Chapter 2

Elena really did want to destroy me. She was ready to burn everything down, even if it meant taking herself down with me.

I didn't want this house anymore. I didn't want any of the awards I'd won for her sake either.

Elena and I met in college. I never thought love at first sight would actually happen to someone like me, but it did.

A glimpse of her across the library. A chance meeting at some campus event. That was all it took for us to exchange numbers. Our innocent college romance started quietly on a hot afternoon. Everyone around us said we made the perfect couple, and people envied what we had.

I always knew there was a real gap between us. I was an orphan, while she was the heir to the Sheridan family fortune.

But she kept setting aside her pride for me, repeatedly telling me I deserved every good thing that came my way. She used to squeeze into my tiny rented apartment just to cook for me. In the winter, we'd curl up together and watch movies. Her love warmed me up slowly, until I finally understood I could have someone to love, and that I could be loved too.

I just wish that love had stayed mine alone. She ended up giving it to someone else—a third-rate actor named Jasper.

It started on an ordinary day of filming. She came to visit me on set, like she always did. Jasper was playing one of the minor supporting characters in that project, and the scene they were shooting that day happened to be his character's tragic, heartbreaking death.

Watching him look so fragile and pitiful captured Elena's attentiona, stirring something in her. When the director called cut, Elena was the one who rushed over to help him up, faster than his own assistant. That was how they met.

After that, she kept finding him resources under the excuse of mentoring him, and Jasper naturally started meeting up with her, always framing it as gratitude.

Elena convinced herself she'd found someone who made her heart race again. She started questioning what she and I had, telling herself that after so many years together, the spark between us had burned out. She thought she'd finally found her muse, and wanted to put that long overdue feeling up on a pedestal.

As time passed, she started coming home less and less. At first, she'd still bother explaining herself. Later, she didn't even send a text. I lied to myself and said it was probably nothing serious, just some fun on the side. I tolerated it again and again. Even when I confronted her, I did it carefully, like I was scared of upsetting her.

With the Sheridan Group's resources behind him, Jasper's career shot straight up. Within six months, he was closing in on my title as the industry's top actor. People called him the rising star, while I was seen as someone riding out the last of his luck, propped up by Elena.

Whatever affection she used to give me, she was now giving double to Jasper. I barely got a chance to see her alone anymore, except in public settings.

With Elena's favor behind him, Jasper dropped the humble, cautious act he used to have around me. He didn't look at me like some junior actor eager to learn from a senior anymore. He looked at me like a man who'd already won, full of mockery and defiance.

I got angry a few times and tried to push back. Once, I stood in front of Elena's car to stop her from going to see him. I spread my arms and blocked the driveway, convinced she wouldn't just run me down to go chase after some homewrecker.

I overestimated exactly how much I still mattered to her. She hit the gas without a second's hesitation, and I barely managed to jump out of the way in time.

As I watched her disappear down the road, I knew it wasn't just the car driving away from me. What I never expected was that she'd go even further to protect him, signing him to the very company we'd built together. She gave him the same treatment as me, and in some ways, even better.

I stormed into her office one day, ready to demand an explanation. Instead, I found it completely empty. She'd gone to find Jasper instead, without even giving me the chance to speak.