Chapter 6 6

The glass door of the Brooklyn studio creaked loudly as Adriane pushed it open.

The air inside was thick with the smell of stale coffee and cheap cigarettes. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was a text from Deandre. His family had been monitoring his accounts closely because they fiercely opposed his association with the Owens siblings. The sudden attempt to withdraw such a massive amount triggered an immediate freeze by his controlling parents. It would take three days to clear.

Barry had less than twenty hours left. Adriane was suffocating in pure panic.

Then, her phone had rung. A woman named Brandi, claiming to be a casting assistant for an independent film, offered her an audition. The role required a real visually impaired actress. The upfront pay was exactly two hundred thousand dollars.

It sounded too good to be true, but Adriane was drowning. She grabbed the lifeline.

"Adriane! So glad you made it," Brandi's overly enthusiastic voice rang out.

Brandi grabbed Adriane's arm and guided her to the center of the room. A massive, burning hot spotlight clicked on, hitting Adriane directly in the face. Even though she couldn't see the light, the intense heat made her skin prickle with sweat.

Brandi shoved a single page of braille script into Adriane's hands.

"The scene is simple," Brandi instructed. "You have just been abandoned by the man you love. Show me pure despair."

The prompt was a knife straight to Adriane's heart.

Adriane stood under the burning light. She didn't read the script. Her mind instantly flashed to Chase's cold eyes, his violent shove, and his retreating footsteps.

Her lips began to tremble. She didn't make a sound, but two thick tears rolled out of her empty, unseeing eyes, tracking slowly down her cheeks. The absolute, shattering heartbreak radiating from her body was suffocating.

Behind a two-way mirror in the dark control room, Kassidy watched. Even she held her breath for a second.

Brandi started clapping loudly, breaking the silence.

"Brilliant! Absolutely genius!" Brandi cheered. "The director loves it. We are signing you right now."

Adriane's entire body shook. "The... the advance payment? Can I get it today?"

"Right this second," Brandi promised. She slid a thick stack of contract papers onto a table and guided Adriane's hands to it.

"I need to scan it with my phone reader," Adriane said, her voice tight with caution.

"Of course," Brandi smiled. She handed Adriane a standard, clean acting contract.

Adriane held her phone over the pages. The robotic voice read out standard union rules and payment terms. It sounded completely normal.

As Adriane listened to the first few pages, Brandi suddenly knocked a heavy metal pen cup off the edge of the desk. It crashed onto the hardwood floor, sending pens clattering noisily in every direction. "Oh, clumsy me! Don't mind that, keep listening, honey!" Brandi laughed loudly, her voice booming over the chaos. Under the cover of the racket, she swiftly slid the final signature page away. She replaced it with a different piece of paper. It was a contract for "High-End Escort Services."

Desperate for the money, Adriane lowered her phone. She let out a long breath, dropping her final defense.

Brandi pressed a pen into Adriane's hand and guided the tip to the dotted line.

Adriane swallowed hard and signed her name.

Brandi looked at the signature. A cruel, wicked smirk twisted her lips.

Brandi pulled the contract away and pressed a hard plastic keycard into Adriane's palm.

"Go to the boutique hotel in SOHO tonight for your wardrobe fitting," Brandi said. "Once you finish, the crypto transfer will hit your account instantly."

Adriane gripped the keycard. A cold shiver ran down her spine, but the thought of Barry's failing heart pushed the fear away. She bowed slightly in gratitude and walked out of the studio.

The moment the door closed, Kassidy stepped out from behind the mirror.

Brandi handed her the signed escort contract.

Kassidy stared at Adriane's signature. Her eyes gleamed with pure malice. Tonight, she was going to destroy Adriane Owens forever.