"Hello, Aiden. Are you okay?"

When Aiden heard that, he wondered for a second how Ava knew that he wasn't really fine. Her voice looked a bit more soft, like she was anxious and concerned about him.

Her next words explained why she knew that he wasn't okay.

"I was watching the award ceremony on TV and I saw you walking towards the exit during one of the awards. You didn't look good. So, I called you. What's going on?"

"I can't really explain it to you but I'm thinking of doing something that will put my career in risk. But I don't know if I'm gutsy enough to go with it."

Ava went silent hearing that. For a moment, she wondered if her ears were hearing wrong. But it didn't look like she did.

"What are you planning to do and why?"

"I can't tell you what I'm planning to do as I'm not sure about it myself. As for why, it's because I can't live with the regret that I didn't do anything when I had the chance. I don't want to just be like a puppet, ignoring things for my own benefit. That's too selfish."

Yet another silence continued for a while.

"I don't know what you are going to do but you sure it will end your career?"

"I don't know. It would at least put it at a major risk."

"Then why? Just don't do it. You have worked hard to achieve everything. One mistake would destroy all of it."

Aiden pondered on those words.

Years of hard work. Years of struggle. The days of driving a taxi and singing in bars. The days of starting out in movies and then finally, achieving a level of stardom he could be proud of.

One thing could push him right to the starting line and this time, he might not even be able to move ahead.

But maybe just ignoring things wasn't his way.

If a comedian like Levi Ritchie didn't fear Hollywood and make offensive jokes on them nonstop, then why was he fearing that much.

"It's fine if my career gets destroyed. I have enough to not be homeless and I could move back to India even if it really came to that. We have a great industry back home."

"Aiden, still"

"I have a question."

Aiden cut her off mid sentence and asked.

"What?"

"If I get blacklisted, will our friendship stay?"

He was very curious about this. Practically, Ava wouldn't like to involve herself with him if he actually got blacklisted from the industry.

He would not blame her for that. He would just feel disappointed.

"It will stay. And don't worry, I won't let you be blacklisted. I have some power in the industry."

Her voice came out from the other side. Aiden didn't know if she was serious or not.

But it felt good.

"Then, I will hold onto that."

He said and cut the call. He had been in the bathroom for thirty minutes already and he was sure that some staff member would already be looking for him.

As one of the nominees for a major award, cameramen were sure to focus on him a lot. So, they would have already noticed that he was absent.

After collecting himself and settling his hair nicely, he went back to his table. When Wade saw him sitting down next to him, he took a sigh of relief.

He was going to get up to look for him.

"Where were you? They just gave the award for Best Supporting actors. Currently, they are announcing the nominations for Best Actress in a leading role."

"So, my category is next."

"Yes."

Aiden craned his neck to look at the stage. Apparently, Ray Hardy and a female model he didn't recognise was on the stage. They were presenting the award for 'Best actress in a leading role'.

After announcing the nominees, everyone went silent and a few people looked at all the actresses that were nominated.

The winner was revealed then and an actress in her 30s stood up to pick the award. She had given an amazing performance as a lead in a psychological action movie this year.

Aiden had liked the movie quite a lot. Though, her performance was undoubtedly the standout of the movie.

She went up on the stage to collect her award. When she was giving her speech, Wade looked at Aiden.

"Please don't do anything stupid if you are the winner. Just copy what she's saying and get it over with. When you are stronger and more powerful, you can help out Dustin."

Wade said and Aiden thought that his plan wasn't bad. Just he didn't want to wait that long.

If he really played the long game, then there are going to be way more victims like Dustin.

That's why, he just nodded his head at Wade instead of saying anything.

The female actress finished her speech and got off stage. Levi Ritchie appeared and called out the presenter for the next award.

The presenter was an old director that had retired a long time ago but was now handling important positions in a few director's guilds.

"Tonight, there have been several excellent people who have won awards. These are the people who have mastered their craft truly. The next category is very special in that regard as it includes some excellent, excellent actors who have given performances that are hard to top."

He said and proceeded to talk out loud the name of the nominees. The first name itself was Aiden and the camera quickly turned towards him.

The second name was of an old actor who was in his 60s but he had given a great performance in an indie movie about an old man teaching his grandson about old age cinema.

The third nominee was an actor who had played the role of a mathematician in a biopic. Aiden had particularly liked his performance and had felt like he was his biggest competition tonight.

In the end, the fourth nominee was an actor who played the role of a gangster in a 70s style gangster movie. It was a revenge drama with a healthy dose of emotions and the actor had nailed every scene he was a part of.

After the nominations were done, the presenter opened up the envelope in his hand and reading the name, he smiled.

Then, he took a look around the audience and opened his mouth.

"The winner of 'Best male actor in a leading role' is... probably my favourite performance of the year. Aiden Silvereye!"

As soon as he took the name, claps and cheers resounded within the whole venue. The actors who were nominated with Aiden felt a bit disappointed and rightly so but they hid it and clapped for Aiden.

Directors who were in the venue whispered to each other about Aiden while a few young actresses and models instantly got their eyes on him, knowing that his stocks were going to rise up again after tonight.

Him having no date also made him more attractive in their eyes.

Other actors some young, some old looked at him with a gaze like they were acknowledging his talent. Him winning the award meant a lot of things after all.

Wade, who was sitting next to him, wasn't able to contain himself when Aiden won.

"Aiden, you won. You damn bastard! You won!"

People in that table all congratulated him but strangely, he had a very calm expression on his face. Like he was already expecting himself to win.

He stood up and slowly made his way towards the stage.

It was weird but during that whole walk, his mind had gone blank. Maybe it was because of the sound of thunderous clapping or something else. He didn't know.

"Congratulations, young man."

"Thank you."

The old director who was acting as the presenter handed over the award to Aiden and shook his hand.

He took a look at the award. Like the name of the event, it was literally a trophy with a small globe on top of it. It looked like something that would look amazing in a living room.

Holding the award in his hand, he addressed the crowd.

Everyone was looking at him with smiles on their faces. He was one of the youngest winners of the award and it was the best award for an actor too.

They all wanted to listen to what he had to say.

A lot of things were also going through Aiden's mind.

'This is it, I guess.'

He thought in his mind and closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them up, he could see in one of the corners, Philips Fraser was sitting.

He was whispering something to a man next to him.

"First of all, I have prepared a speech tonight to thank everyone who has supported me till now in my career."

He began and the crowd quieted down.

"There were lots of names. Lots of people to thank as I won't be here without them. The team of [The Black Saint] helped me give my best performance till date. I'm very thankful for that."

Ray and Zavier in the crowd smiled hearing that alongside other people from the crew and cast that were invited.

At this point, none of the people in the crowd have even guessed his next words.

"That's why, I'm sorry that I will be disappointing you all tonight. I won't be taking the award!"