The Stand-In Who Burned the Script novel Chapter 198

Chapter 198

Vivian’s eyebrows twitched. She reached out with two fingers and pulled the magazine

toward her.

Rumor had it that every major ad campaign under Sterling Enterprises for the past two years had been handed exclusively to Grace Gifford.

Tsk…

How romantic.

She glanced over at the man diligently working at his desk. Seeing no reaction from him, she pulled her gaze back and casually flipped open the magazine.

Though Grace was just a trending celebrity, at twenty-five, she was in the absolute prime of her career. Worshipped by millions of fans, she had taken home a Best Newcomer award just last year.

But her fanbase wasn’t her real weapon. Her backing was.

She had Silas Sterling in her corner, and she was the prized daughter of the Gifford family.

With that level of protection, she had already left every other rookie in the dust before the race even began.

She constantly fed the press lines about ‘not relying on her family,’ yet her starting line was most people’s ultimate finish line.

The golden girl. How fitting.

The magazine featured an in-depth interview paired with glossy spreads.

It chronicled her supposed ‘struggles’ and breakthroughs over her three-year career.

At the very end was a flirty, cat-and-mouse Q&A segment where the interviewer probed her about her fairy-tale connection to Sterling Enterprises’ CEO, Silas Sterling.

Her answers were deliberately vague, and her demure, half-shy smile in the accompanying photos felt more like a public declaration of ownership than genuine modesty.

Vivian sighed internally. A life without a single bump in the road… it was enough to make anyone jealous.

She tossed the magazine aside.

Now she was really bored.

Silas replied to two urgent emails.

He kept catching glimpses of her from the corner of his eye. It hadn’t even been twenty

1/3

10:00

minutes.

The woman, who had been quietly looking around the room, was suddenly standing right

behind his chair. She leaned over his shoulder, peering down at him and his monitor with her hands clasped behind her back.

“This looks way too complicated. I don’t understand a word of it.”

Her long hair cascaded down, brushing softly against the side of Silas’s neck.

The subtle tickle felt as if it were seeping straight into his nerves.

He clenched his jaw, his voice dropping into a dangerous, gravelly rasp. “Vivian, are you begging me to teach you a lesson?”

Vivian pouted, her voice dripping with practiced vulnerability. “I just got out of a police interrogation room, and instead of comforting me, you’re sitting here ignoring me. And now you’re yelling at me.”

The man let out a cold laugh. “At the rate you get thrown into jail cells, I don’t think I have enough comfort to go around.”

“Oh, you have plenty.”

Vivian raised her hands, framing his handsome face.

At this proximity, she could see every flawless detail of his skin. “I’m incredibly easy to coax. Try it and see.”

Silas didn’t say a word.

His eyes, as dark and fathomless as the midnight ocean, locked onto hers. The surface looked calm, but a dangerous undertow swirled just beneath.

A moment later.

He reached up and pulled her hands away.

“Sit back down on the couch. If you say one more ridiculous thing to me, I swear I will deal with you myself.”

Just as Vivian opened her mouth to retaliate, Silas’s phone rang.

He turned away, grabbing his phone with visibly restrained annoyance. “What!”

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