THE PREVIEW 3

THE PREVIEW 3
~Anna's POV

Preview day.

I wake before my alarm, heart already racing.

Daisy helps me get ready, her hands gentle as she zips the black dress that now hangs looser than it should.

"You look ethereal," she says softly, studying my reflection. "Like Seline herself."

I catch my reflection in her full-length mirror. Sharp cheekbones. Hollow eyes. The star necklace sits against visible collarbones, catching the morning light.

I do look like her. The cursed princess who destroys what she loves.

"Ready?" Daisy asks.

I touch the necklace one last time. Once it meant I was his light in the darkness. Now it's just a weight I can't put down.

"I have to be."

At the theater, the energy is electric. Tommy's already tangled in his toga. Mark is pacing, running lines under his breath. Becky adjusts her costume in the mirror, nervous energy making her hands shake.

"Gather round," Dwayne calls. We circle him on the stage, and he looks at each of us. "Tonight, you show them why theater matters. Why your voices matter. Anna—" His eyes find mine. "You show them who you are."

I nod, not trusting my voice.

The VIP section fills with Meridian executives, industry professionals with notepads, strangers who will judge whether I'm worth investing in.

The lights dim.

I step onto the stage.

And Anna Chen disappears.

\---

"I am cursed," I begin, and the words flow like water. Like truth. "Everything I touch withers. Everyone I love abandons me."

The audience is silent. Completely, utterly captivated.

"They call it a curse, but I call it clarity. When your love destroys, you learn what love really costs."

I move through Seline's world like I was born there. The pain of loving someone who will leave. The inevitability of loss. The choice between destroying yourself or everyone around you.

Mark enters as Prince George, and we fall into the rhythm we've rehearsed for weeks.

"Seline," he says, voice full of longing. "You're trembling."

"I'm always trembling," I respond. "Love makes cowards of us all."

"Then let us be cowards together."

"No." I step back, and the movement is both choreography and instinct. "I would rather die loving you than watch you die because of me."

In the front row, a Meridian executive leans forward, writing furiously. The audience doesn't move. Doesn't breathe.

This is working.

We build to the betrayal scene. The moment where Seline learns her lover has chosen duty over her. I've run this scene a hundred times, but tonight it feels different. Raw. Real.

"You promised!" The words tear out of me. "You promised you'd fight for me!"

"I am fighting for you—"

"By leaving?" My voice breaks in exactly the right place. Not acting. Just remembering. "By choosing what's safe over what's true?"

Someone in the audience sobs. I don't break character, but I feel the connection. The shared pain of being left behind.

"If my love brings only ruin," I say quietly, directly to the audience, "then let me be the ruin that walks away."

The scene ends. The lights shift.

In the brief darkness, I hear sniffling. Tissues being pulled from purses. The shuffle of people trying to compose themselves.

I did that. Made them feel something real.

When the lights come up for the next scene, the Meridian executives are exchanging glances. Impressed. Calculating what I'm worth.

The performance continues. Tommy delivers his comedic Zeus moments perfectly, only tripping once. Becky shines in her supporting role. Mark is brilliant opposite me, his Prince George both noble and flawed.

But I can feel it—tonight is mine. This performance is everything I've bled for.

When the lights come up for intermission, I'm shaking from adrenaline.

I was good. No—I was brilliant.

\---

Backstage erupts the second I'm through the curtain.

"Anna!" Tommy tackles me in a hug, toga and all. "You made people CRY! Actual tears!"

"Career-making," Mark says seriously, his eyes warm. "That's exactly what it is."

Becky is beaming. "The VIPs couldn't stop taking notes the entire time."

Then Daisy appears, mascara streaking down her face.

"You were—" Her voice breaks. "I don't have words. Transcendent."

"I was good?" I need to hear it again.

"Extraordinary. The entire audience was holding their breath." She hugs me tight. "I'm so proud of you."

I feel it then. The validation. The proof that I'm more than James Reynolds' abandoned stepdaughter.

I'm Anna Chen. And I'm brilliant.

Three sharp knocks on the dressing room door interrupt the celebration.

Everyone goes quiet.

