?Chapter 149:


    “Nothing happened.”


    Hadley couldn’t exin the truth, so she simply said, “I suppose he just didn’t like what he saw when I took off the mask.”


    Lennon stared at her, his eyebrows furrowed.


    Eric? Unsatisfied with her? The very idea was absurd. Lennon had seen Hadley turn heads without even trying. How could Eric—of all people—be indifferent? What was wrong with him?


    And yet, reality stared Lennon in the face, offering no room for argument. Eric was gone.


    With a weary sigh, Lennon dragged a hand through his hair.


    “Well… I guess there’s nothing we can do about it.”


    Hadley didn’t flinch. If anything, she met his gaze with quiet certainty.


    “So, do I still need to wear the mask?”


    There was no hesitation in her voice.


    “Of course.”


    Lennon had hoped—truly hoped—that Eric would step in and back her career, which would also bring big money to his club. But no one had predicted this turn of events.


    Now, with Eric out of the picture, the mask had to stay.


    Some truths, however, were better left unsaid.


    “Keep it on for now,” Lennon said, his voice firm yet contemtive. “You’ve already built a name with it. Might as well make it your signature.”


    Hadley inclined her head, epting his words without argument.


    “Alright. If you say so.”


    But deep down, Lennon knew the truth: the mask couldn’t stay forever. Sooner orter, it would have toe off—but not without a reckoning.


    After all the drama, the chaos of her life only intensified. Between rehearsals, performances, and now the film, Hadley’s schedule had be a relentless blur.


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    At the set, she and a few stand-ins had just wrapped up their first routine for Adonis, setting the stage for filming in the next couple of days.


    Hadley was constantly in motion, caught in an endless cycle between the set and Gnt—dancing under one set of lights only to rush off and perform under another.


    After wrapping up at the set, she sank into the bus seat, exhaustion pressing against her limbs as the vehicle wove its way back to West Twelfth Alley. Just as Hadley let her eyes drift shut for a fleeting moment of rest, her phone buzzed.


    She inhaled deeply, steadying herself before answering, “Dr. Williams?” Every time Mathias called, a knot tightened in her stomach, her mind bracing for the worst. She dreaded the possibility of bad news about Joy.


    “Ms. Pearson!”


    Mathias’s voice came through, steady as ever, but something was different this time—no heavy silence, no ominous pause hanging between them.


    “I have good news for you.”


    Hadley sat up instantly, her fingers tightening around the phone. “Really?” Her pulse quickened, her breath catching. “Could it be…”


    The rest of the sentence hovered at the edge of her lips, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it. Speaking it aloud felt dangerous, as if putting it into words might jinx it and shatter whatever fragile hope she had left to hold onto.


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