Belittled on the Red Carpet
Angela · Completed · 9.7k Words
Introduction
. Don't interfere with Ryan's shots. Go back to carrying materials." The whole room burst into laughter; everyone thought I was a lowly sycophant forced to swallow my humiliation.
But I didn't get angry. I calmly took out my tablet, cut off all her studio's basic permissions with a single click, and immediately sent the irrefutable evidence of her breach of contract to the brand's legal department.
Three minutes later, she was completely stripped of her control and faced a multi-million dollar claim for breach of contract.
At first, she thought I was just acting out of spite, that a little charity would win me back. It wasn't until the day her assets were forcibly liquidated and she was completely blacklisted from the industry that she desperately realized: for the past three years, she had only been able to sit at the table because of my charity.
Later, shamelessly, she crawled through garbage cans, barefoot, to the airport, knelt before my bulletproof Maybach, and begged me to come back.
As for me, I simply walked onto the private jet surrounded by executives from top European conglomerates.
Chapter 1
Los Angeles, the star-studded red carpet event for a high-end luxury brand. The flashbulbs were as bright as day.
“Ethan, know your place. You’re just a backstage executor. Step back and don’t interfere with Ryan’s solo camera work.”
Maddie's shrill voice pierced through the noise of the media area. She was wearing the off-season haute couture gown that I had barely managed to borrow last night by using all my top connections, but now, in order to please the popular male star next to her, she was ruthlessly trampling me underfoot in public.
All eyes in the room instantly turned to them, filled with curiosity, mockery, and disdain.
Ryan adjusted his bespoke suit tie, deliberately flashing his signature gentle smile at the camera, but his tone was barbed: "McDy, don't be so harsh on Ethan. Although he usually only does spreadsheets and odd jobs, and his efficiency always slows down our core progress, but... in a high-level creative team like ours, someone has to do the dirty work, right?"
A few casual words not only erased the entire project framework I had worked day and night to build over the past few months, but also nailed me to the pillar of shame as an "incompetent scapegoat."
Several familiar entertainment media outlets burst into undisguised laughter. They only recognized the glamorous image of McGrady's studio and had no idea who truly held the trump card.
"Did you hear that?" Maddie, emboldened by her male companion's encouragement, grew even more arrogant. She looked down at me, issuing a command in a tone that sounded almost condescending: "Hurry up and get rid of that lifeless look on your face. Go and finish moving all the support materials for the back door fans. Also, at the press conference later, the project leader's name will be changed to Ryan, which wasn't originally meant for someone like you who's at the bottom of the hierarchy."
Clinging to male celebrities, plundering their achievements, and publicly humiliating them—that's her goal today.
Looking at the face I'd worked with for three years, I felt absolutely nothing.
I just think it's stupid. Incredibly stupid.
"Are you done talking?" I looked at her expressionlessly.
McGrady frowned, seemingly displeased that I hadn't immediately backed down: "What kind of attitude is that—"
I ignored her and, in front of all the media and cameras, took out my phone and tablet.
I dialed the brand's global executive vice president's private number. With a look of surprise on McGrady's face, I immediately pressed the speakerphone button.
"Oh! Ethan! My old friend, how did the press conference go? I'm watching the red carpet live!" On the other end of the phone, the high-ranking vice president's tone was filled with rare enthusiasm and respect.
“I’m sorry, Charles,” I said in a cold and steady voice, “I am officially withdrawing from the project regarding this joint launch event.”
The air in the room seemed to freeze for a second.
Maddie was taken aback at first, then sneered, "Ethan, are you crazy? You think you can threaten me with this childish resignation act? What are you if you leave the studio!"
I didn't even glance at her.
My hands tapped rapidly on the tablet as I typed in the sixteen-digit root server verification password.
"All press releases, matrix promotions, and joint placements on the homepage of 300 core media outlets under McGrady Studio..." I looked at the confirmation pop-up on the screen and pressed Enter without hesitation, "Withdraw immediately."
