Mr. CEO, You're Just A Substitute novel Chapter 8

"It's...good indeed."

Starry didn't lack money, so she didn't have to suck up to Filip.

Catherine was sensitive enough to end the call when she confirmed the divorce.

After hanging up the phone, Starry poured the milk into glasses and brought them to the living-room with a tray. She handed one to Edward and looked askance at him with a dull look in her face, "Are you happy now?"

Edward looked at her with an innocent face, "What are you talking about?"

Starry hung her head, stirred the milk and said peacefully, "I thought you said you came back alone, and nobody knows."

She came straight to the point as she spoke. Edward felt a little guilty when starred by Starry, so he rubbed his nose, and said, "Sorry, my bad, Starry."

"You should think about how to come clean with Catherine about it."

Starry had felt that something had gone wrong at the very beginning of the whole thing. It hadn't the first time Edward had returned by himself, and as an actor for so long, it must have been two years since he became popular, and he had long been sensitive enough to avoid the cameras and paparazzi.

News of the wrap of a show wouldn't be released until some while after the actual end, and the wrap party was at the noon, after which, Edward flew straight back. The public didn't know the news until the afternoon, but the pictures almost disclosed on the same time as the news of the show wrapping up.

Starry had admit that the paparazzi who had shot those pictures were very well-informed.

So informed that it left only one possibility—Edward gave away the news deliberately.

The milk was steaming, and Starry felt the temperature of the glass with her index finger, when she thought it was cool enough, she raised the glass and drank it.

She got milk around her lips, which she licked it off, and then said to Edward, "Is thinking so difficult to you that your brain has seized up?"

"It won't, Starry! Don't worry about it!"

Starry was amused by Edward confidence. "You'd better save that for Catherine."

With that, Starry drank up the rest of the milk. "I'm going to bed. Good night."

Edward was a little nervous as he saw her reaction. He soon got up and went after her and said, "Starry, are you mad?"

"About what? It's your career. If you don't want it, then let it be."

She was peaceful and casual as she said that, which made Edward terrified. "Starry--"

He was to say something, but shut his mouth as he saw the look on Starry's face.

She seemed to be mad.

Starry went to her bedroom and saw more than twenty unread messages from Izabella, and several from Dillon.

Starry knew without reading those messages what the brother and sister reached her for. It was about nothing other than the heated discussion on the social media.

Starry glanced at the message from Dillon, and replied to only the question of "Did you really get divorced?" with "Yes".

Compared to Dillon, Izabella had expressed a lot more. Not only did she ask about the divorce but about Edward.

"Little Starry, are you really divorced with Filip? People are calling you names on the Internet. Don't you want to ask a friend to respond to the criticisms for you?"

The messages had been sent half an hour ago. Starry and Izabella were close, so after thinking for a while, the former decided to be honest, "Yes. I'm fine, I have already sued the gossipy outlets who started the rumors."

It was as if Izabella had been guarding her phone, she replied instantly as she heard from Starry, "Are you really divorced?"

Izabella still couldn't believe it. The reason she became friends with Starry was because Starry treated Filip so well that the rumors couldn't be true.

As the Izabella dealt with her more, she started to like her because of her temperament, and became serious about their friendship.

Starry was almost perfect except in the way she dealt with Filip.

Izabella used to warn her in a euphemistic way that Filip wasn't worth it. But such warning could only upset her if said too much.

So gradually, Izabella gave up and just watched them as a bystander, but the more she saw the couple, the more she felt sorry for Starry.

No wonder that Filip just took Starry's love for him for granted. Everybody in the circle knew how Starry was crazily in love, but now they were divorced?

That's bullshit!

But Filip's announcement turned the bullshit into a fact.

Izabella was shocked numb as she heard the news. When Starry admitted it, she was no less shocked than when Filip had announced that he would Starry.

Starry understood how Izabella was feeling, so she laughed and replied softly, "Yes, we are divorced."

"Then what's your plan for the future?"

"I don't have any plans yet."

Starry wasn't lying, because she hadn't planned anything yet.

A divorce could seem to be something big, and not.

Izabella saw Starry's reply and simply thought Starry was upset, so she ended the talk and replied, "You will be fine. Just relax. Oh, it's getting late. Time for bed. Love you, Little Starry!"

Starry knew that Izabella was trying to be nice and replied, "Good night, Izabella."

She exited the chat window, put the phone aside. She then took the book on the nightstand and turned to the page she left the night before and started to read, hanging her head.

After half an hour, Starry closed the book, turned off the light and shut her eyes.

Starry and Filip's divorce was all over the news and eye-catching enough, and to make things worse, the reason for the divorce was said to be Starry's having an affair with an actor.

The paparazzi who had taken the picture might not have expected the breaking news when he had just wanted to reveal the hottest celebrity, Edward's private life.

Now not only the Pearson family wanted him, but also the Edward team.

The next morning, a lawyer's letter was sent to the paparazzi, followed by the subpoena at about three o'clock in the afternoon.

There were more and more versions of the story about Starry, Filip and Edward, but however the story was spun, after that day, no one showed up to clarify anything except for Filip's divorce announcement.

Edward's fans were antsy, all urging him to plead innocent, but Edward stated nothing after calling for his fans to be careful with their comment on Twitter.

And because of the urge, Edward's fans were all the more anxious. They dared not to speak up for him or say anything for him.

Except for some extreme fans and some anti-fans, Edward's normal fans didn't make trouble for him over such a serious matter.

Two days after the explosive news, the bill of case acceptance from the court appeared in Edward's Twitter feed.

The stamped bill of Edward suing two leading tabloid outlets who started the rumors were more potent than any kind of announcement.

There came another heated discussion on the social media. Meanwhile, the Pearson family was in shrouded in a very downbeat and solemn atmosphere because of Filip and Starry's divorce.