"Rolling in three... two... action!"
Aster stood at the edge of the set's wreckage. Fake blood stained his hands, a dim fire flickering. The smell of stage smoke and burnt fabric filled the air. Cameras zoomed in as he stepped forward—slow, shaking, eyes glassy.
The scene was raw: the revenge finally executed, the last enemy brought to ruin, and the grief threatening to drown the satisfaction.
His lips trembled, voice rasping with emotion.
Tears brimmed—real ones.
Because it wasn't just a character's pain anymore. It was his.
"Cut!" the director yelled. "That's a wrap, everyone!"
Applause broke out. Crew members congratulated him as he blinked rapidly, trying to shake off the fury coiling in his chest.
Yanna approached him quietly, holding his coat. "Aster."
He turned to her. She hesitated, lowering her voice.
"There's someone outside. Says he knows you."
She leaned in, wary. "Honestly... he looks kind of unhinged. Do you want me to send him away?"
Aster slid into his coat slowly.
Then he smiled—cold, knowing.
"No. It's just in time."
The air outside the set was warm, but Aster felt nothing.
Not when he saw Evan leaning against the wall like he had every right to be there. Like he hadn't been cut off. Like he hadn't tried to ruin him once already.
Aster didn't even give him a greeting. Just:
"Come with me."
They walked to the back lot, behind the trailers. Empty. Quiet.
Evan's expression twisted. "Wow. Ice cold. No 'how are you,' no 'long time no see'?"
"I didn't think you'd want small talk from a 'whore,'" Aster said coolly. "Isn't that what you came here to say?"
Evan leaned against the wall with practiced ease, arms crossed. "I just want to talk."
"I already said what I needed to. You and Lianne—"
"Lianne told me what you said," Evan cut in, voice calm but defensive. "And honestly, Aster? It sounds like you're being paranoid."
There it was. Same Evan. Same Gaslighting entry.
Evan pressed on, his voice lowering, softening—manipulating. "You think I'd do that to you? After everything?"
"I gave you everything," Evan hissed. "You were a disaster when I met you. Trailing a baby, starving half the time, sleeping in moldy rentals. I was the only one who didn't abandon you."
"You say that like you didn't benefit from it."
Evan scoffed. "What could I possibly get from you besides your pretty little face?"
Aster's jaw ticked. "You really believe that, don't you? That I was just a body you dragged along to feel important."
Evan stepped closer, nostrils flaring. "You were important because I made you that way. I was your only real shot at this industry. Without me, you'd still be cleaning baby bottles in a shitty apartment. I let you rise. And now you think you're better than me?"
"You didn't let me rise. You just hoped I'd never stand up on my own."
"Don't act so high and mighty!" Evan spat. "Who even is your backer? What do they get for bankrolling you, huh? Blowjobs? Your ass in their bed? Because that's the only thing you've ever had going for you."
Aster stared at him—long and slow.
"Who is it?" Evan spat. "Some ugly ass CEO? An old hag? You won't tell me, huh? Afraid I'll scare them off with what I know about you?"
"You don't know me," Aster said softly. "Not anymore."
"I know enough," Evan snapped. "I know what you're capable of. You think I don't see the pattern? You latch on to anyone with money. Always have."
Aster's lips curved into a smile, bitter and sharp. "Says the guy who lived off my bank account while calling himself my manager."
"I helped you," Evan hissed. "I kept you fed. I got you your first real gig. I stayed, even when you were dead weight. I could've ditched you when your crazy mom jumped off a roof, or when your drunk father was killed off for being stupid, or when your junkie stepmom left that freak kid behind. But no—I stayed. And this is how you repay me?"
"You stayed," Aster said, voice dangerously calm, "because you thought I'd never leave. Because I was weak, and you liked me better that way."
Evan sneered. "And look at you now. Acting like you're better than me. Just because someone else is footing the bill for your comeback."
"You still don't get it, do you?"
Aster took a step closer.
"I crawled through hell. Alone. I raised a kid that wasn't even mine. I gave up every meal, every night's sleep, every damn chance I had just to keep him alive. You? You watched. You acted like a friend while setting traps at every turn. You didn't carry me—you leashed me."
Evan's voice broke. "I stayed. I could've made things worse. But I didn't."
"You want a trophy for not destroying me?" Aster laughed. "What next? Should I kiss your feet for only stealing some of my earnings instead of all of it?"
