Too Vigilant Wont Take the Bait
The moment Avery brought up investors, whatever Willa Patton was about to say died on her lips.
Willa's smile went stiff. "Oh, really?" she said, the warmth gone from her voice. "That's a shame."
"I have to get back to work, Willa," Avery said, already turning away. "I'll definitely try to make it next time." Without waiting for a reply, she gave a polite nod and made a beeline for a group of veteran actors, her bodyguard trailing her like a shadow.
Her character, Isolde, had a lot of intense scenes with the male lead and Leo Foster, not to mention the Emperor, played by the legendary Mr. Vance, and the Minister of Personnel, played by Mr. Quincy. It was the perfect chance to run lines with them.
From a few feet away, Willa watched Avery chatting and laughing with the senior actors, and her expression soured. She slammed her script down on the small round table between them. "She's too careful," she hissed at Raphael Valenti, her voice low. "She didn't take the bait."
Raphael glanced up, his eyes lingering on Avery for a fraction of a second before returning to his script. "Stellar Media already made its move," he said, his tone flat. "Roman Duke is finished, and Nolan Burke is getting dragged for it. Why are we still focused on her?"
Willa wasn't ready to let it go. Her gaze, fixed on Avery, was ice-cold. "She's gaining too much momentum. If we don't knock her down a peg before she gets established, it'll be impossible to touch her once *Bones of Mountains and Rivers* airs."
"You're being impatient," Raphael said without looking up. "If she really gets that big, plenty of people will want to take her down. We have all the time in the world. No need to rush."
His eyes stayed on his script, and with that, the conversation died. They both fell silent, pretending to read.
About thirty seconds later, Wyatt Riggs emerged from under a large banyan tree where he'd been waiting. He started toward Avery, carrying a small paper bag. After a respectful nod to the older actors, he caught her eye and gave a small wave.
Avery put down her script, offered an apologetic smile to the group, and walked over to a quiet corner with Wyatt.
"I was too far to hear what they were saying," he said, "but just from the looks on their faces, I'd bet Raphael knows what that birthday party is really about."
"They're that close," Avery said calmly. "Of course he knows."
After more than a week on set, she and Raphael had barely spoken a word to each other outside of their scenes.
He was the quiet, aloof type, or at least that's the part he played.
But even with his natural distance, Avery had never once let her guard down around him.
When Sienna Blackwood's scandal broke and dragged down a dozen other artists, Raphael had cleared his name with a clean drug test.
But Avery had seen Sienna visiting him that same day.
A user like Sienna wouldn't have been paying a social call; there was something dirty going on between them.
Wyatt's gaze shifted to where Raphael and Willa sat. "Should I follow them tonight? See what's going on?"
Avery shook her head. "Those industry parties are tight. You're with me all the time, so your face is too familiar. You'd never get into The Onyx Hall. Let Zane go. He's new, he might be able to slip in. Besides," she added,
"Leo Foster just got back to New York City and invited me to The Empyrean Club tonight."
Even though she'd sidestepped Willa's trap, it didn't really matter whether she showed up to the party or not. If it was just a simple get-together, fine. But if it wasn't, she wasn't about to play nice.
She'd just send them to join Felicia Moss, Roman Duke, and Sienna Blackwood.
It had been a week since she'd passed the name of the mastermind behind the online attacks to Diana Marks.
Dexter Reed had done an amazing job, plastering Felicia and Roman's scandals all over X.
Neither of them could have imagined that one failed attempt to sabotage Avery, one that hadn't even scratched her, would be enough to completely incinerate their careers.
Felicia Moss was outed for seducing the lead actor on her last project and being his mistress.
As for Roman Duke, the dirt was even worse: plastic surgery, diva behavior, drinking with clients, sleeping with them, he was guilty of nearly every cliche scandal in the book.
The leaks were a brutal showcase of how little love Dexter Reed had for artists who betrayed him.
Stellar Media had files on four of the other artists who had jumped ship, excluding Sienna and another whose careers were already dead in the water.
Dexter had almost lost his life a year ago; did anyone really think he couldn't handle a few ungrateful actors?
He had just been waiting for the perfect moment, holding on to the information to maximize the damage.
Avery had forced his hand.
All the buzz around her had inadvertently put Stellar Media back in the public eye.
Though the company's reputation was still shaky, the spectacular downfall of Sienna Blackwood and Roman Duke had put three companies, Stellar Media, Po Xiao, and Shiguang Entertainment, under a microscope.
Compared to their arrogance when they left a year ago, their current pariah status made Stellar Media look like they'd won the war without firing a shot.
When Dexter took them down, he used the opportunity to crush Po Xiao, too.
A week after Sienna's arrest, Po Xiao's stock still hadn't stabilized.
Now it wasn't just them. Even Shiguang Entertainment was getting dragged into the mess, with investors for several of their key projects suddenly re-evaluating the risk.
Nolan Burke of Shiguang had probably thought he was just helping Roman Duke take a shot at a rookie from a rival company. He never expected it to blow back so hard, hitting Shiguang right where it hurt.
No one else had seen the chain reaction coming. But Avery had seen Dexter Reed's strategy clearly. He wasn't interested in a petty industry win. He wanted to destroy his rivals' access to investors, to shatter their credibility from the inside out.
"Alright, I'll tell Zane Bishop," Wyatt said, nodding before heading off to find him.
Avery stood there for a moment, letting a cool breeze wash over her as she stared into the distance.
She pushed the trouble with Willa to the back of her mind and turned to rejoin the veteran actors.
She only had so much energy, and she couldn't afford to waste it on distractions.
She could leave the industry backstabbing for the company to handle.
The Sterling family had been silent for a week, ever since their attempt to blacklist her had failed. She didn't know if they were too busy dealing with whatever Caleb Sterling was up to, or if they just hadn't had time to come after her again.
But the silence was what made her uneasy. Because somewhere in the mix with the Sterlings was the ruthless Ronan Bowen.
He was the person Avery feared most.
The Sterlings had already tried to blacklist her once. They would never let her succeed in this industry. Wyatt had to be with her every step of the way. Only with him by her side did she feel even a flicker of safety.