The night air was chilly as Rina walked away from the imposing three-story mansion that stood as a proof to her past generosity. She had once held the keys to that house, and had been welcomed with open arms as the beloved daughter-in-law of the family. But now, she was nothing more than an outcast.
Her footsteps echoed in the silence of the empty street, each one a painful reminder of the life she had lost. She clutched the divorce papers in her hand, the inked signature a stark symbol of her shattered dreams. The tears that had dried on her cheeks left a trail of salt in their wake.As Rina walked further from the mansion, she couldn't help but replay the scene in her mind. She had arrived at her in-laws' home, her last hope for a place to stay, and had mustered the courage to explain her situation. The divorce, the betrayal, the plea for shelter.But instead of compassion or understanding, what she had received was cold indifference. Her in-laws, the people who had once smiled upon her, had rejected her. Their eyes had held no sympathy, no love, only disdain.It was as if the Rina who had once been their beloved daughter-in-law had never existed. In her place stood a woman they no longer recognized, a woman they were all too eager to cast out.She smiled. The Smith's were all the same. Callous and wicked. Rina regretted being a part of them.She smiled again, a sad smile. Everyone she had trusted had used and played her. But this was her saying goodbye.Goodbye to Finn.Goodbye to his family.And Goodbye to Rina Smith. She was coming back as Rina Power.From this moment on, the innocent and kind hearted Rina was dead.And the new Rina was only for Revenge!Rina returned to her old home.At the time her first scandal broke two years ago, the compensation for breach of contract had deflated her entire savings. The remnants of the property under her name had been used to pay off debts.The only things she had was this small cottage she had gotten the year she married. And to think that she had almost sold it last year when Finn’s family had a financial setback last year.After cleaning up, it was already evening. The news that she had been kicked out of her husband's home was still widely being discussed all over the internet.She sat on the sofa and took out her phone to check the internet.The topic, "Rina Power's divorce and miscarriage had become the number one hot search with almost a billion views and almost a million interactions.She scrolled through the hurtful comments, each one more hurtful than the former. After more than an hour of scrolling through comments, she sighed, exited the webpage and opened her contacts, finding a number she hadn't used in two years.Her agent, George Stone."Rina?!"A voice on the other end sounded uncertain, clearly surprised that Rina was suddenly contacting him."It's me." Rina's voice was calm, without any emotion.I want to make a comeback, can you help me arrange it" Rina replied, her resolve audible even via phone call."What?! George Stone jumped out of bed, stunned. This had to be the most shocking thing he had ever heard! It was like hearing an unbelievable utterance.Was Rina crazy or something? How could she suddenly say she wanted to make a comeback after five years of absence from the industry, plus the previous scandal and now, the trending news of her divorce, miscarriage, and infidelity. How did she plan to make a comeback with no resources at all?"Rina!" George Stone stuttered. "Making a comeback after five years… that's impossible." George didn't believe it was possible. Not with the whole buzz currently going on in the internet.With her current reputation being dragged through the mud by netizens, she still wanted to make a comeback?Surviving the onslaught of public opinion was already a miracle!"I know." George paced around the room barefoot, feeling anxious."You need to calm down first. Your situation is clear, and it's not realistic for you to make a comeback."It was more than unrealistic, it was a fantasy!Two years ago, the assaulting of upcoming male leads incident had caused a stir on theinternet, and Rina had become the first celebrity to be blacklisted by the entire network.She was also the first artist to be so heavily criticized that she was forced out of the entertainment industry.Back then, she had left in disgrace, her reputation in tatters, and her company had banned her.Now, she was entangled in a scandal of infidelity, and she had been kicked out of a family she made. Could someone like her really make a comeback?"We will make it possible, George." Rina's tired voice replied.'We?' George Stone couldn't help but wonder. He had been Rina's agent back when she was still the queen of the entertainment industry.She was the first artist he had worked with. Rina was the only reason he had gotten a chance in the Entertainment industry. With no backing and zero experience, Rina had chosen him out of the many experienced agents who begged to work with her. He owed his success story to her. But, what she was asking for was just too much and impossible.