Page 72 of Make The Cut

Chapter Thirty-Four: Naoya Sugawa

The drive to Rose McCartney’s palatial mansion in the Hills is short.

Not because L.A. traffic is particularly good, or because I live a stone’s throw from her. More like, I’m so furious with her that my anger blinds me to everything but my goal, which is to eviscerate my ex-girlfriend.

It’s not that I still care about her, but more that I would do the same for anyone who hurt Poppy or tried to get between us.

After we finished shooting the show’s last episode, I decided to confront her.

When I clamber out of the car and march up the front door, ringing the doorbell, her housekeeper lets me in. “Mr. Sugawa! I wasn’t expecting you—”

“I need to see Rose,” I say, cutting her off as I march into the house, not even bothering to remove my shoes as I run across the black and white marble floors.

“She’s in the sun room, sir, but she has company right now,” the housekeeper calls as she tries in vain to walk faster and catch up to me. “I don’t think you should—”

Too late. I pull open the French doors of the sun room and walk into the heated glass structure.

“Why did you think I wouldn’t find out about what you’ve done, Rose?”

Oh. The housekeeper was right. Shedoeshave company.

In the form of TJ, who’s sitting across from her, drinking whisky at two in the afternoon, looking disgusted by my presence.

I don’t let that deter me. “I can’t believe you told Poppy to break up with me so she could get a job at your company.”

Rose rises, her cheeks flushed with anger. “Naoya! What are you doing here?”

“I don’t know, what were you two doing here? Laughing at my demise?” My hands shake by my sides as I see TJ just sitting there, his disgust transformed into a cruel smirk as he watches us.

“Take a seat, Naoya.” He gestures toward the wicker chair across from him and Rose. A cozy little setting, making me wonder if—

“You were with him,” I say.

“What?” Rose and TJ say at the same time.

“You’ve been working with him the whole time. The two of you conspired to manipulate me—”

“Naoya, you sound insane,” Rose says, having calmed down somewhat as she takes her seat next to TJ and picks up her glass of white wine. “There’s no secret backdoor deal happening here. You’ve been watching too muchDynasty.”

“Except there is. You deliberately quit the show to sabotage me because you’ve been working with TJ the whole time. You and TJ have been going behind my back, and you—”

“You’re being crazy,” TJ says flatly. “Sit down.”

“You don’t live here,” I say. “So tell me, why are the two of you drinking buddies all of a sudden? Why are you drinking in my ex-girlfriend’s house, after telling me that the only way the show would succeed was if she and I were both on it, and trying to get me to dance to your tunes, TJ?”

TJ stares me down. “I wanted to make the show a success. Poppy—the girl—was getting in the way of that. She was distracting you from your work, and she and one of the contestants were collaborating. You wouldn’t get rid of her, so I had to do it for you. Except Rose made it backfire, by giving her an ultimatum.”

“You had norightto try and get rid of Poppy,” I say, trying my best to keep breathing. “She isn’t your employee.”

“No, but she wasmine,” Rose interrupts. “And I had every right to offer her a job. She just didn’t want to take it, out of some blind loyalty to you. Pathetic.”

“Why do you hate me so much, Rose? What did I ever do to you?”

She stands from her seat. “You changed for her.”

“What?” My head swims. What on earth is she talking about?

“You used to be a typical player. When we were together, you’d go partying all the time and you were in and out of rehab. So, I broke up with you. But all of a sudden, she came into your life, and you stopped all of that. You stopped caring about getting into the best parties or buying the fanciest liquor or doing whatever you wanted all the time. You acted like, well, agoodguy.

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