Gilda!!" a familiar voice rang out, it was the girl who had played the palace maid beside me. She waved with such enthusiasm, probably thinking I had lost my way.

Heat flushed through me from embarrassment. Swallowing hard, I forced myself forward, each step heavier than the last. There was no sneaking out now, not with so many eyes shifting in my direction.

Silently, I prayed that this wouldn't be as bad as I feared. That I wouldn't end the night regretting my decision to come.

"Gildaaa!!" Vera's voice, sweet as poisoned honey, cut through the air the very moment I sat down at the far end of a long, crowded bench.

The main cast sat comfortably on cushioned chairs and polished wooden stools, their placement reflecting the weight of their roles. The extras were crammed together on a hard bench, stacked side by side.

No one here knew Vera was my sister. She had made sure of that. Despite sharing the same surname, she always pretended not to know me in public, and people believed her and her lies about it being a coincidence. I doubted she was calling me now out of kindness.

"I read in your information that you turn twenty-seven today," she announced suddenly. Her words paused, hanging in the air just long enough to draw the crowd's attention to me before she continued.

"I was surprised, for real. Don't get me wrong. But twenty-seven and still working as an extra on movie sets? Honestly, I don't see a future for such a person in this industry." Her voice rang with deliberate sweetness, a venom masked as concern. "If you'd ask me, I suggest you find a man to get you pregnant so you can tie him down with the child and make him marry you. You know what they say, women expire too easily. And with how broke you look, I doubt you could even afford surrogacy in the future if you don't take my advice."

I sat, waiting and hoping for someone atleast, to counter her words. After all, she was only a year younger than me, twenty-six herself. If her cruel analogy applied to me, then what made her think she was immune to the same fate? But instead of protest, I heard murmurs of agreement ripple through the bench. Heads nodded and lips curved in approval.

"I never knew you were this smart, Vera. I thought you were only good at acting," a lady said, raising her glass of wine before gulping it down. She sat perched on a stool; her role must have carried more weight in the movie. "What good advice you gave her. It's now left for her to decide whether to follow or not."

"With how she looks, I bet she's whored herself around to so many men," a man snickered. "I haven't seen any real talent whenever she acts. No doubt her sponsors always leave her stranded after, because sex doesn't equate to talent."

I didn't even flinch at his words. He was shameless, and the married man who had tried forcing himself on me yesterday, promising me a better role than the palace maid I'd been stuck with. His bitterness was only resentment because I had turned him down.

"She's twenty-seven already and hasn't made any real progress in her career? Gosh, I'd gladly quit. She has three more years until she clocks thirty. As I see it, no man will be willing to marry a liability. Gilda, take Vera's advice. She's such a good person, always looking out for everyone's future," another voice chimed in, dripping with mock pity.

"I'm barely twenty-one and I've already achieved a significant feat in my career. Vera is barely twenty-six and already an international act. Heavens, even if I were under a curse, geezzz, I pray it never gets to the level of Gilda's!" another lady whispered, though her words carried just loud enough for everyone to catch.

The table erupted with laughter at her jab, even the girl seated beside me joined in, as though cruelty was the evening's entertainment.

Heat rushed to my face, and my chest tightened. Too embarrassed to sit there any longer, I excused myself with the pretense of going to the restroom. I wasn't pressed, I just desperately needed the privacy it promised, a sliver of space to gather what remained of my dignity before facing them again.

I shouldn't have come. The thought churned in my head, filling me with regret.

I hadn't reached the restroom when a strong hand clamped around my wrist.

Instinctively, I braced to writhe free, even ready to sink my teeth into the hand if I had to. But when I turned and saw my manager, relief washed over me. I was grateful I hadn't unleashed my fight-or-flight instinct on him.

"We need to talk!" he said, dragging me along the hallway that stretched opposite the restroom.

I trusted him, so I didn't resist. Yesterday, when I found out my lead role had been stripped from me, he had fought to at least secure me a spot as an extra. It wasn't much, but it was something. The thought that he had stood up for me, even in that small way, warmed my heart.

We stopped at a door marked Storage Room. He pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked it.

For a second, I froze. "Wait... is this where we're supposed to talk? Why here? The hallway is already quiet enough. No one has passed since we walked down here. What could we possibly have to discuss that you need to be in this place?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair before turning to me.

"Look, Gilda... I'm sorry. You're talented, yes, I'll give you that. But you don't have sponsors..."

His words instantly set off alarms in my head. I tried to pull my wrist free from his grip, but he only tightened it. Something about his tone wasn't right.

"I'm doing this because I have to protect my own career," he continued, avoiding my eyes. "If you attend the audition tomorrow and land that lead role, my head will roll. I have a family to feed, Gilda. I can't risk it. So... you'll have to stay here until it's over. I promise, I'll come back for you once the audition ends."