“Rina, it’s not that I don’t want to help you, but you’ve been blacklisted from the entertainment industry and backlashes severely online. You know that. And with the current situation, there’s really nothing I can do to help.”“You can, George. You can help me speak to the higher ups to lift my ban. I will be very grateful to you.”“That’s impossible, Rina.” George countered. “Three years ago, you caused serious damage to the company and its reputation. Lifting the ban is an impossible thing.”“George, please. I don’t need to be promoted, just help me speak to them.” Rina begged.“I’m your former agent, what power do I have to speak on your behalf to the higher ups?”“George, please!”George felt irritable. Did she necessarily have to return to the entertainment world? With her talent and versatility, there were over a million other things she could do, and over a hundred other ways he could help her.Like, he could assist her financially to start a business somewhere far away from country A. She didn’t have to return. There was no salvation left for her there.“I can’t speak to the higher ups for you, Rina.” He really couldn’t, even though he was one of the biggest Agents in the country. “But, I can help you talk to a few producers. With your current reputation, I can’t assure you of a role, but I can at least help you get an audience with some producers.”“No problem.” Rina replied. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy making a comeback, but she trusted in her skills. All she needed was an audience, she was going to take care of the rest herself. “Thank you, George, I’ll repay this kindness.”“Don't bother repaying me. I owe you too much as is." With that, he hung up.Not long after, Rina's phone rang with a call from an unknown number. She picked it up."Hello, Mrs Rina Powers, I am Charles Lukeson, Mr Finn's Attorney. I'm calling to finalize the divorce agreement. Please, be at the City hall by 10 AM tomorrow for the legalization of the agreement.""Hearing this, Rina's heart constricted. Although she had signed the divorce agreement and decided to let go, it still hurt deep down."Miss Powers, are you there?" The Attorney's voice dragged her back to reality.Rina pushed back the pain in her heart, and emotionlessly said, "mm! I'll be there." After that, she hung up and bowed her head. Her heart felt heavy and her soul felt hurt.So Finn was really going through with the divorce!She let out a harsh exhale and lay on the bed.That night, before Rina went to bed, she got a message from George Stone.Three producers had agreed to meet with her tomorrow. He sent her the location. Two had agreed to meet at a hotel, while the last was busy and would meet on the set of his ongoing film.Seeing the meeting place of the first two, Rina's face changed to one of displease. But then, she had no choice.It was she who needed help.The following morning, she sat down for breakfast, her mind filled with determination. Slipping into a floral white dress, she couldn't help but feel the sharp contrast it posed to the somber occasion ahead. White, a symbol of purity, now took on new meaning. Today marked the beginning of her transformation, a rebirth of sorts. For herself and the memory of her tragically lost child, she vowed to reclaim her life and find solace once more.She put on a white sun hat and slipped into a pair of white stilettos. Gave herself a once over in front of the mirror, then picked a designer bag she hadn’t used in a long while. She took a cab to the city hall.On getting there, Finn and his lawyer were yet to arrive. She glanced at her wrist watch. It was almost Ten PM. She picked up her phone and dialed the lawyer’s number. On the second ring, the call was connected.“Hello, Mr. Attorney!”“Ms Powers, hello! My client is still having breakfast, could you wait a moment, we’ll be there soon.”Rina
"Well..." the director, Mr. Bellamy said, rising from his chair on the other side of the table and slowly walking towards Rina, who was on the verge of hopping out of her chair from discomfort."As you might already know, a lot of things have changed in your five years of being a housewife. So I thought it best to inform you..."Rina cringed as she felt both his hands on her shoulders. Immediately, she hopped out of her seat. "Get your filthy hands off me," she ordered, irritated by the thought of what the man was about to do."Mr. Bellamy," she said, her voice cold and firm. "I came here to discuss a role, not to be propositioned. I won't be part of your sick games."Mr. Bellamy's smile vanished, replaced by a sneer. "You think you're too good for this? Too good for me?" Back then when she was an A-list Actress, maybe. But now...He returned to his seat and leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing. "With your current reputation, you still dare to act high and mighty? You're no long
