A faint, unfamiliar perfume lingered in the air around the woman in front of him.
Nathaniel shook off the thought before it could fully form.
An image surfaced instead Eliana, as he’d seen her just the day before.
Gentle.
Untouched.
Standing there like a lily in full bloom.
Nothing like the woman standing in front of him now.
Maybe it was just their shared profession bleeding through some overlap in temperament that came with the industry.
That explanation settled something in him.
“Vivian’s already bought the song, at a price you agreed to,” he said coldly.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make things difficult for her again.”
Eliana smiled.
“Don’t worry.”
“I won’t say another word about that song.”
“Good.” Nathaniel nodded, his eyes darkening.
“See that you remember it.”
Eliana just smiled again.
He turned and walked off, as abruptly as he’d arrived.
Eliana watched him make his way down the corridor to where Vivian waited, helping her up as though she were made of glass.
Precious cargo, handled with care.
They left together.
A few minutes later, Eliana’s phone buzzed.
A message from Nathaniel.
Told Grandpa yesterday you weren’t feeling well.
But you’re coming to the family house with me this weekend.
No exceptions.
An order.
Nothing less.
She didn’t bother replying, just turned and walked in the opposite direction.
…
Meanwhile,
Nathaniel had already gotten Vivian settled in the car.
He buckled her seatbelt but didn’t start the engine right away instead he checked his phone.
Still no reply from Eliana.
Vivian noticed exactly what he was doing.
Her eyes reddened slightly.
“Nathaniel…
does this bother you?
What I did back there?”
He looked up, brow furrowing.
“Why would you ask that?”
Vivian gave a small, bitter smile, hesitating.
“Eliana used to work in music, didn’t she?
I worry it might’ve felt like I was stepping on something that mattered to you.”
He didn’t answer immediately, just studied her face.
If he was honest, it had bothered him a little.
But Vivian didn’t have time to spare for his hesitation.
These last six months, he’d promised himself he’d grant her every request without question.
Vivian read the silence perfectly and lowered her head, letting the guilt on her face deepen.
Neither of them spoke.
The only sound in the car was Nathaniel’s finger, tapping absently against the wheel.
About a minute passed before Vivian finally said, “I just wanted to walk the same path she once walked.”
“I wanted to see how much you actually loved her.”
She lifted her head, eyes glistening.
I want that same love, pointed at me.
Nathaniel’s finger stilled.
He closed his eyes and let out a long breath.
“Don’t read too much into it,” he said.
“The divorce paperwork’s already filed with her.
We’re just waiting out the cooling-off period before it’s official.”
“Vivi, I’m with you now.”
Vivian smiled softly and nodded.
“Alright.
Let’s head back,” Nathaniel said, pocketing his phone and starting the engine.
Vivian ducked her head, a brief flash of triumph crossing her face.
This was exactly the plan.
She intended to use her current wave of public sympathy and support to bury Eliana completely, her career, her marriage, all of it.
She wanted to take everything: the man, the reputation, the future.
That was precisely why she’d made sure to find out about Voice of Heaven, and why she was determined to be part of it.
Break Eliana down entirely.
Push her past her limit, ideally until she fled the city altogether leaving Vivian free to step into her place and inherit everything that used to belong to her.
From where she was sitting, none of it looked difficult anymore.
She swallowed her smile, closed her eyes, and settled into her seat, playing the part of the exhausted patient resting.
…
Elsewhere.
Eliana had already signed her agreement with Jonathan.
Foster Entertainment was one of the primary investors behind Voice of Heaven, and as its head, Jonathan carried real weight with the production.
Knowing Vivian was now tangled up in this, Jonathan had a fresh confidentiality clause drawn up specifically to protect Eliana.
She would compete as a masked contestant under a new stage name Serena with the plan to unmask at the right moment and let the world see exactly who she was.
Until then, only she and Jonathan would know the truth.
Since the show leaned heavily on original songwriting, composition, and vocal ability, the masked-singer format was mostly treated as a marketing gimmick every agency involved had leaned into some version of it, so no one questioned the arrangement.
Serena is a name built around calm, around peace.
A mind at rest, naturally still.
Eliana was pleased with the choice.
Once the paperwork was settled, she drove straight to the hospital.
She’d pushed her morning appointment back exactly for this perfect timing now.
After a quick lunch, she made her way to the doctor’s office.
Knock knock.
She rapped gently on the door, waited for the nod from inside, and let herself in, shutting the door behind her.
Dr.
Naomi Reeves watched her take a seat and asked gently, “You look a little different today.
How have you been feeling lately?”
Naomi was the psychiatrist overseeing Eliana’s depression treatment.
Eliana’s life so far had swung between real joy and real pain, one extreme to the other.
The first twenty years had carried their share of hurt, but also enough love to hold her together.
Then Vivian entered the picture.
If she was honest, she’d sensed something wrong even before the messages started arriving from that second account.
The day she’d finally shown those messages to Nathaniel, he’d told her flatly that she’d fabricated them herself to frame an innocent woman.
That was the day she’d first walked into a psychiatric office.
Her very first chart already noted moderate depression.
Medication had been recommended from the start, but she’d wanted a child with Nathaniel someday, so she’d stuck to therapy alone and skipped the prescriptions.
Nathaniel had never once asked about any of it, never knew she was seeing anyone, never knew her diagnosis.
“Better than before, actually,” Eliana said after a moment.
“I’ve decided to let go of some things.
I think that’s helping.”
Naomi nodded, visibly relieved.
“And how’s everything else been?” she pressed gently.
She knew Eliana’s situation reasonably well by now including the online storm around Vivian’s very public countdown.
So while she looked relieved on the surface, Naomi wasn’t entirely convinced underneath.
She understood exactly what role Nathaniel had played in Eliana’s life for years.
Eliana stared at the white surface of the desk for a long three seconds.
Finally, she smiled.
“Actually not that good.”
Her eyes reddened just slightly, saying that much.
She caught herself immediately.
“Dr.
Reeves,” she said, “I’ve decided.
Let’s start the medication.”
She’d avoided it this long only because some part of her still hoped for a future with Nathaniel, a child, a family, something worth protecting.
That hope was gone now.
So was the pregnancy she’d once wanted so badly.
Nothing left standing in the way now.
Naomi studied her, worry creeping into her chest.
If anything, Eliana looked worse, not better.
She found herself weighing whether it was time to notify Eliana’s family and Nathaniel directly.