You Had Me, You Lost Me, You'll Never Find Me novel Chapter 45

When she arrived on set, Sylvia was surprised to see Zoe Meade—the girl from the audition—was also there, having been recast into a much smaller supporting role.

Being booted from a major part and still landing another role in the same production made it obvious that the girl had some serious backing.

Zoe had witnessed Mr. Winslet speaking with Sylvia that day, noticing how gentle his tone had been.

Knowing exactly how much power Mr. Winslet wielded, she eagerly sauntered up to Sylvia, immediately buddying up to her.

Once they were slightly acquainted, she couldn't wait to start fishing for information.

"Sylv, are you super close with the Winslet family? I saw you guys chatting the other day. Why did he give you this role?"

Naturally, Sylvia couldn't reveal the truth. "I have no idea. Maybe he just thought I gave a good performance?"

Zoe was rendered utterly speechless.

This girl had some serious nerve.

Who on earth brags about their own acting skills?

Zoe had been in the industry for years, starring in several hit teen dramas. As an absolute darling of the tabloids, she felt she was practically doing charity work by taking such a pathetic, minor role in this show. Naturally, seeing Sylvia swipe the part that was rightfully hers left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Seeing how heavily guarded Sylvia was, Zoe abandoned all attempts to pry and simply dropped the act.

Everyone here had a wealthy backer pulling the strings, so why bother faking it?

Don't think she hadn't noticed the guy dropping Sylvia off this morning.

"Oh, well, I'm actually really tight with the Winslets. You know Reina, right? I went to her birthday bash. When she first moved back, it was the social event of the year. The guest list was insanely exclusive, pure high society. Oh, but I guess you wouldn't know anything about that, huh?"

In reality, Zoe had only tagged along with her "sponsor," and they were stuck in the outer lounge the entire night. The crowd was mostly young trust fund kids who got blackout drunk, and Zoe hadn't found it fun at all.

She just wanted to flex her connections and elite status in front of Sylvia.

Sylvia played along. "No, I haven't."

Satisfied, Zoe continued, "Look, the most important thing in life is locking down a man with actual power. Those broke losers who only have a pretty face are totally useless. Don't you agree?"

She was throwing serious shade, implying Sylvia was carrying some useless toy boy who couldn't even score an invite to the Winslet princess's birthday party.

Sylvia nodded like a dutiful student. "You're absolutely right."

Seeing Sylvia genuinely absorbing her advice stroked Zoe's ego, making her think Sylvia wasn't so bad after all.

"You know, you're not terrible. Tell you what, when I have some free time, I'll introduce you to my circle. There are plenty of heavy hitters in it. Whether you can snag one is entirely up to you," she said, casually painting her nails.

Sylvia let out a soft breath. "I think I'll pass. I just pissed off my backer. If I go hunting for a new one right now, he'd be furious."

Zoe glanced around, instinctively lowering her voice. "Did he hook you up with this role?"

Sylvia shook her head, answering earnestly. "I was with him for three years, and he never gave me a single thing. I had to hustle for every role myself."

Skeptical, Zoe whipped out her phone and searched Sylvia's name. A list of her past works popped up, proving Sylvia had indeed only played completely thankless, absolute background characters.

Zoe's eyes widened in shock. "Who the hell are you talking about?!" Realizing she was too loud, she clapped a hand over her mouth and whispered, "Give me a name so I know who to avoid."

How could there be such a cheapskate sponsor?

Was he just that unhappy with Sylvia?

"This is so sour! How are you even eating this?"

Sylvia looked at the ultra-sour lemon drop in her hand. "I think it's perfectly fine."

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Please eat something normal."

With that, she scrolled through her phone, opening her stock trading app for the millionth time.

Zoe knew Sylvia's ex-sponsor had given her a severance package, but assumed it was chump change. Feeling a bit of pity, she suggested, "Look, if you have any spare cash lying around, you should dump it into the stock market. I can give you a few killer recommendations."

Sylvia shook her head. "I don't know the first thing about stocks."

Zoe thought she was hopelessly rigid—no wonder she was failing in the entertainment industry. She insisted:

"I heard some massive insider news. The Wyatt and Winslet families are about to merge through marriage. If you buy literally anything from their companies, your portfolio is going to skyrocket the second the engagement goes public. Don't say I never hooked you up."

Sylvia froze.

Assuming she didn't believe her, Zoe quickly added, "The paparazzi already caught it on camera. The Winslet princess was seen sneaking in and out of the Wyatt heir's downtown penthouse late at night. The story was aggressively buried, but everyone in the know is talking about it."

She even showed Sylvia a blurry GIF. Reina was wearing a trench coat, mask, and sunglasses, slipping into a high-end residential complex. Sylvia instantly recognized the place.

She had lived there for three years.

The thought of Ashton bringing Reina there to spend the night sent a suffocating wave of disgust through Sylvia, even though she had absolutely no right to care anymore.

She was just profoundly grateful she had moved out when she did.