Semua Bab Breaking The Spotlight: Bab 111 - Bab 120

Celeste had barely slept the night Arden’s thinly veiled jab went viral. She’d shut her phone off hours ago, ignoring the pings and pings, the endless cycle of gossip and commentary that seemed to feed itself like a wildfire starved for oxygen.The sun was already burning through the coastal haze by the time she padded barefoot down the hallway of their Malibu house. She found Damien exactly where she knew he’d be, in the corner of his home office, blinds half-open, a mug of untouched coffee beside him, phone pressed tight to his ear.He glanced at her, eyes flat but wired. He held up a hand, wait. Celeste leaned against the doorframe, arms folded across the soft linen of her robe, listening to the low, clipped precision of Damien Sinclair when he was dangerous.“No. Pull every invoice. I want subcontractors, assistant payroll, all the filings,” he said, voice like a blade. “If you hit a wall, buy the wall. I’m not in the mood for polite.”A muscle ticked in his jaw. Celeste caught th

The coastal morning was unusually cold for Malibu. The sea mist clung to the windows of the beach house as if the ocean itself was holding its breath. Inside, Celeste stood barefoot by the kitchen island, nursing her coffee while staring blankly at the tablet propped up beside her. Another headline. Another comparison.Is Laurent Losing Grip? Arden Rowe Dominates Press Cycle for Third Straight Week.Her thumb hovered over the article link but never clicked. Instead, she pushed the tablet aside and took another slow sip. She could feel it in her bones, this moment was a turning point. The beginning of something she couldn’t quite name yet.Damien entered behind her, shirtless, hair tousled, holding a folder he’d brought down from his home office. He didn’t speak right away. Just wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed the side of her head.“She’s everywhere,” Celeste murmured. “Every outlet, every look, every post, every damn move.”“She’s being funded to be everywhere,” he replied

The announcement hit the industry like a tidal wave. It dropped just after noon on prime media circulation time. Arden Rowe, golden girl of the moment, had signed a multi-project deal with Titan Media, Sinclair Holdings' most aggressive competitor. The press release was sleek, glowing with ambition and corporate finesse. The headline read: A rising star partners with a legacy giant." But for Celeste, the message was louder in what it didn’t say.It was a declaration of war.“Titan?” Damien muttered, pacing the floor of their Malibu home, the ocean a glittering blur behind him. “Of all the studios, she chose them.”Celeste stood by the glass balcony doors, the contract statement pulled up on her phone. Her face was unreadable, still, poised, but Damien knew that stillness too well. It wasn’t indifference. It was calculation.“She knew what she was doing,” she said softly. “Titan’s board includes at least two former Sinclair defectors. One of them tried to poach me last year, remember?

The studio lights inside The Hour’s headquarters were cooler than Celeste expected, both in temperature and in tone. Everything about the space was minimalistic, calculated. No flashy set design, no soft lighting to flatter features. It was the opposite of the red carpet world she came from and it was perfect.She stood alone in the prep room, dressed not for dazzle, but in a sharp navy suit that cinched at the waist and framed her like armor. No embellishments. No stylist tricks. Just her. Poised. Purposeful.Outside, the world was spinning.Social media was ablaze. Headlines kept mutating: Celeste Laurent Snubbed as Arden Ascends.Rowe to Play Hale: An Era Reborn?Laurent’s Last Stand?And still, there was no public statement from Celeste. Nothing except the quiet but thunderous message of her scheduling this interview. The only clue she'd given was a single sentence on her story that morning: Silence is powerful. But so is truth. Tonight at 9.Damien’s hand rested on the back of he

The world woke up still buzzing from The Hour.Clips of Celeste’s interview had already been cut into dozens of viral edits, her calm rebuttal to the Veronica myth, the way she’d looked the host dead in the eye when she said, “This isn’t about rivalry. It’s about the way this industry chews women up and spits them out.” Every angle was trending, dissected and praised.But if the internet was ablaze, Arden Rowe’s camp was in full containment mode.By nine a.m., the “We support Arden” hashtags were appearing in suspiciously uniform bursts. Her PR team had clearly been working overnight. And now, less than twelve hours after Celeste had dropped the mic on national television, Arden herself was stepping out into the public arena.Damien and Celeste didn’t plan to watch it at first, but when Damien’s phone lit up with a news alert: Arden Rowe Responds to Celeste Laurent’s Explosive Interview, he silently switched the television on.They were in the sunlit corner of their penthouse living r