Chapter 2
That same afternoon, Ethan Cole flew in.
He arrived at seven in the evening, dropped his luggage at the hotel, and went straight to set.
Director Stone had him test two scenes.
After watching, the director was stunned.
“His acting…” he murmured. “It’s leagues beyond Lucas.”
I said nothing.
Lucas had always played himself.
Ethan became the character.
Same lines. Same setting.
But everything changed.
The director made his decision immediately.
“He’s the one.”
All of Lucas’s scenes had to be reshot.
A week of work—gone.
Everyone stayed late to make up for lost time.
Normally, filming lasted ten hours.
That day, it lasted sixteen.
No one complained.
This was everyone’s passion.
At two in the morning, I finally returned to my hotel.
Exhausted, I collapsed onto the bed.
My phone vibrated.
A message.
How’s it going? Your show won’t get filmed without my permission.
Maya Vance.
Lucas’s girlfriend.
My high school rival.
I stared at the message, and suddenly I wasn’t tired anymore.
You’re so powerful, I typed back. When you can’t compete with skill, you compete for a man.
Her reply came instantly.
Don’t act proud. I know you have a crush on my boyfriend. You’re just not as pretty as me.
I almost laughed.
A crush on Lucas?
My standards weren’t that low.
Not everyone has bad taste, I replied.
She fired back immediately.
Don’t get cocky. That show you prepared so hard for? It’s over. My boyfriend is a top star. The director will come crawling back.
I stared at the screen, amused.
Half a million followers, and now he was a “top star.”
I yawned.
Oh really? I hope your wish comes true.
Then I turned off my phone and went to sleep.
For the next month, we filmed in near isolation.
No leaks.
No behind-the-scenes clips.
Nothing.
From the outside, it looked as though production had stalled.
Meanwhile, Lucas and Maya flaunted their lives all over social media—Miami, Vegas, Aspen—posting endlessly as if they had already won.
I blocked them both.
A month later, we wrapped filming.
Director Stone stood behind the monitor, his eyes red with exhaustion and pride.
“Thank you… everyone.”
A week later, I received an invitation to my high school reunion.
At first, I had no intention of going.
Then I changed my mind.
When I arrived, the private room was already crowded.
“Jane! Our big star!”
I smiled politely and sat down in a quiet corner.
Then the door opened.
Maya walked in arm in arm with Lucas.
The room erupted.
“So handsome!”
“What has he been in?”
Lucas smiled casually, as if the attention were his birthright.
“I mostly do web series.”
Someone laughed and said, “Jane does too. That show, The General’s Disfavor, is huge. The press conference is tomorrow.”
Lucas froze.
“That show is mine. It isn’t even done filming yet.”
People exchanged confused looks.
“They must be bringing me back,” Lucas said confidently.
Maya beamed.
“I’ll be on stage too, right?”
“Of course,” he said, pulling her closer. “My baby will steal the whole show.”
“Wait—Maya is acting too?”
She nodded shyly.
“I’m the new female lead.”
The room filled with admiration.
I sat in the corner, eating quietly.
I didn’t say a word.
That was the strangest part, even now when I looked back on it.
The room had grown warm with body heat, expensive perfume, and the sugary smell of champagne. Everyone around me buzzed with the kind of excitement people only felt when they thought fame had entered the room wearing a good jawline.
Lucas sat with one arm draped over Maya’s chair, smiling like the reunion had been arranged in his honor.
Maya leaned into him with that soft, practiced sweetness she had perfected in high school—the same look she used when she wanted teachers to believe she was harmless.
Across the room, people kept glancing between him and me.
Some of them remembered.
Back then, Maya had loved borrowing what was mine just long enough to prove she could. My notes. My seat. My friends. Even the boy I liked sophomore year—though she dumped him three days later because, in her own words, winning was more interesting than keeping.
At seventeen, I hadn’t understood that kind of hunger.
I understood it very well now.