What nonsense are you spouting—
Before McGrady could finish speaking, gasps of surprise suddenly erupted from the media sections on both sides of the red carpet.
"What happened? The brand's official countdown page has disappeared!"
"My God! All the links to the press releases they just sent us are showing up as 404 invalid!"
"The trending topics have dropped! All promotional materials across various channels are being removed! We can't publish articles anymore!"
The media people who had been looking at me with amusement were now like ants on a hot plate, staring in horror at their phones that had become dead links.
Without my authorization for the API, Maddie Studio was completely mute at this press conference.
McGrady's expression finally changed. Her aloof facade crumbled instantly, and a flicker of disbelief and panic flashed in her eyes: "You... what did you do? You dare to tamper with the brand's advertising channels?!"
Even Ryan couldn't maintain his gentle, manipulative facade anymore. He immediately distanced himself from her and frantically asked, "McDy! What happened? What about my exposure?!"
I lifted my eyelids and finally looked directly at McGrady's face, which was slightly distorted with fear.
I clicked the send button for the last email.
“Just one minute ago, I sent a full HD recording of you publicly belittling your partner and unilaterally changing the project's lead authorship, as well as the original contract which clearly states that ‘Ethan has veto power over the project and its core clauses,’ to the brand's legal department.”
I closed the tablet and tossed it onto the ceremonial table next to me with a dull thud.
"Now, you can take your big star to face the brand's legal team's breach of contract lawsuit."
McGrady gasped. For the first time, she truly felt out of control. She thought I was just a backstage laborer she could manipulate at will, forgetting that for the past three years, it was my rules, my control, and my resources that had elevated her to a height that didn't belong to her.
"You dare to ruin this press conference!" Maddie trembled, still trying to maintain a semblance of dignity with her ridiculous social standing. "Ethan, you're dead! Believe me, I'll use all my resources to make sure you can't survive in the PR world of Los Angeles anymore!!"
"Whatever you want."
I had no interest in being sarcastic and turned to walk straight to the other side of the red carpet exit.
Behind him, the media was in complete chaos, with the frantic clicking of camera shutters and McGrady's barely suppressed screams.
Their misfortune has only just begun, and that is no longer my concern.
Stepping out of the glaring spotlight, the Los Angeles night breeze brushed against my face.
My phone vibrated briefly in my pocket; it was a pop-up message for a high-level email that had been intercepted through an encrypted channel but then allowed to pass.
Sender's signature: Global Partners Committee of Onesis Group, a top European public relations conglomerate.
The main text consists of only a brief one-line appendix.
"Your job offer has been confirmed and is now valid. Please take with you the complete project evidence chain. We can't wait to see how you dismantle those stupid old rules."
Last Chapters
You Might Like 😍
Oops. My Boss Was Seventeen
The Execution: Perfect. I brought him coffee, cheered at his games, and basically operated as his unpaid teenage executive assistant. He’s totally buying it.
The Problem: I was trying to network my way into the C-suite. I think I just networked my way into his bed.
Omega Bound
Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life.
Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination
Bella and Her Beast
.
Locked in her frozen tower, Bella dreamed of warmth, of touch, of freedom and of love. Cursed with the power of ice and snow, she’s spent her life alone. A secret they tried to protect the world from. Her only escape comes in the form of the books she reads. Stories of heat, desire, and the kind of love that could melt even her frostbitten heart.
Damien is the Beast. A dragon King with a temper forged in flame and a soul hollowed by duty. The world fears him. The people call him a monster. But beneath the scales and the rage lies a man who has never been touched by love.
When frost meets fire, the world shatters. She was never meant to leave her tower. He was never meant to find her. But destiny doesn’t bow to kings or care for cages and now the question burns through them both: Can Bella have her Beast? Or will the girl of snow melt in the heat of his desire?
.
"I’m keeping her."
"What?"
Before I can react, he scoops her up. Her small body fits easily in the cradle of his talons. For a split second, she looks startled, but not afraid. Her hand rests against one scaled finger, and she stares up at him with that same curious wonder, as though she’s already forgotten she was ever meant to fear me.
