We Will Love Again – Episode 36
Alaina declined the producer’s condition before discussing money. She had not fought to reclaim her project only to attach Noah’s name to it as proof of value.
“Think about the exposure,” the producer urged. “His scandal is driving extraordinary interest.”
“Then you’re buying a scandal, not my story.” Alaina ended the call with shaking hands.
Noah had heard enough from beside the car to understand. “You should not lose the deal because of me.”
“I would lose the reason I left Crazy Maple.” She met his gaze. “I need one thing in my life that isn’t defined by us.”
He nodded, although disappointment crossed his face. “Then find the producer who wants the work.”
The drive home remained quiet. Los Angeles lights moved across the windshield while both remembered a time when silence between them had felt safe.
At her building, Noah stayed behind the wheel. “I owe you an apology that isn’t tied to the acquisition.”
Alaina waited. She had heard regret from him, but not yet the full accounting.
“I used what I knew about you to hurt you,” he said. “I gave you impossible work, invaded your privacy, and made your job unsafe. Believing a lie explains my anger. It does not excuse my choices.”
His precision mattered. He did not hide behind heartbreak or ask her to comfort him.
“I’m sorry too,” Alaina said. “I decided you would be better without me, and I never gave you the dignity of knowing why.”
“We were both trying to control the ending.”
“And we both got it wrong.” The shared truth carried no easy reconciliation, but it cleared a space where honesty could remain.
Noah asked whether she wanted him to stop contacting her. The question hurt because he meant it.
“No,” she answered. “I want you to stop turning every feeling into a decision that has to be made tonight.”
A faint smile touched his mouth. “I can try.”
Alaina left the car with lighter steps. Nothing was repaired, yet neither of them had lied.
The next day, a smaller production company requested her pitch without conditions. Its budget was modest, but the creative control would remain hers.
As Alaina prepared to accept, an attachment arrived anonymously: internal Crazy Maple documents alleging that her series still contained material owned by the studio.