Chapter 2

Grant held his wine glass and raised his eyes to look at me.

His gaze paused for a moment on my diamond fringe earrings.

"Why the sudden change of earrings?"

"Sometimes I want to change things up."

I curled my red lips and calmly took my seat.

My new seat was three people away from him. The project coordinator from the streaming platform sat next to me.

I went from being the woman who shared his bed to a staff member running errands.

The hierarchy was made perfectly clear.

Halfway through the party, Calloway, a heavy-hitting investor, walked over with a glass of whiskey.

Eager to show off, Tessa stood up first and called out sweetly, "Mr. Calloway!"

Calloway's smile faded slightly.

Tessa didn't think that was enough.

"I heard your wife used to love this kind of yacht party. Why didn't she come tonight?"

The deck went silent for a moment. The smile on Calloway's face completely vanished.

His wife had passed away two years ago. Since the funeral, no one had ever mentioned those two words in front of him.

Completely oblivious, Tessa raised her glass again.

"I heard you're secretly acquiring a rival theater chain and planning to let Grant buy in."

This time, it was a pin-drop silence. The acquisition was highly classified. It was a make-or-break secret neither side could breathe a word about.

Calloway put down his glass. "The little starlet Grant brought along sure makes a great corporate spy."

Grant's face instantly darkened.

I picked up my champagne, stood up, and took over the conversation with a smile.

"Please don't take it to heart, Mr. Calloway."

"Tessa got confused. She heard about our brand endorsement negotiations for next quarter and mixed things up out of excitement."

I turned to him. "Isn't your new smart hardware brand looking for a global spokesperson?"

"Grant is willing to lower his current endorsement quote by thirty percent for a three-year exclusive. The contract will be on your desk at ten tomorrow morning."

His assistant froze for a brief second before nodding in immediate understanding.

Calloway raised an eyebrow. That was the product he wanted to push the most this year, and Grant was the highest-paid actor in North America.

He picked up his glass and clinked it against mine.

"Ms. Reese is always a pleasure to do business with."

A crisis that could have gotten the company completely blacklisted was resolved just like that.

But Tessa's eyes grew red. She shrank back into Grant's arms, looking wronged, and sobbed softly.

"I just wanted to help Grant build a better relationship."

"Does Reese think I'm stupid? Did she use all that jargon just to embarrass me?"

I nonchalantly swirled the ice in my glass.

She was the one who caused a massive disaster, and I was the one who came out to clean up the mess. Yet now, she was the one playing the victim.

Grant lowered his head and coaxed her with a gentle voice for a good while.

When he looked up at me again, the usual indulgence in his eyes hadn't changed.

"Play nice, Reese." He sighed, like he was coaxing a jealous child. "She just entered the industry. It's her first time at this kind of celebrity party. Mistakes are bound to happen."

"You've always been the most understanding one. Why did you have to embarrass her so badly in front of outsiders today?"

Hearing what he said, a memory from three years ago suddenly flashed through my mind.

Back then, it was my first time attending the Film Association dinner on his behalf. I only mispronounced one syllable of a producer's wife's last name.

Grant locked me in the hotel room and made me memorize the dossiers of every VIP for the entire night.

He stood behind me, pressing his fingers into my shoulders, and said in a low voice:

"The number one rule of being my woman is knowing your place."

"Doing things that embarrass me is a sign of not knowing the rules."

But now, an even more fatal mistake made by Tessa was dismissed as being innocent and straightforward.

It turned out his so-called rules had double standards depending on who it was.

"Mr. Superstar, I was just saving your botched deal."

"Do you need me to repeat the stakes to you again?"

All the warmth vanished from Grant's face. He even looked a bit terrifying. Seeing this, Tessa quickly grabbed his sleeve.

"Grant, let it go."

"Reese never liked me anyway. I'll just avoid her at the company from now on."

She put on a generous front, but her tears kept falling one by one.

People in the nearby booths were already whispering and watching the drama.

Grant used to hate it the most when women cried in public.

In the past, if my eyes even got slightly red, he would tell me to go to the restroom and compose myself before coming back out.

This time, he pulled a tissue and wiped Tessa's tears himself.

Then, he stared at me from across half a table full of champagne.

He poured a glass of warm water, handed it to me, and kept his voice low. "Reese, be a good girl."

"Apologize to Tessa."