The Billionaire’s Regretful Obsession – Victoria Hale

Chapter 270 The One Going Viral Julia had been counting on this wave of attention. Her movie was hitting major theaters these two days, and she imagined people would watch and feel for her. But even with Wendy shipped off to Zalari, sure, people were watching-but the commentary wasn't exactly pro-Julia. If anything, Wendy's name was trending harder than Julia's. Every other comment was some variation of: "Bet our girl Wendy's already grazing on the Zalari savannah right now." "Julia is the most beautiful actress I've ever seen"-that got buried in seconds. A new meme was born.

"Your second female lead? Cute. Ours is in Zalari. Permanently." Brutal. Absolutely brutal. Box office numbers were solid-impressive for a newcomer, actually. But Julia wasn't happy. She wasn't the one going viral. And she still had to smile through industry events, accept compliments that felt hollow, wondering if everyone was secretly laughing at her. But the game demanded appearances. Until one night, at some industry thing, she spotted Lucas. Her heart lifted. If he'd wanted to avoid her, they'd never cross paths, same industry or not. Lucas could make himself invisible if he chose.

These days, because of the movie, she'd been run ragged and humiliated. In the rawest, most miserable stretch of her heart, she saw Lucas. Didn't that say it all? Either he wasn't as hostile as she'd imagined from the start, or he felt for a young woman struggling, so he showed up. So she smoothed her dress and approached. "Mr. Harrison-" 1/3 She didn't get to finish. Another woman appeared. That wasn't the problem. The problem was... Lucas' eyes slid right past Julia like she wasn't there and didn't even acknowledge her half- finished sentence.

She didn't want to believe it, but the truth was obvious-someone more important had arrived. So he had zero interest in hearing Julia out. Julia followed his gaze. Her eyes narrowed with anger. Of course it was Sherry, that bitch. She really had to show up wherever Julia went, afraid Julia would get near Lucas. Sherry saw her. Still beautiful, sure. But nowhere near that first, stunning impression anymore-maybe because she knew just how dark Julia's heart was. "If it isn't the one whose sister is on safari." Rare for Sherry to talk to her first. But the words made Julia want to strangle her.

"That's not really appropriate, is it? You know how humiliating this whole thing has been for me." Julia's gift-saying what you'd rather hide, making you squirm, turning it back on you. It worked on most people. "Humiliating? Seems like you're doing fine. Your sister's in Zalari. Problem solved." Julia's perfect fingers curled into fists, then relaxed. "If that's how you want to see it, fine. Must be nice, coming from a happy family. You wouldn't understand. "The love. The hate. Not knowing what to do with either." Was she really doing this right now? Lucas wasn't indulging her.

He straight-up ignored Julia's long-winded defense. "I booked a restaurant over there. Let's go." 2/3 He took Sherry's arm and walked away. Meaning... They weren't here on business. Sherry just needed a bathroom. Couldn't she have gone before they left? The restaurant was ten minutes away. And Lucas didn't care? Julia's fists clenched, then released. Fine. Lucas didn't care. But others would. She'd give him one more chance, though. She knew the restaurant they were heading to. She'd been working around here lately and went there often. Why that spot?

Because they had a top-tier tasting menu, only one a day. She'd been around for ages and never managed to snag it. Even the one time she did, she failed the quiz-so she didn't get to taste it. 3/3 admin