Chapter 5
LILA
The catering tent was bustling with activity as the one-hour break from shooting wrapped up.
Surrounded by crew members grabbing quick bites between setups and background cast members laughing loudly at a long table, I had found a relatively quiet corner near the back.
As I finished my lunch, I scrolled through my phone.
Reid
Keep your Saturday open. Making plans for the whole day, baby.
I couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at my lips. Things had felt fragile between us lately, but I knew he wanted to make things right.
Between his text and our talk at the start of my break, I felt the tension truly drain from my body. Maybe things really were settling back into place.
I typed out a reply.
Me
Sounds perfect. Can’t wait.
Setting my phone down, I took a bite of my cookie and wondered what he might have planned for us. I was hoping it would be a drive up the coast, but I’d be happy with whatever he arranged for us to do. I just wanted quality time with my fiancé.
The ding of my phone pulled me out of my thoughts. Working with A-list celebrities, social media was a big part of my business. I was used to being tagged in posts or comments by accounts I didn’t follow, so I didn’t think twice when I opened the notification.
Not until I saw the photo of my fiancé with his arm around another woman’s waist. And the caption was just as bad.
Celebrating another big win with my work hubby.
For several long seconds, it felt as though I couldn’t breathe.
The noise of the catering tent faded into a dull roar in my ears as I stared at the image.
That was the man who had just texted me about spending Saturday together…
with his arm around a woman I’d warned him about.
The man I was supposed to marry in three months.
Setting my phone down on the table, I picked up my water with a trembling hand and took a small sip. Unfortunately, it didn’t help settle my stomach, which was now roiling.
When I checked the post again, the tag for my account was gone.
“That little bitch,” I muttered beneath my breath.
This wasn’t the kind of thing you could accidentally do. Kaylee would’ve needed to look up my username before tagging me. It was a deliberate choice that she’d then tried to erase so she’d have plausible deniability if Reid asked her about it.
I wasn’t insecure, and I hadn’t imagined any of it.
Kaylee was deliberately trying to cause drama, probably because her earlier moves hadn’t gotten her anywhere with my fiancé.
The hope I’d been clinging to only moments ago shattered into pieces, but I forced myself to take a deep breath. I couldn’t fall apart in the middle of the catering tent surrounded by crew members. So I locked my phone, set it face down on the table, and willed my hands to stop trembling.
I could only break on the inside for now.
I powered through the rest of my afternoon on set with mechanical precision, touching up looks, answering questions, and smiling when required.
No one around me had any idea that my world was crumbling.
I kept my voice steady, my hands steady, and my expression neutral even as my stomach twisted into knots.
The moment my last client left the chair, I pulled out my phone and checked whether the post was still up. I was actually relieved to see Kaylee hadn’t pulled it down. Now that I’d had a chance to think rather than react, I took screenshots of the photo, the caption, and some of the comments.
There were plenty of them to choose from since the damn thing had already gotten a hundred likes. But at least they were proof that I wasn’t overreacting.
Power duo
Work spouses for the win.
Cutest team ever.
Those comments showed that others saw something in that photo that shouldn’t have been there when Reid was supposed to marry me in less than three months.
Then I typed a short message to him.
Me
Are you home? I’m leaving the set now and wanted to swing by.
I couldn’t manage anything more than that right now. Not when I needed to remain calm enough for the drive.
His reply came through almost immediately.
Reid
Can’t wait to see you, baby. I’ll head home now.
The contrast between his excitement and my pain was excruciating.
He had no idea what was coming. Thought this was just another normal evening.
I drove to Hancock Park with both hands gripping the wheel and my jaw clenched so tightly it ached. Every mile brought a new wave of memories. All the reasons I wanted to fight for our relationship, as well as reminders of each time he’d brushed off my concern.
By the time I pulled up in front of his house, my eyes were burning. I sat in the car for a moment, rehearsing the words I needed to say. I couldn’t let him brush this off again like it was nothing.
