Lockdown

"Saved me?" Lila backed up until her hips hit the desk. "You destroyed me! Why?"

"Because they were stealing you!" Caden shouted, the mask finally slipping. "Julian. Sylvan. The fans. They were taking pieces of you until there was nothing left for me! I had to stop it."

"You're sick," Lila breathed. "I'm leaving. I'm leaving right now."

She tried to push past him.

Caden caught her. He didn't grab her arm this time. He grabbed her throat.

He slammed her back against the wall. Not hard enough to knock her out, but hard enough to stun her.

"You're not going anywhere," Caden hissed, his face inches from hers. "You think you can survive out there now? Everyone thinks you're a junkie trainwreck. I’m the only one who will take you back. I’m the only one who loves you."

Lila clawed at his hands. He let go, and she slid to the floor, gasping.

"I locked the gates, Lila," Caden said, standing over her. "I changed the code. I took your keys. And I canceled your Uber account."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out her phone. He dropped it into his own pocket.

"We’re going to take a break. A long one. Just us. Until you remember who you really are. Not Lila Rose the star. Just Lila."

Lila looked up at him. She saw the boy she had kissed under the bleachers. And she saw the monster who had grown in the dark of her shadow.

"The premiere," she gasped. "It’s tonight. If I don't show up... it confirms everything."

"Exactly," Caden smiled. "And then we can go home."

He turned and walked out, locking the office door from the outside.

Lila was trapped.

She sat on the floor, the silence of the glass house pressing in on her. She looked out the window. The drop to the canyon was steep, covered in scrub brush and rocks.

She looked at the heavy crystal award on the shelf. *Teen Choice: Best Breakout Star.*

She wiped her tears. She stopped shaking.

Caden was right about one thing. She was an actress. And if she wanted to survive, she had to give the performance of her life.

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