Chapter 5: Scandal, Sabotage, and Past Lives

I swallowed, suddenly tongue-tied. He looked like the kind of trouble you run toward, not away from.

Thump thump thump...

My heart was pounding out of control. I took a step back, putting some space between us. If I kept looking, I was afraid I’d do something I couldn’t take back.

“You look like a devil tempting people to commit crimes.”

I blurted it out, meaning every word.

“Did I tempt you?”

I nodded so hard I nearly gave myself whiplash. Carter grinned, totally satisfied.

Our little exchange was caught on camera, but since we were too far away and not mic’d, the viewers were dying to know what we’d said.

“Urgent! Need a lip-reading expert—spill what they said in three minutes!”

Talented viewers posted a wild translation:

“$5,000 a night, Carter, what do you think?”

“Do you have that much money?”

*Nod hard.*

It was completely made up, but hilarious.

The comments kept rolling:

“God, $5,000 a night, do you have that much money? You want to make me laugh to death and inherit my credit cards?”

“We wanted an accurate translation, not fanfic!”

“Your reading comprehension is all vibes, no reading!”

“Exactly, our CJ is so cool—he’s not a man you can just buy!”

Then the comments started listing Carter’s net worth. Old fans even dropped the story about the rich woman who offered a million for a night, but her company got shut down for fraud that same day. Carter’s basically untouchable. Regular folks can’t even dream.

After intros, “Let’s Fall in Love” officially started filming. Besides me and Carter, the show brought in a TikTok-famous couple and a secret-married pair. As soon as the cameras rolled, the TikTok couple started showing off—except for bathroom breaks, they were glued together like conjoined twins. The girl, Bella Cruz, just went downstairs to get a package, and Liam Walker started pacing the hall, asking everyone:

“Have you seen Bella?”

Didn’t even wait for answers, just did his own Q&A.

“Bella is such a sweet, innocent girl. If she gets lost or kidnapped, what would we do? She’s so cute, kind, and gentle. What if something happens to her?”

Everyone in the living room exchanged looks. I really don’t get why people love this couple. Is it the drama? The over-the-top personalities?

Tessa Monroe, next to me, finally snapped:

“If you’re worried, go look for her. Why are you pacing in front of the camera? Drama king—seriously, even reality TV wouldn’t buy this.”

Ouch. Savage.

Liam’s face turned green and he started snapping at Ryan Moore on the sofa:

“Your wife talks like that and you don’t control her?”

Ryan just shrugged.

“You make it sound like I could control her. She says what she wants, as long as she’s not cursing me out.”

It was like listening to a TED talk on marriage. No wonder he and Tessa are married—those two are a matched set.

Liam, roasted by both, looked miserable, but with an Emmy winner and a business mogul in the room, he couldn’t win. With nowhere else to vent, he pointed at me:

“What are you laughing at? No manners at all?”

Viewers love the contrast between Liam and Bella’s fake drama and the rest of us roasting each other. Now, seeing Liam vent on me after getting roasted, the comments started rolling in:

“Really, Tessa and Ryan don’t play along, so you take it out on Marissa. Classic bully move.”

“Even CJ hasn’t said a harsh word to Marissa—who are you?”

“You look like a joke when you’re angry.”

Of course, some people blamed me too:

“Please, Marissa, stand on your own. Don’t always bring Carter into it. Just because he’s nice to you doesn’t mean everyone should be.”

“Strongly agree—you’re not a princess. Why should everyone side with you?”

Their words had barely landed when I flashed my big teeth and laughed hard:

“I laugh because I love to laugh. Not just today, but at your funeral, at your grave, at your tombstone, I’ll also show my big white teeth and be the coolest kid in the crowd.”

Liam was furious: “How can a young woman talk so rudely?”

“Open your mouth, no manners. Close your mouth, no class. Bro, who are you? Even my dad doesn’t lecture me this much. People your age love to lecture—careful, or you’ll end up joining my dad six feet under.”

Liam clutched his chest and collapsed on the sofa. Tessa jumped up.

“Don’t fake a heart attack!”

Ryan came over, checked his breathing, and gave an “OK” sign.

“Relax, he’s still warm.”

The chat was losing it:

“Help! I thought Marissa was a pushover, but she’s savage when roasting people.”

“If you saw her making CJ open coconuts, you wouldn’t think that.”

“Exactly, what kind of pushover likes watching coconut unboxing!”

Of course, some viewers pitied Liam:

“Liam just wanted to ask where Bella was, and Marissa roasted him. Isn’t that too much?”

“How can a young woman be so unforgiving? She’ll never get married.”

“If I were Liam, I’d suffocate on the spot. Getting roasted by so many top stars is workplace bullying—seriously, heart attack level.”

But then the rebuttals came flying in:

“Your writing is so manipulative. So when Liam bullies Marissa with his popularity, where were you? Playing both sides, huh.”

“LOL, unforgiving. You know Marissa is right, yet you still want to grovel.”

“Whoever acts cheap is right, whoever is pitiful is right? Workplace bullying? Should I execute my idiot boss who gaslights me daily?”

While the chat argued, Bella came back with her package. She walked in and saw Liam collapsed on the sofa.

“Liam, what’s wrong? Who bullied you?”

Bella protected Liam like a mother hen. All I can say is, fooling viewers is one thing, but don’t fool yourself. Big strong guy—who’s bullying him?

Bella was about to do a dramatic scene for the camera when there was a noise outside. Carter came back. Not only did Carter return, he also brought two big bags of snacks.

Seeing this, Bella ditched Liam’s groaning, fixed her hair in the mirror, and made a beeline for Carter, pointing at his snack bag.

“CJ, you have good taste—this chocolate is especially delicious.”

She blinked as she spoke, her meaning obvious.

“Wow, birds of a feather flock together!”

“Just now it was Liam, now it’s CJ? Girl, you change faces faster than TikTok trends!”

“Anyone who’s seen their videos knows this is their basic routine.”

They usually film Bella flirting with other guys, Liam getting jealous, and then act out a cheesy CEO drama: “Did you know you were wrong, you little vixen?” It gets them tons of views, and now they’re doing it again.

But Carter wasn’t playing. He didn’t even look at her and said:

“Don’t call me CJ, I’m not your brother. The reason I have good taste in chocolate is because Marissa likes it.”

“So mean—CJ is so mean to me!”

Bella is even thicker-skinned than Liam and didn’t get mad at Carter’s words. Carter glanced at her and said nothing more, but his strong aura made Bella slink back to Liam.

Bella’s repeated “CJ” really stuck in my head. Before dinner, I couldn’t help but imitate her in front of Tessa.