"I kept you company when no one else would. I was the only one who didn't walk out!" Evan snap.
"No. You were the only one who stayed long enough to sharpen the knife before you used it." Aster snap back.
Evan's expression contorted, raw and ugly. "You owe me. You don't get to cut me off like I'm nothing."
"I don't owe you a single breath," Aster replied, voice flat. It feels like Evan is only listening to his own tune. "You want to talk about loyalty? About staying through the bad times? Fine. I remember my father coming home smelling like cheap liquor, dragging some girl behind him with a bump under her shirt. I remember. I remember my mother locking herself in the bathroom while I tried to hush a crying baby. I remember her dying. I remember him dying. I remember the girl leaving."
He stepped forward again, close enough to see Evan's breath hitch.
"I remember you, Evan. Sitting next to me at the funeral. Telling me it would be okay. Then laughing behind my back the same day, saying how pathetic I was. Calling Finn a parasite. Trying to convince me to sell my story to tabloids."
Evan's face darkened. "You're rewriting things. You need me to be the villain so you can pretend you were innocent."
"No," Aster said. "I wasn't innocent. I was desperate. And you took full advantage."
Silence stretched long and thick between them.
Then Evan, softly—almost deranged:
"You're nothing without me."
Aster smiled. That sounds like a final struggle. Retarded and Desperate.
"Then you should've made sure I stayed broken." He whispered smiling. Like a devil. Teasing. Taunting.
Evan blinked, startled. Aster feels different. Like he is slipping through his fingers. What went wrong?
"You think this new life is permanent?" Evan spat, trying to regain control. "This is just another fantasy. He'll throw you away when you stop being shiny, and when he does, I'll still be here. You'll come crawling back." Yes. He will. Cause Aster is basically his. He helped him before. Aster just have to follow him and do what he tells him to do. Just like before.
"No," Aster said coldly. "I won't crawl. But I'll watch you do it."
Evan's lip curled. "You can't erase me." Desperate. Regain Control.
"Why would I erase a cockroach when I can trap it and slowly crush it under.my.heel?" Aster, mustering all the hate he had in his two life, stressed every word.
Silence.
Evan trembled with rage and something else—confusion. Fear.
But Aster already turned his back and started walking away.
How dare he. How dare this guy!
"You'll regret this!"
Aster didn't stop.
"You're nothing without me!"
Desperately, Evan run after him.
Evan's fist flew before he knew it.
Aster could dodge—but he didn't try.
The punch cracked against his cheek. Hard.
He stumbled slightly but remained upright, blinking slowly.
Then, deliberately, Aster stepped back.—just right so the two crew members rounding the corner could see and gasped.
"Woah—what the hell?"
"Is that blood—?"
Aster didn't say anything. Just very slowly touched his split lip, looking dazed. Like he couldn't believe what happened.
Vulnerable. Helpless.
"He just punched him," one of the lighting techs said. The other one run off to look for someone.
Like on cue, Yanna ran forward. "Aster?!"
Yanna immediately supported the shaken up Aster. "What the heck are you trying to do?!" She snapped at Evan while protecting Aster behind her
Evan's rage boiled over. This little shit! "Don't act like the victim now! You think just because someone rich is backing you, you can erase what I gave you?!" He really wants to give that ungrateful guy another punch!
"Sir, step back," the staff said firmly. "I'm calling security."
Evan lunged again but just in time to be hold off by the other crews called on by the staff.
Aster remained still—silent, blinking up through long lashes, the perfect image of a shaken actor keeping his composure.
Yanna's eyes flared. "Someone call the police."
Evan thrashed against the grip holding him, completely losing it. "You son of a bitch! You're mine! You don't get to walk away like I'm trash!"
Aster tilted his head and look away. Seeing this, Yanna gently soothed his back and glared at Evan. "We will not let this matter go, Mrister" she gently guided Aster to his Van.
Evan snarled, but he was already being dragged away.
As he disappeared, screaming and cursing, Aster was led to sit in the van. Yanna calling Jace to report and his other assistants looking for medicine to save his face.
When he is finally alone, Aster calmly leaned back to the seat and touch the small cut in his lips. He sighed and smiled. "You really should've stayed irrelevant, Evan."
That's one.
Next time, I won't be so nice.