Before I could even process what he was saying, he shoved me inside the room...

I grabbed the doorknob, refusing to let go. My heart raced as I struggled against it, desperate to open it back up. But his strength overpowered mine. Seconds later, I heard the sharp click of the lock sliding into place.

Horror washed through me.

"Why? Why do people keep doing this to me?!" I screamed, pounding on the door. "Am I the only one who doesn't deserve a chance? Am I the one with no responsibilities to take care of?"

The silence that followed nearly broke me.

Finally, his muffled voice seeped through the door. "I'm sorry, Gilda. I knew you'd be stubborn, that's why I had no choice. The management doesn't want anyone standing in Vera's way. She's the star now. Maybe if you had half her fame, you wouldn't be here."

His footsteps faded, leaving me in the suffocating quiet of my new prison.

I slid down against the cold door, my body folding into itself. Curling my legs until my knees touched my jaw, I hugged myself tightly. Again, Vera. Always Vera. It was as if her shadow was destined to strangle every flicker of light in my life.

The air smelled faintly of lavender, so floral and fresh and so out of place. I frowned. Why would a storage room carry such a scent when it should reek of dust, mildew and forgotten things?

Curiosity pushed me to my feet. I fumbled for my old smartphone, its cracked screen glowing faintly as I turned on the flashlight. The beam cut through the dimness, brushing over crates, bags and shadows until I froze.

Two wide, doe-like eyes stared back at me from behind a sack of potatoes.

It was a child.

Startled, I blinked. The girl looked so small and fragile, tucked away like a ghost. The moment she realized I wasn't a threat, she bolted forward. Before I could steady myself, she flung herself into my arms, knocking me backward onto the floor.

Her tiny arms wrapped tightly around me.

Instinctively, I held her, my palm moving in slow circles across her trembling back. "It's okay," I whispered without even thinking. "You're safe now."

And just like that, the crushing weight in my chest seemed to ease. My anger, my shame, my despair....... everything was drowned out by the simple act of holding her. For the first time in hours, maybe even days, I felt something other than pain.

*****

I pressed the alarm bell in my father's living room again. The security at the gate had already let me in, but the real problem lay ahead, waiting for either my stepmother or my sister to open the main door. For over an hour now, I had been pressing that bell, yet none of them showed up.

I glanced at my phone to check the time. It was barely 9 pm. Meaning I had returned around eight.

I would have been home much earlier, but I had given the little girl all the money I had on me to buy herself some sweets after dropping her out of the storage room through that tiny window.

It had been an excruciating task, one that left me with bruises and an ugly cut on my arm. But because the girl was safe, I didn't mind the pain.

"Who is that fool disturbing someone's sleep at this time? How dare you...!" a voice thundered from inside.

Finally, the door creaked open and fury greeted me, Vera's face twisted with rage. But the moment she saw it was me, all that anger drained, leaving her pale and startled, as though she had seen a ghost.

Vera never slept this early. Besides, the party at the club near the hotel wasn't supposed to end until 2 a.m. at the earliest. So why was she here, already in her pajamas, eyes heavy with sleep? In my judgment, she must have been in bed for a long time now.

Perhaps she returned home when she got bored, realizing she had no one left to torment after locking me up in the storage room. Or maybe she was simply too baffled at how I managed to free myself, since she had taken every measure to keep me trapped just so I wouldn't stand a chance at the role she was dying to snatch tomorrow.

"You?" she gasped, her tone a mix of surprise and confusion, staring at me like I was some kind of apparition.

I said nothing. I had no strength to waste on her. Silently, I walked past her through the gap in the door. I was too exhausted for arguments.

All I wanted was to rest my head on my bed. At least that much was still mine until tomorrow, when I would once again be forced to shoulder all the house chores because they refused to hire maids. To them, I was enough.

"The daughter of a whore is finally back," my stepmother's voice rang out from the living room just as I reached for the stairs.

I stopped for a second, my jaw tightening. This was my father's house, the only reason I still endured their cruelty. That and the simple fact that I had no money to find a place of my own.

A bitter hiss escaped me inwardly. If only I hadn't been foolish enough to spend all my savings on that so-called love of mine, who turned out to be nothing but a user, I wouldn't still be stuck here.

"Here. I've been waiting for you to hand this over," my stepmother said, stretching a brown envelope toward me.

The television flickered in the background with the documentary she was watching. She had been awake the entire time I stood outside, pressing the alarm bell endlessly, yet she hadn't thought it fit to open the door.

Swallowing my rising frustration, I stepped toward her and reached for the envelope and opened it. Halfway through, I froze. My eyes narrowed, and I looked straight at her, my expression hardening with sudden fire.