But as I stared at the front door, the anger and heartbreak twisted together until I could barely tell them apart.
I took one last shaky breath, stepped out of the car, and walked toward the steps.
Reid opened the door before I reached it. “Hey, baby.”
He leaned in for a kiss as I walked inside, but I jerked my head to the side, avoiding his touch.
“Lila? What’s wrong?” he asked, his smile faltering.
I didn’t waste time with small talk. I pulled out my phone, opened the post, and thrust it toward him with a shaky hand.
I watched his expression change from puzzled to shocked as he looked at the screen. “Work hubby? What the hell?”
“That was my thought when I saw it, too.”
“I get that it doesn’t look good,” he conceded. “But it’s obviously a joke.
“A joke?” I scoffed, shaking my head on a stuttering breath. “She tagged me to make sure I saw this. Look at the photo, Reid. How close you are to her.”
He stared at the image before meeting my gaze again.
“I swear, this is not what it looks like. We were at lunch with Ryder and the whole team. She took a selfie with him first, then the legs of her chair got tangled with mine, and since I was already up, she asked if she could take a picture with me too, since I was the reason she’d been invited in the first place.
This was her first lunch with a movie star, and she was grateful. That’s all it was.”
I let out a bitter laugh that sounded more like a sob. “Calling herself your work wife is disrespectful to me, your actual fiancée.”
The confident grin he flashed me didn’t have its usual impact. “Kaylee doesn’t mean any harm by it. She gets overexcited sometimes.”
“You do, though,” I pointed out, crossing my arms over my chest. “But you’re allowing her to cross boundaries without any repercussions.”
“You’re blowing this out of proportion.”
I took an actual step back at his reply. “How am I blowing this out of proportion when people are saying crap about how you two are a power duo and the cutest team ever?”
“Fucking hell.” He ran a hand through his hair. “She should’ve thought before she posted that, but you know how everyone jokes around at the office.”
“Everyone?” Tears burned behind my eyes. “Does that mean you have another work wife at the office I should be worried about?”
He shook his head. “What? No!”
“Then why do you keep letting this one get away with stuff like this?”
“I’m not defending her. I’m telling you the truth.” Reid’s frustration was starting to show. “Lila, come on. You know I love you. You’re the woman I’m marrying. The only one I want.”
The words sounded good, but they weren’t enough. I shook my head, my chest heaving with the effort it took me to not completely fall apart.
He didn’t get it. We had just talked about her crossing boundaries last week. I had told him I was hurting, but he hadn’t truly heard me.
Now he let this happen instead of protecting what we have.
“If I posted a picture with another man and called him my work husband, would you be okay with it?”
His mouth opened, then closed. And that was enough for me to know he’d been about to deny it would’ve bothered him even though it obviously would.
I felt something inside me finally break, and I couldn’t breathe through the pain anymore. “I can’t do this.”
Reid’s face went completely white, his eyes widening with shock. “Lila, wait. What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I’m done.” Tears poured down my face as I reached for my left hand. My fingers shook violently as I worked the engagement ring off. I looked at it one last time, then shoved it toward him. “Take this. I can’t wear it anymore.”
Reid stared at the ring in his palm like he didn’t understand what it was. “Baby, please. Don’t do this. We can work through it. I love you.”
“Then why do I feel like I’m fighting another woman for basic respect in my own relationship?” I backed away from him, my chest heaving with sobs. “I shouldn’t have to compete for space in my own relationship.”
I turned and ran for the door, ignoring his desperate calls behind me.
The second I got outside, the tears came harder.
I got into my car and drove away from his house as fast as I could.
But I only made it a mile before I had to pull over.
My vision was completely blurred. I parked on a quiet side street, turned off the engine, and let the full weight of what had just happened crash over me.
I pressed my forehead against the steering wheel and cried. When I finally lifted my hand to brush the tears from my face, my ring finger felt unbearably light. The future I had planned with Reid was gone.
And I had no idea how I was supposed to put myself back together.