Chapter Two

Powerful, gorgeous, and smart.

These were just one of the many elegant words the Konstatinos women were accustomed to. Beyond words, they reeked of class and looked out of place in anything less than the best. To most, it was an enviable quality - being able to eat up the attention in a room the second any of them stepped in, that is.

Undoubtedly, Adonia was convinced that those were the thoughts that ran through the minds of the air hostesses that lined up in twos in front of the private jet as they walked down the stairs in the typical Konstatinos power stride. She had grown up watching her mom fill whatever space she walked into it with that same power and light, it didn’t take Adonia to merge into the same lifestyle. It came as a natural thing but the only thing she didn’t have was the way her mother tuned out the rest of the world while she did her thing.  She could feel their eyes absorbing every bit of her being and she tried not to let her mind settle on the fact that perhaps they knew about the destroying scandal between herself and Quincy White, but rather stared because of the ghastly beautiful woman beside her. One couldn’t really tell with the audience these days, the life of a star was stressful and Adonia didn’t know what she was getting into when she got the first form for her audition, she should have known she was making a recipe for disaster and she was touring a path that would haunt her for the rest of her life. 

Mrs. Celeste didn’t look a day over 40 in her personally designed cape suit and sunshades. It went without saying why anyone who saw the two Konstatino women always thought they were sisters and not mother and daughter. Remarkably, they both had an uncanny resemblance with curves blessed from the heavens and a flawlessly pretty face to go with it. They made looking gorgeous seem so effortless.

Adonia adjusted her face mask and sunshades, making sure they revealed no part of her face. Maxine had insisted that she wore them to keep her arrival in Los Angeles low-key and Adonia couldn’t agree more. Regardless of the fact that the Heart Strings movie was being kept a secret from fans, Adonia only cared about protecting herself from the prying eyes of the paparazzi. Finally being able to go to Hollywood had been a childhood dream for her but now that she was at that junction, her insides squirmed. Maybe because she knew that, unlike the past few months, she wasn’t being sheltered in the comfort of her father’s wings. 

Like Maxine had said yesterday, she’d have to face them eventually - the paparazzi and the band of sharks in Hollywood. Was she ready? Not one bit. She could take a hundred years to get ready and she still won’t be prepared for the wave of trolling and bullying the internet was always ready to serve. Nothing hurts more than not being able to tell your own side of the story, it was that and for her, nobody would believe her because the man involved is a master manipulator. 

With Maxine trailing dutifully behind and running them through their schedule for the nth time since they stepped into the Konstatinos private jet with her, they made their way to the pickup car already waiting for them, courtesy of the Heart Strings team. While Adonia chatted with her excited mom through the ride, it drove them all the way to an enormous Hollywood neighborhood where the cast of Heart Strings will be staying in one of the hotels for the space of the movie. Adonia was impressed by the life these streets had. The exquisite palm trees lined up and how everything seemed so surreal to her. 

After their arrival at the Hampton Inn and Suites and getting their accommodation sorted, Adonia with her mom and Maxine walked into the luxuriously large suite booked for her. It was decorated with top-notch furniture and fabrics, making the entire place look as lavish as they come. There were three equally furnished bedrooms for the three of them and when Adonia stepped into hers, she was convinced that perhaps she had walked into a different dimension where she was pure royalty and all that was left was a tiara on her head. She smiled at her own silly thoughts and dived straight into her bouncy canopy bed.

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It was 4 pm in the evening and Adonia was doing it again - stalking. 

In what her mom would call ‘unladylike’, Adonia sat slouched on her hotel bed with her eyes zeroed on her phone screen and her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She would be a fool if she visited his account with her real account. So instead, she made use of her private anonymous account as she scanned through his recent posts meticulously. It was a routine she always did in secret, almost like a young teenager trying to get off by watching illegal videos online. She always made sure to lower her phone’s brightness and it’s safe to say she enjoyed the thrilling feeling of not being caught. 

At the moment, she had no idea what exactly she was searching for on his page. Usually, she came around to check if he was seeing someone new or to keep up to date with his new gigs. She knew that made her a stalker and more so, it was an unhealthy habit but she couldn’t help herself. A treacherous part of her still missed him, even though she had a million reasons not to. Maybe that was what loneliness does; it makes you desperate for any type of love even if it comes with pain. He reduced her to this, someone who was willing to settle for the barest minimum even if she would end up being treated like trash. It was that bad for her and the brand she represents. A hard lesson Adonia learned the hard way was that she would never be allowed to have a mind of her own, she would always be made to do whatever the management felt like ti was right. She hated it but she barely had a say in what to wear or what to eat, major decisions of her life were made at a round table. 

Going through more of his pictures brought back a heaviness to her heart and seeing his ridiculously attractive pool pictures where he was in nothing but his briefs, sent an aching need through her body. It was all it took to bring back the wanton memories of all the nights she spent in his arms and with him inside her. It reminded her of the fact that she hadn’t been touched by another man in months and a part of her was craving it. Crazily. She should be scolded for craving him the way she did but the heart could only make its own decision by itself. Adonia hated the way her body became traitorous when it comes to him but she just gave up trying to. 

She bit her lips softly and shook her head. Was she really that sex-deprived? That just staring by at Quincy’s old pictures would turn her on. Immediately, those thoughts were followed with disgust. How could she even stomach the thoughts of being touched by him again with everything that had happened? Ugh. He used her, cheated on her, destroyed her image and he let his fans drag her over and over for days. 

Deep down, beneath all the hurt and sadness, slow anger burned within her. An anger that was birthed from the day she found out about his notorious cheating and at the peak of this anger sat revenge. She hadn’t come to terms with it yet anyway but sometimes, she caught herself fantasizing about what it would be like to put Quincy White through the same hell he made her go through. Those thoughts were unlike the perfect little Adonia Konstatinos that her parents had brought up, so each time it reared its ugly head, she was quick to shove it down. 

