Emergence Novel Chapter 06
He looked down at me, casting me in shadow. “If you just come back to me, I can let bygones be bygones.”
“You have no job, average looks, and poor abilities. How are you going to survive without me?”
I laughed bitterly and shook off his hand. “Damian, we’ve already broken up.”
“How I live my life is my own business. Please stop judging me so freely.”
Just then, a staff member waved at me from across the room. I walked straight ahead, ignoring Damian completely.
I thought Damian would finally give up and back off. But as I sat on the stage preparing my speech, he appeared again like a bad penny.
Damian looked anxious. He grabbed my hand and tried to drag me outside.
It hurt. I yanked my hand away angrily. “Damian, what the hell do you want?”
Damian frowned and said in a low voice, “Elara, even if you’re a huge fan of Carefree, this isn’t the place to act out.”
“The seat you’re sitting in belongs to Carefree. Have you considered that showing up like this and sitting in her seat makes you look like a crazy stalker? You’ll make her hate you.”
“Elara, how old are you? Why don’t you understand how the world works?”
His voice was a bit loud. Everyone in the room turned to look at us.
Damian was always like this. He loved scolding me in public, leaving me drowning in those questioning, probing
stares.
Those gazes always emboldened him, making him more certain of his righteousness.
It was like he was saying, “See? Everyone’s looking at you like that. You must have done something wrong.”
Just like now, after I had been stared at enough, Damian pulled me along while explaining to the people around us with a hint of embarrassment.
“Sorry, this is my girlfriend. She’s a fan of Carefree and snuck in without knowing the rules. I’ll take her away now.
A woman nearby finally could not help but speak up. “But she is Carefree.”
Damian froze. “That’s impossible.”
Yet when he looked around, everyone just stared at him quietly, saying nothing. Those silent gazes held doubt, mockery, confusion.
Just like the ones that used to fall on me.
As if realizing something, Damian whipped around to look at me, his eyes full of disbelief.
“You’re Carefree?”
I finally pulled my hand free and gave my first genuine smile of the day. “Yes, I’m Carefree.”
“So, Damian, you and your production company can get lost now.”
In the end, Damian did not leave. From the moment I stepped onto the stage to speak, his gaze never left me.
His eyes held shock, helplessness, and a fleeting trace of admiration. He probably never imagined that his former girlfriend, the one he dismissed as worthless, could shine so brightly.
After the meeting ended, Damian waited for me at the door.
He lowered his head, his tone carrying a rare hint of caution. “Elara, I really didn’t know you were Carefree.”
“Today, when you stood on that stage, it was like you became a different person. I barely recognized you.”
“Elara.” Damian took a deep breath, pressed his lips together, and spoke as if he had made a difficult decision.
“Actually, you’re pretty impressive.”
In the past, hearing those words would have made me so happy. After all, I used to study desperately, exercise relentlessly, and constantly do things against my own will, all just to earn his approval.