THE FACE SHE BURIED

They said Elara Vance died in a fire at fifteen. The were wrong. Nine years later, after framing her family for a crime they didn't commit, stealing her empire, and erasing her from the public memory, she came back to the mansion that knew her as a daughter. Not as a daughter. As a maid. Name: Lila Maro. Invisible. Exactly where she wants to be. The man who killed her family roams the halls. The boy she once loved, who testified against her family walks among the ghosts. What they don't know is that the maid in his study has been hunting him for two years. She has the evidence to burn the empire down. He has been trying to kill her for nine. THE FACE SHE BURIED by Feny Lopez Logline After her family is framed, branded traitors and erased from the public memory, Elara Vance assumes the identity of a dead maid to infiltrate the powerful household that stole everything from her. Working alongside the boy who she once loved who helped destroy her name while silently dismantling the lies that will either restore her legacy or bury her forever. Themes Justice is not revenge. The person you become in pursuit of the latter may be the person you never get back. Tone Atmospheric. Precise. Like the Count of MonteCristo colliding with Parasite in a slow-burning chamber of secrets. FENY LOPEZ SIGNATURE What sets this apart from other revenge dramas? The poisoned prize She doesn't want to reclaim the empire, she wants to dismantle it. Her parents company was stolen and used as a weapon. Reclaiming it would be a betrayal of her parents. The guilted love interest Julian didn't betray her for selfish reasons. He was 17, manipulated by his father, and has spent nine years dismantling his father's work from the inside without knowing the full truth. The cost of the truth. Revealing herself to the world would out Cyrus's planted evidence. Her victory will have to be surgical because in order to expose him, she will need to use his own testimony against him. The locket The token is a family heirloom. Hidden inside is the micro-SD card with her mother's final recording, the one piece of evidence that can't be refuted. She can't use it yet. Not until the timing is right. Characters ELARA VANCE/LILA 24 PROTAGONIST Born to the Vance family, the founders of Vance Neurotech, a company her mother started to pioneer non-invasive treatment for childhood epilepsy. At 15, her parents were accused of embezzlement and manslaughter. The evidence was falsified by Cyrus Rainer her father's business partner. Her parents were found dead in a prison fire six months later (arson never proven). Elara escaped with the help of Mara and assumed the identity of Lila Maro, a 14-year-old orphan who died in the same fire, whose body was never recovered. For nine years she trained in finance, law and corporate espionage, all while living under the radar. She is precise, patient and terrified of her own capacity for cruelty. Her tell: when she's lying, she touches the locket through her clothes. JULIAN RAINER 26 CONFLECTED HEIR Cyrus's only son, at 17 his father revealed to him falsified documents that proved her parents were siphoning money and manipulating trial data. Julian, who was Elara's closest friend and first love, testified to a grand jury (not out of malice, but because he believed he was doing the right thing) and has been paying for it ever since. Now COO of Rainer Neuro (the reborn Vance company), he has been secretly leaking documents to journalists for two years, trying to bring his father down from the inside. He doesn't know Elara is alive. He finds himself attracted to "Lila" because she seems to know the house. Her tell: he twists his mother's ring when he's lying to himself. CYRUS RAINER 52 ANTAGONIST Charming, brilliant and soulless, he was the Vances' CFO and their closest friend. He saw an opportunity when he saw the neurotech patents, and decided to take what was his. He forged the evidence, manipulated the trial and bought the company for pennies. He believes power is the only morality and keeps a portrait of the Vance family in his study as a constant reminder that anyone could be cut down. His tell: he hums when he's about to destroy someone. MARA SOLIS 58 THE KEEPER The former head of staff at the Vance estate who pulled Elara from the fire and placed her as a maid in the Rainer household. She is the only one who knows the truth, and will do whatever it takes to keep Elara safe. She is the reason Elara can't reveal herself to the world, because Cyrus has planted evidence that implicates her late husband in the Vances' "conspiracy". She is fierce and loyal to the end, but dying of a heart condition she hasn't admitted to Elara. VIVIAN RAINER 48 THE WILD CARD Cyrus's wife, former actress turned perfect society wife, knows her husband is corrupt, but she doesn't care as long as she continues to live the life she wants. She is the one who gave Julian the documents nine years later, at Cyrus's request. But she has never forgiven herself and will become the biggest wildcard of the season. DETECTIVE AMARA OKOYE 38 EXTERNAL CONFLICT Cold case detective who reopened the Vance trial after a whistleblower (Julian) leaked documents. She is close to finding the truth but doesn't know Elara is real, and could expose her before she's ready.