: Rebirth

As a Rising Star, I also have a D-list stepsister.

Posing as my best friend, she spills all the details of my private life to the media.

She even leaked that I would be confessing my feelings to Lucas Shaw tonight, inviting the media to be there.

The truth is, she and the A-list Actor have been sleeping together for a while now, just waiting to get their hands on my family's fortune after he marries me.

At the press conference, I smirked, looking at the "best friend" beside me who couldn't wait to step forward and "congratulate" me.

Then I spoke. "I forgot to tell everyone, but I'm engaged to The Capital's Crown Prince."

The room erupted.

The Capital's Crown Prince: ?

I shot him a reassuring glance.

'I refuse to believe that, in this new life, I'll fall into the hands of those two scumbags again!'

1

Rosalind Quinn was acting up again.

I had just finished filming a scene for my new show and was in my dressing room touching up my makeup.

My Agent burst through the door, slammed her phone on the table with a SLAP, and furiously demanded,

"Vivi, is your friend just incapable of keeping her mouth shut? I told her so many times not to spoil anything, but she turns right around and blabs to the world!"

I calmly picked up the phone.

In the livestream, Rosalind Quinn was energetically hyping herself up to her viewers.

[Do you even need to question my relationship with Vivian Lennox? She's my best friend, so what's wrong with me visiting her on set?]

[The plot is definitely going to go this way. Vivian Lennox told me herself, so there's no way it's wrong. And there's some big news coming in a couple of days, so everyone follow my livestream, and I'll reveal it then.]

I sneered, looking at that smug face.

'Piggybacking off my fame for clicks?'

'Then she'd better not come crying when the entire internet turns on her.'

I handed the phone back to my Agent.

"Ms. Sutton, don't worry about it. The plot points she 'leaked' were just some nonsense I made up. It's all part of my plan."

Ms. Sutton was a little surprised.

"How did you know she'd run her mouth?"

'Of course I knew. Because I went through the exact same thing in my past life.'

My relationship with Rosalind Quinn isn't actually the "best friends" she advertises; we're stepsisters.

She entered the entertainment industry before me, debuting as a child star. She did make a small splash, but unfortunately, she couldn't resist temptation. One scandal after another was exposed, and she was gradually forgotten by the public.

Meanwhile, my steady and solid acting skills earned me a constant stream of new opportunities. From then on, she grew jealous and resentful of the recognition I received.

To get more attention, Rosalind Quinn claimed to the world that we were best friends who grew up sharing a bed, using my private life to attract eyeballs.

She did this right up until she got me killed, and even then, she revealed details about my funeral to squeeze out every last drop of buzz.

I smiled at Ms. Sutton.

"She is my 'best friend,' after all. It's not hard to guess what she's thinking."

Just as I said that, Rosalind Quinn called me the moment she ended her stream.

She knew I must have heard about the spoilers, and the moment she opened her mouth, her voice dripped with pitiable fragility.

"Vivi, I'm so sorry. The viewers found out I was visiting your set, and they kept asking about it in the live comments. It just slipped out, I have such a big mouth. I didn't cause you any trouble, did I?"

I smiled faintly and replied nonchalantly.

"Don't worry about it. Actually, I was just about to apologize to you. The director didn't like that version of the script you saw, so it was changed again after you left."

Rosalind Quinn's voice immediately turned shrill.

"What! How could you not tell me something so important happened!"

I feigned surprise.

"It was an internal decision made by our production team. Why would I tell you?"

Rosalind Quinn was speechless for a moment, then finally managed to squeeze out a sentence.

"But... aren't we best friends? You should have at least given me a heads-up about something like this. You made me look like such a fool."

I'd heard those words many times in my past life. Whenever the information Rosalind Quinn leaked didn't match the final outcome, she would blame me for making her lose face.

'Lose face?'

'More like she's bitter she didn't get to leech off my buzz.'

In my past life, I valued my relationship with Rosalind Quinn too much. I was meek and submissive in the face of her parasitic behavior, enduring it for far too long.

This time, I have no intention of repeating my mistakes.

2

My tone turned cold.

"Rosalind Quinn, we're stepsisters. I have no obligation to share my private life with you."

"Oh, and by the way, don't just show up at my set anymore. I care more about my work than your pride."

With that, I hung up and focused on memorizing my lines.

Rosalind Quinn bombarded my chat with messages. I glanced at them and put her on mute.

Thanks to my maneuvering, the promotional materials that were released were completely unrelated to the "scoop" Rosalind Quinn had leaked.

Her plan to use this to generate more buzz completely fell through.

She's always been brazen, constantly tearing down other gossip bloggers on her livestream to build herself up. Plenty of people couldn't stand her already.

