Betrayed by the Numbers Chapter 2

After Evan won his Oscar, we had planned to go public. His team had begun laying the groundwork; we were only waiting for the right moment.

Before that could happen, Evan agreed to a cameo in a fantasy drama to repay an old favor. He played a revered master there, and met Sophie Lane.

On-screen, she played the young apprentice secretly in love with him. Off-screen, she said she had entered the business because she was his fan.

They grew closer by the day.

The set was not far away, and whenever I had time, I made lunch and sent it over with Evan's assistant. He used to finish every bite.

But one day, when I visited the set, I found the lunchbox I had packed with my own hands sitting in front of a stray dog.

His assistant, Jason, jumped when he saw me. "L-Lydia, today Sophie bought lunch for the whole crew..."

So that made it all right to feed my lunch to a dog?

Before I could ask, Sophie stepped forward. Pointing at me with a small, accusing finger, she said righteously, "How can you bully him? I told Jason to do it!"

I was angry that my effort had been trashed, and my face must have shown it. But I had hardly bullied anyone.

I laughed in disbelief and turned to Evan, who had just arrived. "You agreed with this too? You thought it was fine to feed my homemade lunch to a dog?"

Evan froze, then immediately said, "No. I didn't."

Everyone looked at Sophie. Her eyes instantly reddened, yet she bit her lip and stubbornly refused to back down.

"I didn't do anything wrong. Wasting food is wrong, and bullying people is wrong too!"

Seeing her on the verge of tears, Evan softened.

"All right. It's not a big deal. You meant well, Sophie. Don't blame yourself."

Then he looked at me. "It's only lunch, Lydia. Don't make such a big thing out of it."

My heart sank.

It wasn't only lunch. It was my care, thrown on the ground and stomped on. Worse was Evan's response.

But the crew had to get back to work. Sophie pulled him away, saying, "A master can't be late," and I refused to make a scene by chasing after them. I left.

A few days later, Evan called, sounding wounded. He asked why I had stopped sending food.

"So it can feed dogs?" I asked.

He paused, then turned it back on me. "Sophie's young. She doesn't understand social cues. As the senior person here, am I supposed to punish her over something that small?"

"She didn't mean it. Why are you picking a fight with a girl?"

We ended badly. Evan eventually apologized first and promised it would not happen again.

But the seed of doubt had been planted. The moment his number changed, it finally broke through the soil.