Chapter 2. The Divorce (continue)

Chapter 2. The Divorce (continue)

Rita carefully arranged the pork ribs on a plate, creating a stunning presentation, and shook her head slightly.

However, Lana had barely managed to catch her breath when she heard Rita's crisp and carefree voice:

"Already divorced!"

Darkness flashed before Lana's eyes—such news nearly made her faint on the spot. If it had been anyone else in Rita's shoes, the manager would likely have felt disappointed. But because it was Rita, Lana wanted nothing more than to personally strangle that cold-hearted traitor!

"When did this happen?!" Lana shrieked. "Who on earth is he?! Don't tell me his name is Arman Stark?!"

Not expecting the manager to blurt out her ex-husband's name right off the bat, Rita's hand trembled slightly as she served the food. Once she finished preparing her hearty meal, Rita propped her chin in her palm, stared into the screen, and obediently blinked her star-bright eyes.

Realizing she couldn't escape Lana's interrogation anyway, Rita decisively chose the strategy of "a full confession lightened the sentence" and recounted the whole story from the very beginning.

Three years ago, during an outdoor shoot, Rita had run into an elderly man who was pacing back and forth on the street, asking everyone to borrow a phone to contact his family. The grandfather looked utterly bewildered, which was why passersby simply ignored him. Rita, who had just finished her scene, happened to be nearby, and the old man latched onto her. Figuring that helping out was no big deal, she called the provided number and stayed with him to wait for his relatives to arrive.

That was when Rita first met Arman. It seemed like the story should have ended happily right there, but the old man suddenly grabbed onto Rita's clothes and flat-out refused to let go, stubbornly insisting that she was his grandson's wife. Only later did Rita learn that the grandfather suffered from a mental disorder, and because he couldn't sit still, he had sneaked away from home. From that very day on, the old man became incredibly attached to Rita.

At first, he would simply call her from time to time, and upon learning that she acted in films, he started visiting her on set. Rita didn't have a personal assistant back then, and Lana was busy promoting newcomers. In the freezing winter, when the girl was chilled to the bone, the grandfather would bring her hot coffee and gourmet home-cooked meals, touching Rita so deeply she was ready to burst into tears.

Her own parents had died in an accident many years ago, so thanks to the grandfather, she once again felt long-forgotten family warmth. Learning that strong stress and agitation were strictly contraindicated for the old man, Rita decided to assist with his treatment. She signed a secret marriage contract with Arman and genuinely became his grandfather's legal granddaughter-in-law.

However, as early as last year, the grandfather's condition had improved and stabilized. Realizing how many foolish things he had done, the old man burned with guilt and genuinely believed he had wronged Rita. Therefore, he loudly declared that no matter how the relationship between Rita and Arman turned out in the future, he would no longer interfere—as long as Rita visited him whenever possible. And now, with the contract's term coming to an end, Rita had signed the divorce papers.

Reaching this point, Rita lowered her head and said apologetically to her manager, "Sorry, Lana, I didn't mean to keep it a secret..."

After listening to her, how could Lana possibly stay angry? What fault of Rita's was this anyway? On the contrary, the manager's heart squeezed with pity. And when she thought about the other party's status... If she hadn't known about the grandfather's influential background, she would have definitely thought the girl had been dragged into some shady scam.

Then, Lana informed Rita that the news of her marriage to Arman had been leaked online. However, she quickly reassured the girl, saying she had already contacted the PR department of Storm Media Group.

Rita immediately formed a heart shape with her hands and beamed, "Thank you, Lana! You're a lifesaver~"

Hanging up the phone, Rita set about devouring her pork ribs while scrolling through social media on her phone to see how things were unfolding. Sure enough, near the bottom of the trending list, she stumbled upon a recommendation.

One of the top marketing accounts with an audience of millions had posted a leak naming names directly: "An unknown actress and the president of Storm Media Group, Arman Stark, secretly tied the knot."

No photos were even attached to the leak, but the details provided were far too specific, so the swarming netizens instantly pieced everything together. Still, the majority treated the news with dull skepticism.

"Actress Rita Lenz and Storm's president Arman Stark are married?"

"What absolute nonsense. Storm shakes up the entire industry; if they were really married, would Rita Lenz still be some third-rate actress? She would have soared to the very top ages ago!"

"+1, did someone just lose their mind trying to ride someone else's coattails for clout? Aren't they afraid Storm will blacklist her for good?"

The comment section was a mix of bewilderment and ridicule. Seeing that users heavily doubted the truthfulness of the leak, Rita stopped taking it to heart. She thought the story would fizzle out on its own, but instead, the scandal grew increasingly fierce, and the hashtag stubbornly crawled its way up the hot search rankings.

Fortunately, a response came from Storm on Lana’s end: the matter ended with an official refutation. Only, they didn't just deny the marriage—the company immediately released a statement regarding their divorce as well.

Knowing about Rita’s secret marriage from the start, Lana had expected Storm to sweep the topic under the rug or try to pretend as if nothing had ever connected the two. However, the company’s stance proved to be unexpectedly open and direct: without any evasion, they acknowledged the relationship outright and decided to make everything public in one fell swoop.

Before long, two official divorce statements spread through the internet like wildfire: one from Rita’s agency, and the second directly from Storm Media Group. And it was precisely the second statement that plunged netizens into absolute shock.

The public had already rolled up their sleeves and prepped a barrage of hate for Rita’s comment section—after all, netizens despised nothing more than talentless starlets trying to pull cheap publicity stunts. But the official divorce declaration literally shut everyone up. People were utterly flabbergasted by this turn of events!

“??????????”

“I literally mobilized my keyboard warrior troops, and you show me THIS?!”

“Holy crap... Here I thought the marriage story was fake, but turns out they’ve already gone and gotten divorced too :)))”