Outside the auction venue, a black van sat quietly among a line of luxury vehicles, its tinted windows reflecting the glow of the city lights. Inside, the air smelled faintly of leather and cold night rain.
Leo leaned back against the seat, his head turned slightly as he stared at his reflection in the darkened window. The glass showed a familiar face, yet it also felt strangely foreign. His eyes looked brighter than he remembered. The tired expression he had worn for weeks had been erased, replaced with determination and hope.
The past few weeks had been nothing short of a rollercoaster. At first, it had been insults, endless ones. Mockery from strangers who didn't know him at all. Headlines tearing him apart word by word, stripping away his dignity until there was nothing left but a villainous farce. He had gone from a famous actor to a public joke, someone people spat on for entertainment.
Then, just as suddenly, the tide had turned.
