The door opened with a soft click.
Alice stepped out into the waiting hall, sunlight from the narrow windows catching in her hair as if the whole moment was staged.
"She got the role," someone whispered near the back.
"Supporting female lead," another confirmed, like they couldn't quite believe it.
Alice walked toward her seat calmly, expression unreadable, bag slung casually over her shoulder.
For a moment, no one spoke. Then a girl near the door muttered, "Wow… that was fast. Did she really just"
"Yes," Sophia snapped before she even finished, her voice sharp enough to cut the air. "She did."
All eyes turned.
Sophia, legs crossed in her perfect designer skirt, slowly set down her iced coffee. Her sunglasses slid down the bridge of her nose as she glared at Alice like she was some kind of cosmic mistake.
"You," she said finally, standing. "You got the role?"
Alice adjusted the strap of her bag, cool as ever. "Looks like it."
