Chapter 5: The Superstar's Fake Marriage

"T-this b-brat! Y-you will be the death of me!" The chairman exploded with anger, his face completely flushed as he pointed his cane at Zesther

"G-grandpa, please calm down" Jarx said, trying to calm the old man lest he suffers from a heart attack

"T-this... w-we will talk this out on our own. P-please leave this matter to us and don't be stressed over it" he continued, trying to push the chairman out of the door

If the chairman were to continue speaking with his grandson, Jarx feared that he wouldn't be able to endure it

"No! I will not leave this room unless that crazy bastard provided a solution! Jarx, I cannot let you suffer!" He insisted as he strode forward, standing in front of his grandson with a stern look on his face

"It wasn't me that created this mess, why are all of you pushing me?" Zesther complained and at this moment, Jarx has calmed down a bit

His thoughts cleared up, not blinded by rage anymore. Yes, it was not Zesther's fault and they shouldn't have been pushing him

"Grandpa, please forget it. This matter... I will deal with this alone" Jarx said as he tried to pull the chairman away from his grandson

"But Jarx..."

"Please, grandpa, it's fine. I have lived all these years without him and his help and I can continue doing so..."

Jarx shouldn't have expected that Zesther would help him. With that man's brain, he definitely knows what this matter would do to Jarx's career. But since they are basically strangers now, Zesther would not help him as that is the kind of person he is

Jarx stared at his ex-husband, his eyes showing a hint of despondence as a certain memory flashed in his mind

"Take one more step away and I promise that you will completely disappear from my life. You know me, Jarx, I am true to my words"

Unpleasant words and unpleasant memories with an unpleasant person

"Please excuse me" Jarx said as he walked away on his own. His heart gaining a layer of ice

The image of his straight back has mirrored a certain memory stored in Zesther's brain

That very back, standing straight, strong and mighty was the very same back that he had seen years ago

"Disappearing in your life... good then, that is exactly what I fucking want..."

The same back but with different sentences in a different year...

Zesther finds his breath stuck in his throat, unable to go further. His heart beating at an abnormal speed as his hands itched to reach out to the person that he failed to pull back years ago

"Wait..." Zesther suddenly said, surprising even himself. He doesn't know what kind of demon possessed him to say that

Jarx's footsteps froze, waiting for whatever Zesther would say to him

"I will help..." he said causing Jarx to look at him with a raised eyebrow

"Why the sudden change of mind?" He questioned, his heart filled with doubts

Zesther Blaire Nixon would never do anything to a 'stranger' that would not benefit him

"Depending on how this situation was solved, I would also be affected. In case you decided to speak the truth, this might give people a wrong impression. Leading those little actors and actresses to try and climb on my bed which would be inconvenient for me" Zesther blurted. His sentences sound like they were constructed in his mind upon deliberate considerations but he was actually just mindlessly opening his mouth, completely different from how he usually is

"Ha..." Jarx scoffed at that while shaking his head as if he is unable to endure Zesther's conceitedness. "You're delusional. I would never want to climb on your bed" he said while trying to show as much disgust as possible

"Firstly, I didn't mean that. And secondly, you technically did try to do so in the past, don't act as if you didn't want to do things with me before. So, please take a seat and let's discuss how we should deal with this scandal"

"Y-you...!"

Jarx was tongue-tied from the immense anger in his heart. His chest moving erratically as he tried to contain his emotions as much as possible

"Yes, yes, Jarx, sit down hehehe" the chairman said while trying to stop himself from laughing

His grandson is hateful but at the same time, if he were to constantly speak about the past, that might just reignite Jarx's feelings for him and they might have a chance to rekindle their relationship

As much as Jarx wanted to storm off directly, thinking about how this would affect his agency and also his manager that is a close friend of his...

Jarx has no choice but to calm himself for the nth time this night

He made sure to shoot Zesther a glare first before he sat on the chair again

"So... what's the plan?" He asks, hoping to finish this matter as soon as possible since he doesn't want to stay in this place any longer

"Calm down, the Flash, I don't have a mutated brain. I need time to think of a solution" Zesther replied that simply irks Jarx to death

"Y-you!"

The room sank in silence as they started to think of a solution or at least two of the people inside did

As for the Chairman... this is a rare chance for his 'grandsons' to spend time together, why would he try and expedite things?

"Kuya! Kuya! I thought of a solution!" Shanty's voice of excitement rang before she even entered the room. When she did, strands of her hair sticks to her forehead thanks to her sweat, her mouth and nose trying to catch a breath, and her hand holding a book in her chest

"Shanty?"

"Kuya, look, this is one of my favorite books!"

The young woman excitedly showed off the book in her hand. On the cover was the book's title - The Superstar's Fake Marriage

"This is a story about a very famous actor. Almost everyone in the country and even in foreign countries knows and loves him. He was basically everyone's dream husband..."

Shanty started the abrupt storytelling and it only stops when Zesther cut her off

"Cut to the chase"

The young woman pouted her lips at that but she still obeyed

"In the book, the main character because of a scandal entered a fake marriage with one of his fans! The solution I thought of is announcing that there would be a live adaptation movie of the book! Coincidentally, the names are the same as both of your names!"

Zesther's first thought at that was doubt. What shit luck coincidence was this for their names to appear in a book?

Are their names that common or something?

As for Jarx, he was not as critical as Zesther. He simply thinks that this is a plausible plan

Star Entertainment is a giant conglomerate. It not only signed artists but it also has its own ecosystem that can stand on its own

Star Entertainment is merely a blanket term when in fact, it was a group of different companies with different work but are related to each other

There is a publishing company for signing writers to print and sell their novels. If the writers in the company were given the chance to turn their books into a movie or tv series, the priority for adaptation would be in the hands of Star Entertainment

There is also the company that trains aspiring actors and actresses that would then sign with Star Entertainment

There is also a company for directors and producers

This ecosystem ensured that the company can stand alone on its own and many IPs would be easily secured by them

If the 'The Superstars Fake Marriage' is also a book under the Star Entertainment then turning it into a movie would definitely be easy

For Jarx, this is a very good solution but...

"That... the leak happened earlier unexpectedly when I was receiving my award. I-I was taken aback and if we simply say that the marriage certificate is for the movie... people might not believe it..."

Jarx was literally dragged by his manager off stage as they tried to dodge the questions of the reporters

His actions can already be seen as guilty. If they were to simply announce that the leaked marriage certificate is a prop for a movie, who would even believe it?

"I'm really sorry, kuya..." Shanty said guiltily but Jarx just shook his head

"It's fine, you didn't mean to do it"

"Still, I want to help, kuya! How about this, since you and kuya Zesther have the same names as the characters, we can announce that you two are the main actors. And if people ask why you didn't answer their question on the award night, let's say that the adaptation is a secret matter and it would be a breach of the contract if you were to say anything!" Shanty suggested happily as she thinks that she was fixing the situation