Chapter Two - Past

One Year Ago

The Rivera estate was too quiet.

Serena stepped out of the sleek black car, her stilettos stabbing into the cobblestone like they had a score to settle. She didn’t want to be here. Not tonight. Not ever. Her body still ached from the fourteen-hour shoot she’d just wrapped. Makeup clung to her skin like a mask she didn’t have the energy to rip off. And yet, she had come.

Because when Robert Rivera said Come home. Now, you didn’t ignore the call.

Not even if you hated the man on the other end of the line.

The mansion’s front doors opened before she could even lift a hand to knock.

“Miss Serena,” the butler greeted with a stiff nod. Always too polished. Always too professional. Like everything in this house used to be—before it began to fall apart.

“Your father is waiting in the study.”

Of course he was.

Her heels echoed sharply through the once-grand halls. She didn’t miss how empty it all felt now. The Rivera legacy might’ve ruled entertainment once, but Serena could see the cracks. The quiet layoffs, the missing antiques, the absence of staff. Her father’s empire was bleeding.

And this house—this cold, hollow place that used to be her sanctuary—felt more like a tomb now.

She paused outside the study for a beat. Smoothed her coat. Lifted her chin. Pushed the exhaustion out of her expression.

Then she walked in.

Robert Rivera didn’t even look up. One hand cradled a crystal glass, the other flipping lazily through a thick file—financials, most likely. She could practically feel the dollar signs bleeding off the page.

“You called,” she said, her voice cool, her body still near the door.

“Come sit.” Not a request. A command.

She moved slowly, every step toward him peeling something invisible off her skin. She sat down across from him in the leather chair that had seen too many power plays to still be comfortable.

He finally looked up.

“You look tired.”

“Long shoot,” she replied, matching his tone with one of her own.

He didn’t care. Didn’t ask. Didn’t comment. Instead, he turned back to the file.

“Any projects lined up?”

Serena’s spine tensed.

“No,” she said, quietly.

And braced for the strike.

Not a physical one—though that wasn’t impossible with him—but the verbal kind. The disappointment. The dismissal. The anger that always came when she wasn’t good enough.

But it didn’t come.

Instead, he smiled. That thin, dangerous kind of smile that made her skin crawl.

“Good.”

Her heart stuttered.

Good?

Robert leaned back, like this was a casual conversation and not a chess game he’d already won. “You’ll be acting in this one next.”

A ping vibrated from her phone. She looked down—he nodded. Permission to check.

The notification opened to an article from Hollywood’s Report.

Her eyes scanned the headline.

> Lucian Vale's Secret Film Project? Whispers Point to Hollywood’s King and Queen Reuniting on Screen.

Hollywood may be on the brink of its next cinematic obsession — and all signs point to Lucian Vale.

The notoriously private media tycoon and Vale Studios founder has remained out of the public eye for months, but new insider chatter suggests he’s quietly assembling what could be his most ambitious project yet — a sweeping romantic epic rumored to be filmed across three continents, backed by a jaw-dropping production budget, and destined for awards season.

What’s caught everyone’s attention, though? The rumored cast.

Multiple sources close to the studio have hinted that Aiden Wolfe and Seraphina Devacruax, often referred to as Hollywood’s King and Queen, have both been “in talks” for leading roles in what’s being described as a genre-bending psychological thriller with intense emotional stakes. The two haven’t shared the screen since their electric performance in Chasing Fireworks— and fans have been begging for a reunion ever since.

“They’ve both cleared long-standing projects off their slates,” one industry source revealed. “It’s all lining up.”

While no official statements have been released, whispers around Vale Studios suggest the script has been completed under tight security, with select readings held behind closed doors in Europe last month. A mysterious director — allegedly someone who “never works with studios” — is also rumored to be attached.

Is this just wishful thinking from Hollywood insiders and overzealous fans? Or is Lucian Vale about to drop the biggest passion project the industry has seen in a decade?

One thing’s for sure: if Wolfe and Devacruax do reunite under Lucian Vale’s cold-blooded brilliance, it won’t just break the internet — it’ll dominate the box office and awards circuit alike.

Stay tuned. Something is brewing.

