"Ah, Madam, you should’ve told you wanted pizza too!" Mariam gaped in disbelief, staring at the five large boxes stacked neatly on the table. "I would’ve made it fresh for you!"
Anna, sitting comfortably on a stool, looked up from her plate of cake with a completely innocent expression. "Hm? Oh, it’s not just for . It’s for everyone."
The old lady blinked as if she’d misheard.
Anna gestured toward the boxes, fork still in hand. "Go on take them. Give one to each of the staff. Tell them it’s a treat from their generous madam."
Her tone was playful but firm, the kind that made it impossible to refuse.
Mariam’s eyes softened, a mixture of surprise and affection flickering across her face. "Madam..."
But Anna was already back to her dessert, fork diving into the cake like a soldier on a mission. "No ti for speeches, Mariam. Go, before the cheese gets cold."
Suppressing a laugh, Mariam finally obeyed, lifting the boxes carefully and heading out of the kitchen.
As soon as she left, Anna sighed in contentnt and took another bite of her cake. The sweet frosting lted on her tongue, a perfect counter to the lingering spice of the pizza slice she’d eaten earlier.
Yes cake and pizza. It was an odd combination, but so her.
Whenever anxiety or restlessness clawed at her, she turned to food, the one comfort that never argued, never judged, and always delivered satisfaction.
Sotis she wanted spice, sotis sugar, and sotis... both.
There were nights when she’d dip pizza crusts in ice cream, claiming it "balanced the flavors." It sounded insane, but sohow, it worked.
No one knew that her strange eating habits were less about gluttony and more about quiet rebellion, a way to reclaim joy in a world that had once denied her every indulgence.
She took another bite of the cake, humming under her breath as her eyes sparkled with satisfaction. "See? Who needs therapy when you have carbs?"
Her phone buzzed against the marble counter, pulling her out of her pizza-and-cake trance. With frosting still on her finger, Anna swiped to unlock the screen only to find a friend request from Betty.
A genuine smile lit up her face. Without hesitation, she accepted.
Almost instantly, a ssage popped up.
Betty: Congratulations, Sis, on your new journey!
Anna chuckled softly and typed back,
Anna: Thank you and sorry for not telling you earlier. It all happened so suddenly.
In truth, she had been discussing agency options with Betty earlier that week. They’d even made a little list together nas of companies, pros and cons, which ones offered fair contracts. But when Daniel had unexpectedly arranged everything through Starlight Entertainnt, there hadn’t been ti to explain.
She’d planned to tell Betty face-to-face. Then Kevin showed up with contracts and caras and schedules and the opportunity ca and went.
Betty: It’s okay, Sis! You don’t have to apologize. I’m just happy you finally found your footing!
Anna smiled at the screen, her chest warming. Betty always had this way of making her feel seen, like she wasn’t walking this road alone.
Then out of curiosity Anna clicked the notification showing new comnts under her earlier post.
The one where she’d simply reached her hand toward the sky.
The one that, apparently, had broken the internet.
At first, she scrolled absently, grinning at Betty’s sweet ssage on the post until her eyes caught the wave of chaos below it.
User 1: Wait, who’s this DarkKnight_07 guy claiming she’s taken??
User 2: Are they dating?? They’d be such a power couple!
User 3: DarkKnight sounds hot. Where can I find one?
User 4: So she already has a man? Bad luck I was going to propose her
Anna froze, her smile dropping. "Huh? Taken? Who—who said I’m taken?"
She scrolled faster, her brows furrowing. The entire comnt section had turned into a frenzy of speculation about her supposed relationship.
’What kind of nonsense...?’
Heart thudding, she searched the na that kept appearing DarkKnight_07 and a few taps later, the profile opened.
’ Uh? Empty feed. Zero posts. No followers. No bio.Just a single profile picture—’ her thoughts halt.
’Her hand!’
Her exact photo.
Anna’s jaw dropped. "What the—he used my hand picture as his profile pic?"
The deep frown that followed could’ve curdled milk.
’Unbelievable. I’ve barely joined social dia and I already have a stalker? What next—a fan club of hand enthusiasts?’
Still, sothing didn’t add up. Everyone in her comnts was reacting to sothing he said but when she checked his profile’s activity, there was nothing. No visible comnt, no post, no story.
"Where did the comnt go?" she muttered under her breath.
’Had he deleted it?’
’Or worse was it hidden by the platform after going viral?’
Either way, it had done its damage. Every gossip account and fan forum was now fixated on the mystery lover claiming her as his own.
Anna pinched the bridge of her nose, groaning. "This is insane. How could they just conclude sothing about based on a single comnt?" she muttered, half sulking, half on the verge of hysterical laughter. "People really have nothing better to do."
But the longer she stared at the screen, the more her irritation grew and so did her paranoia.
Her thoughts spiraled. ’What if it wasn’t so random troll?’
"What if he’s one of Fiona’s crazy fans?" she blurted, eyes widening at the sudden revelation. "Yes that makes sense. He’s targeting to tarnish my image!"
Her pulse quickened as she recalled all the chaos that surrounded Fiona’s fandom back in the day. When Fiona’s fa skyrocketed, her fans had developed a reputation for being... unhinged. Especially toward other actresses who dared to share the screen with her.
There had been multiple incidents nasty comnt wars, hacked fan pages, even rumors of direct harassnt. One co-star’s car had been vandalized simply because she had more screen ti than Fiona in a drama.
"Right," Anna nodded to herself, pacing now. "It’s exactly sothing they would do. Create a fake account, use my photo, and then claim I’m in a relationship just to make look bad."
Her mind went into full detective mode. "Maybe he’s part of that sa fan group... those lunatics who used to trend hashtags like #OnlyFionaDeservesTheSpotlight."
Anna laughed, brushing off the absurd thoughts swirling in her head before turning her full focus back to the real joy before her—pizza and cake.
"Ahh, perfect combo," she mumbled between bites, devouring the last slice with zero guilt.
When the final crumb was gone, she leaned back, patting her stomach in satisfaction.
"Burp~"
Her eyes widened slightly before she let out a carefree laugh. "That was delicious," she said, stretching her arms with the satisfaction of soone who had just conquered a feast.
She began tidying up the table, stacking the empty pizza boxes and cake plates before carrying them toward the trash bin. But the mont her gaze fell on it, she froze.
There it was the little bottle her mother had brought.
Sitting right on top of the trash, almost mocking her.
"Ugh, geez..." Anna muttered, a shiver crawling down her spine. "Why does this thing look like it’s plotting sothing?"
She grimaced, glaring at it as if it might suddenly spring to life. "I need to get rid of this thing before I start imagining it whispering my mom’s crazy ideas."
Without wasting a second, she snatched her phone and called Mariam. Once the bin was empty was only the ti Anna could finally relaxed.
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