use in this lifetime, and my name is cemented in Hollywood history, and I know how hollow it is, I am kicking myself for every single second I chose it over loving her proudly. But that’s a luxury. You can do that when you're rich and famous. You can decide that wealth and renown are worthless when you have them. Back then, I still thought I had all the time I needed to do everything I wanted. That if I just played my cards right, I could have it all.” “You thought she’d come back to you,” I say. “I knew she’d come back to me,” Evelyn says. “And she knew it, too. We both knew our time wasn’t over.” I hear the distinct sound of my phone. But it isn’t the familiar tone of a regular text message. It is the beep I set just for David, last year when I got the phone, just after we were married, when it never occurred to me that he’d ever stop texting. I look down briefly to see his name. And beneath it: J think we should talk. This is too huge, M. It’s happening too fast. We have to talk about it. I put it out of my mind instantly. “So you knew she was coming back to you, but you married Rex North anyway?” I ask, refocused. Evelyn lowers her head for a moment, preparing to explain herself. “Anna Karenina was way over budget. We were weeks behind schedule. Rex was Count Vronsky. By the time the director’s cut came in, we knew the entire thing had to be reedited, and we needed to bring someone else in to save it.” “And you had a stake in the box office.” “Both Harry and I did. It was his first movie after leaving Sunset Studios. If it flopped, he would have a hard time getting another meeting in town.” “And you? What would have happened to you if it flopped?” “If my first project after Boute-en-Train didn’t do well, I was worried I'd be a flash in the pan. I’d risen from ashes more than once by that point. But I didn’t want to have to do it again. So I did the one thing I knew would get people desperate to see the movie. I married Count Vronsky.”