1 The day Paul Moore went bankrupt, he threw me his last savings on a black card. “You don’t have to stay,” he said. I tore my Harvard acceptance in half. “We sink or swim together.” The heiress who once spent fortunes on meals learned to clip coupons and argue over ten cents. When he fought his way back, he promised me a wedding of the century. I was nervous but happy. Then I saw him through a half-open door, sliding my diamond ring onto a starlet’s finger. “Won’t Ava be upset you’re giving everything to Mia?” Paul smiled. “She gave up Harvard for me when we were poor. She can handle anything.” He chuckled coldly. “If she had the guts to leave over this, I’d respect her more.” My blood turned to ice. A bitter laugh escaped me. Fine. If he wants me to leave—I’ll leave. … “What is the meaning of this?” A black card hit Paul Moore square in the face. Mia Brooks frowned, her delicate brows knitting together. “Paul, I told you, I’m not some canary you keep in a golden cage!” The moment the card struck his cheek, the air in the room grew thick with tension. But Paul just smiled, letting it fall to the floor. He looked at the pouting girl before him, his thumb gently caressing the diamond ring on her finger. “My fault, darling. I shouldn't have treated you like a girl who can be bought.” Mia snatched her hand back, crossing her arms and turning away. “I told you from the start, I’m with you because I like you. Your money has nothing to do with it! If you can’t understand that, then we’re through!” “Mia, come on.” Paul reached for her, but she slapped his hand away. The indomitable Paul Moore, a titan of industry, was reduced to a helpless, smiling fool by a starlet’s temper tantrum. He shot a look at his friends, his eyes overflowing with a sickeningly sweet adoration. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.” “Get lost!” He pulled her into his arms. “Alright, alright, it’s my fault. How about I make it up to you? The Zenith Award for Best Actress this weekend. It’s yours. How does that sound?” Mia’s expression softened. My own fists clenched so hard my nails dug into my palms. Someone in the room spoke up. “Mr. Moore, wasn’t that award promised to Ava?” “Mia’s just as deserving,” he said, pulling her onto his lap. “She works hard, she’s a talented actress. The nominations haven’t been announced yet, so we’ll just make a little change.” Before his assistant could even move, I kicked the door wide open. Paul immediately pushed Mia off his lap. “Ava?” I ignored the sharp, familiar pain in my lower back and stared daggers at him. “Who are you giving that award to?” Paul’s gaze fell. To get the perfect shot for my last film, I’d refused a stunt double for a high-fall scene. The landing had been brutal, leaving me with eighteen steel pins in my spine. I was back on set the same day, pushing through the agony to keep us on schedule. He was there. He saw it all. He knew I’d collapsed in tears of pain the moment the cameras stopped rolling, my body slick with a cold sweat as I leaned against him. But now, he avoided my gaze. “Mia’s a newcomer. It hasn’t been easy for her to get this far. You’re a veteran, Ava. Let her have it.” “Never!” I pointed a trembling finger at Mia. “If she were better than me, fine! But while I was memorizing my lines until dawn, she was mumbling ‘1-2-3-4-5-6-7’ to the camera! While I was doing my own stunts, she was using eight different body doubles for a single scene! You’re going to give an award that a real actor might work eight years to earn to this… this mannequin?” “Ava!” Paul’s voice was a whip crack. His eyes, usually so warm when they looked at me, were now filled with an icy unfamiliarity. “Know your place!” The words hung in the air. Even he seemed surprised by them. I stared at him, incredulous. “My place? Do you mean my place as a veteran actress, or my place as your girlfriend of ten years?” “Ava, I…” He seemed to realize his mistake. The things we say without thinking are often the most revealing. They’re the truth. “Look, Ava, you don’t have to treat me like your enemy.” Mia lifted her chin, her expression a mask of arrogant nonchalance. “I’m not interested in petty female rivalries. I just happen to like Paul, and I’m not afraid to go after what I want.” She dangled the black card in front of my face. “He tried to give this to me. I refused. I’ve always been the type to earn what I want. So relax. Unlike you, I have no interest in his money. When I like someone, it has nothing to do with their bank account.” She tossed the card at me, and it fluttered to my feet. Then she turned to leave, but at a subtle nod from Paul, one of his men blocked her path. “Now, why would you leave?” Paul rose, sweeping Mia into his arms. “Change the nomination,” he ordered his assistant. “Take Ava’s name off the list and replace it with Mia’s.” “Paul!” “And,” he cut me off, his voice softening as he looked down at Mia, his eyes filled with that same doting look, “my spending money on you is my business. It has nothing to do with you. You’ll never be just a kept woman to me.” Mia squirmed playfully in his arms before finally relenting. As he carried her out, she glanced