The Echo of Unsung Prayers Chapter 1

A long time after breaking up with the heir to the Sterling Group, he had already found someone new.

He blocked my resources and snatched a role I had spent six months preparing for, just to pave the way for his new flame.

On the day I won the Best Actress award, the host asked me:

"I heard that the theme song 'Prayers,' which you sang when you first debuted, was named after the love of your life?"

In the audience, Julian Sterling suddenly looked up, his face full of disbelief.

Very few people knew that the heir to the Sterling Group was named Julian.

Until this moment, he didn't realize that I had once loved him with all my heart.

Hiding his name in a song title.

But now, I just shook my head and smilingly denied it:

"That's all in the past."

* * *

On the way to the film festival, my manager, Sarah, informed me with a grim expression:

"Our endorsement contract with Dior for the Asian region has been terminated. They've replaced you with Mia Jiang again."

I calmly lowered my eyes and said, "I'm used to it."

She lit a cigarette, unable to suppress her anxiety: "How many resources has she snatched from you this year? From the lead role in Director Lee's new movie, to top-tier commercial and variety show contracts, and now the most important blue-blood luxury endorsement you had. That lead role in Director Lee's movie—you prepared for it for six months, kept your schedule clear for a year, gained twenty pounds, and then lost it again. Just as filming started, they swapped you out."

The endorsements and resources were one thing, but I couldn't let go of that movie role.

I pulled the cigarette from Sarah's fingers. My eyes stung slightly, and I reminded her softly: "Sarah. There's nothing we can do."

There was nothing we could do.

Because backing Mia Jiang was the heir to the Sterling Group, Julian Sterling. The Sterling family held controlling stakes in much of the domestic entertainment industry.

Even our own agency was no exception.

Mia Jiang was the only girlfriend Julian had ever publicly acknowledged. Within a year of entering the industry, she was already working with famous directors and producers. This time, she was nominated alongside me for Best Actress at the film festival. Julian was lifting her up, making sure to place the absolute best right in front of her.

It just so happened that I was in the way.

Sarah looked at me: "If you end up being a placeholder for Mia Jiang again this time, and get mocked on the trending topics, you won't even get a look at any good scripts anymore."

Relying on Director Lee's movie, Mia Jiang received an award nomination in her first year in the entertainment industry.

I started my career from the bottom, working as an extra and a stand-in. Over the years, I became an acclaimed actress, nominated multiple times, but always going home empty-handed. My haters mocked me, calling me the "Almost-Best-Actress."

I looked out the car window at the endless stream of traffic.

If I went home empty-handed again, my situation would only become more difficult.

Still resentful about the lost luxury endorsement, Sarah spoke without thinking:

"Scarlett, you used to be with Julian too. How come he never paved the way for you like this?"

I pulled my gaze back from the window, fell silent for a moment, and looked at Sarah.

My voice was very light:

"Sarah. I was just dating him."

I wasn't "with" him in that transactional sense. I wasn't kept like a canary in a gilded cage. We were dating.

That's all.

But everyone else didn't think so.