"Put her down," I try to command, panic threading through my thoughts. "You’ll hurt her."
"She’s ours," the beast insists, possessive and fierce. "Our snowflake."
After One Night with the Alpha
I thought I was waiting for love. Instead, I got fucked by a beast.
My world was supposed to bloom at the Moonshade Bay Full Moon Festival—champagne buzzing in my veins, a hotel room booked for Jason and me to finally cross that line after two years. I’d slipped into lacy lingerie, left the door unlocked, and lay on the bed, heart pounding with nervous excitement.
But the man who climbed into my bed wasn’t Jason.
In the pitch-black room, drowned in a heady, spicy scent that made my head spin, I felt hands—urgent, scorching—searing my skin. His thick, pulsing cock pressed against my dripping cunt, and before I could gasp, he thrust hard, tearing through my innocence with ruthless force. Pain burned, my walls clenching as I clawed at his iron shoulders, stifling sobs. Wet, slick sounds echoed with every brutal stroke, his body unrelenting until he shuddered, spilling hot and deep inside me.
"That was amazing, Jason," I managed to say.
"Who the fuck is Jason?"
My blood turned to ice. Light slashed across his face—Brad Rayne, Alpha of Moonshade Pack, a werewolf, not my boyfriend. Horror choked me as I realized what I’d done.
I ran away for my life!
But weeks later, I woke up pregnant with his heir!
They say my heterochromatic eyes mark me as a rare true mate. But I’m no wolf. I’m just Elle, a nobody from the human district, now trapped in Brad's world.
Brad’s cold gaze pins me: “You carry my blood. You’re mine.”
There is no other choice for me but to chose this cage. My body also betrays me, craving the beast who ruined me.
WARNING: Mature Readers Only
The New Girl and the Broken Basketball Star
After years of feeling unwanted by the father who should have protected her, Clara is finally forced to leave the only home she has ever known. Her stepmother’s pregnancy only makes it easier for her family to let her go.
With nothing but her mother’s old violin, she arrives in a small Pennsylvania town carrying the fear that she will never truly belong anywhere.
The last thing she expects is Adrian Cole.
Once the town’s basketball star, Adrian gave up his dreams after his father disappeared and left him with debts he never should have carried. Now he spends his days repairing cars, avoiding the court, and pretending he doesn’t want anything more from life.
Clara thinks she is too broken to be loved.
Adrian thinks his future is already over.
But somewhere between physics lessons, late nights at the repair shop, and a forgotten small-town high school, two lonely people begin to find something they both thought they had lost forever:
A reason to stay.
✦ ✦ ✦
A tough exterior with a soft heart x A soft exterior with a strong heart
✦ ✦ ✦
The first half is set in high school, and the second half is set during their college years. Hope you enjoy the journey!
This is a slow-paced story, focused more on emotions, healing, and the small moments in life rather than intense action or dramatic twists.
If you find any mistakes while reading, please feel free to leave a comment. I’ll be happy to correct them.
I hope ordinary Clara, ordinary Adrian, and all of us ordinary people can find the happiness we deserve.
Lethal Web of Mafia's Revenge (Sequal to "Innocent in Mafia's Web)
He was a beast inhabiting this mansion, inflicting inhuman torture on my poor soul. He had created a living hell for me, this pitiful girl, within his castle.
On this cold winter night, he threw my wounded body into the icy pool, arrogantly enjoying it all, drinking and smoking expensive cigars. A satisfied, cold smile played on his lips as he reveled in my pain. His face was filled with the darkness of sin.
“How...more...am I…still…standing?” I stammered, my lips trembling.
Zain paused, thinking. Then, turning away from her, he replied:
“Until you die!”
With that, he left. As he wished. At that moment, my wish came true; I died.
But not in a frozen pool; I was struck in the head by a bullet from afar, blood splattering everywhere—that was far more gruesome.
My consciousness began to fade, but suddenly, I opened my eyes again and found myself mopping the floor in an ordinary restaurant.
