The Kiss that Sparked it All

Chapter 2345

Mara’s cryptic text, complete with a selfie, buzzed on Ivy’s phone just as she was engrossed in reviewing the next day’s script sent by Colton..

Sometimes, Ivy had to hash out plot points with Colton, and had she decided to go to bed. early that evening, she would have missed Mara’s bombshell photo. But as fate would have it, she was in the midst of a late-night chat with Colton.

Curious about what Mara could possibly have sent her, Ivy tapped into the conversation thread only to find a selfie of Mara and Balfour!

Disbelief washed over her as she zoomed in on the photo. It was unmistakably Balfour, and there was Mara, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

send her

chat, Ivy attempted to open the message again, only to discover Mara had retracted the previous

the wrong person] came Mara’s nonchalant follow-up.

off her phone, content in the knowledge that she wouldn’t be the one losing sleep that night.

of Ivy’s shock and rage upon seeing the photo and message filled Mara with an unspeakable glee, a rush more intoxicating than the moment the picture was taken. Tossing and turning in her bed, excitement kept her awake

sooner rather than later.

Mara was right about one thing: Ivy had been staring blankly at her conversation with Mara for a solid half-hour, reeling from

her grappling for answers. She didn’t understand how it had happened, and Balfour was even angry when she made a scene about moving out alone. He was concerned that she wasn’t taking her well-being seriously. As an actress, she prided herself on seeing through facades, discerning genuine emotion from performance. Yet how could Balfour, within mere days, be so intimately cozy with another woman? Could it be that even she, the actress, had been fooled by Balfour’s act? Had his pleas for her to stay been nothing but a charade? Was he, in fact, eagerly awaiting her departure so he could be