The rain was hammering Manhattan, and I felt the impact before I ever heard the sound. Metal screamed against metal. Warm blood dripped down my temple. I fumbled for my phone, hit speed dial for my husband.
Three times. Nothing. The fourth call finally connected, but it wasn’t Clive’s voice. “I got into a car accident on the Manhattan highway.
Please help me. ”
“Please stop calling. Mr. Wilson is busy.
He told you to stop bothering him with this kind of trick. ”
“No, I’m not lying. I’m really—”
The line went dead. Four years of being the wife of a wealthy man, and he still saw me as nothing but a cunning woman desperate for his attention.
I couldn’t hold on anymore. Everything went black. When I woke up, I was in a hospital. On the TV, my husband, Clive Wilson, was strolling down a red carpet with his ex-girlfriend, Angelina Stewart, the star.
He’d claimed he was too busy with work to take my calls, but there he was, smiling for the cameras with another woman while I was fighting for my life. I signed the discharge papers and left. I didn’t go home. I called my best friend, Zoe.
The next morning, I went back to the penthouse for my passport and laptop. Instead, I found an ultrasound report in Clive’s jacket. Angelina had found out she was pregnant three days ago. He’d lied to me, saying he was going to Boston for a merger.
He’d been holding her hand in the obstetric department. “What are you doing? ” His voice sliced through the air. I spun around.
My hand trembled, and the ultrasound fluttered to the floor. He wasn’t supposed to be home. “You went through my pockets? ” he growled.
“Shouldn’t you be explaining why this is in your pocket? ”
“Angelina is going through a crisis. She’s a public figure. The media could tear her apart.
”
“Clive, maybe you never really saw me as your wife at all. ”
“You have everything, Annalia. A ten million dollar penthouse. An unlimited credit card.
The Wilson name. What more do you want? ”
“You think I married you for your money? ”
He scoffed.
“Isn’t it? ”
“Our marriage was a business arrangement,” I said. But it wasn’t, not to me. Four years ago, I fell for him at a banquet.
My father treated it like a merger. I thought it was fate. For four years, I tried to melt his heart, and I failed. “Clive, let’s end this.
I want a divorce. ”
I pulled down a battered old suitcase. Inside was the only thing I was taking: the voice acting career trophy I’d treasured for years. I picked it up and walked toward the door.
“Divorce? Don’t be ridiculous. ” He grabbed my arm. “If you dare walk out that door, I’ll freeze all your credit cards.
You’ll be broke. ”
“I don’t want your money. ”
I pulled my arm free and walked out without looking back. He stood there, frozen in shock.
My stomach ached. I hadn’t eaten in almost a day. I grabbed a turkey sandwich and a bottle of water, but every card I owned was declined. The people behind me grew impatient.
My hidden account had a million and a half dollars saved from my voice acting days. But if I touched it, Clive’s lawyers would call it hiding assets. I paid for the water with three crumpled dollar bills and a handful of quarters. Laughter followed me out of the store.
My phone vibrated. A voice message from Clive. “Hungry yet? Come home, apologize, and I’ll lift the freeze on your cards.
Don’t be stubborn, Annalia. ”
I pressed delete. This was temporary. Starfall, the voice actor, would return soon.
Zoe took me in without a single question. She gave me a hug. “Welcome back, Starfall. You can stay as long as you want.
”
I opened my laptop. The Pantheon Saga was casting. Queen Athgard—a warrior who lost everything but refused to give up. That was my role.
I put on my headphones and closed my eyes. I thought of the car accident, the frozen cards, the ultrasound photo on the floor. “You think taking my crown will break me? ” I whispered into the mic.
“I built this kingdom from the bodies of men like you. ”
Zoe stood at the doorway, stunned. “My god, Annalia, that was amazing. This role will be yours.
”
It was my first recording in four years. With a nervous heart, I sent the demo off. It wasn’t just about my comeback. It was about whether I could take my mother out of that private hospital and live independently.
Her bills were paid by my father’s trust, the Graves family trust. That was his last act of decency toward her, but it was also the rope that choked me. On the other side of the city, Galen Webb, the director of Pantheon Saga, was listening to Angelina’s audition. He was frowning.
“Too mechanical. She didn’t even bother to memorize her lines. I need another voice actor. ”
“There’s a voice actress named Starfall who submitted a demo.