Serena blinked.

It couldn’t be real.

“This is…” she trailed off.

“Going to be the biggest film Hollywood’s seen in the last decade,” her father said. “High budget. International attention. Global press.”

“And?” Her throat felt tight. “What does this have to do with me?”

He met her eyes then. And she saw it—the calculation, the hunger, the desperation he tried so hard to bury under expensive suits and neat whiskey pours.

“You’re going to marry Lucian Vale.”

The world stopped moving.

The words echoed in the study like a loaded gun going off. She stared at her father, unable to speak, unable to breathe.

And then, like he hadn’t just turned her world upside down, he added—

“You’ll replace Seraphina Devacruax in this project.”

Her blood turned to ice.

“What?” The word tumbled out of her mouth, half laugh, half disbelief. “Why would they replace Seraphina Devacruax? Let alone… with me?”

It was absurd. Unhinged. Seraphina was Hollywood royalty—the golden queen, the award-winning, box office darling. Serena was—well, her father’s daughter. A rookie. Blacklisted. Tabloid fodder. Sometimes not even that.

“You’re not replacing her because you’re better,” her father said plainly, as if that wasn’t already obvious. “You’re replacing her because of who you’ll belong to.”

Her stomach turned.

“This project is Lucian’s obsession. It’s his first personal solo production. He’s investing millions into it, overseeing every detail. And he wants control. Total control. Of the vision. Of the story. Of the cast.”

Serena stared, pulse thudding.

“Then why would he agree to this?”

“Because you’ll be his wife.”

There it was again. That word.

Wife.

“You can’t be serious,” she said, voice low. “He doesn’t even know me.”

“Sure he does. He’s known of you for years. Knew you were a Rivera before you even had a name in the industry.”

“You mean because of you.”

“I mean because we made a deal.”

Her stomach dropped.

“What deal?” she asked quietly.

Robert finished his drink and stood, walking toward the towering window that overlooked the empty driveway. “A long time ago, when the Rivera name still meant something. I helped his father keep his empire clean. Lucian owes me. And I called in that favor now.”

Serena’s throat went dry. “You sold me off like a bargain chip.”

“No,” he said simply. “I positioned you to be irreplaceable.”

She laughed, sharp and bitter. “You positioned me to be his problem.”

Robert turned slowly, eyes like cold steel. “You’ve already been everyone else’s problem, haven’t you? The indie projects, the low ratings, the men you wouldn’t let buy you. You think this industry rewards integrity?”

She looked down and said nothing.

He walked closer, his voice like poison wrapped in silk. “I am giving you a legacy. A second chance. And this marriage—it will save us both.”

Her eyes flashed. “So that’s it. You’re broke.”

The silence was answer enough. Her suspicions were right.

“And Lucian agreed?” she whispered. “He just—what? Wants a wife to puppet into his perfect picture?”

"He has no choice, though I suspect he has his own rules, which is why he called in a meeting between all of us."

Serena gulped without a sound. "You could just make him give me the film offer, Dad. I don't need to marry him."

Robert Rivera gave her a look. "Lucian Vale is a cold blooded tycoon, Serena. As long as one isn't tied to his family name, he'll show no mercy and spare no kindness.

“Although, Lucian agreed because he’s a businessman first. And right now, he has a problem—Hollywood's divas. Seraphina’s team has been playing hardball. Leaking rumors. Demanding producer credits. Lucian’s patience is wearing thin. So when I offered him a solution—a marriage that would fix your career and give him complete casting power—he took it.”

Serena felt sick.

“You want me to sign myself away to a man I barely know, just to play dress-up in his passion project?”

“I want you to survive in an industry that’s waiting for you to fail." Robert’s expression didn’t flinch. “I care about the Rivera name. You want to act? This is your last chance.”

Serena stood. She didn’t know when her hands had started shaking. “And what happens if I say no?”

Robert smiled faintly.

You won’t. His gaze said what his words wouldn't.

Her stomach soured.

Serena didn’t say another word. But she imagined flipping the heavy crystal glass across the table. Letting it shatter against his perfect plans.

She turned on her heel and walked out of the study, heels silent now against the cold marble floor.