Atlanta heat had no respect for art or budgets. By seven a.m. it had already crawled under Serena'$ skin, even inside Stage 7, where the AC fought a losing battle against pyrotechnics and bodies.The set was a wrecked high-rise lobby—luxury turned forensic. Chandeliers hung in jagged surrender, marble floors cracked open like fault lines, walls stippled with squib hits that still smelled faintly metallic. She stood on her mark in tactical black, hair slicked back so tight and hard. Fake blood streaked her cheek. The Glock sat heavy in her hand, thankfully fake.Lucian Vale watched from across the stage.He was here to watch over the proceedings as the producer today. He leaned against a toppled marble column, posture relaxed in a way that suggested he’d calculated every angle of the room already. Black shirt, sleeves rolled, script pages tucked neatly into his back pocket like an afterthought. His attention flicked between monitors, crew movement, the clock. He didn’t look concerned,
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