Before the new drama started filming, Brandon said he would come to attend the crew's opening ceremony and asked me to wait for him. After three years of marriage, this was the first time he took the initiative to care about my career. I nodded heavily, full of expectations.

But unexpectedly, on the day of the start of filming, Brandon, as an investor, brought the designated female lead Julia to the crew.

Facing my questioning, he didn't care and said, "It's just a drama. Julia wants to join the crew to play. What's wrong with you letting her?"

It turned out that in Brandon's eyes, the script that I worked hard to revise was just something he could use to make people happy? Just because Julia wanted to join the crew to play?

Not long after that, I changed the script into a divorce agreement and handed it to Brandon.

He panicked, "Suzy, just because of a drama, you want to divorce me?"

I looked at him calmly, "Yes, just because of a drama."

When the director announced Julia as the female lead of the new drama in public, the atmosphere at the start of filming suddenly froze. Countless eyes fell on me.

I think the smile I barely maintained must be ugly and the embarrassment and awkwardness that arose for no reason almost drowned me. There were so many media, investors and actors of all sizes at the scene, they were all looking at me.

I couldn't argue with Brandon in public, so I could only suppress the anger stuck in my chest. Like a drowning person, I couldn't breathe, but I wanted to breathe desperately. The red envelope in my hand was damp and wrinkled by me.

Brandon also noticed the weird atmosphere at the scene. He frowned slightly and his eyes swept over me. He knew that I would not agree to Julia, a popular young actress, to play the female lead, so he intervened directly with the tough attitude of capital.

There was no room for me to object at all. Julia was the female lead chosen by capital, so what did my behavior of running around major film academies to select female leads in the past six months look like? Like a joke.

I stared at Brandon's tall back and suddenly felt strange.

Julia stood beside Brandon, holding his arm, her voice sweet and well-behaved, "This is my first drama, I will play this role well and produce a work that is worthy of the director and the audience. I will not disappoint those who love and support me."

After the opening ceremony, I declined the invitation to the dinner and left the scene with a breath held.

But I didn't expect that Brandon would also abandon everyone and block me in the parking lot before I opened the car door.

He grabbed my arm and pressed me against the car body, his tone helpless, "Suzy, don't be angry, listen to my explanation first, okay?"

"It's just a drama, whoever plays the role, you are still the screenwriter, right? Don't be angry, you're not beautiful anymore."

I couldn't break free and the breath I was holding finally found a place to vent when Brandon pulled me.

Grabbing the script, I threw it at him, "It's just a play? Brandon, you know how much I have paid for this play! Don't you know how much pressure I have been under and how much effort I have put in this year? How dare you. You changed my heroine without saying a word."

The sharp paper cut across his face, leaving a bright red mark at the end of his eye. The bloodstain was glaring. My hand trembled and my anger sank suddenly and my eyes were red.

He suddenly released the hand that was restraining me, held me tightly in his arms. Then he whispered to coax me, "I have hurt your feeling and you are angry. Let's stop here, okay? Suzy, Julia has never asked me for anything. Just this time, I promise, there will be no next time."

Pushing Brandon away in silence, I squatted down and picked up the papers scattered on the ground one by one.

My first independently completed big screen script, my cherished hard work, became something he used to make Julia happy.

He never knew what I wanted. He didn't even respect my pursuit.

My eyes were sore and a tear unexpectedly fell on the paper, staining the black words on it. I wiped it hard with my sleeve, but the trace was left and the word was stubbornly printed there, like a ball of dirty ink.

When I stood up again, I had calmed down and my eyes swept across the wound at the end of Brandon's eye.

"Brandon, since you have Julia in your heart, why did you beg to marry me?"

Brandon looked at me in astonishment, "Suzy, Julia is my sister! Can you not be so dirty!"

Feeling my mocking look, Brandon's eyes were filled with anger and he said to me coldly, "Suzy, don't forget, you owe Julia this!"

My mind banged and I couldn't say a word.

