Read Chapter 13: Damage Control Interview

The greenroom smelled of stale coffee and nervous sweat. Elise sat perfectly still in the makeup chair, watching her reflection as the artist dabbed powder across her cheekbones. Across the room, Theo paced by the window, his silence louder than any argument they'd had in weeks.

The truce had held for exactly two days. Two days of polite smiles in the car, of carefully worded texts about logistics, of sleeping in separate rooms of the same hotel suite. Two days of Elise pretending she hadn't read his words about Camille, of Theo pretending he believed her denial about the manuscript.

"Mr. Laurent, we're on in five." The production assistant's voice was cheerful, oblivious to the tension she was interrupting.

Theo nodded curtly, adjusting his jacket. "Ready, Elise?"

She stood, smoothing the emerald silk of her dress—Vivienne's choice, camera-safe and elegant. "Ready."

The interview was with *The Morning Standard*, a popular breakfast show with millions of viewers and a host named Sarah Chen who had built her career on charm and the occasional scalpel. Vivienne had briefed them extensively: talk about the charity work, the upcoming indie film, their adorable first meeting. Keep it light. Keep it perfect.

The studio lights hit them like a wall of heat as they settled onto the cream-colored sofa. Sarah Chen smiled at them from her armchair, all warmth and razor edges.

"The nation has been absolutely captivated by your love story," Sarah said, leaning forward conspiratorially. "Theo, you're known as one of Hollywood's most private actors—what made Elise different?"

Theo's hand found Elise's, warm and practiced. "She saw past the persona," he said, his voice carrying that effortless sincerity that made Elise's stomach twist. "I didn't have to perform around her. She made me want to be seen."

The lies tasted bitter even secondhand. Elise forced a smile, squeezing his hand in return. The cameras loved it. Sarah's eyes sparkled.

"And Elise, you've spoken about returning to more meaningful work. Tell us about *Fracture*."

The question was an easy pitch, a gift. Elise straightened, launching into her prepared answer about the gritty character study, the raw material, the director's vision. She was mid-sentence, describing a particularly challenging scene, when she reached for a way to explain the emotional core of the script.

"It reminded me of something I read recently," she said, warming to the thought. "A draft about loss and the weight of unfinished conversations—the way people carry ghosts with them. It had this beautiful passage about—"

She caught Theo's sudden stillness from the corner of her eye. The tensing of his jaw. The way his breathing had stopped.

"—about how grief is just love with nowhere to go," she finished lamely.

Sarah Chen's smile sharpened. "A draft? Of what?"

"A screenplay," Elise said, realizing her mistake a beat too late. "A friend's."

"Which friend?" Sarah's tone was light, but her eyes were hungry. "Theo, is this one of your famous secret projects? You're notoriously tight-lipped about what you're working on."

Theo's laugh was a shade too quick, a note too bright. "Elise has been reading the worst amateur efforts in London to help a friend of hers who teaches screenwriting. She's generous to a fault, aren't you, darling?"

He turned to her, his smile camera-perfect and his eyes sending a clear signal: *Fix this.*

"Absolutely," Elise said, her own laugh sounding hollow to her ears. "I can't help myself—I see potential in everything."

Sarah Chen let the moment hang, clearly scenting something beneath the surface. "That's lovely. And Theo, rumors are circulating that you've pitched a new film to some major producers. Anything you can share?"

Theo steered them smoothly into discussing the charity's upcoming fundraiser, and Elise let him take the lead, forcing herself to nod along while her mind raced. She'd been careless. The passage had lodged in her brain so thoroughly that she'd almost quoted it verbatim—Camille's words, or Theo's words about Camille, bleeding into her own speech like an infection.

They wrapped the segment with handshakes and warm farewells, the studio lights dimming as the cameras cut away. Sarah Chen's smile remained fixed until the producer called cut, then evaporated into professional neutrality.

"Lovely meeting you both," she said, already turning away.

Theo's grip on Elise's elbow as they walked toward the greenroom was bruising. The door swung shut behind them before he released her, spinning to face her with barely contained fury.

"Are you insane?"

"I'm sorry—"

"His passages could not be about *anyone* else. Everyone who knows me knows I write. Everyone who knows me well enough would know what that manuscript means." His voice was low, vicious. "You just told a national audience—and, more importantly, every producer I've ever pitched—that you've read something of mine you shouldn't have."

"I said it was a friend's screenplay," Elise protested, her own anger rising to meet his. "It was vague. I didn't mention your name or the title or—"

"You mentioned a passage." Theo stepped closer, and for a moment she saw something raw in his eyes—not anger, but fear. "That passage. That was the first thing I ever wrote about her. The first thing I ever *admitted* to myself. And you held it up to the light for two million viewers."

Something cracked in Elise's chest. Not guilt—she'd been prepared for guilt when she'd read his work, had known she was violating something sacred. But this was different. This was his grief, and she had paraded it for ratings.

"I didn't mean to," she said, her voice smaller than she intended. "It was just... it stayed with me. The way you wrote it. I wasn't thinking about who would hear it. I was thinking about how it made me feel."

Theo's laugh was broken. "You don't get to feel things about her. You don't get to use her to make yourself more interesting on talk shows."

"Is that what you think I was doing?"

"I don't know what you're doing." He ran a hand through his hair, his composure fracturing. "I don't know if you took the manuscript. I don't know if you've shared it with anyone. I don't know if this whole thing—the contract, the truce, this *performance*—is just another role for you."

Something in Elise's chest went cold. "You think I'd do that? After everything?"

"I think you're an actress," Theo said quietly. "And I know I'm a liability you've stopped pretending to trust."

The greenroom door opened, and Vivienne swept in, her face a mask of controlled urgency. "We have a problem."

"What else is new?" Elise muttered.

Vivienne's phone was already out, screen angled toward them. "That comment about the script—Sarah's producers have flagged it. The entertainment blogs are already running with speculation that Theo's working on a personal project and Elise has read it. The narrative is shifting from 'power couple' to 'she's leaking his secrets.'"

Theo's face went pale. "How bad?"

"Bad enough that Marcus is reaching out to me asking if we need PR help." Vivienne's expression was unreadable. "He's offering to manage the response personally."

The air left the room. Elise stared at Vivienne, her mind racing through implications she couldn't quite grasp. Marcus had been quiet for weeks. His last message had referenced her mother. And now he was volunteering to help control a scandal that he'd had nothing to do with creating?

"Why would he do that?" Elise asked carefully.

Vivienne's smile was thin. "That would be my question. Especially since his production company just announced they're producing Theo's new film—the one he pitched behind your back at the gala. Seems like quite the coincidence, doesn't it?"

Theo's head snapped toward Vivienne. "What are you talking about? I never signed with Marcus."

"No," Vivienne agreed. "But your producer at the gala just signed with him. And now Marcus controls the narrative about the project that might destroy your credibility before it even starts filming."

Elise watched the color drain from Theo's face as the pieces fell into place. Marcus had played them both—using Theo's ambition as a leash and Elise's secrets as a knife. And this interview had just handed Marcus the blade.