The night I won the Best Actress award, Luca sent me to an investor's bed.
"It's just one night. It’s fine, Zara. Please, help me."
I was drugged and disoriented, so my body felt heavy and powerless. I could not even summon the strength to say no.
After it was over, Luca gently cleaned the traces from my body.
He held me tenderly and whispered, "Don’t be afraid, Zara. I’ll marry you, I promise."
I clung to those words, telling myself they were enough.
But later, a rising starlet asked him, "You’ve been with Zara for ten years. Were you really willing to hand her over to someone else? That Grant Yates, who’s even rumored to have a pregnant wife? Just the thought makes me sick."
Luca chuckled playfully, "What are you saying? Are you trying to trap me? I don’t care if she sleeps with a hundred Grants. As long as it brings me resources for you, you’re the one I can’t bear to lose. Are you happy now, my jealous little girl?"
So that was it. I was nothing more than a bargaining chip exchanged for his lover’s career.
Devastated, I chose to withdraw from the industry. When the news about this reached Luca York, he came straight to my door.
His tone turned cold as he said, "Zara, if you don’t want your nudes plastered all over the internet, you’d better drop this idea."
Perhaps the despair in my eyes unsettled him because he softened slightly. "I said I would marry you, didn’t I? So stop causing trouble."
Marry me, he said? I laughed bitterly, but he remained unmoved and walked away without hesitation.
Days later, the internet exploded with rumors. Everyone kept talking about an actress who slept her way to the top.
When Luca called to deny responsibility, I could actually hear the nervousness in his voice.
I told him calmly, "It’s okay. It doesn’t matter whether you did it or not."
After all, in seven days, I would be out of his life for good.
——
I did not need to see the vicious comments online to guess how cruel they must be, so I simply turned off my phone.
My agent, Zoe Lane, scolded furiously, "You’ve been in this industry long enough. How could you still make such a careless mistake and let someone take those kinds of pics?"
Though the pictures circulating only showed my face, the implication was unmistakable. The crumpled bedsheets, the dazed look in my eyes, my parted red lips and a glimpse of the tip of my tongue were all too suggestive.
It could only have been taken by Luca. Back then, we were young, in love and inseparable. He said he wanted to capture every side of me.
But now, the photo was released alongside a report of Grant Yates seen entering and exiting the hotel that same night.
"Was I ever in control of any of this?"
Zoe stopped mid-rant. She had been my agent since my debut, a decade of working side by side. She knew everything, especially about Luca and me.
In the end, she just let out a long sigh. "Zara, Mr. York can’t be that heartless. Maybe you should try to stay hopeful."
I smiled faintly and tears slipped down my cheeks. A decade of memories of highs and heartbreaks finally faded like a fragile bubble bursting in silence.
"Is there any point in hoping he’s not heartless? I’ve already been destroyed. Even if I clear my name one day, this stain will follow me forever."
"Zara, haven’t I already explained? I didn’t do it!"
I did not even notice when Luca arrived. He still had the password to my home, so he could come and go as he pleased.
If I thought about it, he had not set foot in this place for nearly a year. Most of the time, he would just summon me to a hotel and once it was over, he would leave without a word.
Before leaving, Zoe gave me a worried glance. Still, since Luca was her boss, she said nothing more.
I leaned back against the sofa, feigning innocence as I said, "Mr. York, did you come all the way here just for this? What a hassle. I already told you that it’s fine."
My words seemed to ignite something in him. He stormed over and yanked my hair, forcing me to look up into his icy gaze. "You’re a disgrace now, so forget about the wedding. I’ll go with you to register the marriage. Just stay home and be a housewife from now on."
