Chapter 13%
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The door clicked shut.
Grayden sat alone in a chair like he’d fallen into a bottomless night.”
His manager came in, looking completely drained like she wanted to say something. But when she saw him like that, she hesitated for two seconds, sighed instead, and turned to leave.
Then he suddenly lifted his head, his voice low and rough but steady.
“Can you clear it up online?}
“The whole couple storyline with the actress… let’s drop it.
“The movie promo’s basically over now, right?“}
The whole proposal thing with his co–star–it was just part of the contract.”
They were supposed to “break up” peacefully six months after “dating.”}
His manager froze.}
“But you just proposed! If we clarify now, they’ll tear you apart!“}
Grayden didn’t answer. He slowly shut the tablet.}
“I’ll pay the penalty myself. The company won’t take the hit.“}
Belva looked at him for a long moment. In the end, she nodded.
“Alright. I understand.“}
She quietly pulled the door shut behind her. She left him there in the deep shadows of backstage, clutching the tablet like he was holding the wreckage of his entire youth.>
After the press conference, it was like Grayden disappeared from the world.
He dropped all his projects, didn’t post a single update on Instagram, and didn’t respond to the press.
His manager got the worst of it–dragged non–stop online, sponsors backed out, and the film’s PR team was in full panic mode.
But Grayden didn’t care.
He didn’t even turn his phone back on.”
He just stayed in his empty apartment, drinking day after day.”
No one really knew how he was doing.”
He didn’t even know when he last ate, or how many times he drank until he felt sick.}]
All he did was hold onto that tablet and watch the last vlog.
Over and over again.”
Sometimes he cried so hard he couldn’t breathe.
Sometimes he’d laugh bitterly, his eyes red.
“Why did you die, Shirl… Why did you really leave?“}
He kept the lights off and the curtains closed. The whole apartment felt like a sealed tomb.§
His parents only came because Belva called them.
That morning, his mom rushed straight in from the airport. Grayden’s apartment reeked of alcohol and unwashed clothes.
Sweeney kicked open the bathroom door and saw her son slumped on the floor–hair a mess, face covered in stubble, and clutching an empty bottle. He looked like he was falling apart, and his eyes were dull.”
She went red–eyed instantly. But her hand still flew up and slapped him hard.§
“Grayden, look at yourself!”
“Is this what Shirl would’ve wanted to see?!
“You’re an actor. You have fans–people who believe in you! And you’re just gonna give up? Is this how you honor her? Is this how you face them?
“If you really died, Shirl wouldn’t forgive you either! What is this? Love? Filial piety? No–it’s just running away!“}
Her voice cracked as she spoke, shaking with emotion, but she refused to let the tears fall.
“She’s… gone… and you’re still here. You can’t waste that.”
Grayden’s fingers trembled. The bottle slipped from his hand and shattered on the bathroom floor.
He dropped to his knees in the broken glass, his shoulders shaking a little bit.
“Mom…” he sobbed like a child, “Shirl’s gone…“>
“She had ALS, did you know? Her whole body stopped working. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Even breathing hurt. She went through all that… She was all alone…
“And me? What was I doing? I was dating someone on a show, promoting a film, fake–proposing for publicity… If I’d just looked back once. If I’d just sent one damn message to check in on her… I…”
