Chapter 2

The mirror in Lila’s tiny attic room was cracked in one corner, but she had learned to angle her face so the fracture line fell across her left cheekbone like deliberate stage makeup. She stared at the girl looking back at her... pale, unremarkable, hair scraped into a tight bun that made her eyes look smaller than they were. Perfect.

She practiced the expression again... the slight downward tilt of the mouth, the way her shoulders curved inward as if trying to disappear into the wallpaper. ...Invisible... Not ugly, exactly. Just... forgettable. The kind of face people looked past in a crowded room. She had spent six years perfecting it.

Downstairs, the family was already at breakfast. Lila could hear them without even opening her door... the bright laugh of her older sister, her mother’s indulgent murmurs, and the low rumble of their father on the phone with some business associate. No one had called her name. No one ever did unless they needed something fetched or a message delivered.

She slipped on the plain gray cardigan that was two sizes too big and made her look shapeless. One last check in the mirror. ...Good... The actress who had booked three lead roles last year under the stage name Liora Vale was gone. Only the family ghost remained.

When she reached the dining room, the conversation didn’t pause.

Her sister... golden-haired, glowing, the one the world actually saw... sat at the head of the table like a queen holding court, scrolling through her phone. “The stylist said the emerald dress makes my eyes pop for the red carpet next month. I told him I want something that screams *future leading lady*.”

Their mother smiled the way she only smiled at her eldest. “Of course, darling. You’ll outshine everyone.”

Lila moved to her usual seat at the far end, the one closest to the kitchen door. She reached for the teapot without a word. No one offered her the pastries. No one asked how her night had been. She poured her tea in silence, the steam curling up like a secret she had no intention of sharing.

Her father finally glanced up from his tablet. “Lila, did you pick up the dry cleaning like I asked?”

“Yes, Father.”

He grunted and went back to his emails. That was it. The entire exchange.

She sipped her tea and let the warmth settle in her chest like armor. ...They have no idea... While they spent their days polishing the perfect daughter for the spotlight, she had spent last night on a dimly lit soundstage across the city, delivering a monologue that made the director cry. Under the name Liora Vale, she was building something real... something they could never touch.

But here, in this house, she was the extra. The spare. The one who existed only to make the golden child look even brighter by contrast.

Her sister leaned back, stretching like a cat. “Oh, and Mother, did you hear? Damien Blackthorn’s family is still looking for a bride after that horrible accident. The poor man’s apparently half-crippled now. I told you I’d never...”

Their mother cut her off with a sharp look. “Not at the table, darling.”

Lila kept her eyes on her teacup, but inside, something flickered. Damien Blackthorn. The name had been everywhere lately... the reclusive heir, the tragic figure in the wheelchair, the man her family had once hoped would marry into their circle through her sister.

She felt the familiar itch under her skin, the one that always came when she was pretending hardest. The urge to study the room like a script, to note every micro-expression, every pause, every lie wrapped in polite conversation.

Because that was what actresses did.

They watched.

They remembered.

And when the time came, they performed.

She finished her tea in one quiet swallow and stood, plate already cleared. No one looked up as she left the room.

In the hallway she paused for half a second, fingers brushing the banister. The house felt heavier today. Like something was shifting just beneath the surface.

She didn’t know it yet, but the performance of a lifetime was about to begin... and this time, the stage was her own home.

She allowed herself the smallest, secret smile.

...Let them keep thinking I’m nothing...

It was the best disguise she had ever worn.