Chapter 4

Ten minutes before the livestream, Simone asked if I was sure I wanted to go onstage.

“If I don’t, Julian will explain everything for me.” I handed her my phone. “The moment I go off script, release my statement.”

Backstage, crew members looked away when they saw me. By then, the coverage from the night before had already cast me as the jealous wife.

Tessa waited by the entrance with the gold film-reel brooch still pinned to her chest. She touched it and gave me a careful smile.

“Julian said you’d understand today. I’ll give it back to you myself when the press tour is over.”

I didn’t answer. It had never been hers to decide when I got it back.

The host called us onstage. The Q&A was streaming live across several platforms.

For the first half, we discussed only the movie. Julian and Tessa finished each other’s answers, even their pauses perfectly timed.

Then the host brought up the sequel.

Tessa raised her microphone first. “Before we announce anything, I want to thank Mara. She’ll always be family to us, and she’ll always be the mentor who brought me into this industry. Even if she’d rather stay behind the scenes now, we’ll always need her.”

The audience applauded. A photo of the three of us appeared on the screen behind the stage. I had been placed at the far edge. The caption beneath my name read:

CO-FOUNDER / SPECIAL APPEARANCE

Julian handed me the other microphone. My lines were already waiting on the teleprompter: I was delighted to pass the leading role to Tessa and looked forward to supporting them through the sequel.

He leaned close without moving his lips. “Read it. We’ll talk afterward.”

If I read those lines, I could still return to our familiar home. I could keep the sequel money and the public image of a stable marriage.

The price was giving up my place one more time.

I lifted the microphone without looking at the teleprompter.

“I never agreed to give my role to anyone. I never agreed to have my credit reduced to a special appearance.”

Julian reached for my arm. I stepped away.

“I won’t act in the sequel, and I won’t produce it. As of today, Julian and I are formally separated. Any statement claiming that I support this campaign does not speak for me.”

Gasps rose from the audience. In the front row, one of the distributors looked down at his phone. Crew members who had spent three years on the project stared at me.

I had just walked away from a substantial paycheck, the biggest project at our company, and the illusion of a marriage I could still return to.

Tessa grabbed Julian’s hand. “Mara, we never meant to hurt you. You’re still family.”

“Stop deciding who I am.”

Julian snatched the microphone from me.

“She’s exhausted and under tremendous pressure. The truth is, Mara gave up the leading role herself months ago.”

I turned toward him. He was already signaling the control booth.

The photo behind us vanished. In its place, a clip from the behind-the-scenes documentary began to play.

Onscreen, I sat in the production office, pale and exhausted. A milk stain marked the front of my oversized sweater.

My recorded voice filled the room.

“Give the leading role to Tessa. I can’t do this anymore.”

The murmurs in the audience shifted.

Julian held the microphone against his chest, waiting for my own words to prove that I had lied.

I knew there was another half to that sentence.

I also knew the unedited footage existed only in the private archive Julian and I shared.

And only the two of us knew the password.