There were four things she did every single day: Fake a smile. Stay alone. Doubt herself. Overthink.
Ashlyn stared at her reflection in the mirror. "Why can't I just be... me?" she whispered.
She had dreams, but nobody cared. Everyone only cared about her marks.
Her parents often said,
"Ashlyn, study well. Only then will you have a good future."
But her heart whispered something else. "What about my dream? Does anyone care about that?"
In front of everyone, she smiled. In front of her parents, her friends-even when she was alone. But when the lights went out, her pillow knew the truth.
Her only escape was music. She put on her headphones, K-pop filling her ears. "One day," she promised herself softly, "I'll be on stage like Jenelle, Lyra Sky."
But life was not that simple. Her parents wanted her to become a lawyer. So she studied hard, earned good marks, and made them proud. She even completed her LL.B and dreamed of LL.M.