”
“Never heard of her. She’s a nobody. ”
“Well, let’s just have a listen. ”
He heard my voice and went quiet.
“This is the voice of Queen Athgard I always imagined. Contact her. Set up a meeting tomorrow. ”
I was so happy I couldn’t sleep.
Then Clive called at five in the morning. “Annalia, I need the gray tie. You come home and find it right now, and I might unfreeze one credit card for you. ”
“No need.
Don’t contact me unless it’s about the divorce. I’m very busy. ”
“Busy doing what? Sleeping on your friend’s crappy sofa?
Stop this nonsense and come back now. ”
“If you don’t agree to the divorce, you’ll soon receive papers from my lawyer. ”
I blocked him. He was so furious he smashed a vase.
The next day, I went to see Galen. I was wearing a baseball cap and a thrift store trench coat. Just as I was about to step out of the elevator, Clive walked in. He was there to see Galen too.
To kill the Starfall deal. “Wait, do you know where Director Galen’s office is? ” he asked me. I shook my head.
Then my phone rang. It was Galen. And at the same time, I saw Galen walking out of his office. In desperation, I knocked a coffee out of an office worker’s hand, spilling it all over Clive.
“I’m so sorry! ” I shoved a few hundred dollars in cash at the worker, telling her to take him to the lounge to clean up. Clive stopped for a second, puzzled, like my voice sounded familiar. I walked quickly toward Galen and followed him into his office.
“You’re Starfall,” he said. “Yes. ”
The audition went smoothly. I signed the contract.
With a condition: no press tours, no photo shoots. Just the voice. I’d barely left the office when Clive stormed in. “Who the hell is Starfall?
Why would you refuse Angelina for a nobody? ”
But I was already gone, standing around the corner with a smirk. Clive, you only care about Angelina. But you’ll never take this role from me.
Then I realized my visitor’s pass was missing. My real name was on it. If Clive saw it, he’d know everything. I searched the lobby frantically.
“Annalia, looking for this? ”
Cole Hall, Clive’s friend. He was also the CEO of Apex Media. He held my visitor’s pass.
“You’re Starfall, the voice actor Galen interviewed today. Clive has no idea. He even asked me to investigate you. ”
“No, you’ve got it wrong.
I’m here on behalf of a friend. ”
The elevator doors opened. Clive stepped out and grabbed my hand. “You were that woman in the elevator.
It’s you, Annalia. ”
The air froze. Cole broke the silence. “Your wife came to see me.
Personal business. ”
Clive laughed. “You’re here to beg Cole for money, right? Cole, don’t give her a dime.
”
“You’re arrogant, Clive. Without you, I can still live just fine. ”
I turned and walked away. Cole’s text came later: *Now you owe me one.
*
The next day, an orange box arrived. Inside, a Birkin bag. “Darling, wear our promise bracelet. Tonight at 8.
Don’t miss it. ” He needed me to play the happy wife for the press. I went. But I didn’t bring his bag or his jewelry.
I brought our promise bracelet back, tucked in a velvet box. I placed it on the table, took off my wedding ring, and set it beside the box. “Are you crazy? This place is packed.
”
“They’d find out about our divorce sooner or later. ”
“Annalia, you’re out of your mind. Without me, you’ll have nothing. ”
“No, Clive.
You never really knew me. And you had no idea what I gave up for you. ” I walked away. Behind me, a wine glass shattered.
I went to see my father. He was sitting in his study. He agreed to keep paying my mother’s medical bills if I won Clive back. He didn’t believe my promises.
My stepmother, Bianca, mocked me for it. I walked out into the cold. The next morning, I walked into the Wilson Group building. “Tell Liam if I don’t see Clive in five minutes, I’ll send evidence of Angelina’s pregnancy to his mother.
”
Clive appeared in three. “Give me the 1945 Roman Côte,” I said. “Why should I? ”
“Give it to me, and I won’t file for divorce before your quarterly earnings call.
”
He agreed, on one condition: I had to attend a charity gala with him. His grandmother had seen the headlines and nearly had a stroke. We’d show up together, and afterward, I’d deliver the wine to my father. “You look different, Annalia.
”
“Yes, because I’ve finally woken up, Clive. ”
At the gala, I wore the red velvet dress I’d been too afraid to wear for three years. Clive looked like he’d been punched when he saw me. He forced a five-carat diamond ring back onto my finger.
