Chapter 4. Joining the Show

Chapter 4. Joining the Show

However, Lina didn't touch the food. Instead, she stared mesmerized at the grapes, as if plunged into deep memories. The atmosphere turned slightly melancholy for a moment. Just as the viewers were already preparing to sympathize with the difficult history of Lina and Nicholas, the next second their attention was entirely hijacked by Rita, who was sitting right next to them...

“Lina’s favorite fruit happens to be grapes! Could Nicholas be hinting at his feelings this way?! Ooh-ooh! Is it possible they might still reconcile?!”

“Uh-uh, whether Lina actually loves grapes I don't know, but the fact that Rita adores strawberries is visible to the naked eye!”

“Hahaha! What kind of speed does Rita have?! In the blink of an eye, all the strawberries in the bowl vanished! Looks like she doesn't give a damn and feels super relaxed!”

Having eaten a couple more berries, Rita finally caught Lina and Nicholas's gazes on herself and realized something was going wrong. She neatly pulled back her hand, flashed a sweet smile, and obediently blinked her eyes.

At that moment, the second pair of guests appeared on the threshold almost one after the other. Both were actors: the popular young rising star Luna and the newly minted Best Actor film award winner, Roman Reeves. They had registered their marriage even before they became famous, but got divorced last year.

Roman looked stately and serious, while Luna was gorgeous and radiant. They were definitely the most popular couple among all the invitees, so the livestream chat instantly darkened from the surge of viewers upon their appearance. Their fans immediately hijacked a large portion of the stream, flooding the chat with questions about Rita's group, where the second participant still hadn't shown up.

“Roman and Luna are the ultimate couple! How much glass we've eaten while they were together! And what was the end result? Even being married, they managed to split up! I nearly threw up blood from sheer anger!”

“Such agony... Why can those who survived fire and water together fail to share the joy of success? My poor brain refuses to understand this! But Storm are absolute geniuses: people who wouldn't appear in the same frame after a divorce are now back together on a show!”

“By the way, how much time has passed, and Rita and Arman still only have one person on camera? Is Rita going to host the show all by herself? Now that's gonna be a riot!”

As if answering the viewers' prayers, Arman Stark finally appeared on the threshold. A custom-tailored, elegant suit accentuated his tall height and well-proportioned figure, and his aristocratic skin pallor combined with dark eyebrows looked so breathtaking that the chat even froze for a second.

"Sorry, there was traffic on the road," Arman said calmly.

“???? What are you apologizing for?! With looks like that, you are forbidden from apologizing altogether!”

“Help! I thought some guy in his forties would show up, but he turned out to be so young!”

“Arman Stark has an absolutely incredible skull shape and bone structure! When he stood next to the others, for a second I stopped understanding who the professional actor here even was!”

However, the rest of the guests looked no better. Recovering from the shock, they cast stealthy glances at Rita, trying to catch her reaction. Noticing that she seemed to know him very well, they finally became convinced: the man before them was truly Arman Stark himself, and not some double sent in place of the perpetually busy boss.

Judging by the clock on the living room wall, Arman hadn't been late at all—he had arrived right on the dot. Naturally, no one would even think of reproaching him. Besides, the show was sponsored by his company, and people with a brain in their heads understood perfectly well how to behave.

"You came right on time, we just got here ourselves," Nicholas smiled amiably.

"Right, I just arrived too," Luna chimed in. "Do you need to take your things upstairs first?"

Hearing this, Arman indifferently swept his gaze over those present and finally rested it on Rita. For a second, their eyes met. Noticing that everyone was looking at her, Rita also stood up and said:

"I'll show you upstairs and point out where to put your things."

"Alright," Arman replied.

With that, Rita took the lead and headed up the stairs. Arman carried the suitcase right behind her, maintaining a respectful distance step for step. Suddenly, a faint, sweet aroma of strawberries drifting in the air reached him.

Now that all three pairs of participants had finally gathered, the director sent the first task to their phones. Since the filming of the program had just begun, the format remained quite loose for now: first, the guests were invited to reminisce about the past and talk in private in a relaxed atmosphere.

When Arman finished with his things and came out of the room, the other couples had already split off into the sitting areas on their respective floors and were deep in conversation.

In Nicholas and Lina's pair, Nicholas took the initiative—he brought up past joint projects and songs. Lina also gave in to memories and chimed into the conversation from time to time. From the side, it seemed that the excessive tension between them was gradually fading away.

In Roman and Luna's group, the girl set the topic of conversation: she brought up the film for which Roman had just won the Best Actor title, sharing her thoughts on the plot and his character. Roman willingly answered her questions, keeping the atmosphere between them quite harmonious.

In Rita and Arman's pair, however, things turned out completely differently. They sat on the sofa opposite each other. Rita took a sip of water, looked at Arman, and immediately met his calm, cool gaze. At that exact moment, her mind went entirely blank—she had no idea what they could possibly talk about, so she simply averted her eyes. Arman also lowered his eyelids, dropping his gaze. The scene of absolute mutual indifference looked so awkward it was as if giant glowing letters hovered above their heads reading: "Total Strangers."

“Setting everything else aside, visually Rita and Arman look so good together!”

“Yeah, but not uttering a single word to each other—now that I definitely didn't expect!”

“Haha, now I see for sure: the divorce was as real as it gets! Looks like they didn't really have any feelings during the marriage either!”