The stage lights were blinding.
Lou Yue's name echoed through the grand hall as applause thundered.
"Best Rookie Actress of the Year...Lou Yue!"
She rose gracefully, smile bright but modest, her shimmering gown catching the glow of the spotlights. It had taken years of auditions, rejections, and sleepless nights to reach this moment. Finally, recognition.
As she stepped onto the stage and accepted the golden trophy with both hands, the host handed her the microphone.
"I… I'd like to thank the audience for believing in me...l"
But before she could finish, the massive LED screen behind her flickered.
A video began to play.
At first, it looked like behind-the-scenes footage from her award-winning film. Then, gasps rippled through the audience. On the screen, she appeared in what looked like a hotel room .with Director Shen. The footage was blurry but suggestive enough to ruin her.
Her heart dropped.
"What...what is this?" Her voice trembled. "Turn it off! That's not real!"
The hall erupted in whispers.
"Shameless!"
"She slept her way up!"
"Li Mei should've gotten the award instead!"
"No!" Lou Yue's voice broke as she looked toward the tables below. "It's not true! Director Shen never..!"
Her gaze darted desperately to two familiar faces. Li Mei, her co-star, her friend and Jiang Han, her fiancé.
'No matter what, they'll believe me,' she told herself.
But Li Mei only stared at her, expression unreadable. Jiang Han's lips pressed into a cold, disappointed line.
Lou Yue's chest tightened. A sudden metallic taste filled her mouth. She touched her nose 'blood'.
"Ah…" Her vision swayed, lights smearing into a blur of gold and red. The trophy slipped from her hands as darkness closed in.
---
She woke up to the sterile scent of disinfectant and the soft beeping of hospital machines.
Her throat was dry.
"How… long has it been?" she whispered.
A familiar voice answered. "Two days."
Li Mei sat by her bedside, her eyes glistening with worry or so Lou Yue thought. Relief flooded her.
"Mei'er," she rasped. "You believe me, right? I would never do something like that."
Li Mei reached out, tucking a strand of hair behind Lou Yue's ear. Her touch was gentle.
"Of course, Yue'er. I know you wouldn't."
Lou Yue exhaled shakily. "I have to clear my name somehow… I can't let it end like this."
"Yue'er…" Li Mei's voice softened, almost pitying. "The doctor said your pneumonia's worsening. At this rate, you might die. Stop torturing yourself. Stop acting."
Lou Yue tried to move, but her limbs felt heavy, her body weak from illness and stress.
"I… can't stop. I promised to win. I..."
"Can you just stop already?"
The sudden bite in Li Mei's tone cut through the air.
Lou Yue froze. "Mei'er?"
"I'm sick of this act," Li Mei hissed, her smile gone. "Do you think I helped you out of friendship? I worked hard to get you back into this hospital bed, and you still talk about going back?"
Lou Yue's lips parted in confusion. "…What are you saying?"
Li Mei smirked. "You really thought I was supporting you? How naïve. You and your precious Jiang Han… he played his role well, didn't he?"
The door opened. Jiang Han walked in.
Her heart skipped. "Han…?"
But the way he looked at her, it wasn't love. It was pity.
Li Mei leaned closer, whispering, "That's right. Your lover boy? He was my partner all along."
Lou Yue's pulse raced. The heart monitor beside her beeped wildly.
---
The heart monitor beeped erratically, echoing Lou Yue's quickening pulse.
"W-what are you saying, Mei'er?" Her voice trembled. "You were the one who comforted me...you said..."
Li Mei let out a soft laugh, sharp and bitter. "Comfort you? Oh, Yue'er… I was just making sure you stayed predictable. Do you know how annoying it was? Watching you get the role that should've been mine?"
Lou Yue blinked, tears stinging her eyes. "That film Director Shen said the role fit me best..."
"Exactly," Li Mei sneered. "That's why I gave him what he really wanted. I made sure you got sick during shooting, made sure your condition worsened right before the premiere. You were supposed to collapse then, not later."
Lou Yue's lips trembled. "You… you did this?"
"Oh, don't look so surprised." Li Mei straightened, her expression morphing from mock pity to smug satisfaction. "I leaked the hotel footage too. It wasn't even you in the video. A little editing, a few favors from the right media outlets, and voilà...the perfect scandal. The people love a fallen idol."