“Now you look like my wife. ”
“I hate you. ”
“Hate me all you want. Just don’t embarrass me.
”
I was mocked for my dress. Clive didn’t defend me. Then his grandmother handed me a bowl of herbal medicine, insisting it would help me conceive. The truth was, Clive didn’t want children.
All the pressure fell on me. I drank the bitter sludge. But when I saw my stepmother mocking me, I loaded Clive’s sushi with a massive chunk of wasabi. “Here, dear.
Open up. ”
His eyes watered. “You did that on purpose. ”
“Did I?
I was just trying to take care of you. ”
Later, Bianca said I didn’t need a job. “Her only job is to stay home and wait for Clive. ”
“Speaking of work, Bianca, how are things with your tennis coach?
” I asked sweetly. She dropped her glass. I had screenshots. Clive’s grandmother had to be escorted out.
In the garden, Clive was furious. “Is this how you treat your own elder? ”
“Has she ever once mocked me first? Have you ever once defended me?
”
“Can’t you just tolerate it? ”
“Tolerate it? You were the one who didn’t want children. Why did I have to bear this pressure alone?
Because I loved you more than you loved me. ”
“Yes, but I compensated you. Luxury cars, mansions, black cards. ”
“I want dignity.
I want to be treated like a human being, not a decoration. ”
He tried to grab me. “Don’t touch me again. Ever.
I’m leaving. ”
Later that night, at my father’s house, I delivered the wine. “I’m done with you, Dad. Don’t call me again.
”
“You’ll need my support someday,” he said. At 1 a. m. , Clive’s assistant delivered a bag worth two hundred thousand dollars.
I told Zoe to sell it. “That’s a house deposit. ”
“I don’t want his gifts. I want his regret.
”
A black Maybach pulled up. Clive sat in the back. “Get in. You’re going to sell what I gave you.
”
I got in. “Annalia, I know your mother needs money. I can give it to you. Nothing has to change.
Just move back now. ”
“Then let me stay dead. I want a divorce today. ”
He pulled the car over and dragged me out.
“You want independence? Then walk. Don’t ever ride in my car again. Don’t touch anything I give you.
”
I stood on the roadside, shaking. “Clive, you’ll regret doing this to me. ”
I went back and picked the bag off the pavement. Two hundred thousand dollars.
I’d crawl through a sewer for that. But when I sold it, the bank froze the funds for 72 hours. Clive, you’re cruel. When I was at my lowest, I got a job offer from a recording studio in the basement of a Brooklyn laundromat.
It was beneath me, but I didn’t have the luxury of dignity. I recorded a lousy pulp script for five hundred dollars. Enough for a week of groceries and subway fare. Then the hospital called.
My mother’s heart had stopped. I called my father. “Mom’s heart stopped. You need to come.
”
“I’m in the middle of a deal. The doctors are paid to do their job. ”
“She might die. ”
“Everyone dies.
Don’t be dramatic. ”
I sat outside the ICU all night. My phone died, so I missed the divorce hearing. When I turned it back on, I called Clive to explain.
“Don’t use your mother as a shield. It’s pathetic. I asked your father, and he said there was nothing serious at all. ”
“Her heart stopped.
I was at the hospital all night. ”
“You were such a good actress. You almost had me fooled. ”
He’d never believe me.
But that night, I met a lawyer on the hospital rooftop. Jerome. I thought he was photographing me, but he was just checking the weather. He offered me a ride.
What I didn’t know was that Jerome was Clive’s corporate lawyer. The next day, my father froze the trust fund. “You got the wine, but you didn’t bring your husband back. That’s business, not charity.
”
I had to make a deal with Clive. I went to his office with a USB drive full of evidence of his illegal transactions. “Mom’s medical trust unfrozen and independent property rights,” I demanded. “Or the SEC gets this.
”
Clive signed, but not before asking me to make him lunch. The bento I used to make. I returned with it, and he insisted it was perfect. “So you knew what you’d never taste again,” I said.
“Now sign. ”
Angelina burst in. She accused me of secretly recording him, and then she grabbed my phone and hurled it to the floor. It shattered.
All my evidence was gone. I grabbed her by the hair. “How dare you break my phone? ”
Clive screamed at us and kicked her out.
But I could see it. He was still protecting her. I was done. Completely done.
I ran to the elevator. Jerome was inside. “Take me away. Anywhere.
