Chapter 1The Phone Incident
Naya Vale had no interest in becoming famous.
She wasn’t here to be a starlet or chase validation from men with stylists and six-figure endorsement deals. She was here to win but on her terms. Quietly. Smartly. Ruthlessly.
It was her third week at Aurum Entertainment, and she had already memorized everyone’s coffee orders. Not because she was trying to please anyone but because she understood that power starts with being indispensable, even in the smallest tasks. People trusted those who noticed details.
As usual, she walked the lobby with two trays of coffee, her phone resting on top of one cup. Earphones in. Eyes fixed on the screen. She was rewatching a choreography video from a global tour, noting formation shifts and lighting transitions. Everything was data to her clues to the industry’s patterns. She didn’t even register the group of men approaching from the opposite side.
“Yo, she’s doing it again,” one of the star’s entourage whispered.
“She never even looks at us,” another added, half-laughing.
Kairo Jin, standing in the middle of his usual circle of actors and idols, kept his eyes on her. She didn’t flinch. Didn’t even blink.
He stepped into her path.
Naya, eyes still on the screen, barely tilted to the side and passed him smoothly without breaking stride. Like he was a lamppost.
Laughter rippled behind him. But Kairo’s jaw clenched.
“She really doesn’t care,” someone muttered.
He watched her go. Something inside him burned. He didn’t know what to call it yet irritation, insult, or maybe a twisted kind of fascination.
The next day, it happened again. And again. Every time she walked past like he was air. Until finally, on Friday morning, Kairo snapped.
Naya had just pushed through the glass doors, coffee in hand, earbuds in, smiling slightly at whatever was on her screen. She didn’t see him coming.
He stepped right up to her. Quick. Fluid. Angry.
Before she could react, he snatched the phone from her tray and, without hesitation, launched it over the railing toward the second floor.
The crash was audible.
Everyone turned.
The sound of coffee splashing. Gasps. Silence.
Naya froze. At first, she didn’t even look at him. She just stared in the direction her phone had disappeared. It had all her notes. Her synced files. Messages. Backup drafts. Videos she couldn’t re-download. A piece of her mind.
Then, slowly, she turned.
Kairo was standing there, chest slightly heaving, like he’d just won a fight.
“You wanted our attention, right?” he said, too loud. “Ignoring us to stand out? Well congrats. You got it.”
Her expression didn’t crack.
Not right away.
Then her head tilted. She blinked. Once.
“…Are you insane?” Her voice was low, calm deadly. “Are you out of your mind?”
The room was still.
Kairo opened his mouth, trying to ride the wave of his own drama but she cut him off with a single step forward.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” Her tone sharpened, slicing through the tension. “You don’t get to destroy someone’s property because you didn’t get your daily dose of ego worship.”
“Naya” one of her coworkers whispered from behind her. But she wasn’t finished.
“You want to be noticed?” she snapped, her voice rising just enough. “Try doing something worth remembering instead of throwing tantrums like a spoiled child with a fan club.”
Kairo’s mouth shut. Hard.
People were recording now. Even staff from upper management had peeked out of offices. He had humiliated himself and she hadn’t raised her voice once.
Naya turned without another word, heels clicking on the marble as she walked toward the elevator. Cold. Controlled. Untouchable.
And Kairo Jin celebrated, beloved, worshipped Kairo stood in the center of the lobby, stunned for the first time in years.
He got her attention.
And it felt nothing like he imagined.
