Three

|ATHENA|

“Tell me, you and Jason are divorced, right?” North asked casually.

I couldn’t breathe.

“Since you’re not responding, I guess I’m right.”

“You don’t know anything.” I spoke with an icy tone.

North scoffed, then said, “I think I do.”

North began to circle around me as he spoke. “I can guess that it was about six, no, five years ago. What was the name of that movie of his that broke the box office? I can’t even remember. But at the time, no one even knew your name.”

“Your fame was already as good as dead. It must have been a pain in the ass for him, who had just gained popularity, to be married to a has-been like you. I bet he left you as soon as he was set on the path to stardom.” North stopped circling me and looked at my face.

He was right. Fuck, he was so right. It has been five years, yet I could still remember the day of my divorce vividly. I had been such a hot mess then.

I had even begged Jason and cried for him not to leave me. I had been ready to change for him; to cut out pieces of myself to fit him. How foolish I had been…

“Yeah, so what?” I said, shedding off any semblance of shame I had in me.

There was no need for me to act like he hadn’t hit the nail right off the wall.

“So… I can guess that you’re back for revenge, aren’t you?” North’s voice suddenly took a mischievous and sinister turn.

I wanted to ruin Jason. And Jason was already at the peak of his character with the honorable title of a Film Emperor. It has only been five years yet his fandom surpassed mine when I was at my peak.

There was no one in the world who didn’t know the name, Jason Lamar. He was everyone’s sweetheart with the kind of image he put out to the public.

Thousands of fans have testified that he was a good person in reality unlike most celebrities. He had no single known black material in his digital footprint to the public.

Taking him down was going to be hard for me. I knew this fact very well. But it wasn’t going to stop me from attempting to do it and eventually succeeding.

“Why are you so interested? You got a grudge with him too or what?” I asked North impulsively.

Surprisingly, he smiled in agreement.

“You know Bonnie Dallas, don’t you? The chairman of Superstar Entertainment?” North questioned.

I didn’t respond right away. I searched through the catalogs of important big names in my brain before I remembered who Bonnie Dallas was.

By the time that I had been making waves in the entertainment industry, she had just started her own entertainment company. Now it was one of the big ones.

And coincidentally, Superstar Entertainment was the company that Jason was signed to.

“You two must be rivals, huh?” I asked North, instead of responding to his question.

North was the chairman of Star Galaxy Entertainment. His company had high status and was very well-put together. Every celebrity signed under them was a big star or an upcoming big star.

As for Superstar Entertainment, though it was not as prominent, it was getting there. And Jason was the company’s top star. It was easy to see that they were a threat to Star Galaxy Entertainment.

“You could say that…” North said vaguely.

I crossed my arms and said, “What does your rivalry with Superstar have to do with me? … Or are you proposing we strike a deal?”

My tone changed into a slyish one towards the ending of my sentence. I began to give striking a deal with North a thought.

He had beef with Bonnie and Superstar Entertainment. I had beef with Jason, the top star of Superstar Entertainment. If there was a way that we could work together to take down both Superstar Entertainment and Jason in one fell swoop, wouldn’t that be amazing?

“Do you want to-”

“No.” North cut me off with a rude tone before I even completed my sentence.

I frowned at him and said, “What do you mean no? I didn’t even get to complete my sentence. Why are you already turning me down? You don’t even know what I wanted to ask.”

The side of North’s lips were tugged up in irritation as he said, “I can already guess that you want us to team up and take down those dumbasses together.”

“Yeah, so why are you refusing?” I asked with an entitled tone, crossing my arms.

“Because I don’t need you.” North simply stated.

My folded arms loosened and fell to my sides.

“W-What?” I couldn’t stop the stutter in my voice as I spoke.

North rolled his eyes in an obvious manner before he said, “Why would I need to team up with you? I’m my own boss. And you’re still struggling to get a role in a simple movie. What can you do to help me?”

“Heck, what can you do to help yourself? And think you’re capable of teaming up with me? You’d just be dragging me down since you have nothing to offer.” North spoke with an arrogant tone.

I was enraged by his words.

“It might seem like I have nothing now, but it’s not like that at all. I have cards-”

“Yeah, right. Tell that to someone who cares about your melodramatic love story.” North said harshly.

I felt his words cut deep into my skin. His tongue was too sharp. Too sharp.

But I was stronger now. What were a few words that I couldn’t handle? I had survived a toxic relationship lasting three years. I had gotten over an alcohol addiction. What couldn’t I handle?

I steeled my nerves and said, “I’m not an idiot. I wouldn’t have returned to the entertainment industry if I didn’t already have plans. You don’t want to work with me? Fine. I can do well on my own.”

“What I don’t like is you talking down to me like I’m some little girl who’s never stepped out into the world before. Don’t treat me like that ever again.” I spoke with a bold tone.

It showed in North’s eyes that he was surprised by my words and the confidence wrapped around them. It took him a few seconds to grind his teeth and take a step back.

“Fine. Whatever.” North said.

I smiled, then said, “It’s good that we’re cleared now. You do your thing. And I do mine. Whichever one of us succeeds first, the other party will congratulate them. What do you say?”

I put out my hand for a shake.

North sniggered and said, “You’re still the same after all these years.”

I reared back a little bit, saying, “What does that mean?”

Had I been too friendly and straightforward with him? I had a tendency to act that way. Was that what he was referring to?

However, North did not respond to my question. He only waved the question off and took my hand in a firm clasp. His hand was cold, but against my warm hand, it was the perfect temperature.

“If you’re able to make a significant move against Jason, I might rethink not working with you as a team.” North said, letting go of my hand.

I stared at him in shock.

“Really?”

He sneered at me and said, “Don’t be too excited. I said ‘might’.”

My face fell and I said, “Whatever.”

North and I parted ways after that. I went to the private room that Mina had been waiting for me in and apologized for the delay. She waved it off and we had a nice dinner.

Later that night, I decided to stun North and the entire world by dropping a bomb.

My revenge plan has just been set in motion.