Just not here. ”
He dropped me at a street corner. In the cold, I texted Clive: *The foyer in your lunch was bought from a street vendor. I didn’t wash my hands.
Enjoy. *
I knew he’d be sick by morning. Clive froze every account. But it didn’t matter anymore.
I had removed myself from the family trust. I was out. I had signed a contract with Clive, though. Keep up the marriage for one year, play the happy couple publicly, and he’d cover my mother’s medical bills.
I signed. He never knew I signed it because I had an appointment with Galen Webb at a charity gala that same night. I was late. I hit a car.
A pregnant woman stepped out, screaming. It was extortion. But Jerome appeared in a silver Aston Martin, in a tailored tuxedo. “Saw a 4K dash cam in my car.
It’s recording extortion, three to five years. ” The scammers fled. He drove me to the Waldorf. At the side entrance, I rushed up to the fourth floor for my meeting with Galen.
The door opened. It wasn’t Galen. It was Angelina. “Looking for someone?
Oh, Galen is in the shower,” she lied. Then she threw red wine down the front of my blue silk gown. “Oops. Clumsy me.
How are you going to go downstairs to the gala? You look like a murderer. ”
She slammed the door. I found scissors and cut the dress above the stain.
The high slit revealed a long leg. I walked into the gala like I owned the place. Angelina’s face twisted. For the first time, I looked at her without fear.
Only pity. Outside, Jerome was leaning against a pillar. “Nice dress hack. ”
“You’re a lawyer.
And now you’re a fashion critic. ”
“I’m a man of many talents. ”
Clive stormed out, raging that Jerome was too close to me. He dragged me into a lounge and locked the door.
“Is it him? Is he the man in those late-night photos? Was it Jerome? ”
“You’re crazy.
”
He leaned in to kiss me. I slapped him. “Don’t forget our agreement. Right now, you are just my husband in name only.
”
Later, Galen called. He had a big project: Void Walker, the lead voice role. He wanted to recommend me. Angelina had been front-runner, backed by Clive’s money.
But Galen believed in my talent. I went on the offense. I needed money. Real money.
Angelina offered me fifty thousand dollars to sign the divorce papers and leave New York. I tore the check in half and dropped it into her champagne flute. “I don’t want it. ”
She showed me the Wilson Star necklace Clive had given her.
“This one is fake,” I said. “Shiny, expensive, but all fake. ”
She screamed at me, calling me the fake. Then a buyer on a dark web forum offered twenty percent over market for Clive’s bag, but wanted to meet in person.
The buyer turned out to be a middle-aged man in a gray suit. He handed me a hundred and twenty-five thousand in cash. “Who sent you? ” I asked.
“That doesn’t matter. ”
It really didn’t. I left the city that night. In Los Angeles, I walked into a recording studio.
The microphone was a Neumann U87, standing there like an old friend. I closed my eyes and thought of Clive’s face, the frozen cards, the years of being called a trophy. “You think taking my crown will break me? ” I growled.
Angelina burst in, making a scene. Everyone ignored her. “I am the fire. I am the abyss.
I am the curse you’re afraid to name. ”
“Cut. Perfect. ”
Then the rumors started.
A viral audio clip claimed I was screaming at crew members. But it wasn’t my voice. It was AI-generated, breathing rhythm wrong, metallic S sounds. Angelina’s team did this.
I released the unedited audio of my recording session. Twenty-four hours later, it had ten million views. Starfall was the talk of the town. Angelina’s lawyers demanded I take it down.
Galen defended me. “My lead actress does what she wants. ”
They settled. Five hundred thousand dollars hit my account.
Angelina paid up and agreed to stop talking. She was leaving. I had won. But I couldn’t smile.
Jerome texted me: *Clive found out you were in LA. He’s digging. * Then: *I just told him where you are. *
Clive arrived at my mother’s hospital room.
He stood at the end of the hallway, but he didn’t come in. Jerome told me later: Clive had agreed to pay Angelina twenty million dollars to end things with her. He wanted a clean break. He wanted to start over with me.
“Remember our agreement,” I said. “One year from now, we get a divorce. ”
“You really don’t care at all. ”
“There’s nothing left between us but a contract.
”
“No, you still care about me. After all, you didn’t marry me for my money. ”
He pulled out a diary. The one I kept after marrying him, filled with my true feelings.