Four years ago, I broke my leg while playing a minor role in a film crew during the summer vacation and I didn't dare to tell my family for fear that my parents would worry. I had no choice but to lie in Brandon's apartment to recover.

It was then that I learned that he had a sister who was not related by blood, Julia Markson. Brandon said that his mother took the initiative to adopt her.

Knowing that I had a fracture, Julia took the initiative to ask Brandon to come and take care of me. At that time, she was just a freshman in college and a freshman in the Film Academy. Speaking of which, she was also my junior in College.

Seeing me lying in bed bored every day, Brandon agreed.

The first time I saw Julia, I knew that she didn't like me, or even hated me.

She acted coquettishly next to Brandon, but her beautiful eyes stared straight at me, "Brandon doesn't love me anymore now because he has Suzy!"

Brandon didn't notice and touched her hair lovingly, "No way, wouldn't it be better to have more people to love you? Wait until you start school and ask Suzy to give you a bag as a reward for accompanying her, okay?"

Julia looked at me provocatively, pouted her lips and agreed obediently.

But I didn't expect that an accident happened on the first night Julia came.

That night, Julia asked the maid to go back and she said that she wanted to make me her best bone soup. I refused many times to no avail, so I could only stay with her on crutches and watch her excitedly prepare ingredients and go into the kitchen.

I didn't remember what happened afterwards very clearly, I just remembered that the fire was burning and the kitchen exploded instantly.

It was three days after I woke up. Brandon told me that Julia was seriously injured and stimulated, so she was sent abroad by the Carpenter Family for recuperation and treatment.

I forgot what happened when the fire broke out. I only remembered that Julia pushed me hard and I fell down the stairs and hit my head. The doctor said that I had post-traumatic stress syndrome and selectively avoided the scene when the explosion occurred.

My legs were injured again and again because of the fire and the bones did not grow well, so I was completely lame. But fortunately, if I walked with a little force, others would not be able to see it. And my face, after several repairs, the scars were not visible, but it was impossible for me to act anymore.

I transferred from the acting class to the director major, gave up the dream I had worked hard for more than ten years and started from scratch.

Julia was still studying acting abroad and she became a little famous last year with an idol drama. Brandon wanted to use this drama to build momentum for Julia, let Julia win an award and completely open up her domestic popularity.

***

"Suzy, acting is Julia's dream. Please, okay?"

I came to my senses and completely understood what Brandon meant. Julia saved my life when she pushed me out of the kitchen. I owed her this and I should pay her back.

I stuffed the script into my bag and nodded stiffly, "Okay."

Then I quickly opened the car door. I was afraid that if I stayed for another second, I would burst into tears in front of Brandon. He forgot that becoming an actress was also my dream.

When the car drove into the underground garage of the villa, a black sports car accelerated out from the side. I hurriedly stepped on the brakes to the bottom and the wheels made a harsh friction sound on the ground. I couldn't control my body and was thrown out by inertia, hitting the steering wheel heavily.

When I came to my senses, I couldn't stop being afraid and my body was shaking like a sieve. If I hadn't slowed down before entering the garage, I would have crashed into the sports car at this moment. With such a fast speed of the sports car, I would have been disabled if I didn't die.

Just as I was trying to calm myself down, the person in the sports car opened the door and got out, then stood in front of my car window. The moment I saw her, I didn't react for a long time.

Julia was wearing sunglasses and her face was pulled out of shape by the car window glass. It was blurry and I even forgot what she looked like before.

The car window glass slowly dropped and Julia smiled with undisguised malice, "Long time no see, Suzy. Sorry, I just returned to New Zealand. Did I scare you by driving too fast?"

In a trance, the mature face in front of me overlapped with the former Julia. She didn't change and even her face lost its childishness. The whole person was like a rose in bud. Thorny, but beautiful. In the accident four years ago, only Suzy from the acting class dropped out.

The damp smell in the underground garage, mixed with car exhaust, was so sticky that it made people breathless. She did it on purpose. I didn't want to get entangled with her. Since Brandon said I owed her, I had already paid her back.

"Tell me, what do you want from me?"