There's no way I'm marrying that old man. Come what may!" I spat, stamping my foot against the tiled floor before spinning on my heel to leave.

"I've become a maid in my own father's house. I've done everything you demanded since my parents died in that car crash. I obeyed every command, I swallowed every insult, all in the hope that maybe you'd forgive me for my mother's so-called sins. But none of it has ever been enough! Why do you want to throw me away to that old man? Why-"

"I am not asking for your opinions, Gilda!" my stepmother snapped, cutting me off sharply. "You will marry him, and that is final! You will quit acting, you will become his housewife, or you will leave this house with your bad luck!"

"You'll get married to him!" she repeated firmly. "Better that than becoming a whore who sleeps with married men to climb the social ladder. Compared to your mother, who wasted her youth with limited opportunities, this is your one chance."

"This is a shot for you to live a good life, Gils!" Vera chimed in. "Don't miss it because of your useless pride. Unless, of course, you'd prefer to end up a wretch for the rest of your days."

I rolled my eyes so hard it almost hurt, my anger boiling hotter with every word they spewed.

"Perhaps you should marry him instead, Vera!" I hissed, my voice laced with venom. "At least that way you won't have to live your so-called wretched life. From what I see, you're already used and passed around by the men you've spread your legs for just so they'll throw you scraps for movie roles. Before your eggs dry up and expire, maybe you should marry this man yourself. Let him impregnate you quickly so you don't end up barren, just like your precious mother was once upon a time!"

The room stood still.

"What did you just say?" they both shrieked at once, shock twisting their faces.

But I wasn't done. My rage had long since drowned out any trace of fear. Without hesitation, I snatched the marriage registration form from her hand and tore it to shreds, the pieces fluttering to the floor like dead leaves.

"Never," I spat. "In no phase of my life will I abandon my dream to rot as the housewife of an eighty-five-year-old pervert."

I turned toward the door, fire burning in my chest.

"You can have the house for all I care!" I screamed, my voice echoing through the living room. "I'm gone and I am never coming back!"

With that, I slammed the door so hard behind me it rattled the frame.

For a moment, silence pressed in on me, heavy and raw. My hands trembled. I had only flipped their poison back on them, for the first time in my life. A part of me felt guilty, but exhaustion and frustration drowned it out. What did they truly take me for?

Yes, walking out meant I had no home anymore. But then again... when has this place ever been home?

*****

I walked out of the bar wasted. I'd withdrawn some money only to spend it all on drinking. I wanted nothing more than to numb my pains. The wounds on my body still stung since I hadn't gotten back to my room earlier to treat them. But my broken heart was worse.

If only, I thought.

Earlier tonight, after I'd saved the little girl, she had returned with two men who unlocked the storage room and pulled me out.

Japheth Williams and Seth Williams, the two famous brothers of Williams Film Productions, had stood before me as I struggled to get up. The little girl I had saved happened to be their family.

Everyone in the city knew Japheth Williams was disabled, but I couldn't tell which of the brothers had stood before me. They kept their identities hidden so carefully that only their names were known.

"I saved Angel because she was an adorable girl I couldn't ignore," I remembered telling them when they asked what reward I wanted.

Money, cars, collaborations, flight tickets - they mentioned all of it. But I had turned every single offer down, because I was not a greedy person.

Now, thinking about it, I wondered if I had made a mistake. Would I have chosen differently if the events of this night had happened before I met the brothers?

A car almost ran into me as I staggered across the road, dizzy and lost in thought.

"Fuck you! If you want to die, go kill yourself somewhere else! How dare you stand in the road?" the driver cursed loudly before speeding away.

I was still staring at his car as it disappeared when another one drove up to me.

The window slid down and that was all I remembered before I lost consciousness.

When I woke up and looked around, it was morning. I was lying on a large bed with white sheets. The room was large and luxurious, nothing like the tiny servant quarters. I began staying back at my home after my father's death.

I sprang up immediately, realizing this wasn't my home nor anywhere I was familiar with.

Then, a little girl ran into the room. Angel. The same girl I had saved last night. My confusion only deepened. Why was I here with her again?

A man in a wheelchair wheeled himself in. I had seen him yesterday, though I couldn't recall exactly when.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," I blurted quickly as he explained how he had found me and brought me here. I hurried to put on my shoes, ready to leave.

But then Angel tugged at my hand. She held up her tablet. On it, words appeared:

"Stay with me."

I froze. I had never heard her speak before and now I understood why. She couldn't.

I was still struggling to make sense of it all when the man's voice rang across the room, firm and startling, shattering my thoughts and halting my escape.

"My daughter has never liked anyone before" he began before he paused as if waiting for the words to sink in.

"How much will I have to pay for you to become her nanny?"