A knock on her door broke her reverie and had her throwing her phone under her pillow as she had just been caught stealing. Maxine walked in briskly with her notepad and pen in hand and didn’t even look up before she started speaking. She took deep silent breaths to calm her racing heart and she pretended to be tired so Maxine wouldn’t catch on to what she was doing. They all barely mention Quincy around her and she doesn’t have the guts to imagine how disappointed they would be in her if they find out she was stalking him. 

“The Heart Strings cast dinner is holding in one hour from now and you have exactly…” she cast a quick glance to her wristwatch. “40 minutes from now to get ready. Luckily for you, I already picked out a suitable outfit. After the dinner, there will be a quick interview for all the cast members and this is exclusively all just for behind-the-scenes sake.” Maxine stated in her no-nonsense tone before she continued to scroll through the tab balanced perfectly on her hand. That was it, Maxine was perfection itself. A trait that Adonia herself was jealous of. She wondered how her friend managed to hold up her head and walk through life as if it were nothing. Only Maxine would fail at something and you’d see her trying harder the next day, she made it too easy. 

“Did I just hear a dinner party is being thrown?” Mrs. Celeste burst into the room, an enthusiastic smile on her face. “Why wasn’t I invited?”

“It’s strictly for cast members, ma’am,” Maxine said.

Mrs. Celeste placed her hand to her waist and frowned.

“Well, I’m Adonia’s manager and mom. I should be there too.”

Adonia laughed and got down from the bed.

“Mom, you’re ever the drama queen. Aren’t you a little too old to be partying?” she teased.

Mrs. Celeste rolled her eyes and went down to sit on one of the sofas, crossing her slender legs.

“Ridiculous. There’s nothing like being too old to party. I’m as energetic as I was in my youth,” she held her head high.

Maxine snorted but quickly covered it up with a cough when Mrs. Celeste cast her a glare, much to Adonia’s amusement.

“If I won’t be there, I should at least leave my mark on the party,” Mrs. Celeste said thoughtfully. “Maxine, what did you say about having an outfit ready?”

“Yes, I packed a few for”

“Forget it. I have something better in mind.” The older woman smiled proudly as she waved at them to follow her when she stood up and made a beeline to her room. Adonia caught the annoyed look on Maxine’s face, most likely because Mrs. Celeste threw her carefully thought-out plan out the window.

Adonia and Maxine matched her brisk pace and entered her lavish room with her. They watched as she went straight to her luggage and searched through them until she pulled out a breathtaking sleeveless body con dress with a mind-blowing slit and dotted sequins all over.

Mrs. Celeste displayed it smugly and it was pretty obvious why she was by far one of the most amazing designers the fashion industry had ever come across.

“I was saving this for my L. A fashion flashmob…but I don’t think I’d have a better model wear it than my own daughter. You would make it look beautiful, Adonia.” She handed the dress over to her and Adonia’s heart thumped with joy. 

She snatched the dress eagerly from her mom and admired the exquisite fabric and details, the brilliant smile on her face never fading. Maxine looked up from her scribbling and she was sold too. She knew Mrs. Celeste was a one-in-a-million talented fashion designer but this dress made her reaffirm that fact. 

“Thank you so much, mommy!” Adonia grinned.

“It’s the least I can do, after all, you’ll be making your public comeback tonight. I want you to crush them with your looks and make them remember what it means to be a Konstatino. Hold your head high and tune out their negative comments. You know everyone in that room would kill to be a YOU, to be a Konstantinos. If they call you a daddy and Mommy's girl, Remember they crave it too,” she said with a certain fierceness in her icy blue eyes and Adonia felt a rush of adrenaline surge through her veins.

“You bet I will.” she nodded with renewed energy. One thing she loved about her mom was the fact that no matter the situation of things, she would always have her on her side. Her mom would go to lengths to see her smile and she wasn't going to let her down. Not even Quincy White would make her feel worse. 

“We have 30 minutes till the dinner starts and Adonia hasn’t even begun dressing.” Maxine reminded them, her pen scribbling words quickly on her notepad. She was always scribbling one thing or the other. 

“You have nothing to worry about, Maxine. For tonight, I’m going to be Adonia’s fairy godmother and I’ll be turning her into the sexiest princess Hollywood has ever seen,” By saying those words, Mrs. Celeste didn’t waste any more time before she whisked away her daughter to the front of the vanity mirror.

“Okay…” Maxine trailed off. “I’ll be outside booking us a limousine.” And with that, she was out.

Adonia faced the mirror with her mom behind her, playing with her lusciously long black hair. One thing most people didn’t know about Mrs. Konstatino was that before all the fame and her marriage to one of the wealthiest men in New York City, she was a simple hairdresser from Brooklyn who spent most of her free time sketching out clothing designs. 

So, it made sense when Mrs. Celeste began styling her daughter’s hair, taking her time to give her the best. Once she was done with the hair, she went straight to makeup. Adonia was already beautiful in a subtle but striking way, so Mrs. Celeste only touched up her face slightly. For about 20 minutes, she worked with speed and kept beautifying Adonia until she was done creating her masterpiece.

When Adonia had finally put on the body con, it hugged her curves so nicely that even Mrs. Celeste marveled at how incredibly sexy her daughter looked. Ornaments and several of Adonia’s gorgeous pieces of jewelry were added to the mix and Mrs. Celeste’s work was done. Truly, she had created the sexiest princess Hollywood had ever seen.

However, even though Adonia felt like a billion dollars, she wasn’t aware that for her, the long night had only just begun and the horrors waiting for her at dinner were only