Once Us, Now Dust

Chapter 3

I turned over on the bed, facing away from him, my voice flat.

"It's fine. My delivery order will be here soon anyway."

Christopher's face darkened immediately, his patience wearing thin.

"Why didn't you tell me you were ordering food?"

His voice hardened, and he stepped closer.

"Sophia, I've told you a hundred times, there's nothing going on between Mia and me. It's all just for the cameras. Publicity.

"I don't get why you're acting like this. Why are you being so petty, so jealous over nothing?"

I rolled my eyes and spoke coolly.

"I'm not making a scene."

That was all it took to send him into a fury.

Without saying another word, he grabbed the takeout container and tossed it into the trash like it was nothing. His tone was sharp as a blade.

"Then why didn't you get Mia's medicine?" He snapped. "I told you, I can't make it to the pharmacy myself. It was a small thing, why didn't you just do it?"

A small thing?

Like doing her laundry? Like making her meals?

Mia claimed she had OCD, insisted that all her clothes had to be hand-washed. And even in freezing northern temps, Christopher had me scrubbing Mia's clothes by hand while my skin cracked from chilblains.

One time, my chilblains were so bad they bled all over her clothes.

Christopher didn't care. He saw the blood stains and kicked me out of the hotel.

"Go wash them outside," he ordered. "Don't come back until you're done."

I was out there, in the snow, in thin pajamas, scrubbing her clothes like it was my job.

And Mia? She just laughed and said to Christopher, "Chris, baby, I heard snow is the best cure for chilblains."

It was always the same. I was just there to serve them, no questions asked.

But after five years, I was done.

I pulled the blanket up over my head, my voice cold.

"I'm not going."

Silence stretched between us for a long moment before Christopher stormed out of the room, slamming the door.

Later that night, their names were everywhere.

#ChristopherAndMia was trending, and I couldn't escape it.

A video had surfaced, Christopher carrying Mia into the hospital like a prince, all panicked and frantic, yelling for help.

The comment section lit up:

[Is this it? Are they finally together?]

[Did you see that princess carry?! A guy would pull a muscle trying to lift me that way, lol.]

[Wait, does no one care what happened to Mia? Why's she in the hospital?]

[I was there on set! Mia said she felt feverish, asked for a thermometer. Chris found out, and bam, he's carrying her to the car and rushing her to the hospital. No hesitation.]

[I KNEW IT. I KNEW THEY WERE A THING. This is everything.]

I was scrolling through the comments when my phone rang, Christopher.

Before I could even say "Hello," he was talking fast, as if trying to get ahead of me.

"Sophia, listen to me. I only took Mia to the hospital because she said she had a fever.

"I was just worried it'd delay filming. That's all. It doesn't mean anything, okay?"

I stared at the phone, my voice steady, completely calm.

"Okay."

The silence that followed was thick. I could almost hear him trying to figure out what to say next. Then his voice, slower this time.

"What did you just say?"

I let out a soft sigh, sitting back on the bed.

"It's just PR for the new show, right? I get it. Don't worry about the reporters. I'll handle it."