Chapter 236 - The Ghost Ready To Haunt Devonte's Dreams
"I see. Thank you for letting me know." Natalie stood to head for the kitchen to organize her groceries.
"Thank you? Is that all you have to say?" Devonte followed her to ask. She stopped halfway towards the fridge.
"What do you want me to tell you, Devonte? That I'm so grateful you saved my life that I'm about to dedicate myself to you? Hell no, I am grateful but that's it."
She took out the fresh produce from the plastic bags and washed as she organized everything in its designated container, all while wondering why Devonte was still in her kitchen.
"Actually, there is a reason why I left. I had no choice." He started. She didn't speak but he continued, "And it's the most regretful thing I have ever done in my life."
Natalie did a dramatic turn with a smile of ridicule. "What happened to the fans you treasure so much? Did they desert you?"
"No."
The mention of fans made her eyes sting. He had once told her that no matter how many fans he had, she was the fan he cared the most about and the only one he loved. Such a cheesy line, to think she had fallen for it.
"Look. You are looking at your greatest antifan. I would get lost if I were you. Don't tempt me to take a video that will 'entertain' your fans so much that they will unfollow you." She threatened.
He looked unfazed by her threat and continued standing before her, waiting for a chance to explain his part of the story. She turned around to continue washing her apples.
"To be fair, Devonte, you are not the victim here. I loved you. I gave you all my heart."
"So did I! I Love you. I still love you and my heart still belongs to you." He grabbed her hand and turned her around, looming over her with his six foot height.
"No, it doesn't. I don't want it." She said in all confidence. "When my parents forced me to go on blind dates and get engaged because of their own selfish reasons, I did not ditch you. I explained the situation to you and assured you that I would break away from their chains. I worked hard to do just that. It was the most difficult period in my life and I shared it with you. I let you be part of my life at my lowest. Even when everything was crumbling down.
Yet you…" She angrily wiped away the tears that were about to fall from her eyes. "I actually don't care what happened. All I know is that when things got hard, you chose to leave me. Devonte, I'm not a woman who tries to solve problems by running away from the people who would want to help me. And I don't think I deserve a man who does."
"Nat," He reached to wipe her tears.
She slapped his hand away. "Leave."
She was in his arms in a tight hug before she could process it and when she tried to fight him off, he didn't budge.
"Don't insult what we had for an entire decade and some by sexually harassing me." Her voice was firm.
He let go of her, his face full of shock. "I've heard more hurtful words from you but sexual harassment? Is that what you think this is?"
"That's how you classify initiating physical contact with someone who clearly doesn't want it. If you don't leave now, I'll get a lawyer and actually sue you for that."
He didn't want to make a bet with her. She was treating him with the same coldness she treated people she was not close to. He couldn't say that he didn't deserve it.
The sound of the door shutting was like the last straw that was holding back her tears. She crouched on the floor, wiping bouts of tears away. That was the man she had loved for literally forever and now he was gone. It was real this time. There was no turning back.
Putting away her already soaked handkerchief, she blinked away the rest of her tears. It was for the best. A man who did not recognize the worth of a decade-long relationship would never treasure a life-long relationship.
…
At the lobby.
Devonte was on his way to the parking lot when someone blocked his path. This was the man who had accompanied Natalie earlier, who she had called Zeus. The only laughable part was how mismatched they looked.
"Do you need something, kiddo?" He huffed. He was already in a bad mood after what had just happened.
"Who are you calling kiddo? Be careful who you upset in Imperium. It might just be the ghost waiting to haunt your dreams." Zeus leaned against the wall. "You are Jupiter, aren't you?"
"It's none of your business who I am." Retorted the man.
"Of course it is. I want to know what's so good about you that Natalie is so hung up. That, and I also want to teach you a lesson."
"Go ahead." Devonte walked past him to head for his car.
"In five fucking hours, Sartun, you will know who not to mess with."
Zeus wiggled his fingers at his opponent's windscreen. "The clock is ticking, Uranus. Tick-tock."
"Ticking away the time left for you to live." Devonte started the car and got away from the young man's insanity.
Zeus seemed to recall a detail that made him scrunch up his face. Wasn't Jupiter the actor that Zaria liked so much? There was definitely something wrong with her eyes. Scratch that. There was something wrong with women's eyes. How could they like a scumbag like that? It infuriated him even more when he recalled that the said scumbag had an advertisement contract with Twilight.
"Don't tell me all the women that matter have fallen for that idiot." He cursed. Well, not anymore. Because the clock was ticking. Tick-tock.
…
"Zeus, please tell me you are not behind this." Zaria slapped the latest issue of Moon Media's entertainment magazine on Zeus' desk the next morning.
"Behind what? I don't understand what you are accusing me of." Zeus sipped his coffee while enjoying the turn of events.
Zaria was furious. "Last night, a certain hacker took it upon themselves to cause the screens to malfunction in all the cinemas that were screening "Galaxy." And it's all because the main lead of "Galaxy" is Jupiter. Do you happen to know who the said hacker might be?" She asked pointedly.
"I have no idea what you are talking about." He feigned innocence.
Zaria wasn't buying it. "A little birdie told me that you were hanging around Natalie yesterday and you met head on with Jupiter. Is this also a lie?"
Zeus knew that there was no point denying it since Zaria would investigate and know everything anyway.
He shot up from his seat and clung to her to complain. "Sis, he was really annoying. All I wanted was to teach him a lesson for trying to steal my Natalie away."
Zaria was taken aback. Steal his Natalie away?
"Don't be ridiculous. Natalie is not anyone's property. And if my memory serves me right, no one would like you if you hurt the people they love."
"The people they love…" Zeus repeated the words and each of them sliced through his heart.
Zaria didn't say anything else because she was speechless. How did Zeus even do it?
Hundreds of thousands of fans had booked tickets for the movie all around the country. However, thanks to Zeus' meddling, all the screens had glitched for a solid hour. Fans were furious and most of them demanded to have their money returned.
The most baffling fact was that the fans were not just raging at the movie production team. Most of them had aimed their insults at Devonte. She knew that someone was definitely leading them to yell and curse at the actor and it had to be Zeus. She couldn't put it past him to hack and turn their comments into insults against their star. He was quite…
"Take them down." She ordered.
"I don't want to." Zeus complained. All he did was teach his rival a lesson. What was wrong with that?
Zaria crossed her arms, looking him down in anger. "You have to. Have you forgotten what kind of trouble we are dealing with right now? Are you trying to give the Sus someone else they can she against us?"
"You think they will use Devonte?" He laughed. That useless actor was only good on the screen and nowhere else. Right. He wouldn't even be good on the screen anymore once he was done with him.
She shot him a look. "You can never overlook anything. Now take down those comments and don't do that kind of thing anymore. Take your rivalry with Devonte in hell. I don't care how you do it but do not involve Preston and Fort Group or our family in this."
The thought that Nathaniel could let the producers know who had done this made her shiver. If they knew that their movie had been jeopardized so badly by one person, they would want to retaliate. They already had enough enemies to deal with. Who would have thought that Zeus was so unreasonable?
____
AN
Did Devonte deserve it?
A No one deserves to have their career potentially ruined
B. He deserved it and more
C. Zeus went too far.
Also, I just realized the discord link is not working anymore. It redirects you to webnovel profile.. Don't use the tinyurl link, I'll post the link that works in my webnovel profile.
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