] [Omg, I heard even tech CEOs can't get a meeting with Felix Thorne. Is Chloe really that close to him?] [Lol, compared to Felix Thorne, that random Mr. F is a literal nobody.] [Hahaha, Serena definitely thought she was about to go viral, but she didn't expect Chloe's connections to be this insane!] Chloe feigned modesty. "Oh stop, don't say that. Felix doesn't like being too high-profile." She turned, gave me a triumphant smile, and pressed the call button. I watched her quietly. I was actually a little curious about what was going to happen next. Almost immediately, a notification popped up on her screen— [You are not friends with this user. Call cannot be completed.] 3 Chloe's face instantly turned green. She awkwardly tried a few more times, but the result was the same. She could only mutter to herself, "Huh? Felix must have accidentally deleted me. I totally forgot, he mentioned he was going to clear out his contacts..." The host quickly tried to save her face. "It's fine, it's fine! You can just pick someone else." Next to her, I silently closed out of my messaging app. What I didn't realize was that my phone was still being mirrored to the studio screen. My lock screen wallpaper flashed brightly for everyone to see. It was a man in a bespoke suit, looking straight ahead. His long, elegant fingers gripped a steering wheel, and a sleek, black luxury watch rested on his wrist. I quickly locked my phone. But the damage was done. The live chat absolutely exploded. [Holy sht! Felix Thorne! That's Felix Thorne!] [I'm getting a nosebleed. How have I never seen this picture before?! He is so hot, is he trying to kill me?!] [Wait, this btch's wallpaper is Felix Thorne? And she deliberately flashed it for us to see right now?] [Yeah, what is she trying to prove? Trying to chase clout on a live stream, excuse me?!] [Uh, what if she just genuinely likes him?] [That makes it even funnier! Does she not look in the mirror? Dreaming of marrying into a billionaire family? Especially someone on Felix Thorne's level. I'm laughing my head off.] The other celebrity guests on set widened their eyes, covering their mouths and whispering. Chloe shot me a look and rolled her eyes. The host immediately asked if she was okay. Chloe gently touched her cheek, looking delicate. "It's nothing. I just suddenly realized... delusional fangirls are honestly terrifying." Live chat: [Oh yeah! Isn't Chloe really good friends with Felix? Someone tell Felix there's a stalker fangirl here using him for clout!] [Too bad Felix Thorne doesn't care about the entertainment industry. Otherwise, I'd love to see Serena get blacklisted, hahaha.] Everyone on set caught Chloe's implied insult. They all turned to look at me in unison. I didn't say a word. I just pocketed my phone and stared at the production crew to cut my screen feed. Because it was a live broadcast, this tiny incident snowballed instantly. Someone clipped that segment and posted it on X. The caption read: [Chloe is such a straightforward queen, love her! Delusional trash needs to get out of Hollywood!!] The hashtag started trending, and a massive wave of netizens voiced their support: [Tsk tsk, my girl Chloe is a boss! I felt secondhand embarrassment for Serena through the screen.] [She probably didn't expect Chloe to be so blunt. Look at her deadpan face, her clout-chasing failed and she's big mad.] [Vomiting. I never understood how she got famous anyway. Cancel her already.] Chloe kept scrolling on her phone and somehow clicked into the trending hashtag. A screen full of insults directed at me was mirrored onto the main studio screen for everyone to read. She froze for a second, then looked at me in a complete panic. "Oh my gosh! How did this happen?! I'm just too outspoken, I never thought people would say all this! Serena, you aren't mad at me, right?" I was the one getting dragged, yet she looked like the victim. Someone nearby immediately put an arm around her. "Chloe, we know you have a good heart. This is totally normal in Hollywood, it has nothing to do with you." Chloe looked innocently into the camera. "I just think as public figures, we should watch our behavior and not do anything inappropriate." The surrounding crew threw me looks of pure disdain. Feeling their judgmental stares, I was speechless. I just didn't get it. If these people cared so much about Felix Thorne, couldn't they recognize his voice? The "F" I just called... was him. And that picture? I took it on a whim when he came to pick me up from work one day. Is it illegal to use a picture I took of my own husband as my lock screen? 4 We had been secretly married for three years, and Felix had protected me flawlessly. No one had ever dug up our relationship, and I was perfectly happy with that freedom. But Chloe's constant insinuations about being close to Felix felt incredibly bizarre. I had never heard of Felix being in contact with any Hollywood starlet other than me. How did she even get his contact info? Chloe was still acting wronged. The host pivoted to comfort her. "Don't be sad, Chloe! We're still recording, you can make another call!" She wiped away non-existent tears, scrolled through her list, and found someone named Preston Vance. "Okay! Can I call Felix's absolute best friend?" The host nodded frantically. "Of course!" As Chloe dialed, she explained to the camera, "Preston is the heir to Vance Industries. He grew up with Felix, they're practically brothers!" Live chat: [My girl Chloe is so professional. She was so wronged, but she immediately jumped back into work mode!] [Upvote! But who is Preston Vance? Never heard of him.] [Checking in, I just Googled him. His family runs a massive construction empire. Filthy rich!] [Anyone who is best bros with Felix Thorne is definitely a big deal. If Chloe is this close to all of them, she must be a real high-society princess!] [Omg, our Chloe is gorgeous AND comes from a crazy background! That's my queen!] Amidst the envious gazes of the room, I slowly furrowed my brows. Preston Vance? Felix's best friend? How come I had never heard of this guy? If I remembered correctly, Vance Construction was merely a sub-contractor for one of Thorne Enterprises' subsidiaries. Preston Vance probably hadn't even met Felix in person. How were they best friends? I was genuinely baffled, and I couldn't help but ask, "Are you absolutely sure this guy is Felix Thorne's good friend?" Chloe's expression instantly changed. "What do you mean by that? Serena, if you have a problem with me, say it to my face, but you shouldn't question me like this!" I looked her dead in the eye. "I just think that bragging on a live stream might be hard to walk back later." She lost her media training for a second and glared at me. "Why don't you look in the mirror? What right do you have to accuse me of bragging? Preston and Felix are incredibly close. When you're ruined, don't come begging me for help!" Looking at Chloe's supreme confidence, I was both confused and fascinated. Where was she getting this audacity? The chat debated: [Is Serena Blake mentally ill? She can't access high-society circles, so she gets jealous and accuses others of lying? How dark is her soul?] [Knowing Chloe's background is so insane, I really want to know who Mr. F is. He was so obedient on the phone, is he just some boy-toy model Serena paid for? No wonder she's having a meltdown comparing herself to Chloe!] [Lmao, it's probably someone she's ashamed to show. With Chloe's powerful friends, Serena is about to be humiliated on all fronts!] Someone next to us chimed in, "Chloe, ignore the jealous hater. Make your call!" Chloe glared at me, then acted all sweet and flirty once the call connected, quickly completing the challenge. Everyone praised the Vance heir for treating her so well. She just smiled, looking shy and modest. Director Davis seemed to have a sudden stroke of genius. He pulled Chloe aside, practically fawning over her. "Chloe, since you have plans with Mr. Vance, why don't we invite him to the studio for dinner? Let our little show bask in some of that billionaire aura! "I've been trying to get an interview with Felix Thorne for ages, but he never looks twice at our productions. It's been my biggest regret..." Chloe immediately understood the assignment and patted the director's shoulder aggressively. "Oh, Director Davis, say no more! I'll send Preston the location right now. He and Felix are practically family. Getting him an interview? It's just a matter of saying the word!" A matter of saying the word? Felix absolutely despised fluff interviews meant only to farm engagement. Did she really not consider the consequences of talking this big?
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