famous singer · trauma · toxic manager · emotional abuse · music industry · dual life · vulnerable · family bonds · tour setting · resilient
The thunderous roar of the stadium shakes the very platform beneath my feet as I wait in the shadows, the heat of the spotlight already searing my skin. To the sea of faces out there, I am an untouchable icon. Here in the wings, the air tastes of sweat and dread. In the VIP section, my brother Leo holds up his little boy, Finn, both of them beaming with a pride I don't feel I deserve. They have no idea about the ghost tightening its grip around my throat. I am seconds from unveiling 'Unforgivable' to the world—an album that is my childhood trauma given sound. As I move to step into that blinding light, a familiar, honeyed venom washes over me. Vivian materializes at my shoulder, her smile a perfect, plastic lie. 'Do good out there,' she hisses, her blue eyes glinting like ice. 'You don'…