Prologue

|ATHENA|

“You can’t do this to me.” I whispered, staring at the divorce paper agreement sitting on my lap. “This can’t be happening.”

Our third wedding anniversary was coming up this weekend. Jason and I were supposed to go on a big dinner date to celebrate.

This divorce… It couldn’t be real.

“It’s happening, Athy. Sign the papers. Hurry.” Jason said with a snappy tone.

I lifted my head to look at his face. There was no trace of the man I had fallen in love with in high school. I couldn’t even look into his eyes since they were covered with shades.

“If I’ve upset you in any way or done anything annoying, please tell me. I’ll change. I promise.”

As I spoke, tears ran down my cheeks. I put the divorce papers away and got down on my knees in front of Jason.

“I love you. You love me, too, don’t you?” I grabbed onto one leg of his trousers.

Then, I instantly felt a sharp pain on my head. It took me a second to realize that Jason had grabbed a fistful of my hair. He used his grip on my hair to position my face in a level where I could see his cold expression.

“I loved you. But look at yourself now, Athy. You’ve really let yourself go. Do you know how nauseating it feels to wake up beside you every morning and see your ugly face afterwards?” Jason asked rhetorically.

A lump formed inside my throat.

“And just the smell of you… God!” Jason let go of my hair and wiped down the hand he used to touch me.

“You smell like a fucking club these days. Look at this filth!” Jason gestured all around the living room.

Empty bottles of wine were everywhere. There were also cartons of takeaway food. These were the things that kept me going. Without them, how could I continue living?

But for Jason, I could give them up, right? I could.

I hurried up to my feet and said, “I’ll put them away, I promise. I’ll be better. I’ll change. Please.”

“I don’t want you to change. And I don’t want the title of a husband anymore, can’t you see? Now that my movie is getting popular, people are gonna start asking questions and digging into my private life.”

“What if they found out that I’m married to a fallen child star?” Jason said with an icy tone.

I heard the sound of my heart shattering.

‘A fallen child star.’

I was worse than a fallen child star. I was a broken and damaged one. Where did it all go wrong? My fame, my glory, my timelessness, how had they all slipped away from my hands?

“You used to be something when I married you. Look at yourself now, you can walk down the street with no hat or glasses and people won’t even recognize you. All they’re gonna see is an ugly has-been.” Jason went for my heart again.

This time, I couldn’t even see the world clearly. My vision was all blurry with tears.

“I’ll change. I’ll do better.”

I kept saying those words, hoping that they could do something to remedy this situation. However, deep down, I knew this was the end of the road for me.

“I don’t need you to change. I need you to get out of my life! Sign the goddamn papers, Athena!” Jason raised his voice at me, and I flinched. My hands began to tremble.

‘I need alcohol right now.’

No. No. That was what got me into this in the first place. I couldn’t… I shouldn’t…

“Would you be asking for a divorce if- if this movie hadn’t blown up? Would you still want to be with me if not for this?” I asked Jason cautiously, not daring to meet his gaze.

Jason has been a struggling actor for almost three years. Yet suddenly, his latest movie in which he played the role of a second male lead blew up. Now, he was famous.

He couldn’t leave the house without putting on a disguise. He was now in high demand. Everyone wanted a piece of him.

However, this fame of his could be seen as nothing in comparison to mine when I was at my peak years ago. But even then, I still had eyes for only him. I still gave up everything for him.

Now that it was the other way around, he couldn’t even stand me being by his side.

Jason let out a sigh that sounded like laughter.

“I’ve wanted to leave you for a long time now. Being with you is just too irritating. However, this sudden fame… It must be God’s plan because I finally have a valid reason for leaving you. I can’t say I haven’t tried enough for you in the years we’ve been together.”

“Let’s end this, Athy. There’s nothing left for us in this relationship. You've ruined it all.” Jason said, putting all the blame on me.

Could it truly be me who ruined everything? Was I really the only one to blame for the destruction of this relationship?

“I could still change. If you want-”

“Not a word of that nonsense again!” Jason yelled, then he grabbed the divorce papers from the chair and shoved it into my hand. He brought the pen along, too.

“Sign them now. Else, a picture of all of this is going to go viral. And you might get a piece of the fame you’ve lost once again. ‘Athena Carson: Another child star destroyed.’ It sounds like a good tabloid headline, doesn’t it?” Jason threatened.

My hands began to tremble. It was not new information that those who got into the entertainment industry at a young age were liable to go down the path of self-destruction.

I always used to promise myself that I’d be different from the rest. But look at me now.

“Sign them now, Athy. Do yourself good one last time.” Jason spoke with a coercive tone, placing my hand against the paper.

“Do me this one last favor.” He said, his voice penetrating my ears and enchanting me.

Before I knew it, I had already signed my name on the divorce papers and everything was over.

With a proud smile on his face, Jason took away the divorce papers from my hand. Then he looked at me and said, “It took three years, but my best bet paid off.”

“What do you mean?” I asked him with a small voice.

He laughed and said, “I guessed that it would take me less than five years to get to this point and ruin you along the line. But it only took three years. Riskiest move I’ve ever made.”

My heart dropped to my stomach. My head began to spin.

“You… used me?”

“The word ‘use’ is too ambiguous. In better terms, I took advantage of you.” Jason laughed after saying that.

I lost all strength in my legs and collapsed on the floor.

This couldn’t be happening to me. Everything… Everything that ever went wrong with me started from when I got married to Jason Lamar.

How could I not see this before? How could I have been so foolish?

“Don’t blame yourself, Athy. Blame love. It’s a very cruel thing.” Jason said, then patted my shoulder reassuringly.

I couldn’t even move to push him away. He bid me farewell after that and left the house. In his absence, I realized something. He was right. I should blame love.

If I hadn’t fallen in love with him like a fool, I wouldn’t have found myself in this situation. Love was truly a cruel thing.