Chapter 1

Today at the mall I finally reached the front of the line to buy an iced coffee.

A man slid in smoothly, right past me on my side.

"One jasmine iced tea."

He had on a black cap and a face mask.

I told him to go to the back of the line, and he just ignored me.

So I stepped in front of him. "Give me a jasmine green tea latte."

The man turned and stared at me hard.

"My time is valuable. Can't you just let me go first?"

"Nobody else has a problem with it. Why do you have to make such a fuss?"

I looked back at the people behind me. "He cut the line. Does anyone have a problem with that?"

Nobody made a sound.

It actually made me laugh.

Still, I took half a step back and gave up the spot. "Fine. Go ahead."

The man cut in front, satisfied, and rolled his eyes at me. "Total waste of my time."

Then he turned back to the server. "Hurry it up..."

That was when I slipped forward and cut in front of him.

"One jasmine green tea latte!"

The man was furious and flustered. "What do you think you're doing?"

I gave him a scornful look.

"Cutting the line. My time's even more valuable. That a problem?"

……

He was shaking with rage.

Then he suddenly yanked off his mask.

"I'm Jeffrey Dickerson, an A-list superstar with Skyworks Media!"

"You know Skyworks Media, right? The top media company in the business!"

"Here's the deal. Buy me an iced coffee to apologize, and I'll forgive you."

I was a little taken aback.

Skyworks Media, wasn't that the company my mom owned?

But I'd never heard of any A-list star named Jeffrey Dickerson.

From the way he was dressed, I figured he was just some new signing.

So I shook my head.

"Never heard of you."

"You..." Jeffrey was trembling with anger.

"You just wait. This isn't over."

With that, he pulled out his phone, snapped a few shots of me, then turned and walked off.

Please.

He wasn't even a real star yet and already putting on this much of an act.

I needed to tell my mom. This one wasn't worth keeping.

After I got my iced coffee, I browsed a while longer, then got ready to leave.

I'd barely stepped out of the mall when Jeffrey popped up out of nowhere and blocked my way.

He looked me over with a smug little smile.

"You're not bad-looking. I'll give you a good option."

"Be my mistress, and I'll get you into Skyworks Media as a star."

"Get lost!" The anger surged up all at once, and I glared at him.

Having someone like this on the roster was an insult to Skyworks Media.

Jeffrey's face went cold, and he stared at me.

"Don't be stupid about this. You already crossed me earlier, and I never let a grudge go!"

"Being my mistress is the right choice. Otherwise..."

He reached out to grab me.

"I said get lost!" I said it hard, with more weight behind it.

Jeffrey snatched his hand back like he'd been shocked, and nodded.

"Fine. You wait. There'll come a day when you're crying and begging me!"

Then he slunk off, sulking.

The moment I got home, I called my mom.

She didn't pick up.

She was abroad on business, probably busy.

By evening, though, I got a message from a friend.

"Angela, you're famous now!"

There was a link attached.

I opened it. It was a post Jeffrey had put up on a platform.

He'd attached two photos of me.

Underneath he'd written: Waited forever in line for an iced coffee this afternoon, and then this woman forced her way in front of me, absolutely vicious attitude, so upset...

The post already had thousands of likes and shares, plus countless comments.

"So awful, cutting in front of our Jeff!"

"How dare she bully our Jeff. Dox her and end her socially!"

I was still reading when a fresh comment popped up, and my stomach tightened.

"I found her. Her name is Angela Salazar, she's a fashion designer..."