It was late in the evenig when Rina decided to return home. She had stayed at a coffee shop after leaving Mr Bellamy’s office. And seeing as someone had trailed her to the director’s, who was to say there weren’t others reporters lurkinng around her. With her current reputation, she had angered a lot of internet users. If her address were to be found out and shared on the internet…she shivered at the thought of what they’d do. In the entertainment industry, there’s been cases where celebrities have angered netizens. Like four years ago, after Rina had quit on her career to focus on her marriage, netizens had longed for another capable face and talent to grace their screens and soon found her. Jennifer Viagro, one of the industry prinncesses. She was a very great talent, diverse in her field and if not for Rina’s extraordinary skills, she would have easily become a competition. She was a great actress who could easily play any role given to her. With her talent and Rina’s retirement
Zayn Graham slammed his fist on the mahogany desk, his eyes blazing with barely contained fury. His step-brother Jared had done it again - another reckless move that threatened to topple Zayn's carefully built business empire. "What were you thinking, Jared?" Zayn growled. "Signing off on that deal without my approval could cost us millions!" Jared, all 300 pounds of him, merely shrugged as he lounged on the leather sofa, munching on a bag of chips. "Relax, little bro. It's just business. Win some, lose some." Zayn took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. At 32, Jared was one year his senior, but acted like an impulsive teenager. As one of the managing directors of Graham Industries, a multinational conglomerate spanning tech, real estate, and media, Zayn had worked tirelessly to build the company into a powerhouse. But Jared, as a major shareholder, and also one of the managing directors seemed determined to sabotage it all. This latest stunt has involved Jared single
Rina's eyes fluttered open, her vision blurry as she tried to focus on her surroundings. The stark white ceiling and antiseptic smell told her she was in a hospital. As her senses slowly returned, she became aware of a dull ache throughout her body, particularly intense in her lower abdomen. Memories flooded back. She had been so focused on her comeback in the Scottsdale entertainment industry that she had ignored the warning signs her body had been sending. The occasional sharp pains, the unexplained fatigue, the dizzy spells - she had attributed it all to stress and pushed through. Now, as she lay in the hospital bed, Rina realized how foolish she had been. The doctor's words echoed in her mind: internal haemorrhaging due to complications from her recent miscarriage. She had been walking around, putting her body through immense stress, all while bleeding internally. As her vision cleared, Rina's gaze fell upon a figure seated beside her bed. Her breath caught in her throat as she
The steady beep of medical equipment and the faint bustle of nurses in the hallway were like a consolation to Rina's troubled thoughts. She couldn't shake the memory of Zayn Graham’s intense gaze, the way his presence seemed to fill the entire room. Just as she was beginning to convince herself that the whole interaction had been a fever dream, the door to her room creaked open. Rina jerked, her heart racing as she recognized the tall figure of Zayn Graham stepping back into the room."Mr. Graham," she said, her voice betraying surprise and wariness. "I thought you'd left."Zayn's lips curved into a slight smile. "I did, but I realised I forgot something important."Rina's eyebrows frowned. "What did you forget?"Instead of answering immediately, Zayn moved further into the room, his steps measured and deliberate. His eyes never left Rina's face, and she found herself unable to look away. There was something in his gaze that she couldn't quite decipher – a hunger, perhaps, or a chall
Rina brushed her long black hair and packed it into a ponytail. She dabbed the powder applicator on her face, trying to look as best as she could before leaving her apartment. She smoothed the lines on her dress with her hand before walking away from the mirror and closing the door behind her. She was set to get herself a deal in one of the industries again, re-write her past and rise in influence once again. She had always fought for what she wanted from life and she wasn't going to back down now. Even though Zayn had proposed her marriage on his return, she didn't want to accept the fact that he was her only ticket to influence and good-fame once again in the city. She alighted from the cab and stood in front of a modern studio. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the studio. Ignoring the eyes of the onlookers, the whispers in hushed tones. She made her way for the producer's office. George Stone had helped her get an appointment with him a day ago. "Ms. Powers." The produce
