Hands shaking, Raymond dug his phone out from his pocket and dialed the familiar number he had practically memorized.

However, all he received was an automated message that said the number had been disconnected.

"How could this be possible…" he muttered to himself. The image of Samantha's cold expression this morning flashed through his mind once more.

He spun around and dashed out from backstage like a madman. As he did, he never stopped dialing her number with trembling fingers. Yet, he received the same message without fail every single time.

When he reached the parking lot, he slipped inside his car before sending out a voice message. "Look into which flight Samantha booked today and where she's headed!"

With that done, he was about to start his car engine when he abruptly spotted two familiar figures at the other end of the parking lot.

It was Tiffany and Hector.

Tiffany was 

The private detective Raymond hired informed him that Tiffany had indeed also been at the scene of the fire, and she had even suffered burns from the incident.

He began to waver, especially after he heard that she had gotten "depressed" and was "expelled from her university." All these experiences where she had been "victimized" stirred a raging sense of protectiveness in him, and his guilt and sense of responsibility eventually mixed into a sort of obsession.

Soon after that, many scandalous rumors about Samantha began to circulate. They called her a scheming slut who would do anything to get what she wanted, even sleep with men.

Bit by bit, his belief and trust in her started to fall apart.

Then came the day Samantha once again tried to seduce him while wearing nothing but her underwear. In that moment, Raymond realized he had misjudged the person he thought he loved. The woman he 

The bracelet had been a gift from Samantha's father. Back then, Samantha had had no choice but to auction it off due to an emergency. 

However, a mysterious buyer appeared at the auction and paid ten times the starting price to buy the bracelet before returning it to her. Even now, she still hadn't managed to find out who that mysterious person was, but she would always remember the favor.

Samantha turned and pressed the elevator button again. Upon arriving at the top floor, she stepped out into the brightly lit corridor. The floor was thickly carpeted, so her footfalls made no sound as she walked.

Just as she was about to return to the private room they had used earlier, she stopped around the corner. A nearby private room door was slightly ajar, and a familiar laughter drifted to Samantha's ears. 

Then, she heard Martha simpering, "Wow, Tiffany, with a wealthy investor taking an interest in you and having a top agent like Raymond at your beck and call, you really are the darling of the entertainment industry in Huxville right now!"

Samantha lifted her head slightly and peered through the gap in the door. As she suspected, it was indeed Tiffany.

Tiffany, dressed in a tailored satin gown, was lounging right in the middle of a couch as she played with a pigeon blood ruby ring.

"I'm so envious of you," a female celebrity in Chanel clothing said bitterly. "Not only did you snatch Samantha's luxury brand endorsement contracts, but you even snagged her agent. Tiffany, are you trying to force her out of the entertainment industry in one fell swoop?"

Lips curving into a smirk, Tiffany scoffed and answered lazily, "Does someone like Raymond even deserve me putting in the effort to snatch him over? I simply crooked a finger at him, and he came running."

The other people present in the room were stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"But I heard that Raymond dived into the ocean to search for pearls for you, even injuring himself in the process. He must love you so much, to the point he's willing to throw his life away for you, huh?"

An impatient look crossed Tiffany's face as she smoothed her hair. She said coldly, "Love me? Hah! Is he even worthy?"

Silence descended upon the room at her words.

Lifting the emerald pendant hanging around her neck, she didn't hide the scorn shining in her eyes. "I'm destined to become Mrs. Goodwin. Raymond is nothing but a handsome toy for me to play around with for now. At least he's way more useful than those old men."

The crowd exchanged looks, and someone couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you worried Raymond will find out about this one day?"

"So what if he knows?" Tiffany laughed, completely unbothered. "Just one kiss from me, and his soul is practically flying off to heaven!"

Outside, Samantha stood rooted to the spot around the corner. An icy, almost desolate, feeling welled within her.

Raymond's situation truly was laughable and pitiful. He almost lost his life just to please Tiffany, yet to her, he was nothing more than a toy.

Samantha suddenly had the urge to know whether Raymond would still be so willing to throw himself into danger for Tiffany if he were to one day hear all this himself.

She crept away slowly, with no one any the wiser to her brief appearance there.

For the next two days, Samantha shut herself in her apartment to pack her belongings. She separated her jewelry, clothing, work information, and photos into individual boxes before shipping them all over to Edunia. She even packed up her kitchenware, the aromatherapy nightlight by her bedside, and the canvas and paints on the balcony.

She didn't want to leave any traces of her having lived here.

After she was done with cleaning out her apartment, she headed to the cemetery where her parents were buried to say goodbye.

Staring at their gravestones, she murmured, "Dad, Mom, I'm so sorry. Even though I've learned the truth about several matters, I'm helpless to do anything about it."

The photo of her father smiled back at her.

Shaking her head vigorously, she forced her tears away. "You're always teaching me to be independent and strong, and as a woman, I have to love myself. I used to allow my love to blind me, but from now on, I'll always remember this lesson. I'll never throw away anything for the sake of love again."

…

A delicate light slipped through the windows to illuminate Samantha, who was sitting on the living room couch. The white curtains of her apartment danced in the gentle spring breeze, and the cup of black coffee she was cradling had long since gone cold.

Suddenly, her phone vibrated, the lit-up screen showing it was a call from Hector. She answered the call and muttered an indifferent, "Hello."

"Samantha, I've finished transferring the one billion dollars you asked for," Hector spoke quickly, as though worried she would change her mind. He then paused briefly, his tone turning anxious and forceful. "I heard you already booked an international flight for this afternoon. You'd better leave immediately, or else…"

Samantha was unfazed, retorting, "If you have the time to threaten me, you might as well pay more attention to your precious Tiffany. Then again, with Raymond sticking to her like glue, you seem to be growing increasingly unnecessary."

