Chapter 3

Looking at the disgust etched on Chloe's face, I realized this was truly what she believed deep down.

I let out a breathless, mocking laugh, suddenly losing all desire to argue.

"Think whatever you want. When you're done talking, get out. Don't dirty my house."

"Your house?"

Chloe scoffed as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

Once she finished laughing, she looked at me with open contempt.

"Chase, if I hadn't been making money for you, where would you have gotten the cash to buy this place?"

"If anyone's getting out, it's you!"

"Take your pathetic agency. Do you honestly think anyone else would sign with you once I'm gone?"

She seemed to have completely forgotten that both the agency and this villa existed long before she ever became famous.

When people climb too high, they tend to forget where they started.

She had probably forgotten why she wanted to become an actress in the first place.

She forgot that without me, she would be nothing.

It wasn't her success that made me; it was my resources that made her.

She had no idea that she was the only star in the agency not because nobody else wanted to sign, but because the agency was created solely for her.

I parted my lips to refute her, but stopped myself. It was pointless.

Whether she knew the truth or not didn't matter anymore.

Once I walked away, she would find out firsthand what the industry was really like.

Seeing that I remained silent, Chloe assumed her threats had worked.

A smug smile spread across her face, and she spoke down to me:

"If you don't want me to leave, there's a way."

"Sign Tyler, give him a few prime roles to make him a star, and I'll stay."

"You're a calculating businessman. Tyler will definitely blow up. Having both of us making money for you is your blessing."

She talked as if she were doing me a massive favor.

She really needed to look in a mirror to see what absolute nobodies she and Tyler actually were.

I stared back at her with sheer mockery.

"Making money?" I sneered. "If you have time to daydream, why don't you check your socials and see how many fans have unfollowed you, and how many are ripping you to shreds?"

In the past, whenever a scandal broke, the agency's PR team would kill the fire instantly.

Her fans would always flood the comments, encouraging her to focus on her career.

With me around, Chloe never had to worry about a single thing.

I never realized she could be this stupid.

She had blown up her own career with her own hands. I couldn't comprehend it, but I sure as hell wasn't going to stop her.

"So what? Real fans will stay by my side no matter what!"

"The ones who leave were never true fans anyway. Why should I care about them?"

For a second, I didn't know whether to call her braindead or pathetically naive.

In the end, I just gave her a chilling smile.

"I really hope you keep that positive attitude."

Chloe frowned, ignoring my sarcasm.

"Cut the crap," she snapped impatiently. "Are you agreeing to my terms or not?"

I looked closely at her face, searing her ugly, arrogant expression into my memory.

After several seconds, I said flatly, "Not a chance."

"Neither you nor that loser deserves my time."

Furious, Chloe raised her hand to slap me.

Just before her palm could strike my cheek, I caught her wrist in a vice grip.

Looking into her eyes, my gaze turned icy as I tightened my hold.

I completely ignored her yelp of pain and her angry demands to let go.

"I'm saying this one last time. Get the hell out of here, or I'm calling the cops!"

With that, I shoved her hand away with force.

Stumbling backward, Chloe fell directly into Tyler's arms.

Tyler immediately stepped up, bursting with righteous indignation:

"Chase, you've gone too far! Chloe was talking to you reasonably, and you get physical? Are you even a man?"

I didn't say a word. I simply pulled out my phone and dialed 911.

Seeing that I was actually calling the police, Chloe finally panicked.

"Chase, you're going to regret this!" she spat.

She grabbed Tyler by the arm, and the two of them stormed out in a huff.

What I didn't expect was how quickly she would set her plan in motion to make me "regret" it.

The very next morning, the moment I woke up, my phone rang.

It was the office.

They told me Chloe had brought a whole mob of people into the building, declaring she was going to fire every "useless employee" on the payroll.