back at me over his shoulder, a flicker of triumphant satisfaction in her eyes. I sat in my car, parked in the garage, and slammed my fist against the steering wheel. I never cared about winning the Zenith Award. I only got into acting in the first place to help make ends meet for Paul and me. I, who had never bowed to anyone, had to smile and grovel for a bit part. But slowly, I fell in love with the craft. Even after Paul rebuilt his empire and offered me a hundred million dollars to quit, to stop putting myself through hell, I couldn't. He understood then that acting had become a part of me. From that day on, he supported me, never holding me back. When I stumbled back into our apartment, my mind a numb fog, I found it wasn't empty. “This one, and this one. Take them all.” Mia was directing a moving crew, pointing at my crystal ornaments and gold statuettes. “Put that down! Who let you in here?” My sudden shout made her jump, a hand flying to her chest. Her fear quickly morphed into annoyance. “What are you yelling for? Paul registered my fingerprint for the door. I can come and go as I please. Hey! That one, too! Take it all to the new house Paul got for me!” She was pointing at a small gold ring on my vanity. It was less than five grams. Paul had bought it for me when we were at our poorest, after living on instant noodles for three months straight. He had sworn to me then that he would give me the world. Even now, with necklaces worth eight figures, that little ring was my most treasured possession. I slammed my hand down on the mover’s, stopping him. My smile was pure acid. “I thought you didn’t care about a man’s money, Ms. Brooks? Are you really so desperate that you won’t even leave behind a trinket worth less than three hundred dollars?” Mia’s face darkened. “It’s not about the money. It’s about the principle. Wherever the money flows, love follows. You have to fight for what you want in this life, don’t you, Ava?” “I’ve never heard someone make being a gold digger sound so noble,” I sneered. “No need to be jealous,” she purred, leaning closer. “In the end, it all comes down to who Paul chooses. As for all this… I’ll gladly take it off your hands.” She then pointed to the top shelf of my closet. “That trophy looks nice. Pack it up with the rest.” I turned, and my breath hitched. It was my mother’s. “Don’t touch that!” I shoved the mover aside, grabbing the trophy and clutching it to my chest. The force of it sent Mia stumbling back. “Ava! Are you insane?” she shrieked. “It’s just a stupid trophy! It’s not like it was ever going to be yours anyway, you hack! I’m taking what’s Paul’s, what does it have to do with you? Get it from her!” “You dare!” I raised my hand, ready to strike. Mia’s face went pale, and she cowered, her arms over her head. “Ah!” “Ava!” A hand clamped down on my wrist like a vice. I turned to see Paul towering over me, his eyes blazing with disapproval. With a single, effortless motion, he flung me back against the wardrobe. “Paul!” Mia cried, throwing herself into his arms, her shoulders trembling delicately. It only made him hold her tighter. “Ava, it’s just a trophy. Why are you making a scene?” I looked up at him, my heart shattering. “What did you just say?” Only then did his eyes focus on the object in my arms. My mother’s last honor. Her last gift to me. In the days when we could barely afford food, I had sold every piece of my own jewelry, but I never once considered selling this. A complex emotion flickered across Paul’s face, and he looked away. “Mia is your junior. She wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. There’s no need to be so dramatic.” “Wouldn’t hurt me?” I laughed, a broken, hysterical sound. “You call coming into our home and stripping it of everything I own not hurting me?” Mia paled. Paul finally seemed to notice that nearly every valuable thing that belonged to me was now packed in the moving van outside. “Paul,” I said, my voice dangerously low, “this is the woman who wants to take the five-gram ring you gave me. And you still believe she doesn’t care about your money?” “Paul!” Mia suddenly cried out. “If you believe a word she says, I’ll leave right now. I’ll walk away from everything you’ve ever given me and never look back!” And with that, she spun around, making a show of leaving. Paul grabbed her arm, stopping her. She turned back, her voice thick with righteous indignation. “The only reason I wanted that ring is because I knew you gave it to her! I’m not some magnanimous saint. When I see something you gave to another woman, I get jealous! I don’t care if it’s a worthless piece of paper, I want it gone! But if you’re going to listen to her, if you think I’m just some money-grubbing parasite, then there’s nothing more to say!” I burst out laughing. “She wants to be the whore and the virgin queen all at once.” “I think that’s you!” Paul suddenly roared, turning on me. I froze. Mia, seeing her victory, stopped struggling. Paul pulled her back into his arms, his voice softening as he spoke to her. “Just ignore her,” he murmured, before turning his cold gaze back to me. I stared at him, my heart a leaden weight in my