Hector was silent for several seconds before softening his tone to say, "Sammy, you know it's not that I didn't consider your feelings. It's just that Tiffany hasn't had it easy these past few years. I believe she'll learn where to draw the line."

Samantha swiftly cut him off with a scoff. "Hector Norton, I used to think you were just cold-blooded, but now I realize you truly are disgusting."

There was no response from the other end of the line.

Without hesitation, Samantha ended the call before blocking his number.

Standing up, she headed to her bedroom to grab her gray suitcase. Just as she put on her sunglasses and got ready to leave, her doorbell rang.

Raymond was at the door, dressed in the casual clothes he usually wore to film sets. He immediately spotted the large suitcases behind her and frowned. "Where are you going?"

"On a vacation," Samantha answered placidly. "You should focus on sourcing more connections for Tiffany for that film. I want to be alone for a while."

Raymond was visibly surprised. He opened his mouth several times to speak but couldn't find the words. Eventually, he settled on, "Wouldn't it have been better if you had been like this since the beginning? Let me drive you."

Wrapping her fingers around the handle of her suitcase, she refused, "No need to bother yourself."

Since Raymond was still trying to understand the meaning behind her words, he genuinely thought she simply wanted to go on a vacation to relax. 

"Well, it's indeed a good idea to take a break and recharge. I'll handle the film matters. Tiffany–"

"Oh, right." Samantha turned her head to interrupt him, her lips turned up in a small smirk. "You'd better hurry to the audition. That producer isn't an easy person to get along with."

Raymond's face fell when he heard that, and after wishing her smooth travels, he hurried off, seemingly worried that Tiffany would be picked on.

Samantha watched as his figure vanished around the corner, not a hint of emotion on her face. After silently wishing him goodbye and hoping they never met again, she took a cab to the airport.

Before boarding the plane, she logged into her Instagram account and posted a simple status update. "From today onward, I will be retiring from the entertainment scene. Thank you all for your support thus far. I'm grateful for every moment we shared."

Following that, she switched off her phone.

"From this moment on, let's all go our separate ways and live our own lives well," she thought.

Meanwhile, at the audition venue, Raymond was busily pottering around. Tiffany, after shooting the various media reporters present a charming smile, stepped inside to begin her audition.

As he stood in a corner to wait for her, Samantha's indifferent expression kept surfacing in his mind. The coldness in her gaze caused his heart to clench, as though something was tugging at it.

An inexplicable feeling of frustration gnawed at him. He shouldn't care about Samantha, yet he couldn't help but regret not even bidding her goodbye.

Lowering his head, he pressed a hand to the injury on his left cheek, which still hadn't fully healed. His emotions were a turbulent mess. The pain was a constant reminder that he loved Tiffany, yet for some reason, it was Samantha's figure that haunted him now.

All he could think of was the way she usually appeared prideful and kept her distance from other people.

He still hadn't figured out what was going on with himself today when there was a clamoring from the waiting reporters. Their cameras flashed endlessly while applause, praise, and congratulations rang out.

"Congratulations, Ms. Jensen!"

"Once this film premieres, you'll surely shoot to fame!"

"Ms. Jensen, the Goodwin family has already prepared a celebratory feast for you by booking out the entire Bricant Club for tonight."

Thunderous applause continued to spill out as Tiffany stepped out, dressed in a tailored white gown that accentuated her slender waist. With a dignified smile and quiet grace, she looked every bit as though the part had always been hers.

Raymond stood at the crowd's edge, watching as everyone practically threw themselves at Tiffany's feet to curry her favor. His lips quirked into a satisfied smile.

Finally, his beloved was standing at the very top of the social pyramid.

Letting out a soft exhale, Raymond turned to head backstage to follow-up on what needed to be done next.

However, he had barely taken a few steps when he heard some staff members chatting up ahead.

"Did you see the trending post? Samantha Norton has retired from the entertainment industry!"

"Really? But she's the youngest actress ever to win all the acting awards in the country! Abruptly retiring from the scene like that—isn't it a bit too sudden?"

"I actually thought she would come for the audition today! After all, Mr. Lund has expressed his admiration for her skills more than once, even saying that Samantha wouldn't need to audition if she came, even for the secondary lead role. What a surprise that she didn't come!"

"It really is a pity. And her agent is now busy working for Tiffany. He truly doesn't understand his actual job responsibility, does he?"

"Did you guys realize something? During the audition, Tiffany was basically imitating Samantha. From her movements, emotions, gaze, even the inflection of her voice, every bit is the exact same as Samantha's!"

"To have a copycat who doesn't even understand the true essence of acting take the role of the female lead–the entertainment industry truly has regressed, hasn't it?"

Raymond abruptly halted in his tracks as his mind went blank. His head snapped up to look in their direction, and his breathing grew rapid. It also felt like something had lodged itself in his throat.

"Samantha's retired from the entertainment industry?"

Hands shaking, Raymond dug his phone out from his pocket and dialed the familiar number he had practically memorized.

However, all he received was an automated message that said the number had been disconnected.

"How could this be possible…" he muttered to himself. The image of Samantha's cold expression this morning flashed through his mind once more.

He spun around and dashed out from backstage like a madman. As he did, he never stopped dialing her number with trembling fingers. Yet, he received the same message without fail every single time.

When he reached the parking lot, he slipped inside his car before sending out a voice message. "Look into which flight Samantha booked today and where she's headed!"

With that done, he was about to start his car engine when he abruptly spotted two familiar figures at the other end of the parking lot.

It was Tiffany and Hector.

Tiffany was wearing a pale yellow skirt, her arm hooked through Hector's as she leaned her head against his shou

Chapter 9