Kaylee held her place at the very center of the stage and drew in a long, steady breath. When her gaze lifted again, everything about her had shifted. A raw, aching emptiness settled over her eyes.
She threw herself into the improv, taking command of the wide, vacant audition hall.
Her arms unfurled with unhurried, measured elegance, as though she were wrapped in layers of rich velvet, gliding through a lone, final waltz among the charred remnants of war. Each step landed with quiet precision, her face set in such fierce concentration it bordered on devotion.
From the dim edges of the auditorium, the director and producers watched in silence, leaning forward without realizing it.
Halfway through, her body snapped with a violent jolt, like a phantom bullet had ripped straight through her spine. She faltered, all color draining from her face as a stifled, uneven breath tore free. When she spoke again, the clarity in her voice had splintered into something thin and fragile.
The director's pulse surged into his throat. The room disappeared for him entirely. He wasn't watching a performer anymore. He was looking at Alexandra herself—fatally wounded after her last act of sabotage, her life slipping away before his eyes.
Her breaths turned faint, her voice dimming like a flame struggling against the wind. The agony in her gaze slowly softened, giving way to a quiet, almost eerie triumph.
When the moment reached its end, all strength abandoned her. She crumpled onto the chilled stage, that final glimmer of victory easing into the still hush of a story come to rest—a deep, marrow-level relief. When her eyelids finally sank shut in calm silence, the entire room froze.
It took a while before the director pulled himself back. "Incredible!" he shouted, his voice charged with excitement. "I knew it! You are Alexandra!"
The producers and casting team broke into applause, yet Declan stayed where he was, his hands knotted tight in his lap.
"No," he snapped, his tone cutting clean through the celebration. "Choosing the lead from a single scene is downright irresponsible! We still have plenty of candidates left to see. There's definitely someone better."
The director looked at him as though he'd lost all sense.
Irresponsible? Someone better?
If Declan hadn't been connected to the lead investor, security would've dragged him out already.
A sharp, icy laugh slipped from Kaylee. She understood Declan's game perfectly—he was stalling for Joyce.
Her lip curled as she exposed him without effort. "If you're that intent on backing your favorite, then bring her in for a comparison read. There's no need to sit there… embarrassing yourself like this."
Declan's face darkened into a blotchy, furious red. He could only watch as Kaylee dipped into a polite bow toward the director and moved for the exit. Jaw clenched, he rushed out after her.
"Kaylee, stop right there!" He charged down the corridor, his hand snapping shut around her wrist like iron. "You're not taking this role! You're handing it over to Joyce!"
Kaylee lowered her gaze to his grip until he released her, a cold, derisive laugh rising in her chest. "Oh? The two of you look awfully close. It's obvious you don't respect me at all as your fiancee. So let's not drag this out—call the engagement off right now."
Declan went rigid, a raw, unfiltered disbelief sweeping across his features.
Kaylee was dumping him? This was the same woman who once clung to every word he uttered, the one who seemed to breathe for his approval?!
He hurried to make sense of it, persuading himself it was nothing more than a petty, jealous outburst.
He deliberately gentled his tone, slipping into a carefully measured, condescending calm. "Are you seriously going to toss aside our wedding over a film? Kaylee, I'm asking you to let this go—for the sake of what we're building together."
He arranged his expression into that well-practiced look of a concerned fiance. "You're meant to be my wife. An acting career doesn't suit you, not when it means putting yourself on display for everyone to see."
Kaylee's mouth twisted, revulsion plain in the curve of it. "It's the twenty-first century, Declan, and you're still trying to sell me that 'dutiful housewife' nonsense? I hate to disappoint you, but my life's ambition isn't to sit pretty as your little trophy wife. I've already severed things with the Harris family. You might as well marry Joyce make her your doll—she doesn't stand a chance in this line of work anyway. Besides..."
She offered him a cutting, sardonic smile. "Trash finds its match. May you stay stuck together till the very end."
Declan's eyes narrowed, his pupils shrinking.
Had Kaylee completely lost her grip on reality?
Watching her turn away from him, something inside him fractured. He surged forward, his face contorting into something harsh and almost savage as he grabbed her arm once more.
"You really think the director holds all the power here?" he snapped. "Let me spell it out for you—the film's main backer is my uncle! One word from me, and you're shut out of the entire industry!"
Kaylee looked at him, visibly startled.
How could the biggest investor behind this project be Declan's uncle? She clearly remembered that—
Taking her reaction as fear, Declan let out a smug, victorious scoff. "Now be sensible. Go tell the director you'll quit and give the role to Joyce; then you come back and marry me. You'll live the rest of your days in luxury. I'll hand you everything you could ever want—so don't act ungrateful."
His words had scarcely settled when a low, ice-cold voice drifted through the hallway. "So... this is how you've chosen to manage the casting I placed in your hands?"