Lou Yue's body trembled weakly under the sheets. Her breathing came shallow and fast. "Why? We were supposed to be friends…"
"Because you were always in the way!" Li Mei snapped. "You were the nation's sweetheart, the producers adored you, and the public worshipped you. No matter how hard I tried, you always outshined me. I wanted to destroy you and I did."
She tilted her head, eyes glinting with cruelty. "But don't worry. I'm not heartless. I'll make sure your death looks tragic enough to make me the victim who lost her 'best friend.' The sympathy will do wonders for my career."
At that moment, the door clicked open again. Jiang Han entered quietly, his suit immaculate, his expression unreadable as he said, "The hall is clear..."
"Han…" Lou Yue's eyes lit up with desperate hope. "Tell her to stop. Tell her she's lying."
He didn't answer. He just walked over to Li Mei's side and without hesitation placed a hand on her waist.
Li Mei leaned into him, smirking. Then, slowly, deliberately, she lifted her chin and kissed him.
Right there, in front of Lou Yue.
It was slow. Intimate. Cruel.
Lou Yue felt her world shatter piece by piece. The beeping from the monitor quickened again.
"Jiang Han…" she whispered. "You… and her?"
Jiang Han finally looked at her, his voice calm, almost detached. "It's nothing personal, Yue. You were… convenient. But your career was already finished. Better to cut ties before you dragged me down too."
Li Mei chuckled softly. "Don't be too sad. We'll even attend your memorial together."
Lou Yue could barely breathe now. Her vision dimmed around the edges; the world was tilting, closing in. "You're… monsters…"
Li Mei reached for something from her bag, a small syringe glinting faintly under the hospital light.
"Don't worry," she said sweetly. "It'll be painless. You'll just fall asleep. The doctors will call it a complication from your pneumonia."
Lou Yue's eyes widened, terror flashing through them. "No...stop ..."
Li Mei pressed the needle into the IV line before she could scream.
Lou Yue gasped as the cold liquid spread through her veins. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, faster and faster, until it began to slow.
Her last sight was of Li Mei resting her head against Jiang Han's shoulder, both of them smiling.
Her final thought echoed faintly
I just wanted to act… to live my dream…
And then everything went silent.
Warm sunlight brushed across her face.
The scent of magnolia drifted through the open window, mingling with faint traces of sandalwood.
Lou Yue stirred, lashes fluttering open to an unfamiliar ceiling painted wood beams, a paper lantern swaying gently from above, and embroidered curtains moving with the morning breeze.
The sterile hum of hospital machines was gone.
Instead, the faint chirping of cicadas and the distant rattle of a bicycle bell filled the air.
She sat up with a gasp.
Her nightgown rustled softly, it wasn't a hospital uniform but a pale green cheongsam-style pajama, the kind she'd only seen in old dramas.
Her breath came unevenly. "Where… am I?"
A young maid in linen clothes rushed to her side.
"Miss Qin, please don't move! The physician said your heart mustn't be startled again!"
Lou Yue blinked. "Miss Qin?"
The girl's eyes widened. "Miss Qin Loulou, of course. Don't you recognize your own name?"
Qin Loulou.
The name struck her like thunder.
Her gaze fell on the mirror across the room: a carved wooden vanity with a round, gilt-framed glass. Slowly, she turned toward it.
The reflection staring back nearly stopped her heart.
Curly dark brown hair brushed her shoulders, and a pair of reddish-brown eyes shimmered back at her. Her features were delicate, her skin almost translucent. Not Lou Yue's...yet familiar all the same.
Then the flood came.
Memories crashed into her mind.
A large manor in the southern city.
A sickly daughter ignored by her parents.
Servants whispering behind fans.
"She's not the real one."
"They only took pity on her."
"The real Miss Qin returned home years ago."
Qin Rourou. The other daughter.
Found miraculously at thirteen after being 'lost' as a child. Beautiful, lively, adored by society and family alike.
And Qin Loulou, the fragile stand-in who grew up in her place, was now nothing more than a polite burden.
Lou Yue's stomach twisted. So that's who I am now… the fake one.
Her eyes flicked around the room: vintage radio, patterned wallpaper, the faint melody of an old Teresa Teng song drifting through an open window.
The year was wrong. The world was wrong.
No, not wrong...familiar.
It was identical to the set of Spring Cicada's Lament, the film that had destroyed her career.
Her trembling hand reached for the jade hairpin in her hair, the one carved with the character Qin: a prop detail she remembered handling on set.
"This can't be real…" she whispered.