Chapter 4

Karen dragged her swollen, purple ankle across the threshold of the cramped apartment in Koreatown.

The air inside smelled heavily of mildew and old cooking oil. It was a violent contrast to the sterile luxury of Beverly Hills.

She collapsed onto the lumpy fabric sofa. She pulled a small plastic first-aid kit from the coffee table and took out a bottle of iodine.

She bit down hard on her bottom lip as she pressed the iodine-soaked cotton swab into the raw, bleeding scrape on her arm. She hissed as the pain flared.

Her phone vibrated on the table. The screen lit up with a name: Brenda McCoy (Mother).

Karen stared at the screen. A wave of exhaustion washed over her. Her finger hovered over the red reject button.

The phone kept buzzing. It wouldn't stop. She finally slid her finger across the green icon.

"Listen to me," Brenda's shrill, slurred voice blasted through the speaker before Karen could even say hello. "I need you to wire five hundred thousand dollars to a casino account in Vegas right now."

Karen closed her eyes. "Mom. I don't have it. Israel kicked me out. I have nothing."

"Bullshit!" Brenda screamed. "You useless piece of trash! You couldn't even keep a billionaire's legs wrapped around you? What good are you?"

Karen's chest hollowed out. The toxic blood of her family burned in her veins.

"I should have aborted you," Brenda spat.

The words felt like a physical knife twisting in Karen's gut. She gripped the phone so hard the plastic creaked.

"I am not paying your gambling debts anymore," Karen said. Her voice was dead. Cold.

"I'll go to the press!" Brenda threatened. "I'll tell them what an ungrateful bitch you are! I'll ruin you!"

Karen let out a dry, broken laugh. "Go ahead. I'm already ruined."

She ended the call. She went into her contacts and blocked Brenda's number.

The adrenaline left her body all at once. Karen curled into a tight ball on the sofa. A violent cough ripped through her chest.

The rain, the physical trauma, and the sheer psychological exhaustion hit her immune system like a freight train. Her skin grew burning hot. She slipped into a feverish darkness.

The next morning, a frantic pounding on the door jolted her awake.

Karen forced herself up. Her head spun. She leaned heavily against the peeling wallpaper and dragged herself to the door. She looked through the peephole.

It was Eleanor Fletcher, her agent.

Karen unlocked the door. Eleanor took one look at Karen's pale, bruised face and gasped.

Eleanor practically carried her back to the bed. She pulled a bottle of Tylenol and a thermos of hot soup from her tote bag. She forced Karen to swallow the pills.

Eleanor didn't ask questions. She just held Karen's hand until the shivering stopped.

Once Karen's eyes focused, Eleanor unzipped her leather briefcase. She pulled out a thick, slightly wrinkled script.

"Julian Carmichael watched your audition tape," Eleanor said, her voice shaking with excitement. "He fought off the investors. He wants you as the lead in Midnight in Malibu."

Karen stared at the paper. The name printed in bold letters on the cover was Karen Walsh-the stage name she had legally and permanently adopted years ago, a desperate attempt to completely sever her ties and bury the toxic Kowalski bloodline she was unfortunately born into.

"The pay is garbage," Eleanor continued, "but it's an Oscar-bait role, Karen. This is how you stand back up."

Karen reached out. Her fingers trembled as they brushed the cover of the script.

A hot tear slipped down her cheek and splashed onto the title page. She pulled the script against her chest and held it like a life raft.