SECRETS UNDER The SILVER SCREEN

9 - The Plan

TWO DAYS HAD PASSED SINCE the night that almost changed everything between us, the night of our near-kiss. The tension still lingered in my thoughts. How close I had been to getting what I wanted—since I was fifteen, watching her in Silent Witness. But I knew this went far beyond my own desire.

I entered Sapphire Studios in the late afternoon, having done errands outside of the studio all day. Deep Water was finishing up this week, and Lana would begin her new project The Amethyst Abyss in a few weeks. I thanked the studio gods for letting me be an assistant for that movie. I could stay close to her then. The head of the studio, Pierce Hudson had heard about me from Mr. Herrington and was very pleased with my work with Lana and knew that I was good for her acting.

The place had quieted down for the day. I hadn't expected to be here, but Lana had called, her voice urgent yet calm, asking me to meet her in one of the smaller offices tucked away on a quiet corner of the studio.

When I knocked on the door, I half-expected Lana to be rehearsing lines or going over notes for the film, but the moment I stepped inside, I knew this wasn't about the movie. Lana was standing near a large window, looking onto the studio lot, her back to me. The room was dimly lit, and a faint haze of cigarette smoke lingered in the air. It felt very dramatic but very fitting for what was about to happen.

"Lana?" I called softly.

Lana turned around slowly, her face shadowed but unmistakably serious. "Come in," she said, her voice low. "We need to talk."

I stepped forward, shutting the door behind me, and approaching Lana with growing apprehension. Something felt heavy in the air, something beyond what I had anticipated.

"What's going on?" I asked, my heart already beating faster.

Lana gestured for me to sit at a small, polished desk in the corner of the room. As I took a seat, Lana moved to the opposite side, her eyes flickering with something between determination and fear.

"I've made a decision," Lana said quietly, as she pulled out a cigarette and lit it casually.

I watched her for a moment, waiting for her to continue, bit the silence stretched, only broken by the soft crackle of the cigarette.

"About Arthur?" I ventured, my voice tentative.

Lana nodded. "I'm leaving him."

The words hung in the air between us. My breath caught in my throat as I processed what she had just said. I knew it was coming—Lana had been teetering on the edge of it for weeks—but hearing the words out loud felt different.

"You're serious," I said softly, leaning forward. "You're really going to do it?"

Lana nodded again, her gaze steady but filled with a quiet kind of fear. "I've thought it through, every detail. And I'm not just leaving him. I'm going to destroy him."

I blinked, taken aback by the intensity in her vice. "Destroy him?"

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the desk, her cigarette held loosely in her hand. "Arthur is powerful, yes. But he's made mistakes. A lot of them. And I've been documenting everything. I have enough evidence to ruin his reputation, his career, everything he's built.

I stared at her, struggling to absorb the weight of her words. "How do you—what kind of evidence?"

Lana's expression hardened. "He's been embezzling money from one of his film projects, skimming off the top. And it's not just money. He's mistreated people, made deals under the table, threatened people when they didn't fall in line. I've kept records, names, dates."