Julia took off her sunglasses and raised her eyebrows at me, "I heard that you had a quarrel with my brother because of me? After four years, your temper has improved a lot. I thought you would embarrass me on the spot. I'm so sorry, Suzy. I told my brother that if you are unhappy, I can change a play. But my brother said that as long as I like it, other people are not important."

My heart seemed to be tightly grasped by someone and a handful of cold broken ice was stuffed into it, which was sour and painful. I suppressed the bitterness that surged in my heart and held the steering wheel tightly.

"Julia, you don't need to come and show off to me," I said calmly, then continued, "I owed you four years ago and I paid it back with this play. We are even."

I restarted the car, but I didn't expect Julia to stop in front of the car without fear.

She put away her provocative expression and looked at me coldly. "You owe me? Suzy, you think you can repay me with a script?"

I didn't say anything, just stared at her quietly.

Julia looked at me strangely and said in surprise, "Have you forgotten what happened four years ago?"

Then she changed the subject, with a genuine smile in her voice, "Fortunately, I remember, Suzy, don't forget. You owe me all this."

After parking the car, I sat in the car, staring at the direction Julia left, motionless for a long time. Until the sky was completely dark, the cold air gave me a shudder.

For some reason, I took out my phone, found the familiar number and dialed it. The call was quickly connected and a lazy voice sounded in the noise.

"Hello?"

My voice was a little hoarse after not speaking for a long time, "It’s me, Suzy."

The other end was muted for a short time, as if it had changed to a quiet environment, "What's the matter?"

I took off the mineral water in the car and drank most of it in one breath. The cold water shocked me and I came back to my senses, "Charles, I want the investigation data of the fire in Brighton Apartment four years ago and the data of me and Julia's hospitalization. When can you give it to me?"

"Four years ago? That's not easy to find. At that time..."

Before he finished speaking, I interrupted him directly, "Twenty thousand dollars."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a second and Charles coughed lightly, "It's not a matter of money, the main thing is..."

"Fifty thousand." I interrupted once again.

Charles was silent for a moment, "One month. We are all friends, this price is very fair."

I chuckled and hung up the phone without any ripples in my eyes.

If Julia hadn't come to see me today, I might not have doubted Brandon's words. But she came.

The accident four years ago was a huge blow to me. My dream of becoming an actress was ruined and my leg was lame. I couldn't accept my ugly appearance and cried hysterically every day.

Even to this day, I still couldn’t calmly mention this to others. The scar was too deep. A slight touch would hurt my bones. I hated Julia so much at that time. I wanted her to live a life worse than death like me.

But Brandon said that Julia suffered a large area of ​​burns on her body to save me and was sent abroad by the Carpenter Family for plastic surgery.

I remembered the time when Julia pushed me when the explosion happened. I couldn't even hate her with a clear conscience.

How long I laid in the hospital and how long I stayed in the hospital, Brandon turned down work and took care of me. He stayed by my side, taking care of me meticulously and bearing the bad emotions that I had nowhere to vent.

I didn't want to go out and see people, nor did I want to see the light. I even thought about committing suicide. If I died, I wouldn't have to live in pain.

It was Brandon who discovered that something was wrong with me. He stayed with me without moving a step and his eyes were red from staying up all the time.

The kind-hearted man held my hand and cried, "What should I do, Suzy, I don't know what to do."

I cried too, begging him to let me die.

Brandon held me tightly and refused to let go. He said incoherently, "Suzy, don't leave me, please, don't leave me."

It was him who accompanied me to struggle out of the quagmire bit by bit and it was also him who gave me hope to live.

But the way Julia appeared in front of me today was too dazzling, no different from when she stood beside Brandon and provoked me four years ago. Undisguised hatred. She hated me.

I forgot what happened when the fire broke out, but I was not a fool. How could a person who was full of malice towards me turn around and save me without caring about herself?

Tears fell down my cheeks, leaving a burn mark on the back of my hand. I raised my hand to wipe away the tears.

What if everything was fake? What if Julia's sacrifice to save me was fake from beginning to end?