No Longer Their Understudy

Chapter 4

On my last day before leaving, I returned to the company to handle the departure paperwork, just as they were rehearsing the Black Swan piece.

Chloe spun, lost her footing, and crashed to the floor with a shriek. Everyone rushed over. Blood was seeping from her toes.

Someone checked her pointe shoes and poured out a few shards of broken glass from under the insole. The tiny pieces clinked against the floor. All eyes turned to me.

Chloe looked toward the door, crying. She called out, "Mason..."

Mason walked in, with Caleb following behind.

She pointed at me, tears mixing with her makeup and running down her face. She cried, "Olivia, if you didn't want me to perform, you could have just said so. Why would you do this? My foot..."

I said, "I didn't put it there."

Mason looked into my eyes. He asked, "Olivia, was it you?"

I said, "No."

Caleb let out a cold laugh beside him. He sneered, "She says it's you, so it's you. In this company, you're the only one who would compete with her for the lead. If it wasn't you, who else could it be?" He added, "Besides, you just snatched Chloe's dance dress."

Mason asked me with a frown, "When did that happen? Olivia, why would you do that?"

I said, my voice calmer than I expected, "You believe whatever she says. But what about me? I said it wasn't me. Does any one of you believe me?"

Mason fell silent. In that brief moment, I cleared away every single wait and disappointment I had carried from the strawberry candy in my hand at age twelve to these worn-out pointe shoes today.

Mason said, "Just apologize, and this will be over."

I looked at them defiantly and said, "I didn't do it. Why should I apologize?"

Caleb raised his hand. Two bodyguards came up and pressed down on my shoulders. He said, "You won't apologize? Then they'll help you kneel and apologize."

Helpless against the two strong men, they forced me down. When my knees hit the marble floor, I heard a dull thud from my bones. It hurt, but I made no sound. Someone pushed my head down from behind. A voice said, "Apologize."

I gritted my teeth and said, "I didn't do it."

Then someone kicked me in the back. I was flung forward, and my abdomen slammed against the floor. A sharp pain tore through my insides. Blood trickled down my thigh, dripping onto the white tiles one drop at a time.

Mason frowned. He said, "Enough."

One of the ensemble dancers screamed, "She's bleeding!"

Caleb glanced down at me. His gaze was cold and indifferent. He sneered, "Another act of playing the victim," then turned and said, "Let's go. Leave her here to reflect."

Mason gave me one look, then carried the injured Chloe away. The others fled in fear, and the door closed. I was left alone, lying on the practice studio floor.

The blood kept flowing, and something inside me was slipping away, like sand running through my fingers. I remembered that I hadn't had my period for the past two months, and suddenly I realized. I was pregnant.

The child who never had the chance to be born lay with me on that cold, hard floor. No one knew he had existed, and no one would remember him.

With my last bit of strength, I called an ambulance. By the time Emma arrived, I was already loaded into the ambulance.

When I woke, she was sitting by my bedside. Outside, the sky was already darkening. She said, "You lost the baby."

I nodded. My voice was very faint, as if it belonged to someone else. I said, "Emma."

She replied, "Hmm?"

I said, "Take me away."

She squeezed my hand so hard it hurt. She said, "Okay."

When the plane took off, I watched the city recede into the distance, the lights below flickering on one by one. Messages popped up on my phone, from both Caleb and Mason.

Caleb: Chloe's foot injury is pretty serious. Next week's performance is canceled. Happy now?

Mason: Do you really have to hate her this much?

I didn't reply. I pulled out the SIM card and tossed it into the trash.

My parents died when I was twelve. I thought I still had a brother, but I had nothing at all.

Since I was twelve, I had been waiting, waiting for them to look back at me, waiting for someone to believe me just once, waiting for someone to say it wasn't my fault.

I had waited so long, only to be left with a torn dance costume, my own broken body, and the sight of them walking away with her.

Mason. Caleb. I'm done waiting.