“The next scene?” the set manager stammered, looking panicked. “But, sir, we haven’t built the set for that one yet.”
Trevor waved a dismissive hand. “So build it now! Don’t give me excuses. Every day
pay for it?”
e’re delayed costs a fortune. Are you going to
The manager fell silent, clenching his jaw before turning to bark orders at the crew, sending them scrambling into the oppressive
15:09
15.09
Chapter 1
desert heat. A chorus of groans and curses rippled through the air.
Trevor watched them, a smug look on his face as he stood in the shade, arms crossed. “Hey, if you want someone to thank,” he called out mockingly, “thank the little brat hanging over there. If it wasn’t for him and Victoria’s dress, you’d all be in the air–conditi-
oned tents right now.”
His words were like a lit match in a puddle of gasoline.
The crew’s simmering frustration erupted into open hostility, all of it aimed at the helpless boy in the harness.
Just then, Brett’s nanny, a small, frantic woman, tried to reach the controls to lower him. A few of the crew members shoved her back.
“It’s his fault we’re stuck out here frying in this heat!” one of them shouted.
“Yeah! If you want down so bad, maybe you should lick the dress clean!” another added.
More people gathered around, a wall of angry faces, their accusations forming a suffocating cage around the boy. But Brett was already flushed and weak from the heat. Being surrounded like this, with the air growing thick and stagnant, was dangerous.
Sure enough, as the crowd pressed in, the rise and fall of Brett’s small chest became frantic and shallow.
“Get back!” I shoved my way through
now!”
angry mob. “All of you, give him space! It’s too hot for this many people. Let him down,
“Well, well. Look who’s playing the saint.” Victoria’s voice cut through the noise. She clicked toward me on her heels, a look of pure contempt on her face. “Leah, he didn’t smudge your dress. Why are you making this your business?”
“Yeah,” someone else chimed in. “It’s not you who has to build a set in this inferno. Easy for you to act all righteous.”
The nanny, pushed to the edge of the crowd, was on the verge of tears. “Please,” she cried out, her voice cracking. “Please, don’t crowd him! He’s Mr. Blackwood’s son! The Blackwood family has a history of hereditary asthma! He can’t breathe!”
Asthma. Of course.
How could I have forgotten?
2
“Do you have his inhaler?” I yelled to the nanny.
“Yes!” Seeing a flicker of hope, the woman fumbled in her pocket, her hands trembling as if she were grasping a lifeline. She pulled out a small plastic canister and held it out to me.
Relief washed over me. I reached for it, but another hand shot out and snatched it from mid–air.
Victoria stood there, toying with the inhaler, a cruel smirk playing on her lips. “Mr. Blackwood’s son? Please. Everyone knows Dami- an Blackwood has been Hollywood’s most eligible bachelor for years. Where would a son this big suddenly pop out from?”
Brett’s face was beginning to take on a terrifying bluish tint. I was desperate.
“Victoria, stop it!” I screamed. “He’s not faking it, he’s suffocating! Give me the medicine!”
“You want it?” She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, a malicious glint in her eye. “Then beg me.”
The humiliation coiled up my spine like a venomous snake. She was the one who had been secretly sleeping
Trevor, yet
here
she was, lording this moment over me like a conqueror. My jaw ached from clenching it so tight. Finally, I lowered my eyes, my voice barely a whisper.
“Victoria… please.”
15.09
Chapter 1
She seemed genuinely surprised that I would debase myself for the boy. A stunned silence hung in the air for a second before she
burst into a shrill, ugly laugh.
“Fine! Go get your medicine!”
Before I could react, her wrist flicked. The small inhaler sailed in a high arc, landing with a dull thud in a filthy, overflowing trash
can.
