You're My Joy

"Riley, you've been asked to join the filming for 'You're My Joy'!" my manager, Monica Jones, cried.

Her words pulled me out of my confusion and sorrow. I hurriedly checked the trending topics to see that everything was peaceful on the Internet. There weren't any hurtful words.

It looked like… I'd been reborn. I'd traveled three years back in time, and Peyton Grant was still alive.

My nose prickled at that thought, and my tears started flowing. I'd spent ten years of my youth pining after him, but he would probably never know that he'd once had a wallflower deskmate who'd crushed on him. Back then, my heart would race if he were to say even one thing to me.

I knew that he would take his life for someone in three years, but I never would've expected him to have such a lowly side.

I thought about the love letter Peyton had written to Rita York, which she'd disclosed after his death in my past life. It had been written in such a cautious tone that my heart had ached after reading it.

"Wait, are you crying? Are you that excited? I told you you would make it big one day, right? Here's your chance!" Monica teased. She was the only one who knew how hard I'd worked over the years and couldn't help feeling relieved that things were finally looking up for me.

In my past life, I'd turned down the opportunity to be on You're My Joy, a romance reality show, due to various reasons. Meanwhile, Peyton had dropped out of the show after only one episode, but no one knew why. Later, some people said it was because Rita had to leave filming halfway due to schedule clashes.

It looked like the answers to my questions had long since been revealed.

I took a deep breath at the thought of that. "Let's get ready, Monica. I'm going on that show!"

This time, I would help Peyton make his dream come true!

…

That night, the production crew of You're My Joy officially announced the cast. Peyton retweeted the announcement and wrote, "You're my joy."

Rita quickly did the same. She retweeted his tweet and wrote, "I'm coming to you with a heart full of joy."

One of the dramas they'd filmed together was currently being aired, and it was a hit. Fans of the show immediately started shipping them.

"Oh, my God. I love this!"

"Shipping everything makes me a happy woman!"

"Did they fall for each other during filming? Even their retweets look like they discussed what to write beforehand."

I scrolled through the comments. Amid my bitterness, I couldn't help wondering why Peyton and Rita had missed out on each other when they'd had so many chances to spend time with each other.

I thought about Peyton's ice-cold gaze as I pondered the situation. Then, I came to a conclusion—he was probably too shy to take action when facing the woman he liked.

So, I had to help them create more opportunities to be together. Peyton would only be able to win Rita's heart if he could tell her how he felt.

…

On the day filming for You're My Joy started, I ignored Monica's reminders to show my beauty before the cameras. I deliberately made myself look plain and drab, even putting on a baseball cap to cover my face. That way, I wouldn't take the attention off Peyton and Rita.

And so, when Rita arrived in a white dress, looking innocent and elegant, she mistook me for a staff member. I didn't want her to feel awkward when she handed me her luggage, so I took it wordlessly and helped to move it.

Thank God I wasn't too weak to lift her suitcases.

However, I didn't expect the other celebrities to also mistake me for a staff member. For some reason, the director didn't unravel the misunderstanding.

I was quite tired after helping the other guests move their suitcases. Fortunately, Peyton was the only one left. He only had one small suitcase.

I approached him, wanting to take it from him. However, he dodged me. Then, he looked down at me and took my baseball cap off. "You're not a staff member, are you?"

My heart sank. I saw Rita's gentle smile stiffen. "Aren't you… Riley South?"

She hurriedly came to stand between Peyton and me. "Why were you pretending to be a staff member? I can't believe I even gave you my luggage. I'm sorry about that. Also, Peyton is a germaphobe. He doesn't like others touching his stuff."

She made it sound like I'd done this to secretly get close to Peyton. As expected, Peyton's expression turned ugly at her words.

The live stream viewers were aggravated by this.

"Who's this chick? She's so scheming!"

"Some D-lister. I bet she wants to use Pey to climb the ladder!"

"Man, I can see through her tricks from here!"

I was taken aback. I sensed Rita's hostility, so I hurriedly apologized. "I'm sorry. I wasn't aware."

Peyton handed me a packet of tissues. His gaze was so sharp that I felt oppressed even though he wasn't looking at me. "It's fine. You should wipe your sweat."

This time, Rita's expression was the one that became ugly.

I felt a headache coming on. Couldn't Peyton tell that Rita was mad?

I ran the risk of being labeled a diva and pushed the tissues back to him. However, my fingers accidentally brushed against his cool ones.

"Uh, it's okay. I'm going to tidy my room!" I fled after that, leaving Peyton and Rita alone.