Kayla paced around anxiously, her mobile phone clasped tightly between her fingers. She was in her private dressing room at the set of a movie and had just received a call from one of her many sources. Rina had gotten the lead female role in a potential movie. If she were to successfully feature in that movie, it was one step out of many into returning to the industry. She couldn't allow that.She smoothed her hair roughly and forced herself into the sofa beside the table, placed her phone on the table and stared at it for a while as if it was what determined her future. After the prolonged silence in her room, she picked up the phone again and dialled a number, the phone buzzed a couple of times and the line was connected soon enough. Kayla cleared her throat and donned on a fake smile despite the turmoil brewing in her. "Hello, Justin, it's Kayla. Are you busy? I was hoping we could talk.”"What is going on?" Justin King asked. He was the son of one of the ruling families in the
Zayn stared at the clock hanging above the door in the conference room. The meeting had spanned longer than he had planned for it to, yet there were still some important deliberations to be made. Usually, he would have asked his assistant to continue with the meeting while he caught some sleep, but the issue at hand was the opening of a branch of Graham Conglomerate in Hong Kong, and he needed to be there to see the different pieces form one huge picture.“The space isn’t ideal,” he murmured, bringing his gaze to the projected building on the screen. “It is too small, and I really do not like the windows.”“The windows?” One of the foreign investors repeated, his small eyes regarding Zayn like it was the most ridiculous thing he’d heard.“Yes, Mr. Stone. The windows.” He scooted to the edge of his seat at the head of the table and clasped his hands. “The windows are usually one thing that gets overlooked when picking out the perfect site for a company’s activities. But not me. On a ra
Joel didn’t want to stall anymore, especially since he could feel the distance Rina had been trying to put in place since the fashion show. He felt it in the smallest of things, like how she refrained from telling him where she lived now that her cottage was not in the best shape for habitation, or how he never took her home again since the first time.Although she still smiled at him each time they saw, their hugs were more formal, and never lasted long. It was as if she was deliberately trying to put up walls around herself. It was either that or her subtle way of saying goodbye. And Joel wanted neither.“Do you remember the first day we met?’ he started, as their table got cleared of the second course, and their dessert of ice cream and cake arrived. Rina took a spoonful of her preferred chocolate flavor and closed her eyes as it melted on her tongue. She loved the tinge of bitterness that hid in its taste, and how it remained at the back of her throat. Weird as it sounded, since R
By the time Rina arrived at the diner, it was almost 9 pm. Handing her keys over to a valet, she sauntered in, the clack of her red bottoms hitting the tiles. She hadn’t wanted to waste time on choosing another pair of heels, exacerbated by the fact that Rina still thought the clothes and shoes in that room belonged to one of Zayn’s numerous women. So, she opted for a simple white dress instead that fell to the middle of her thighs and clung to her body like a second skin, accentuating her curves. The halter neck, Rina’s favorite style, was the perfect touch to the shape of her shoulders and her hair was put up, with hastily curled ringlets flowing from the bun. Her face was scrubbed clean of every makeup, leaving only glossy lips.Rina’s outfit made her look so vulnerable that the moment Joel saw her approach, his heart did a little backflip. He had to clear his throat and get his lines right in his head as she navigated the tables, locating the booth he had picked for them at the en
George stepped out onto the foyer, accompanied by a scowling Rina. She hated that Scottsdale had treated her manager that way, knowing how hard she worked to get him access in there. But worse, she wasn’t comfortable with the fact that her drama had affected him and that he hadn’t let her speak up on his behalf. It almost felt like he’d been waiting for that moment, to get those words off his heart and walk out of the doors, never looking back. He did it with his shoulders squared and his head held high. Still, Rina couldn’t decipher whether it was bravado or plain stupidity.“You would still have your job if you’d just let me say something,” Rina muttered as they took the turning to the parking lot. “Now, Isaiah is going to have your head, and maybe blame me for your death as well.”“I spoke about this with him already,” George explained, his voice still on the usual wavelength, not dampened by what just happened in there. “We decided it was best I left rather than work in an environ
