Chapter 6: The Price of Moving On

Looking back, I’m at peace with it all. It took a long time. After that, I cut off all connections to the entertainment world except Director Whitaker. I deactivated my Instagram and work email. When "Listening to the Rain" aired, my character Riley was so popular she almost overshadowed the female lead. Then came a wave of hate: that I seduced Caleb, bought my way into the production, changed the script, and had unclear relationships with directors. At the time, I was traveling in Europe and only returned half a year later. On that trip, I met my fiancé, Julian Carter. He’s like Velcro—once he sticks to you, you can’t shake him off.

One day I snapped, "Are you going to follow me home too?"

He grinned. "Isn’t that the best deal ever?"

My phone buzzed, snapping me out of my thoughts. It was Director Whitaker.

"I found something about that video," he said. "It was supposed to be leaked two years ago, but someone buried it."

"Besides Caleb, could anyone else have done it?"

"At first I thought it was him, but now it looks like it wasn’t. His team is investigating too."

I glanced at the time and got ready to leave.

"Forget it, it’s all in the past."

Director Whitaker sighed. "If I’d known you liked him, I would’ve helped."

"If you say that, Julian will add you to his blacklist."

Thinking Julian was beside me, he quickly hung up. He was always cautious.

A week later, Savannah’s reputation imploded out of nowhere. Director Whitaker said she’d offended a big shot. Years of dirt on her was suddenly exposed. It was brutal. Then, someone claiming to be her former assistant posted a tell-all online, exposing her two-faced ways. It mentioned how she pressured directors not to cast Caleb, and during "Midnight Magnolia," she slapped me and hired trolls to attack me.

Comments poured in:

"So vicious, drove someone out of the industry!"

"Such a shame about Autumn Hayes."

"She must’ve been so hopeless—couldn’t have Caleb, career ruined."

"Autumn is the first person I hope returns to acting."

...

I paused. Only then did I realize it was Savannah who buried my video, and this time it was released as a warning to her. It all made sense. Her endorsements were all canceled, and she was chased off the internet. A few days later, it was Caleb’s birthday. Rarely, he posted a photo of himself in pajamas on Instagram. I recognized them immediately—they were the ones I bought him. He must’ve fished them out of the trash. I didn't know how to feel.

His caption: "I just want you to love me."

Instagram exploded. Fans replied:

"Caleb, we love you!"

"We’ll always love you!"

...

That pajama set was rare, years out of production, so even the knockoffs sold out. People posted photos of themselves in the same style.