You Were Never That Important Chapter 08
Konner raised an eyebrow. “You walked off set after I already paid you. Are you seriously going to deny it?”
He took a step forward, holding Raiden’s gaze. “You kept your phone off for a solid month and made sure no one could reach you. The legal papers were served right to your house.”
Raiden opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
He snapped his gaze down, scrambling to dig his phone out of his pocket and boot it up.
He stared at the screen in shock.
It lit up with dozens of missed calls and unread messages.
He tapped through them, one by one.
His agency.
His manager.
The legal department.
The last one was a formal WhatsApp message from his agency: “Due to your prolonged absence and severe breach of contract, the company is terminating your representation. Please contact the legal department regarding financial compensation.”
Raiden’s arm dropped to his side, the phone nearly slipping from his grip.
Standing nearby, I watched the whole thing unfold with a slight smile.
“Brilliant, Mr. Barnard.”
I took two steps forward, turning my head as I brushed past him. “You had the nerve to cater to your girlfriend’s every whim, but you don’t have the guts to face the consequences?”
Raiden’s head snapped up, ready to argue, but Konner was already waving him off.
Two security guards stepped up and grabbed him by the arms.
“No! Mr. Gorney! Mr. Gorney, listen to me—”
His voice faded down the hall as they dragged him away from the press conference.
Cierra stood completely frozen. Her face flushed bright red with embarrassment before draining to a shocked, ashen pallor.
She looked at me and opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
I looked away from her and flashed a professional smile at the cameras. “I apologize for the delay.
“The official press conference will begin momentarily. Please, head inside.”
By the next day, the incident was dominating every trending topic online.
“Raiden Walks Off Set.”
“Raiden Sued.”
“Vivien Hits Three Million Followers.”
“The Inside Story of the Fire Within Recast.”
They were lined up, one after another, right at the top of the charts.
The comments were practically unanimous: “This is hilarious. How do you act this entitled with only half a million followers?”
“The lead actress has three million followers and stays grounded. Why is he on such a high horse?”
“Real-life couple on screen? More like real-life jokes.”
That afternoon, Raiden’s agency released an official statement: “Statement Regarding the Severe Breach of Contract by Former Client Raiden Barnard.”
The language was formal, but the message was crystal clear: he’d walked out on his job, they were terminating his contract, and he was on the hook for the financial damages.
The comments section was flooded with people cheering the decision.
“Smart move by the agency cutting him loose completely.”
“He was totally out of line. What kind of actor just bails halfway through a shoot?”
“He abandoned a crew of five hundred people without a second thought. He really thought he was some big-shot boss.”
At the same time, Raiden’s official fan club announced it was disbanding.
In the replies, former supporters declared they were done with him.
“Unfollowing. This is so embarrassing.”
“How did I ever support this guy?”
“I’m out. His behavior is just indefensible.”
Overnight, Raiden’s follower count tanked from five hundred thousand to two hundred thousand — and the numbers just kept dropping.
Meanwhile, the full extent of his debts leaked to the public.
He owed the production crew 640 thousand dollars in damages, and his agency was demanding a penalty of 160 thousand dollars.
Factoring in various other contract violations, his total debt was pushing a million bucks.
How was an actor who’d only debuted three months ago supposed to pay off a million dollars?