LOGINJudy’s POVI descended the mobile boarding stairs, the heels of my designer pumps clicking sharply against the metal.The Colorado air hit me with a soft resolve, cool and familiar against my skin. For a brief second, I simply stood there, letting the wind settle my thoughts. I slid on my oversized sunglasses to shield my eyes from the afternoon brightness, scanning the runway. It had been seven years since I fled this state in a cloud of shame and heartbreak. Stepping onto this soil again stirred a storm deep within me—not of sadness, but of fire.I looked down to my right, my fingers tightening slightly around Jonathan’s small hand. The memories rose uninvited: Director Marshall and his wife driving a broken, sobbing woman to this very airport. Back then, every step away from Colorado felt like I was abandoning a part of myself I could never reclaim.But the woman who left was dead. In her place stood a first-class graduate of The Redwood Academy of Motion Pictures. I was no longe
Lucas’s POVI shifted in the expansive breadth of our matrimonial bed, the silk sheets cool against my skin as I turned toward Claire. She was still deep in the throes of sleep, her chest rising and falling in a rhythmic, peaceful lullaby. I couldn't help the smile that tugged at my lips as I looked at her. We’d been sleeping in the same bed since the moment she came back, and every morning I woke up feeling like a man who had finally been granted a miracle.Her eyes were still closed, her lashes dark against her skin. I couldn’t resist the urge to lean forward and press a kiss to her forehead.There was a striking, almost haunting resemblance between her and Judy. In fact, if you hadn't been forced to look into both of their faces every single day for years, you’d never see a difference. They were mirrors of one another. But then, there was something about Claire. There was a warmth there, a "heart of gold"—or so I had told myself every day for twenty years.As I watched her sleep,
Judy’s POVThe medication had finally begun to clear the heavy, gray fog in my brain, and thanks to Doctor Roseline’s inexplicable kindness, my debt to the hospital was settled. But as I stood on the sidewalk outside Colorado General Hospital, the sun felt too bright, the air too thin. I pressed a hand over my still-flat stomach, the secret of the life growing inside me pulsing like a second heartbeat against my palm.A light breeze brushed past me, carrying the scent of rain and sterile exhaust. Patients and nurses hurried past, a blur of white scrubs and rolling stretchers, but I felt frozen in time. If I hadn't clicked that link, if I hadn't reached for that scholarship while lying in that hospital bed, I would be standing here with absolutely nowhere to go. The thought of crawling back to Lucas, of begging for a corner of the house that used to be mine, made my chest tighten until it hurt to breathe. God forbid I ever give him that satisfaction. I would rather sleep on the cold
Judy’s POV“You are awake...”The voice was a distant hum, unfamiliar and soft, pulling me upward through layers of heavy, gray fog. My vision was a blurred mess of sterile white light and shifting shadows. As I forced my leaden eyelids open, the world slowly sharpened. A woman in a crisp white medical coat stood over me, her expression a mix of professional focus and a quiet, unsettling pity.She leaned in, her fingers cool as she gently pressed my eyelid downward. “Good. Just hold still for a moment,” she murmured. “I’m checking how your pupils react to the light. Look straight ahead and try not to blink.”A tiny, piercing beam of light flashed across my eyes, sending a dull throb through my skull. I did as I was told, though my body felt like it was made of stone. The rhythmic, electronic beep-beep-beep of a heart monitor filled the silence, a cold reminder that I was no longer in the home I had tried so hard to protect.After a moment, the doctor straightened up and walked toward
Judy’s POV“You are divorcing me?” The words felt brittle, like glass breaking in my throat before they could even leave my mouth.For a moment, the room fell into a suffocating silence, as though the very walls were leaning in to witness my humiliation. I looked at Lucas, the man I had spent five years trying to reach through a wall of ice. Even after the tragedy twenty years ago, even through the cold glares and the bitter silences, I had loved him. It was a quiet, desperate hope that one day he would wake up and see the truth. That one day, I would be enough.“What? You can’t read?” He didn’t even look up. His voice was nonchalant, cutting through my heart with the precision of a scalpel.That coldness was a slap I couldn’t dodge.“I am no longer staying with you now that Claire has come back to me.” He pulled her toward him, his hand firm and possessive on her waist—a touch he had never once offered me in five years of marriage.I couldn't find the breath to answer. My mind was a
Judy’s POV“And… that’s a wrap for today!”“Great work, everyone. You can all head home.”The crew began packing their equipment, the metallic clatter of light stands echoing through the studio. I was gathering my things, my mind already miles away, when Director Marshall approached.“Not you, Judy.” I froze, a script clutched to my chest. “I need to talk to you.”He pressed his hands on his waist, his gaze sharp, then exhaled slowly. “You acted it very well. I love it. But… something is missing. The voice.”“Okay?” I asked, unsure.“By tomorrow, I need you to speak more firmly in your scenes. Make the audience believe you’re the villain. We’re misleading them, remember?”“Yes, sir.”“Good. See you tomorrow.” Marshall stepped away.I exhaled, already planning in my head how I would adjust my performance. Acting had been part of my life since the day I got married, and Marshall was the kind of director who pushed everyone to be their best, ensuring our movie would be the talk of the to