Rina didn’t want to get into a confrontation with Regina, but she seemed to be asking for a scene. Her dramatic gasp echoed through the restaurant, causing the already staring crowd to gently whip their phones out. Eyes shone in excitement at the sight of another Rina drama, but she really didn’t want to have to do that.“Who said you were better than me?” Regina drawled, wanting to have the last say. “What’s to say that you weren’t sleeping with the producers to get your roles? They always claimed you were the best thing to happen to Scottsdale, but now that I think about it, it was all about what you had to offer, wasn’t it?”Regina was only being spiteful, intending her venomous words to hurt Rina. But she stared back with a stoic expression. She was certain of herself, certain that everything Regina said was lies. And in truth, she expected it. It was the only thing Regina or anyone else held above her – the lies going around on the internet.George, on the other hand, couldn’t be
She was a bleached blonde, the bangs of her hair getting into her face as she sauntered closer to them, a sneer desperate to be expressed. Her lips were set grimly, but her eyes told another tale, like she was about to launch out the foulness in her if given the chance. The rest of the cafeteria drowned into nothingness as Rina focused on her, her long legs approaching the table. She was in a white two-piece suit that would have given each stride power if it hadn’t been for the expression on her face.It was a twisted version of a mix of anger and hurt in an unbalanced proportion, and George must have noticed it as well as his hands reached across the table to tap Rina. She looked back at him to answer the question in his eyes. But before she could form the words, Regina was already right in their faces.“I never thought you would be able to claw your way in here,” she drawled, with venom dripping from her tone. “You don’t seem to get it, Rina Powers. No one wants you in here. If the
“What is the update?” Rina asked, after laughing at his rather weird but true joke. She grabbed her cup of ice tea and nibbled on her straw. “Did you hear back from any of the agencies?”“Actually, I did,” he answered, grabbing his phone like he didn’t read the mail over and over again, the contents ingrained in his being. He had to, because he didn’t like the tone of the message. And his thoughts were confirmed before he reached the end of the mail. Phone in hand, he hit on the mail icon, and tapped the starred message, looking back at Rina.“It’s bad, isn’t it?” she asked, angling her head. It was apparent on his face, distress lines appearing on his forehead. “Come on. Get it out.”“Okay,” he sighed. “One of the agencies we reached out to was actually excited to have our mail. At first, they responded with so much fervor that I thought we already had this in our pockets. They wanted to know when you would be able to come over for a meeting to get your schedule and pay rate sorted o
Rina got into the street, navigating the traffic to the last place she wanted to be – Scottsdale Entertainment. She hadn’t been there since she started working for Joel Osteen, after returning countless times to ask that her blacklisting be looked into. She was seated at their conference table when Kayla’s eyes swirled with feigned tears, asking that the board give her something to do other than leaving her penniless.And they had dared suggest she was a guest at a podcast that spoke about the lies that she had been accosted it, they’d wanted her to paint a picture that they were true, so people paid even more attention to them.The more thought of it repulsed her, and half way to her destination, she almost made the decision to turn around. But she needed to see George. He had been in meetings all day and couldn’t come around to see her anywhere else. He had pleaded with her to meet at the coffee shop just outside Scottsdale Entertainment but Rina didn’t want it to look like she was
After ignoring the disdainful remarks of some of the designers at the fashion house, of course, with Joel trying to do damage control as much as his abilities permitted, the day finally came to an end and Rina could leave the building. It was a myriad of activities and emotions going on all at once that it was hard to focus on one thing at a time. But maybe that was what Rina needed.She walked through the hallways, moving from the media department downstairs to her office on the second floor, carrying her head high even though she heard the whispers of some of the people she met on the way. Joel addressed the designers and the rest of the employees after lunch, telling them that Rina was a part of the company and they needed to accord her the respect she deserved, irrespective of what they’d heard about her.But opinions had already been formed and one of the hardest things to do was to reshape an already formed ideology about someone. It was going to take something mind-blowing and