I'm still in costume, still half-Seline, when I open it.

The man filling the doorway is overwhelming. Tall, easily 6'3". Sharp jawline, intense dark eyes, presence that makes the small space feel even smaller.

"Anna Chen?" His voice is deep, warm. "Jamal Santos."

My brain stutters. Jamal Santos. MMA Heavyweight Champion. The face on sports networks and pay-per-view events.

"I—yes. Hi."

His smile is confident, almost cocky. "I came in place of my cousin tonight. She couldn't make it, asked me to represent the family at the preview." He extends his hand. "Best favor she ever asked of me. That performance was devastating."

I shake his hand. His grip is firm but careful—like he's very aware of his own strength.

"Thank you."

"I mean it. You were brilliant." He leans against the doorframe, completely at ease despite being in a cramped backstage hallway. "I've seen a lot of performances, fights, shows, films. That was real. Raw. The kind of thing people don't forget."

Behind me, I hear Daisy's sharp intake of breath.

"I'd like to take you to dinner," Jamal continues, direct and confident. No games. "Talk about what you're doing next. Get to know the woman behind that performance."

My heart pounds. Not quite attraction yet, more like standing too close to something powerful and not knowing if it's dangerous.

"I don't—"

"No pressure. Just conversation." His eyes hold mine. "Are you seeing someone?"

The answer should be simple. No. I'm single. James is marrying someone else in twenty-eight days.

"No. I'm not seeing—"

"Anna?" Mark appears in the doorway behind Jamal. "They're calling for—" He sees Jamal and stops. "Oh. Sorry."

The panic is immediate and irrational.

"Mark!" I grab his wrist, pull him into the room. "This is Jamal Santos. Jamal, meet Mark. My boyfriend."

The silence is deafening.

Mark's wrist goes rigid in my grip. "Your... what?"

Jamal's eyes narrow, assessing. "Interesting. Because you just said you weren't seeing anyone."

"I meant—" My brain scrambles. "I meant I'm not seeing anyone new. I'm already with Mark."

It's the worst lie I've ever told, and everyone in this room knows it.

"Anna," Mark says slowly, carefully. "What are you doing?"

"Just—" I squeeze his wrist harder. Please. "Tell him."

Mark looks at me. Really looks at me. And I see the moment he makes his choice.

"Yeah," he says, voice rough. "We're together."

His hand finds mine. Laces our fingers together. And the touch is so deliberate, so public, that my breath catches.

Jamal watches our joined hands. When he speaks, his voice is dangerous and amused. "How long?"

"Does it matter?" Mark's grip tightens.

"It does when she hesitated before lying about it." Jamal's smile is sharp. "And when you look like someone just handed you something you've wanted for a long time."

Mark goes still beside me.

"We should go," I say quickly. "Act Two—"

"Of course." Jamal steps back. "Wouldn't want to keep your boyfriend from his performance." The word drips with skepticism. "But Anna?"

I freeze.

"This isn't over. Whatever game you're playing—I play better."

He leaves.

The door closes.

Mark drops my hand like it burned him.

"What the hell was that?" His voice shakes with something between anger and hurt.

"I panicked—"

"You used me."

"I'm sorry—"

"Are you?" He turns to face me fully. "Because that guy out there thinks we're together now. Daisy just watched the whole thing. And I—" He stops. "I just lied for you without even knowing why."

"Mark—"

"Do you have any idea how long I've wanted you to call me your boyfriend?" His voice cracks. "And when you finally do, it's fake. It's a lie to get rid of some other guy."

My heart drops. "I didn't know you felt—"

"Of course you didn't." He laughs bitterly. "Because you're still in love with him. Whoever he is. The one who left. And I'm just the convenient scene partner you can use when you need protection."

"That's not—"

"Places for Act Two!" Dwayne's voice carries through the hallway.

Mark heads for the stage without looking back.

Daisy observing all throug
h, eyes wide.

"Anna," she whispers. "What did you just do?"

I stare at the spot where Jamal stood. Then at the stage where Mark disappeared.

"I think," I say quietly, "I just made the biggest mistake of my life."

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