When this incident blew up, she was roasted by everyone online.

[Some "only connection in the entertainment industry." She's just hyping herself up. How dare she try to leech off Vivian Lennox's buzz!]

[Vivian Lennox never even acknowledged her. It's all for the money, duh.]

From having a perfect track record to being utterly disgraced, the smug look Rosalind Quinn always wore on her livestreams had finally come back like a boomerang to hit her.

But she refused to give up. Instead, she tried to ride the wave of infamy to stage a comeback, forcing a smile as she started a new livestream.

"Hey, fam! So, about last time... I was just a little backstabbed, that's all. But that kind of thing won't ever happen again, I promise."

"Just like I said, Rosie is here this time with some really juicy gossip for all of you~"

"It's about my bestie, Vivian Lennox! I know you all care so much about her love life. Well, there's going to be some good news very soon... Like, tonight!"

In my last life, Rosalind Quinn had used the same vague, teasing words on her livestream to hint to the media that something was going to happen between me and the newly award-winning Lucas Shaw.

And so, the scene of me confessing my feelings to Lucas Shaw only to be rejected was captured by every major reporter and spread like wildfire across social media.

Since I was the one who confessed, I was immediately labeled a clout-chaser and a shameless hussy, and the backlash sent me straight to the top of the trending charts.

But the most ridiculous part was yet to come.

Lucas Shaw approached me, saying he actually admired me and wanted to give us a try.

I fell for it and walked right into their trap.

Unfortunately for her, while Rosalind Quinn may want to pull the same old trick this time around—even deliberately fanning the flames of public opinion—I won't fall for it twice.

Not only that, I'm going to use this stage she's set to put on a damn good show for them.

Everything was ready. I just needed a sufficiently grand backdrop.

Just as I was wondering who I could use as a pawn, a message suddenly popped up on my phone.

[Julian Hawthorne: I'm back. Want to hang out sometime?]

: The Backer

3

Seeing the familiar contact name, I couldn't help but smile.

Just what the doctor ordered.

Julian Hawthorne was a childhood friend of mine. But more importantly, he was the famous Capital's Crown Prince, a well-known cash cow and backer in the entertainment industry.

However, he kept a low profile. He preferred pulling the strings behind the scenes to being flamboyant in the spotlight and rarely got involved in all the messy drama himself.

Rosalind Quinn had tried to get in touch with Julian Hawthorne many times, even sparing no expense to dig up some information on him. But all her scheming only ended with her getting snubbed.

I could just imagine: if this powerhouse were my backer, Rosalind Quinn would be positively livid.

In my last life, I was completely preoccupied with planning my confession for that evening. I was utterly lost in the sweet trap Lucas Shaw had laid for me, so of course I had no mind for anything else. That's how I ended up missing this message.

I replied without hesitation.

"Seven o'clock tonight at the movie premiere. Would you mind coming to pick me up?"

An affirmative reply came back quickly.

I put my phone down, a satisfied smile on my face.

"Vivi, my Agent told me you're also coming to the premiere tonight. Is that right?"

"I'm really looking forward to seeing you, and I have a surprise for you."

The two messages popped up with their special notification tone, its cheerful tune feeling like a sharp slap across my face.

Ugh, what a jinx. I immediately turned off his special notifications and moved his contact into my "psychos" group.

In my last life, Lucas Shaw used these same two lines to hook me so completely my brain shut down. I actually thought he was into me, fantasizing about a future where our feelings were mutual, and I eagerly threw myself at him.

Only later did I find out that Lucas Shaw and Rosalind Quinn had gotten together long before. From the moment he started deliberately flirting with me, the two of them had already been plotting to carve up my family's fortune.

I rolled my eyes, suppressing the urge to curse him out, and replied in my old tone.

"Of course! I'll make sure to get there early!"

"A surprise? I can't wait~ I have a gift for you, too!"

In my last life, right after rejecting me, Lucas Shaw immediately gave an interview to the media.

The entertainment reporters swarmed him like sharks that had smelled blood, refusing to miss any opportunity to dig up a juicy scoop. They desperately shoved their microphones in Lucas Shaw's face, asking him what he thought of me.

Lucas Shaw, ever the actor, played the part of the distant and indifferent man to perfection.

"Vivian Lennox and I are just colleagues. We aren't particularly close. Perhaps something I did gave her the wrong impression, but we are not in that kind of relationship."

With that one sentence, I was branded as a woman who throws herself at men, and my career opportunities plummeted.

I begged him multiple times to help clarify the situation, but Lucas Shaw just kept putting it off.

Just when I had lost all hope, things took an unexpected turn.