Stan watched Lily vanish into the flow of executives and performers before turning slightly toward Vivian.
Beside him, Vivian exhaled quietly through her nose, the controlled breath of someone forcing emotion back under restraint before it could surface publicly.
But internally, her chest felt tight. Painfully tight.
Her fist clenched harder at her side as she watched her sister's retreating figure disappear deeper into the arena.
Because no matter how composed she acted, one fact remained impossible to ignore.
She couldn't compare. Not really. Not to Lily.
Not to a senior talent acquisition executive overseeing Netflix's Asia-Pacific division.
Lily operated at a level Vivian had spent years trying to reach and still hadn't touched.
And the worst part was that Lily knew it but still felt inferior...
Stan glanced at her once.
"You okay?"
Vivian's expression stabilized almost immediately.
"Yes."
A lie delivered professionally enough that most people would have accepted it.
