My Billionaire Built An Empire For Me Then Broke My Face For Her Chapter 04

My Billionaire Built An Empire For Me Then Broke My Face For Her Chapter 04

I stood frozen in place.

When I was a child, I accidentally fell into water and nearly drowned. Ever since then, I’ve been terrified of it. The moment the water rises past my chest, my heart starts to palpitate violently.

Julian Black knew about this. Every contract he negotiated on my behalf contained a strict rider: absolutely no water scenes of any kind were allowed.

“Is there some kind of mistake?” My voice tightened. “There is no water scene in my script.”

The director rolled his eyes. “Miss Chloe specifically requested it for you. She said she was worried you’d feel unbalanced with too few lines, so she kindly gave you some extra screen time. Mr. Black signed off on it.”

Julian…

My heart sank to the bottom of an abyss.

This was the largest indoor pool on the studio lot. Standing at the edge, I was already completely soaked.

“Cut!” the director bellowed. “No good! Evelyn, your expression just now was wrong. Too fake. Let’s do another take!”

I was shoved back into the water.

“Cut! Your struggling is way too exaggerated. Who drowns like that? Again!”

Pushed down again.

Crawling up again.

“Cut! There’s no emotion! I need sheer desperation in your eyes!”

“Cut! Your body is too stiff. Again!”

I collapsed against the edge of the pool, drenched from head to toe. My hair plastered to my face, I gasped desperately for air.

“Maybe the shallow end isn’t deep enough, which is why Ms. Sterling can’t make it look realistic,” Chloe suggested innocently, tilting her head. “Why don’t we move to the deep end? That’s the only way to capture that true feeling of drowning and despair.”

My heart lurched violently. “I am not going in the deep end!”

But nobody listened to me. Two hands reached out from behind, grabbing my arms on either side. I struggled frantically, but my body was dragged forward until there was nothing beneath me but endless, pitch-black water.

Chloe walked up right behind me. Leaning close to my ear, she whispered in a hushed, venomous tone, “Evelyn, Julian belongs to me. Go die.”

She shoved me hard.

My body tipped backward. In that instant, the world flipped upside down before my eyes as water rushed in from all directions. Sinking downward, the crushing pressure squeezed my lungs. Eyes wide open, I watched the surface grow further and further away. My consciousness began to scatter. My eyelids grew impossibly heavy, while my body felt weightless.

Just as I was about to close my eyes forever, a pair of arms locked tightly around my waist, hauling me out of the water.

Struggling to pry my eyes open, I looked at the person in front of me. Dazed, I murmured, “Jul…ian…”

“Hahahaha! Did you guys see how pathetic she looked just now?”

“She looked like a drowned rat. It was hilarious.”

“And they call her an A-lister? She can’t even nail a simple drowning scene.”

Chloe linked her arm through Julian’s, laughing hysterically. “Julian, did you see how terrified she was? Your idea was brilliant.”

Julian laughed along with her.

I stared blankly at him, suddenly consumed by a bone-chilling cold.

Julian stepped closer to me. “See? Without me backing you, you are nothing. Anyone in this industry can step on you whenever they want.” He crouched down, leaning intimately close to my face. “As long as you admit your mistake, I’ll pretend none of this ever happened. You can still be Evelyn Sterling, the celebrated A-lister everyone worships.”

He was waiting for me to bow my head.

Chloe also walked over, speaking with feigned sincerity. “Ms. Sterling, I’m not here to break you and Julian apart. I just want to join the family. Please don’t hold such hostility toward me.”

I slowly raised my head, looked directly at both of their faces, and spat forcefully in their direction.

Chloe let out a piercing shriek. Furious, Julian snapped, “Evelyn, have you lost your mind?!”

Grabbing Chloe, he turned and stormed off.

That evening, the production company’s official social media account released a statement:

“Actress Evelyn Sterling has repeatedly refused to comply with crew management and exhibited diva behavior, severely disrupting the filming schedule. After careful deliberation, the production team has decided to terminate our collaboration with Ms. Sterling, effective immediately. All footage featuring her will be deleted.”

Attached was a photo of the official termination notice, bearing the studio’s formal seal.

Moments later, Blackwood Entertainment retweeted the statement:

“We stand against toxic artists. No one is above the rules.”

Overnight, I became a pariah that everyone loved to hate. Every brand endorsement and film offer dropped me. Meanwhile, Chloe Vance stepped on my ruined reputation, harvesting millions of new followers and glowing praise.

On my phone, I received a text message from Julian Blackwood:

[Beg me, and I can suppress all the negative PR against you.]

I knew exactly what he was doing. He was forcing my hand, betting that without him, I had absolutely nowhere left to turn.

Staring at the retirement statement I had already drafted on my screen, my finger hovered over the ‘Send’ button.

Three… two… one.

I pressed it.

Within seconds, the comment counter began to skyrocket. One hundred. One thousand. One hundred thousand. Ten million…