Chapter 1
968 Words
The car door clicked shut behind Lucas, and he dipped his head to unlock his tablet.
As usual, he had zero interest in talking to me.
I stuffed down the roiling mess in my chest and forced a light, easy tone as I asked,
"Why did the car's AI voice change?"
A flicker of something unreadable crossed Lucas Cooper's face.
Just a second later, he schooled his features back to neutral.
"AI's blown up these past couple years. I just upgraded the system randomly, that's why it changed.
"Oh, by the way, how did that event you worked on go?"
Dead silence hung in the car for a few long seconds.
I was a contracted makeup artist at Astralite Entertainment.
And he was the CEO of the whole company.
He could learn every single detail of my schedule with just a wave of his hand, no effort needed.
He never, ever asked me about this stuff before.
I steadied my nerves, kept my face calm, and smoothly changed the subject.
That night, when Lucas went to take a shower, I immediately pulled our house manager aside to get the truth out of him.
The manager was my trusted right hand. He'd been with me for almost five years, I promoted him myself from the ground up.
He thought it over for a moment, then answered honestly,
"You have to do special manual settings to change the AI voice. A simple system upgrade won't do that on its own."
A cold weight dropped straight to the bottom of my stomach. Everything clicked into place right away.
I thought of the young girl I'd seen earlier that day, so I described her face and build in perfect detail to the manager.
In the end, he pulled up her photo from the company's roster of newly signed artists.
Her name was Sophie Adams.
She graduated from Pacific Horizon Film Institute.
She was pretty enough, came from a plain, ordinary background, the classic sweet, innocent little hardworking climber, exactly the type people call a "fragile-petaled bloom".
Just like I was, five years ago.
I dragged in a deep, shaky breath.
Lucas always loved driven, resilient people. That's why he picked me out back then.
I never imagined that only five years into our marriage, he'd already set his sights on someone new.
Lately, the company was putting together a new survival talent show.
As a contracted makeup artist, I had to go into the office for meetings all the time.
The next day, after I finished my work, I made a special detour to the dance practice room where the trainees worked out.
Through the clear glass wall, I saw Lucas had shed his expensive suit jacket, leaving only a fitted dark dress shirt on his back.
Gone was the cold, distant CEO he usually was with me. His hand rested light on Sophie's arm, slow and gentle as he corrected every small wrong movement she made.
Lucas was born into old money.
He'd mastered every skill under the sun since he was a kid, all of them polished to perfection.
Back when I first married him, I'd begged him to teach me how to dance.
But he turned me down flat, saying my foundation was too terrible to bother with.
I'd stupidly thought he was just like that with everyone.
Turns out he only ran out of patience for me.
A sharp, sour ache flooded every fiber of my body.
I stood far back behind them, out of sight, and listened to their cozy, intimate conversation.
"You're doing great already, don't put so much pressure on yourself."
The girl pressed her lips together.
"But I'm scared I'll get eliminated. I don't want to let you down, after all the trouble you've taken to groom me...
"And I don't want to make the company lose money either."
Lucas's eyes warmed. He curled his fingers around her arm, holding her steady.
"What are you scared of?
"I've got your back, no matter what."
Sophie's eyes lit up like stars, and her smile crinkled the corners of her eyes.
"Mr. Cooper is the best!"
Lucas huffed a low laugh.
"Still calling me Mr. Cooper?"
The girl's cheeks flushed pink. "Lucas..."
I clenched my fingers tight. The bitter anger and hurt coiling in my chest finally burst free. I shoved the practice room door open hard, and it crashed against the wall with a deafening bang.
I marched straight up to Sophie, cold fury blazing in my eyes.
"Miss Adams, if you're so desperate to record your voice in another woman's husband's car, I've got no problem making your little stunt public to the whole company."
I barely finished the sentence before Lucas stepped between us, shielding her behind his back.
Irritation sharpened his voice when he spoke.
"Didn't I tell you it was a system upgrade? What the hell are you throwing a fit about!
"Every new artist the company signs is supposed to bring in profit down the line. Are you going to act like this with every single one of them?!"
My eyes burned with unshed tears as I stared right back at him. "Do you think I'm stupid? Someone already told me this voice setting has to be recorded manually. If she didn't do it herself, how the hell would it have gotten there!"
A faint flicker crossed Lucas's eyes. He held his silence for a long moment, then pushed back at me in a deceptively calm tone.
"Fine, I'll admit it. Sophie did record the voice.
"But it was at a group party. She got drunk, and I was driving her home. She kept begging and making a fuss about recording it in the car. What was I supposed to do? Knock a young girl out just to stop her?!"
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