I was startled: What happened? I was reborn? This is unbelievable!
Pregnant by My Husband's Rival Alpha
Those words should have destroyed me, but the truth was worse: I'd been used as a broodmare by the man who swore to love me, set up in a hotel room with a stranger because My husband Alexander Cross couldn't father children himself, and now I carried the secret babies of Damon Lester—the most powerful and dangerous Alpha in San Loris—while my own family replaced me with the daughter they'd always wanted. But when that same stranger's doctor appeared at my door, when twenty million dollars exchanged hands over a fake perfume bearing my secret identity, and when Damon's gray eyes locked onto mine with recognition I couldn't afford, I realized my carefully hidden life as the legendary perfumer Vera was colliding with a pregnancy that could cost me everything.
Could I protect my babies from the husband plotting my death, hide my true identity from the Alpha who's been hunting me for years, and reclaim the freedom I'd buried along with my dreams—even if it means standing alone against the wolves who see me as nothing more than a womb to be used and discarded?
Accidentally Crossing the Tycoon
Four years ago, the Bailey family faced a devastating financial crisis.
Just when bankruptcy seemed inevitable, a mysterious benefactor emerged, offering salvation with one condition: a contract marriage.
Rumors swirled about this enigmatic man—whispers claimed he was hideously ugly and too ashamed to show his face, possibly harboring dark, twisted obsessions.
Without hesitation, the Baileys sacrificed me to protect their precious biological daughter, forcing me to take her place as a pawn in this cold, calculated arrangement.
Luckily, in those four years, the mysterious husband never asked to meet in person.
Now, in the final year of our arrangement, the husband I've never met is demanding we meet face to face.
But disaster struck the night before my return—drunk and disoriented, I stumbled into the wrong hotel room and ended up sleeping with the legendary financial mogul, Caspar Thornton.
What the hell am I supposed to do now?
A pack of their own
Tango with the Alpha's Heart
“He met her at the Alpha training camp,” he said. “She is a perfect suitor for him. It snowed last night, indicating that his wolf is happy with his choice.”
My heart sank, and tears made their way down my cheeks.
Alexander took my innocence last night, and now he is taking that thing in his office as his Luna.
Emily became the laughingstock of the pack on her 18th birthday and never expected the Alpha's son to be her mate.
After a night of passionate love, Emily finds out that her mate has taken a chosen mate. Heartbroken and humiliated, she disappears from the pack.
Now, five years later, Emily is a respected high-ranking warrior in King Alpha’s army.
When her best friend invites her to a night of music and laughter, she never expects to run into her mate.
Will her mate figure out it is her?
Will he chase after her, and most of all, will Emily be able to keep her secrets safe?
King of the Underworld
However, one fateful day, the King of the Underworld appeared before me and rescued me from the clutches of the most powerful Mafia boss's son. With his deep blue eyes fixed on mine, he spoke softly: "Sephie... short for Persephone... Queen of the Underworld. At last, I have found you." Confused by his words, I stammered out a question, “P..pardon? What does that mean?”
But he simply smiled at me and brushed my hair away from my face with gentle fingers: "You are safe now.”
Sephie, named for the Queen of the Underworld, Persephone, she's quickly finding out how she's destined to fulfill her namesake's role. Adrik is the King of the Underworld, the boss of all bosses in the city he runs.
She was a seemingly normal girl, with a normal job until it all changed one night when he walked through the front door and her life changed abruptly. Now, she finds herself on the wrong side of powerful men, but under the protection of the most powerful among them.
My Benchwarmer Boyfriend's Secret
As the team's benchwarmer, Marco practices harder than anyone, though few seems to notice. There's something about his quiet determination that draws me in, and I find myself falling for the underdog.
But when Marco's true story starts unraveling—about that first night, about who he really is, about the future he's destined for—I realize I might have gotten in way over my head.
And there's another problem: this was always meant to be temporary. His training program has an end date, and we're both fighting against a reality that seems determined to pull us apart.
When everything is on the line, how far are we willing to go for love?
