Her smile was faltering, and she quickly grabbed her purse, clearly wanting to leave before she lost her composure. But just then, a young woman in a white hoodie, jeans, and a high ponytail entered the room carrying a glass of juice.
“Natalie, thank you for coming over to congratulate me. I wanted to return the gesture.”
The girl was a newly popular starlet with a lot of buzz. Penelope recognized her from the tabloid photos with Hamilton. If she recognized her, Norton definitely did.
He shot to his feet, blocking the girl’s path to Natalie. “What are you doing here?”
The girl, whose name was Cheryl Sullivan, ignored Norton and looked past him at Natalie. “I’m pregnant, so I can’t drink alcohol. I hope you don’t mind.”
Natalie pushed Norton aside and fixed Cheryl with an icy stare. She turned, poured a glass of wine, and downed it in one gulp. “There. Satisfied?”
Cheryl pouted. “It seems like you’re angry with me, Natalie. Is it because I took that role from you?”
“It was fair competition. I have nothing to be angry about.”
“Oh, but I feel so guilty. I know you had a verbal agreement and were about to sign the contract. But I loved the role so much, I just happened to mention it to Hamilton. The next thing I knew, he had contacted the producers and insisted they give the part to me. He said that for me to be happy, someone else had to be unhappy, and he didn’t care who it was.”
Norton’s hands clenched into fists. “So Hamilton got you this role?”
“Oh, dear. You’re not mad at Hamilton, are you, Natalie? Surely not.”
“You…” Natalie said, visibly restraining herself as she forced her fists to unclench. “If you like it that much, you can have it.”
“I knew you were the most generous person, Natalie!”


VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Year I Was the Other Woman To Myself