mpty house. It di

theart. The meeting ran late, had to stay in

and Andreas, kissing, with the morning light streaming in b

ed to boil over. I replied to Andr

as a gift. It

very photo of us, every gift he'd ever given me, every note he'd ever written

wouldn't suspect anything was wrong when he returne

next day, looking

ut I sidestepped him,

s gleaming. He was trying to buy my forgivene

in the mo

ng my hand. He pulled me out of the hou

arge, isolated property. In the center of it

this?"

s chest puffed

ewel. Your very

screening room. Everything a filmmaker could ever dream of. It was the

built on a foun

ded as he presented it to me. They all looked at me with envy,

e wasn't love. It was a bribe. A cage gilded in silver and

d to focus, but the process of creating, of directing, was

delines with a satisfied smile, as if he were the

walked onto my set like she owned

he said, looking around dismiss

belle," I said, my vo

is his property, dear. I

g my every move. I tried to ignore her, focusing on

nterest in the machinery. Later, during a moment of organized chaos as we reset for the next take, I noti

guiding the actor. Suddenly, there was a terrible grinding soun

!" someon

a heavy piece of lighting equipment, dislodged by

e world exploded in a flash of

ing out was the sound of Andreas screa

eaming, "A