Seraphina Rose was glowing.
That was the word her team liked to use.
Glowing.
She stood on the red carpet beneath a canopy of flashing cameras, dressed in a white couture gown that clung to her figure like devotion. Diamonds framed her neck. Her makeup was flawless—soft, elegant, harmless.
The perfect image.
The Nation's New Sweetheart.
"Seraphina! Over here!"
"Seraphina, how does it feel to replace Avery Rivers as Luxelle's global ambassador?"
"Seraphina, any comments on Avery's recent… situation?"
She smiled.
Practiced.
Effortless.
"I wish Avery the best," Seraphina said into the microphones, her voice gentle, almost sorrowful. "It's always sad to see someone struggle after reaching such heights."
She tilted her head slightly, as if searching for the right words.
"I heard she's filming some… indie project," she continued. "In a warehouse, I think? With a director who hasn't worked in years."
A soft laugh escaped her lips.
"I hope she finds peace in her… retirement."
The reporters laughed with her.
Not loudly.
Politely.
Cruelly.
Cameras clicked faster.
Headlines were already being drafted.
SERAPHINA ROSE GRACEFUL AS EVERAVERY RIVERS' FALL CONTINUESFROM PENTHOUSES TO WAREHOUSES
Seraphina waved, thanked everyone, and stepped into her limousine.
The door closed.
The smile vanished.
She leaned back against the leather seat and closed her eyes.
For a few seconds, her breathing was uneven.
"Idiot," she muttered under her breath. "Why am I even talking about her?"
Avery Rivers was finished.
That was what Marcus said.
What Titan said.
What the industry said.
A washed-up star filming a trash indie movie.
Nothing to worry about.
Her phone buzzed.
An unknown email address.
No subject line.
Seraphina frowned.
"Probably another fan edit," she said dismissively, unlocking the screen.
Then she tapped the attachment.
Ten seconds.
That was all.
The video loaded slowly, grainy, unpolished.
A warehouse.
Harsh lighting.
Avery stood in the frame.
No makeup.
No glamour.
Just her face.
Her eyes.
Seraphina's breath caught.
Avery wasn't acting the way idols acted.
She wasn't performing for sympathy.
She wasn't trying to be liked.
She was existing inside the character.
In those ten seconds, Avery's eyes shifted—from disbelief, to quiet calculation, to absolute emotional annihilation.
There were no tears.
No raised voice.
Just a hollowing absence so complete it felt violent.
Seraphina's fingers trembled.
The video ended.
Her screen went black.
Seraphina stared at her reflection.
Her face had gone pale.
"What… is that?" she whispered.
Her heart pounded painfully.
She had trained for years.
Acting classes.
Method workshops.
Award-season coaching.
And yet—she knew.
She knew with terrifying clarity.
She could not do that.
Not in a hundred years.
Not with a hundred takes.
Not with all the resources Titan could buy.
That wasn't technique.
That was truth.
Her phone slipped from her fingers and landed on the seat.
"No," Seraphina said, shaking her head. "No, no, no."
Her assistant, Lily, sitting across from her, looked up in alarm.
"Miss Rose?"
Seraphina grabbed the phone again, replaying the clip.
Her stomach twisted.
"That look," she whispered. "That look in her eyes…"
It was the look of someone who had been destroyed—and survived.
Fear crawled up Seraphina's spine.
This wasn't a trash indie movie.
This was a threat.
"Destroy this footage," Seraphina hissed suddenly.
Lily froze.
"W-What?"
"Destroy it," Seraphina repeated sharply. "Delete it. Trace the sender. Pay them off. Threaten them. I don't care."
She leaned forward, eyes blazing.
"And make sure no cinema in this city agrees to show that movie."
Lily swallowed.
"That might be difficult," she said carefully. "Some independent theaters—"
"I don't care," Seraphina snapped. "Use Titan. Use my endorsements. Use pressure."
She clenched her fists.
"That movie cannot be seen."
Lily hesitated.
"…Because of the acting?"
Seraphina didn't answer immediately.
She stared out the tinted window as the city lights slid past.
Because if the world saw Avery like that—
They wouldn't see a fallen idol.
They would see a queen in exile.
And worse—
They would start to compare.
Seraphina exhaled slowly.
"She's not allowed to come back," she said softly. "Not like this."
Her phone buzzed again.
Another message.
This time, from Marcus Thorne.
Marcus:Did you say something about Avery at the press conference?
Seraphina's fingers hovered.
Then she typed back carefully.
Seraphina:Just goodwill. Nothing serious.
A pause.
Then another message.
Marcus:Good. Keep it that way.
Seraphina stared at the words.
She thought of the warehouse clip.
Of Avery's eyes.
Of the silence that screamed.
Her reflection in the window looked fragile.
For the first time since Avery's fall—
Seraphina realized something horrifying.
Avery hadn't been running away.
She had been loading the gun.
Elsewhere, in the warehouse, Avery stood watching playback on a monitor.
Leo and the crew were laughing softly, exhausted but alive.
The System chimed faintly.
[External Emotional Spike Detected.][Source: Seraphina Rose][Emotion: Fear]
Avery tilted her head slightly.
So.
The ripples had reached her.
A slow smile touched Avery's lips.
"Good," she murmured.
The war had entered a new phase.
And this time—
The masks were starting to crack.
End of Chapter 16