Chapter 2

After the premiere ended, I said goodbye to Emma.

As I waited for a ride by the curb, people around me were still discussing the "dead" female lead Lucas had mentioned.

"My friend went to college with Lucas. I think I know who he's talking about..."

"Who is it?"

"This girl called Aria Ning. She was broke but liked to pretend she was rich. People found out she was working as a waitress and hostess all over town.

"The funniest part is, there were rumors she hooked up with Lucas, but then dumped him because he was poor.

"Isabella Locke was the one who suppressed this gossip."

"Isabella Locke? The lead actress who was sick and couldn't come today?"

"Yeah, the wealthy heiress. She's always liked Lucas, and had a complicated relationship with Aria Ning. I guess they were love rivals... I always thought the female lead was based on Isabella."

"Me too. Isabella is beautiful, comes from money, and is a good actress. She seems like the perfect match for Lucas."

I froze in place.

Even after all this time, hearing Isabella's name made my heart sink.

Isabella Locke was the lead actress Lucas personally chose for "The Monster in the Apartment."

She was my nightmare.

Isabella had destroyed so many things in my life, including my relationship with Lucas.

For reasons I never understood, Isabella had always targeted me.

In college, Isabella spread rumors that I was cheating on my boyfriend and had secretly aborted another man's child.

When the rumors came out, combined with my reputation as a goody-two-shoes top student, it spread like wildfire across campus.

Isabella, as the student council president, deliberately brought up these rumors, indirectly confirming them.

Although there was no direct evidence in the end, I was forced to take a leave of absence due to the pressure of public opinion.

After several attempts to argue my case, no one believed me, including my father.

My father cut off my bank card and made me stay at home to "reflect." Furious, I ran away from home and had no choice but to find work to support myself.

But then I was accused of pretending to be rich when I was actually broke.

It wasn't until years later, when I worked hard to get back on track academically and successfully applied to graduate school abroad, that my father started to look at me differently.

Everyone believed Isabella, just because she was the Locke family's daughter.

Little did they know, she was only my father's adopted daughter.

Though adopted, she was especially doted on by my father. Since she was slightly older than me, my father tacitly acknowledged Isabella as the Locke family's eldest daughter in public.

My birth mother had passed away early on. I took my mother's surname, so few people connected me to the Locke family. In college, I always kept my head down studying and never deliberately revealed my true identity to avoid attention.

Isabella was different, flaunting her status as the Locke family's daughter.

While I was gradually overlooked, as if I were the outsider in the Locke family.

Shaking off these thoughts, I realized the driver had arrived.

As I got in the car, I suddenly changed my destination.

"Take me to Bluespring Lane."

I stared absently out the window.

We drove further away from the bustling city center, with more and more low-rise buildings appearing.

Despite its pretty name, Bluespring Lane was just a cramped alley among dilapidated apartment buildings.

Opening the car door, I stepped onto the damp, muddy ground. The apartment building in front of me had peeling walls, rusty security bars with clothes hanging from them, and a constantly dripping public faucet that seemed impossible to tighten fully, forming puddles where bicycles were parked, with spots of mold and moss growing nearby.

The only thing that seemed capable of dispelling all the damp gloominess was the single yellowed light in Bluespring Lane.

I walked straight into the alley.

Most of the units here were rentals, crammed with confused and lost young people, cheap pots and pans, and noisy arguments.

It was also where Lucas and I had once found solace in each other.

Back then, I was penniless and desperate. It started pouring rain outside, so I randomly knocked on someone's door. Lucas opened it.

He was the one who took me in.

I stood in front of the building entrance and lit a cigarette.

My vision blurred in the bluish-white smoke from my fingertips.

I vaguely sensed someone passing by and slowly looked up.

Suddenly, I found myself staring into Lucas's eyes.

He stood before me, expressionless.

I froze slightly, wanting to speak but hesitating.

Lucas just said coldly,

"Excuse me."

"Lucas?" My voice trembled slightly.

He repeated coldly.

"Please move aside."

I shifted slightly. Lucas walked into the building without looking back. I turned and called out to him.

"You still live here?"

Lucas paused briefly, turning his head to smirk.

"What's it to you?"

He continued up a few more steps without stopping, just taking out a cigarette.

I instinctively followed.

But he turned back, his gaze icy.

"Don't follow me."

Seeing I didn't move, Lucas leaned down, getting close to my face.

He had the cigarette between his lips, tilting his head slightly.

The glowing ember from my cigarette naturally lit the end of his.

I could clearly see his eyes, but couldn't read the emotions in them.

He deliberately blew a smoke ring in my face. I choked, coughing uncomfortably.

I still hadn't gotten used to the harshness of cigarettes, only daring to take tiny puffs.

"If you can't handle smoking, don't pretend."

Lucas slowly straightened up, saying mockingly.

"And don't act concerned about things you wanted to throw away."

My heart ached dully.

My phone rang - it was Ryan, my childhood friend.

Since I'd returned home, he'd been pursuing me.

"Aria, is the premiere over? I'll come pick you up."

"I've got hot pot ready at home, let's eat together."

The stairwell was eerily quiet. Ryan's voice came through clearly from the other end of the phone.

Lucas glanced at the ring on my middle finger, his tone flat.

"You're engaged to him?"

I hung up the phone, not getting a chance to explain before Lucas gripped my chin.

He forced me to look up at him.

Lucas sneered, but there was anger in his eyes.

"You have a fiancé but you're here trying to seduce me? Quite the player, aren't you."

"I..."

My eyes stung slightly.

The grip on my chin hurt. Lucas suddenly let go and turned to go upstairs without looking back.

"Someone who's already dead to me,

"Don't appear in front of me again."