Chapter 6: Invitation

That night, Maya stared at her husband's handle on social media. He had posted a picture of them smiling at each other. Maya was wearing a long-sleeved yellow gown, and her husband was in a suit.

Fans wished they could have a marriage like hers. The post had millions of likes and thousands of comments.

As she checked out his old posts, Maya heard the return of her husband, Mason, and quickly headed downstairs to welcome him.

"You're back," she smiled and took the bag from him. He didn't reply; it was something she was used to.

Mason headed straight to his room to freshen up, and Maya went to the kitchen to serve his meal. Her nightwear covered almost every part of her body except her face.

After serving, Maya waited for Mason until he returned. He entered the dining room, still not uttering a word to her. Opening the meal, his gaze darkened.

"Honey, what is this?" Mason asked, his voice laced with anger as he gazed at the dinner table. "I specifically asked for the famous chicken parmesan, and what do I see? Vegetable stir-fry and soup!"

Maya trembled, her eyes wide with fear as she took a step back. "I-I thought it would be a nice change of pace, dear. I didn't mean to upset you. It's cold outside; the soup will warm you up."

Mason's jaw clenched. "A nice change of pace? You know I hate vegetables! You're always doing this, Maya. Always disobeying me, always disappointing me."

"I'm s-sorry, Mason. I'll go make the chicken parmesan."

Mason's eyes narrowed, his voice menacing. "The fuck? Do you think I'm going to wait?"

Maya's breath halted as she stared at him, her face contorted in fear.

"Come here," he ordered, and Maya's heart skipped a beat.

"Mason, I..."

"Just do what I ask, goddammit!" he roared, and Maya shrank, still not able to move. Seeing this, he stood and grabbed the soup, pouring the hot content on her arm.

A loud, painful scream resounded through the four corners of the room as the soup burned her skin. Maya staggered and crumpled to the floor, hitting her head on the table behind her.

Mason's eyes widened seeing this.

"Shit!" he cursed, running to her. He grabbed her face and observed it closely; the fall had inflicted a small bruise on her forehead, which made him hiss.

Maya shivered on the floor, her delicate skin stinging badly as tears streamed down her face.

"Bitch," Mason mumbled. "You know that face of yours shouldn't have a mark. Are you trying to piss me off today?"

He grabbed her hair, and she winced. He punched her stomach, and her breath seized. His hit added more pain to the wound that had been there before.

"You fucking old hag, I told you I hate hitting you, but you keep getting on my fucking nerve," he growled and punched her again in the same area. Blood slipped out of her lips, and her eyes turned blurry.

Mason released her hair, and her head slumped forward. He sighed, gazing at her with no remorse, his lips slowly curving up like a devil's.

"Get your ass upstairs in twenty minutes. I need that hole of yours to fuck. If I don't see you, I'll use that pole of mine. It won't be a bad idea to use it on you tonight." He grumbled, and Maya began to sob hard.

He left her sitting weakly on the floor, her body aching badly, but she forced herself up using the table as support.

Slowly, she headed upstairs to the room where the man monster was waiting for her.

---

[KING'S COMPANY]

Cassius's sharp gaze remained on the morning's latest news. Tatiana's return had caused quite a stir.

She had left without a trace after tarnishing her marriage. Then returned after her sister's suicide incident.

His eyes squinted, reading the comments about her. Many netizens called her names; they said she wouldn't be any different from Isabella and would end up like her.

Her reputation was definitely bad even if she wanted to return.

Cassius recalled the moment he had with her.

Her skin, radiant and flawless, her eyes hazel-green, her nose a delicate slope, her lips a rosebud's promise, full and inviting. She looked even more beautiful than in the past.

"Hey!!!!!!" He heard an insane scream accompanied by the fast, loud stomping of feet approaching.

"Fuck," he muttered, knowing who it was.

His office door flew open, revealing his crazy assistant, Hudson. He was breathing hard with sweat all over.

"Did you see the news?! Did you see the news?!" he yelled at Cassius.

Cassius took a deep breath, snapping, "I'll fucking kill you if you ever barge into my office like that!"

"Tatiana is back! My idol!" he yelled again.

"Must you get on my nerve every day? Yes, I saw the news about the idol you kept rambling about years ago," Cassius grumbled.

Hudson wouldn't stop talking about her years ago. He talked about her movies almost all the time, and Cassius showed no interest in her or her appearance.

It turned out Hudson's idol was the same woman he had a night with. Hudson doesn't know that yet; only one of his spies knows about it.

"Gosh, all her movies were awesome! She only acted in five, and they were all hits years ago. It's sad she left, gosh, I miss her so much," he squealed.

Cassius tapped his finger consecutively on his table, his expression blank.

"I wonder what's with the crazy scandal all around her. She definitely isn't that type of lady..."

"What date did her marriage tarnish?" Cassius suddenly asked.

Hudson's smile dropped. "Ha.. I heard she broke up with the CEO of Stardust company, Nathan Redmond. It was around September twenty-second, the day, yunno, the day your mother had an accident." Hudson swallowed, knowing Cassius hated that discussion.

Cassius didn't look upset; instead, he stared into space. That was the same day his mother had an accident, and he tried to distract himself with a woman. A twist of fate happened, and Tatiana showed up that night instead.

Nathan Redmond, the CEO of Stardust Entertainment Company.

Stardust Company is like an ant compared to his.

---

[STARDUST COMPANY]

Nathan sat in his black, shiny chair, his lips curled up into a dark smile, staring at the news. Tatiana is back, how interesting.

Flynn came into his office and bowed. "Sir, you called."

"An old friend of mine just returned," he stated and faced Flynn.

"I saw it too, sir. There's no entertainment company that would want to take her in due to her scandal. Her name is tarnished beyond repair."

"Hmm," Nathan chuckled. "We should give her a warm welcome then," he grinned, his pupils dilating with excitement.

---

"Shit," Jolene cursed as she remained seated before Tatiana.

"What's wrong?" Tatiana asked.

"The company I told you about just withdrew. They don't want to sign you in anymore. How dare they!" Jolene snapped. Her temper was something else.

Tatiana had expected this already, so she wasn't surprised.

"We should try another company. I'm sure one of them will accept. We'll just keep trying," Tatiana stated, and Jolene nodded, even though both of them knew there was a slim chance of getting one.

"I'll work on it," Jolene said, but a message popped up on her email.

She froze and blinked several times just to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

But as reality dawned upon her, her eyes widened, almost popping out of their sockets.

"Tatie," Jolene called, and Tatiana gave her a questioning look.

"What?"

"You got an invitation."

"Really? From who?"

"From Stardust Entertainment Company," Jolene replied, and Tatiana's face turned pale.

Nathan invited her. That asshole!

But before she could react, Jolene saw another message and screamed, standing to her feet. Other customers gave her a questioning look.

"What is it?"

Jolene blinked several times before replying.

"King's Entertainment company sent an invitation too! What in holy hell!"