Why the Movie Star is Humbly Chasing Online

"Lost, lost! Elena, truth or dare?"

In the live stream room of "Heartbeat Reality Show," the atmosphere reached its peak. For traffic, the program team specially arranged an interactive game session.

Elena Vance looked at the red card representing failure on the table and sighed helplessly. Her slender fingers tucked a stray hair behind her ear, revealing a clear and dusty face. Although she was only a third-tier small actress, this face was recognized as a "divine face" in the entertainment industry.

"Dare," Elena spoke softly, her voice pleasant as a wind chime.

"Good! Straightforward enough!" The host drew a punishment card with a wicked smile, "Dare content: Post a status on social media—'I regret it, can you come back to me?'. And, the first person to call within five minutes must be answered on speakerphone, no matter who the other party is, you must talk for three minutes!"

The whole audience cheered, and the live stream bullet comments instantly flooded the screen: [Wow, the program team is so bold! What if the ex-boyfriend calls?] [A cold beauty like Elena, her social media must be very exciting.] [I bet a spicy strip, the one calling must be her manager.]

Elena's heart skipped a beat. She looked at those words, the cold light of the phone screen reflecting in her pupils, stirring up a layer of fine ripples.

Her slender fingers tapped on the screen a few times, edited, and sent.

At that moment, social media was terrifyingly quiet. Only Elena knew that in that list open only to specific labels, lay a name she had personally pushed away three years ago.

Time passed second by second.

One minute. Two minutes.

Just when everyone thought five minutes were about to pass and this punishment would end in a cold scene, the phone in Elena's hand suddenly vibrated violently.

There was no remark on the screen, only a string of numbers that were familiar to the core.

Elena's fingers froze.

"Answer it! Elena!" The guests gathered around excitedly.

Elena took a deep breath, tremblingly pressed the answer button, and turned on the speakerphone.

"Hello..."

There was a silence for three seconds on the other end of the phone, and then, a low, hoarse voice with extremely suppressed emotions spread throughout the recording site.

"Elena, that status you just posted... is it true?"

At that moment, the originally noisy live stream room was dead silent.

Because this voice, few people in the country couldn't recognize it. It was the one who just won the three-time Movie Star last year and was known as the "head of the abstinent series in the entertainment industry"—Julian Sterling.

Julian Sterling's voice was like a depth charge, instantly blowing the live stream room out of shape.

The thermos in the hand of the director, who was originally sitting and watching the show, fell to the ground with a "clank." The guests were all dumbfounded, and the bullet comments in the live stream room, after a three-second pause, rolled frantically to a speed indistinguishable to the naked eye.

[Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! Julian Sterling?!] [That's Movie Star Sterling, right? I didn't hear it wrong, right? This low bubble sound is unique in the whole entertainment industry!] [Elena Vance and Julian Sterling? What kind of dimension-breaking combination is this?] [Regretted? Come back to me? Is Movie Star Sterling the one who was dumped?!]

Elena's hand holding the phone was trembling slightly. She looked at the screen, her throat feeling like it was blocked by something, unable to make a sound.

"Speak." The voice on the other end of the phone became deeper, even carrying a hint of urgency, "Elena, speak. You regret pushing me away? Where are you now, I'll go find you."

Elena closed her eyes, trying to make her voice sound a bit calmer, but that tremor still betrayed her: "Mr. Sterling... I'm recording a show."

The other side was obviously stunned.

Another few seconds of dead silence.

"Recording a show?" Julian's voice suddenly cooled a few points, carrying a trace of a self-deprecating smile, "So, that status was also the program team's requirement? Truth or dare?"

Elena bit her teeth and said in a low voice: "I'm sorry, Mr. Sterling, for disturbing you."

"Heh." Julian let out a cold laugh. That laugh penetrated the screen, making the viewers in the live stream room feel an unknown chill and... heartache? "Elena, you were like this three years ago, dismissing me with a joke. Now you're playing this trick again, do you think it's very interesting?"

Elena's tears were already welling up in her eyes, and she tightly pursed her lips.

"Three minutes aren't up yet." Julian seemed to hear the noise around him. He slowed down his tone, actually carrying a hint of humble pleading, "Don't hang up. If you're just for the show's effect, then tell me, in these three years... have you really not had a single moment, even for just a second, regretted leaving me?"

The whole audience held their breath.

This question had exceeded the scope of truth or dare.

Elena looked at the camera, at that lens representing traffic and career, finally closed her eyes, and spat out three words: "Never have."

"Beep—beep—"

The call was abruptly cut off from the other side.

Elena stood blankly in the circle of light. At that moment, she felt the defense line she had finally built completely collapsed in Julian's self-deprecating cold laugh.

The live stream was forced to interrupt.

Elena's manager, Sarah, rushed into the studio, pulling Elena out while cursing in a low voice: "Elena! Are you crazy? You actually sent it to Julian Sterling? Hasn't that thing between you two three years ago rotted in your stomach yet?"

Elena lowered her head, letting Sarah pull her.

Three years ago, Elena was just a newly debuted college student, while Julian Sterling was already a favored son of heaven standing on the altar. They met in a play and fell in love through it.

The love at that time was intense and secret. He secretly held her hand in the cold snow of the film set, he kissed her until she was out of breath in the RV late at night, and he was even ready to make an official announcement at his peak.

But on that day, Julian's mother found Elena. There was no melodramatic check-throwing, only a physical examination report—Julian's stomach disease at that time was on the verge of needing surgery, and his future, because of this unpromising relationship, was suffering an unprecedented PR crisis.

Julian's mother said: "Miss Vance, if you really love him, don't become his stumbling block. To spend your birthday with you, he pushed away the most important audition. He's playing with his life to accompany you."

So, Elena disappeared. She sent a cold and ruthless text message, saying she was tired of playing, saying she had taken a fancy to a richer boss.

From then on, she was Julian Sterling's forbidden wound.

And today, this wound was ruthlessly torn open by the program team.

The trending searches exploded.

The whole internet was attacking Elena. Saying she was deep-scheming, saying she used the Movie Star for hype, and some even dug up her resources over the years, mocking her "as expected, still has to rely on men."

Late at night, Elena curled up in her rented room, turning off all the lights.

The phone suddenly lit up, it was a WeChat message.

Julian Sterling: [Open the door. I'm downstairs.]

Elena's heart suddenly lifted. This was an old and small apartment, how could someone of Julian Sterling's status appear here?

She ran to the window and looked down. A black, low-profile SUV was quietly parked under the street lamp. The window was halfway down, and the sparks of tobacco flickered in the night.

He actually really came.