Tying Up The Superstar

The new drama wrapped up, and the company arranged for the male and female leads to host a joint livestream.

Fans of both stars flooded the stream with gifts and urged Cliff Rodriquez and Verena Elliott to kiss.

Cliff's face showed no trace of reluctance.

A numb pain welled up in my chest.

That same day, I broke up with him.

I gave him some money as a parting gift, but his eyes turned red.

1

The atmosphere in the livestream room grew awkward because of Cliff's expression.

Verena hid the smugness in her eyes and teased Cliff with a playful laugh.

The final scene before the stream ended was her leaning in toward Cliff and ready to kiss him.

Someone quickly captured a screenshot and posted it in the comments section.

I pinched between my eyebrows. It was starting to ache.

I had been Cliff's secret girlfriend for too long.

I got used to the scene where my boyfriend was intimate with other women every day.

I invested so much into Cliff's career every year. Why should I put up with this?

The next moment, I sent Cliff a message with my phone. "Why did you end the stream early? Was that request so difficult? You have done it before."

Cliff had kissed Verena countless times in the drama already.

Now he was pretending to be some innocent first love.

After a long moment, Cliff finally replied with one sentence.

He seemed to have been reluctant to part ways with Verena just now.

"Can you stop?"

Even though it was just text, I could almost sense him taking a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and the fleeting guilt that flashed in his eyes after he said that.

Verena's disingenuous message followed shortly after. "Wendy, are you okay? Some of your fans caused a scene in the live stream just now, and Cliff seemed a bit annoyed. Don't worry. Leave it to me. I'll handle it so it doesn't affect your relationship."

I took a deep breath and rolled my eyes.

"Are you trying to make yourself look important?" I thought.

The next second, Cliff's call came through.

I pressed the answer button and instinctively held the phone away from my ear.

His furious voice was heard. "Wendy! Didn't we agree on this from the start? What are you trying to do now? Disciple your fans! I'm earning money for you and for our future home! If I don't pay the wedding expenses, will your family even allow me to marry you? Can you be a little more reasonable?"

I gave a cold smile.

Did he do everything for me?

Without me, didn't he need to earn money?

He made it sound like I was desperate for his money.

The money he made wasn't even close to what I spent in a month at cosmetic clinics.

After he finally finished speaking and quieted down, I rubbed my ear and said coldly, "Take care of yourself. Don't provoke me from now on. My fans can do whatever they want. If something happens, I'll handle it! If they flood you and Verena with comments, I'll applaud their dedication."

Before he could respond, I hung up. Then I blocked his number and deleted him from my contact list in one go.

2

I maxed out his credit card and bought the liquor that was the most common in my place.

Then he used Verena's phone to send me a message. "Wendy, have you lost your mind? Do you know how many dramas I'd have to shoot and how long it'd take to make that money? I'll settle this with you after I get back. But apologize to Verena now! If it weren't for her tying her to pretend to be my girlfriend, how could we be making so much money?"

I sighed impatiently and curled my lips.

He was always acting that way.

He never realized how much he had dragged down my standard of living.

When I loved him, I was willing to suffer hardship for him.

But he thought I was only fit to suffer hardship.

If I remembered correctly, the money went into his account.

I blocked Verena's number quickly.

A flash of lightning lit up the window.

I was startled and remembered that Cliff had once promised to shield me from the rain.

Now, he was in another woman's arms.

I laughed bitterly at myself.

It wasn't the first time.

But it would definitely be the last.

The storm in July raged outside and mirrored the turmoil in my heart.

Three years ago, we met on a rainy day.

I had just started college then.

My family told me to keep my identity secret to avoid jealousy and suspicion from others.

But I hadn't expected that I would be targeted by the girls in my class because of my striking appearance.

So I was isolated.

Even my closest roommate stole my umbrella.

I had no choice but to curl up in a corner of the street and wait for the driver of my family.

Cliff walked over with an umbrella and stopped in front of me.

It felt like the world stopped around us.

His youthful, handsome face was backlit, like a deity sent by the heavens.

I gazed into his deep, unfathomable eyes.

Stars sparkled within them, and my reflection was there too.

I fell for him and was utterly captivated.

After that, he began appearing in my life intentionally or unintentionally.

He helped me again and again when I was gossiped about and bullied.

I thought he was just kind-hearted and always helped others.

Then he confessed his feelings to me.

So we naturally began our college romance.

Young love was always pure and beautiful.

But after he graduated and struggled to find a suitable job, things began to change.

An opportunity to shoot a commercial gave him a glimpse into the entertainment industry.

He was very excited, so I swallowed the words that suggested he join my family's company.

I had to admit that he had sharp eyes.

The income of celebrities in the entertainment industry was skyrocketing, and more people wanted to join it.

He signed with a media company.

And it was owned by my uncle.

To avoid him finding out, I only asked my uncle to secretly offer resources in his favor.

That was how he landed his first role.

The female lead who cooperated with him was Verena.

Cliff was a handsome guy, and Verena was a beautiful woman.

They went viral.

The chemistry between them kept their names trending for three days straight.

Cliff immediately saw the opportunity to improve his popularity.

He seized the chance to tie their images together.

At the time, he still loved me.

He had hesitated back then, but his feelings were lost to greed.

And they had never won since.

His agent was unaware of our relationship and excitedly renewed Cliff's contract overnight.

It was stipulated that Cliff and Verena would continue down that path together.

Everyone knows that an actor would promote his way to small fame with money, but big fame would take luck.

Cliff was desperate to grasp that opportunity.

He succeeded.

But he still came home late at night, held me tightly, and kissed my forehead.

He said, "Baby, I love you so much... When I have money and when everyone knows my name, I'll tell the world I did all this to marry you."

He buried his head in my neck gently and filled with the deep attachment that only young men had.

The scent of the body wash I bought him lingered on his nose.

It was different from the cologne he wore later.

I smiled and looked at him with tenderness and love.

We lay in bed and wrapped in each other's arms.

We talked about our beautiful future.

It seemed like a previous life or a dream when I remembered it now.

Only his betrayal felt increasingly real.

As their fanbase grew, the distance between him and me became longer.

3

The fan who stood up for me saw the evil comments against me in comment section of their live stream and sent me an apology message. "I didn't know it would turn out like this. I just didn't want you to feel sad... I'll clarify it right now and say I was drunk and posted nonsense."

I was moved and thought, "Cliff, look at this. Even a stranger feels guilty for unintentionally hurting me and apologizes. What about you? You claimed that you love me? Is that your love?"

Reading the fan's message, I felt a warmth spread through my heart.

I replied, "You don't need to apologize for doing the right thing. I should be grateful to you for waking me up.

It was time to end this bubble dream he wove for me alone. I must wake up.

The livestream's trending topics were filled with insults about me interfering in the relationship between Cliff and Verena.

"Fake Socialite and Real Home Wrecker"

"My On-Screen Couple was Ruined"

"Wendy and Cliff"

I had only over one hundred followers on my account, and then they all unfollowed me in less than a minute.

They were faster than a scumbag who abandoned a woman.

In an instant, I became the public enemy on the Internet.

Every influencer, whether playing the villain or the victim, stepped out to criticize me.

They used the opportunity to clean up their own image.