After the divorce, he begged

hapter 315

Chapter 315

:.

An hour later, Stephen and Karen finished dinner together.

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Stephen headed back to his study to work. Karen was just planning to put on an act and tag along with him, playing the role of the dutiful companion, when her phone rang just as she picked up her water glass–it was her agent.

She thought it was about having dinner with Mr. Sutton again, to apologize for what happened last time.

She was just trying to figure out how to turn it down when her agent’s voice came through the phone, much calmer than usual. “Karen, just be honest with me. Who are you with right now?”

Karen paused.

‘I didn’t see that coming,‘ she thought, surprised her agent even brought it up.

Stephen Hanson was dead set against letting anyone know about what was going on between them. He never let her breathe a word of it outside their little bubble.

Not even her agent was in the loop.

“Don’t even think about trying to deny it,” her agent jumped in, shutting down any chance of her lying. “I’ve seen more in this business than you ever will. Believe me, I know a thing or two about what’s really going on with you.”

Karen’s fingers curled a little tighter around her phone.

Her agent dropped the tough act, sounding more like a strategist now. “If you keep all this under wraps and then shoot to fame only for the truth to come out, how am I supposed to pull off damage control for you?”

“Make it big?” Karen was genuinely taken aback. She never expected to hear that word coming from her own agent, of all people. ‘Wow, since when did she become so optimistic about me?‘ Karen thought with a hint of

sarcasm.

She was just a small–time actress—one of many in her agent’s lineup. But thanks to her striking looks and solid acting chops, she’d always gotten a bit of preferential treatment. From the day her agent first picked her up, there had been high hopes riding on her shoulders.

But after every show she landed ended up getting shelved, and she refused to play the casting couch game, her agent’s hopes faded into thin air. These days, there wasn’t much expectation left.

“All those shows you’ve had collecting dust are finally getting released,” her agent blurted out, not beating around the bush. “I checked the release schedule–your stuff starts rolling out, no later than next Wednesday, one after another.”

Karen paused, instinctively glancing over at the study.

But she dismissed that idea in a heartbeat.

‘There’s no way Stephen’s behind this,‘ she thought.

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too much attention to her–let alone her appearing on screen and attracting gossip

him, who else could possibly pull this off?‘

even if you’ve got someone supporting you, I understand,” her agent said bluntly. “As long as you get famous, stay out of trouble, and don’t

be on board with whatever worked–otherwise, she would’ve never arranged that dinner with

letting any emotion show. “Honestly,

really don’t know?” Her

hummed in

still had more questions on

subject and asked her agent to help figure out who

scenes.

ranks you practically don’t exist–haven’t had a single project aired. What kind of miracle would it take for someone to do you a favor like that?”

already predicted that reaction. The only reason she brought it up was to distract

in silence, not sure how to feel, waves of

usual methods made her nervous. With his personality, he’d probably wait for her to get a bit of traction and then blow everything up–maybe even leak that she had someone backing her just to make sure she

cared about hurting

means necessary to get

was a nobody in the entertainment world, no clout, no connections–if

picked up her glass of water and headed for

about to gamble

about

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her, or they were messing with Stephen on purpose. Whatever it was,

lightly on the door, steeling herself for

in,” Stephen

holding her cup of hot water, bracing herself for whatever

front of him, hesitating–wanting to speak, but her words stalled, leaving her rooted in

look on her face, pulled her gently into his arms, and asked, “Is

Karen said, her gaze lingering on him, emotions

voice calm and caring as always. “Just talk to

Karen

Stephen raised an eyebrow.

looked at him. “For letting me keep my career

asked, his tone

her tone and glance perfectly calculated.

around and stay on edge, she figured it was

now.

in and shut things down again, at least she’d dodge a wave of online hate and go back to being an invisible extra

maybe, her

a moment. His usually gentle eyes grew