Enemies by Contract
On camera we’re enemies. Off camera we’re a secret contract.After the “corridor scandal,” viral A-lister Evie Moore was put on ice. In her first project after returning, she’s unexpectedly paired with her ex/old flame—the cool, self-possessed Best Actor Ryan Moore. In a lavish period epic, the two play Princess Aurora and Prince Rowan: on camera, blades flash and hearts are torn; off camera, the pressure only ratchets up—from a midnight standoff at the Crown Summit Hotel, to on-set power plays and PR tug-of-war, and then to the live-streaming smash reality show Wilderness Survival. Every step feels like dancing on a knife’s edge.To keep their roles and endorsements, Evie and Ryan are forced to sign a secret pact of “hostile in public, allied in private”: in public they bicker for show, but behind the scenes they share scripts, run lines, and fight smear campaigns together. Yet headwinds in traffic, pressure from backers, and a swarm of exes and enemies close in: rival Lucas Reed leaks dirt from the shadows, scandal queen Zoe Starr milks the story, their management team fractures, and the media hounds them relentlessly—one bombshell after another pushing them to the brink.Chapter 1In my last life, I passed the first love lead system to my best friend Chloe Pratt, then chose the Black Lotus villainess path for myself.I went viral for the wrong reasons, hate turned into clicks, my rate shot through the roof.Chloe got boxed in by that saintly image, the roles dried up, and she vanished into the crowd.Bitter to the bone, she used my trust and burned me alive in the makeup room.I woke up again, three days into this second chance, and the pain from those last minutes still clawed at me.I never would have believed it, the person I trusted most hated me most.We met in college and were glued at the hip. Meals, classes, late nights in the library. People said we were like twins. They meant it as a compliment.Chloe used to tell me I was the best thing that ever happened to her, that sticking with me was enough to make life happy.When her gambling brother showed up on campus demanding cash, I ran interference more than once.When her stepfather dragged her timid mother in and tried to push her to pour drinks for a county official, I paid and called in favors until it went away.Senior year, she fell for a fake talent scout who promised an instant debut, took advantage of her, and cleaned her out. I was the one who pulled her out of that mess.Even when a guy who liked me got framed by her as flirting with her, I took her side first and nearly sent that boy into a tailspin.All that heart on the table, and this is what I got in return. Right before the flames, she hissed at me, “Evelyn Moore, you deserve it. This should have been mine. Why did you take it from me”We were like summer and fall. That was our song once.My phone cut through the fog. The name on the screen was Coco, and my chest tightened.In my last life, this was the day the system made us choose.“Hey.” I braced myself and picked up.“Evie, I’m at your door. Why aren’t you letting me in yet”“I just dozed off. Coming.”The door swung open and Chloe grabbed my hand. “Let’s go shopping. I’m craving that dumpling soup in the West End.”That was different. Last time we headed for a new boutique in the Southside to prep outfits for the audition. The driver took a wrong turn and we ended up in the West End for soup, then the system dropped on us.So she remembered too.I tested the waters. “Let’s get outfits first. There’s a boutique in the Southside. I’ll have Ethan pick us up.”She tensed up so fast it was visible. “No.” She caught herself. “I mean, I’m on my period, I don’t want to try on clothes. Just come get dumpling soup with me.”“Fine, let me grab my bag.” We had been together for years. She never had to tell me her cycle. She also never remembered mine.We hopped out of the cab and Chloe marched straight to the noodle bar. She ordered their signature dumpling soup, the exact thing from last time, and forgot again that I do not do scallions.Every time we ate out, I remembered she hated garlic. Every time, she would apologize and laugh it off. “My head is full of you. I can’t keep the little stuff straight. I’ll do better next time.”I forgave her every time. Turns out she just never tried.Chloe kept scanning the room, jumpy. The system finally came.first love Lead System and Black Lotus Villainess System available. Make your choice. Once bound, it cannot be changed.]Before I could react, Chloe blurted, “I want the Black Lotus Villainess System.”People in the shop looked up. A few stared like we were out of our minds.“You sure you don’t want to think about it” I lowered my voice.“Think about what” She lifted her chin and preened like a peacock. “Give it a little time. They’ll all be jealous, then they’ll worship me.”She had no idea what that path really cost. “first love Lead System for me.”Good. This time I would not be the one to bleed for it.
Chapter 2On the way to the audition, Chloe leaned close and whispered, “Evie, listen, if the director praises me and tears into you, don’t feel bad. People say he only cares about acting, not faces.”If I hadn’t caught the smug curl she tried to hide, I might have bought it.So she stayed by my side in this life to watch me get stepped on.And she was that sure the praise would be hers. Pathetic.The project was a period romance. The heroine was Princess Aurora, soft and spotless, the one good thing our crumbling empire still had.The antagonist was a foreign princess with a blood feud. She hid her identity, became a royal consort, played on the crown prince’s crush, and used palace politics to chew through the regime.Today’s sides were the confrontation after the reveal. The holding room was packed with hot names, so even observing was worth the trip.“Next.” The director kept calling people in.“I’ve worked before, but Director King still makes me nervous. He picks on instinct,” said a woman in head-to-toe black.I knew her. Zoe Starr ran the same track I did in my last life, a serious actress with bite. If I hadn’t trained hard and had the system, who rose higher would have been a coin toss.“Save it,” Chloe sniped. “This role is mine.”I almost told her to be careful. Then I remembered I had learned to let people carry their own fate and drop the savior complex.Zoe had a brother who hit hard and played every angle. That was part of how she climbed steadily later.“Next, Evelyn Moore.”I pulled my focus tight and walked in.“Good, very good. Tell the rest to go home. She is Princess Aurora. Lock her.”“Thank you, director.” After a lifetime of vicious supporting roles, I had worried I would miss the calibration.I glanced at Chloe and saw jealousy flash like a blade.“Next, Chloe Pratt for the antagonist.”Her face was a gift. The acting was not.“Did you even listen to the scene breakdown. What is this. It’s garbage,” the director snapped.Chloe stared, stunned. “No way. You trashed me last time and now it’s still me. No, that can’t be right.”“You. Show her,” the director said, pointing at me.“Me.” I touched my chest.“Yes.”So some things really had shifted after we swapped systems.I took three minutes to find the pitch and ran the scene. The room went silent.Then the applause rolled in, a few claps at first, then a wave.The director’s eyes were wet. “That’s it. She has lived a brutal life. She did terrible things and her heart turned to stone. Then the one person she least wanted to find her did find her. That feeling.”Zoe hurried over and asked to compare notes. She said her read was off and we swapped numbers.Only Chloe looked stunned and poisonous. Did she think the system made her untouchable.In the end the test still locked the roles for me and for Chloe. Even with systems in play, the opening move was never going to derail.On the ride back, Chloe offered a plastic congratulations. I half expected her clenched teeth to crack.“See you on set next week,” I said. “Study the script.”That was me being kind. The antagonist’s path is all thorns. Slaps and beatings are the easy part. I wondered if Chloe had ever taken any of it last time, and the thought almost made me look forward to it.
***本内容需购买可见***
页:
[1]