“We’ll talk about us later. First, come back to New York with me. Grandma, she doesn’t have much time left. ”
I flew back.
Victoria Wilson was lying in bed. She grabbed my hand. “Promise me you’ll take care of him. ”
“I promise.
”
She smiled. “Liar. But you were a good liar, so I believe you. ”
That night, she passed away.
I was the last person she ever spoke to. At the funeral, Clive stood alone at the grave in the rain. I walked to him. “What did she say at the end?
”
“She said she loved you. ”
“She never said that. She hated me. ”
“She said take care of the boy.
She loved you. I just said what she wanted to say. ”
Clive cried. Tears mixed with rain.
“I never thought she would leave. ”
“No one does. ”
I reached out and took his hand. We stood there in silence.
After the funeral, Clive announced he wanted to find Starfall. He wanted to hire her for voice work for his new AI assistant. “Then go find her. Good luck.
”
“I have good investigators. I’d find her in 24 hours. ”
“And what would you do when you found her? ”
“Sign her.
Give her an offer she can’t refuse. I only care about the voice. ”
Clive, you are such a fool. You can’t even recognize your own wife’s voice.
Galen called. The investors were pushing back. They wanted Angelina back. “They say Starfall is an unknown, a risk.
”
“I haven’t come this far to be scared off. ”
“They want you to prove yourself. Tonight. A live reading.
Voice only. No visuals. ”
That night, I stood in a tiny room with twenty chairs and twenty expressionless investors. I walked to the microphone, closed my eyes.
“They call me a monster because I refuse to die quietly. They say I’m crazy because I refuse to stay down after being knocked over. But you know what? Monsters don’t cry.
Monsters don’t beg. Monsters just keep getting back up again and again until everyone else is beneath their feet. ”
I opened my eyes. They were applauding.
Standing up. At the wrap party, I wore a simple black dress and a half-face mask. Jerome was there. He walked over.
“You knew,” I said. “You knew Starfall was me. From the hospital rooftop, when I grabbed your wrist. ”
“I had always known.
You wanted to come out on your own. I didn’t want to take that moment away from you. ”
He placed his hand on mine. Warm.
Steady. “You deserve better, Annalia. Someone better than Clive. ”
“I know.
”
“Then why are you still with him? You are free. You can leave. ”
I didn’t answer.
I didn’t know the answer. After the party, he drove me home. He stopped the car. “I have a proposal.
Leave Clive. Be with me. ”
“Do you even know what you’re saying? ”
“I’m saying I love you.
From the day you sang all those years ago. ”
He was not Clive. That was the point. I nodded.
“Give me some time. I can’t make a decision right away. ”
“I’ll wait. No matter how.
”
That night, my phone buzzed. A text from Clive. *I had an audio comparison done. Your voice, the way you breathe, even the pauses when you catch your breath.
It’s you. You are Starfall. *
He knew. The next morning, I walked into his office.
“You are my wife,” he said. “You signed a non-disclosure agreement. You were taking jobs behind my back. ”
“That was about our marriage, not my career.
There was not a single word about me not being allowed to work. ”
“You were exploiting a loophole. You had been lying to me all this time. ”
“I lied to you when you were with Angelina behind my back.
Did you ever think about how I felt? ”
“We’ll talk about us later. Right now, I need you to cooperate with me. ”
The next night, he called me to his study.
Zoe’s laptop was on his desk. “She was arrested. Your father filed the complaint. Corporate espionage.
”
“Zoe is innocent. ”
“I know. Your father arrested her to get this. ” He held up a small silver USB drive.
“This contains Zoe’s investigation about Angelina. I need that folder gone permanently. And I need your cooperation. ”
“Cooperate with what?
”
“Starfall. I want to sign you officially. And you have to attend next week’s charity gala. ”
“Are you blackmailing me?
”
“I’m giving you a choice. If you delete the folder and cooperate with me, Zoe stays safe. ”
I stared at the laptop. That folder contained evidence of Angelina’s smear campaign and her fake pregnancy.
Zoe was innocent. I didn’t have a choice. “Deal. Delete it.
I’ll attend the gala, but I won’t sign your contract. ”
“You will. Sooner or later. ”
I didn’t answer.
I just looked at him, at the man I once loved, standing there with everything he’d ever used to control me. And I knew, whatever he was planning, I would be ready.
