Page 9 of The Grumpy Actor

How did I ever think Liam was the perfect gentleman for me? I can’t believe I fell so hard for him. I was such a fool.

Liam’s heated gaze on me makes my anger flare as he steps closer. “If it isn’t revenge, then could this be your attempt at getting back together?”

“Are you thick in the head or something? I have no other reason to work here except for work! To me, you’re no less than any other celebrity. The last thing I want to do is spend even a single moment in your presence,” I snap.

“It isn’t so hard to imagine you’d want to get back together, Sophie, because you were pretty smitten with me seven years ago. There could still be residual feelings.”

I laugh out loud in his face, unable to believe how outrageous he is.

“My feelings for you died the moment you coldly dumped me after you got your shot at fame!”

“What did you think was going to happen?” he firmly retorts. “Did you think we’d keep on dating? It’s only natural we broke up. We were never going to last long to begin with, and you knew that.”

I didn’t know that.

Back then, I actually believed he was the one and thought things would always work out for us. If I’d known he only considered me a fling he could drop as soon as he was famous, I’d have at least guarded my heart and prepared for the breakup.

Yet, he let me fall madly for him like a fool, only to dump me like I never mattered to him.

I guess that’s because he never truly cared about me. How did I not see through his pretense?

Liam lets out a heavy breath that draws my attention back to his tight face.

“Listen, I don’t care if you want to work for me or not. I can’t exactly tell Julian to fire you without a plausible reason. So I’m only going to tell you this once.” He takes an intimidating step closer to me. I fight the urge to take a step back. I can’t let him see that he has an effect on me. “No one can ever know that we used to date. No one, not even your friends, your family,no one.”

The little shard of hope my heart had been clinging to finally shattered.

I wasn’t expecting anything grand from him, but a part of me thought he’d at least be remorseful for what he did and apologize. And I thought I’d be able to move on cleanly and finally close this chapter of my life.

That’s not the case, though. Liam wants me to be his dirty little secret forever.

I force the lump down in my throat. “Believe me, the last thing I want is for anyone to find out we used to date.”

Liam studies me for a while, then nods. “It’s good to know we’re on the same page about this.”

How did I never notice he was this cold and calculating? Why didn’t I see it back then?

Liam picks up his phone and dials a number, then places it to his ear. “We’re done, Julian. You can come in.”

My tense shoulders finally relax. I look away from Liam, trying to calm my misbehaving heart.

Julian enters the suite about five minutes later. He glances at me and then at Liam before letting out a sigh of relief.

“Whatever he said, trust me, he’s not as bad as his first impression,” Julian says.

“I know that.”

My first impression of him was that he was a perfect being, but now I know better.

Julian smiles and turns to Liam. “So, do you like her?”

“I couldn’t care less.” Liam shrugs, breezing past me. “Fill her in on her duties, Julian. I don’t want to have to teach my personal assistant how to assist me.”

“You’ve got it!” Julian chuckles as Liam waltzes out of the sitting room. “I can assure you he’s not as bad as he seems.”

Relief washes over me in his absence. My heart had been so uneasy around him. It was foolish of me to think I was over him or the pain he caused me.

I’m clearly not over it; it still hurts like crazy.

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