All Chapters of Red Carpet Revenge: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the cobblestone streets, Charity Redwood pushed open the glass door of La Belle Époque, a café that prided itself on exclusivity and charged prices that made even the wealthy hesitate.The subtle chime of bells announced her arrival, and she inhaled deeply, savoring the rich aroma of imported espresso beans and freshly baked pastries.She needed this. After the exhausting morning she'd endured, another round of rehearsals with that insufferable director, another day of pretending she didn't notice the whispers, a moment of peace was earned, not given.Her heels clicked against the marble floor as she approached the counter, her posture immaculate, her expression serene.The barista, a young man with nervous eyes, took her order with trembling hands. Vivianne Goldthorne had that effect on people. She cultivated it deliberately."That will be all," she murmured, sliding her card across the counter with practiced elegance.She had just received

Charity shrugged elegantly, the movement graceful and deliberate, a gesture practiced in mirrors, refined through years of watching herself in playback monitors, perfecting every micro-expression until even her smallest movements became performances.The afternoon light caught the edges of her profile, softening the sharp angles of her face into something almost angelic. Almost innocent."Just that... people in high positions often enemies." She paused, her dark eyes finding Diane's with practiced concern. "It would be naive to assume everyone wishes you well."Diane's perfectly manicured fingers stilled around her coffee cup, the porcelain clicking softly against the saucer. For a moment, something flickered behind her eyes. A crack in her armor of self-absorption. A shadow of genuine unease that suggested, perhaps, the younger woman wasn't quite as oblivious as she pretended to be.Charity pressed forward, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial murmur. "Hearing her persona behind ca

The silence in the car during the drive home from Samuel's office was suffocating, a living, breathing thing that pressed against Violet's chest and made every breath feel like inhaling shattered glass.She sat in the passenger seat, her hands folded primly in her lap, her knuckles white with the effort of holding herself together. Samuel hadn't looked at her once since they'd left. His jaw was set, his eyes fixed on the road ahead, and the muscle in his temple twitched with each passing kilometer.Violet wanted to scream. She wanted to grab his arm and shake him until he listened, until he saw her, really saw her, not whatever twisted version of events Diane had painted in his mind. But she couldn't. Because every time she opened her mouth, she saw the look on his face back in that office. That cold, distant look that said he had already decided who to believe."She was crying in the street. People saw. People heard her."The words echoed in her skull like a death knell. Diane had pl

The green room erupted into whispered conversation the moment Violet left for the set. The door had barely clicked shut before the air thickened with speculation, the kind of quiet, cutting gossip that thrived in the shadows of Filmwood's glittering surface.Gloria, the veteran hairstylist whose hands had touched the heads of countless stars over three decades, leaned toward Kevin with the practiced discretion of someone who had spent years perfecting the art of appearing not to eavesdrop while absolutely doing exactly that. Her scissors glinted under the fluorescent lights as she pretended to organize her station."Did you hear that?" Gloria asked, her voice pitched low enough that it wouldn't carry beyond their corner but loud enough to invite others into the circle of confidence. "I couldn't understand everything, but I caught enough. Something about forty thousand dollars and her mother-in-law. Sounded like a real mess."Kevin's eyes widened, his makeup brush pausing mid-air. He w

Charity glanced up from her script, her expression carefully neutral. She had been watching the whole performance from the corner of her eye, had seen the way Violet had manipulated the crew's goodwill, had noted the calculated timing of her "surprise" at Charity's presence."No, thank you," Charity said politely. "I'm fine."Violet's smile flickered, just for a moment, a crack in the carefully constructed mask. She had expected Charity to be flustered, or embarrassed, or at least annoyed at being deliberately excluded.Instead, Charity had responded with perfect composure, making Violet's attempt at humiliation look petty and transparent."Are you sure?" Violet pressed, her voice still sweet but with an edge of insistence. "I'd hate for you to feel left out.""I'm sure," Charity replied, her tone as smooth as silk. "But thank you for the thought."Violet's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly, but she maintained her smile. She would not let this nobody, this two-bit actress who had som