The silence stretched on, unbroken. No applause, no cheers. It was as if the whole world had frozen, stuck in a single moment of stillness.
Emma's heart plummeted from the high of performing to a pit of worry. 'What's going on? Did the mic cut out? Did they realize I'm just the stand-in? Or... did something happen on stage? Something I missed? A robbery?'
The door to the hidden room could only be opened from the outside, trapping her inside. Squinting at the grainy screen in front of her, Emma tried to make out what was happening on stage. But the poor resolution left her guessing.
And then, after what felt like an eternity—seconds that dragged into minutes—she heard it. A single clap.
It came from her—Celia Whitmore, the notoriously difficult client.
Soon, the bodyguards joined in, t