chest. “Paul, in your eyes, am I really that calculating?” He hesitated. But then a cold sneer twisted his lips. “Ava, be honest with yourself. When you tore up that Harvard letter, wasn't it because you were betting I’d make a comeback, bigger and better than before? Wasn’t it just an investment?” I stared at him, the world tilting on its axis. He held Mia tighter. “Mia might have met me after I was successful, but she refuses every penny I offer her. I have to force gifts on her. Her integrity is real. Yours was just an act.” My voice trembled. “Paul… you think… you think I was pretending?” He sighed. “You know the truth in your heart. I’m doing you the courtesy of not spelling it out. So do me a favor and stop with the hysterics.” “I hope you rot in hell, Paul Moore!” I shrieked, and in a blind rage, I shoved the coffee table over. His first instinct was to shield Mia with his own body from the flying debris. “You’re a psycho, Ava!” Mia screamed, her face contorted with fury. “He’s right, isn’t he? You’re just a gold digger, and you can’t stand being called out!” If Paul wasn’t holding her back, she would have lunged at me. He left with her and the movers, leaving me alone in the wreckage. I collapsed onto the floor, surrounded by shattered glass and broken memories, gasping for breath as tears streamed down my face. He didn't know. He had no idea. If I hadn’t stayed by his side, the empire I would have built for myself would have dwarfed his. As I began to pick up the pieces, I clutched my mother’s trophy. Fine. Once my new film is cast, we’ll divide the assets and go our separate ways. Just as I finished cleaning up the mess, my assistant called, her voice frantic. “Ava, it’s bad! They just recast the role we fought so hard for. They gave it to Mia Brooks!” The phone nearly slipped from my grasp. I stormed into Paul’s office and slammed the casting documents down on his desk. “You gave my mother’s role to that… that bitch?” He took the verbal assault without flinching, the cigar between his fingers not even trembling. “Mia is an actress with a lot of potential. You don’t need to worry.” “Paul.” I grabbed him by the collar. “My mother was a hero of science. She was finalizing her data on her deathbed! You’re going to let someone who can’t even be bothered to memorize her lines portray her? Is Mia worthy of that?” “How will we know if she’s worthy if she’s never given the chance?” My eyes burned with unshed tears. “She was my mother. No one knows her better than I do. Paul, if you let her play this part, I will use every resource at my disposal to destroy her career. I’m willing to walk away from acting forever. I mean it.” He looked at me then, a flicker of shock in his eyes. He might be the revered Mr. Moore now, but he knew that if I was willing to burn everything to the ground, I could take him down with me. He stubbed out his cigar in the ashtray and sighed. “You’d really go that far?” “Absolutely,” I bit out, my teeth clenched. He nodded slowly and dialed a number. “Cancel the casting change for Ms. Brooks. Yes, the role of Dr. Rhodes will be played by her daughter.” The tension in my shoulders finally eased. “Thank you, Mr. Moore,” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. I walked out without a second glance. The next day, I was scheduled for a costume fitting. But instead of a call from the studio, I woke up to my face plastered all over the internet. Private photos. Explicit photos. 365 of them. One for every day of the year. I fell out of bed. Staring at the angles of the pictures, I knew. My hands shaking, I called Paul. Mia answered. “I was the one who told Paul to release them,” she chirped, her voice oozing with fake sympathy. “What was it you said? You’d ruin my career to protect this role? Well, look at you now. Who’s ruined? I have to say, sister… you’re absolutely filthy.” My teeth ground together. “Mia!” The phone was snatched away. Paul’s voice, cold and detached, came through the line. “You can still play the part of your mother, Ava. If you can live with the fact that every time the audience sees her face, the first thing they’ll think of is you, on your back, spreading your legs.” The phone slipped from my fingers and clattered to the floor. I knelt there, staring at my name trending everywhere, and I began to sob, great, gut-wrenching wails that tore through my empty apartment. My phone buzzed. An incoming call. A warm, elderly voice spoke. “Ava, darling? I heard your mother’s film is starting production? When’s the premiere? Your uncles and I are flying back to see your big debut.” My hand trembled violently. “Uncle… they… they put my private photos on the internet… I can’t do the movie anymore…” “They what?!” The calm voice erupted in fury. After I forwarded him the entertainment news links, his voice returned, shaking with rage. “So… so that’s how it is… Does he think all her old comrades are dead? He lets some little canary bully her daughter like this? Ava, don’t you worry. Every single one of your mother’s colleagues is on a plane back to the country right now. We’re coming to back you up.”
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